| וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֥ת יִצְחָ֖ק בֶּן־אַבְרָהָ֑ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־יִצְחָֽק׃ | 19 R | This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. |
These are the generations of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham gave birth to Isaac. (Genesis 25:19) This verse contains a question and its answer. The question is, how did Isaac, who represents the forces of limitation, come from Abraham, who is the aspect of loving-kindness. (According to Kabbalah, the seven lower sefirot, from Chesed to Malchus, correspond to seven central Biblical figures. Abraham corresponds to Chesed, which represents the forces of love and expansion. Isaac corresponds to Gevurah, which embodies the forces of contraction and concealment.) The answer is “Abraham gave birth to Isaac.” That is, the forces of limitation derive from those of loving-kindness, in order that there should be concealment in the world. Because when one person lacks something and another person gives it to him, the world becomes founded on loving-kindness, as the verse says: “You have built a world of love” (Psalms 89:3). This draws down forces of loving-kindness into the world. Mevaser Tzedek, Behar
The reference to גמלים באים “camels approaching,” is not to be understood literally, according to our author, but as a simile meaning the same as גומל in our daily עמידה prayer, where it means that G’d responds to kindness with more kindness. Another way of understanding the line: וירא והנה גמלים באים, is that the righteous who serve the Lord truly experience a feeling of transcendental satisfaction from doing so even while still in this imperfect world which our bodies inhabit. Rivkah experienced an echo of this, and this is what is meant when the Torah reports her reaction to seeing her future husband Yitzchok for the first time; ותפול מעל הגמל, normally translated as “she fell from the camel,” has to be understood as similar to Genesis 25,19 where the word the words על פני כל אחיו נפל has to be understood as “he (Ishmael) landed;” parallel to this we read here that Rivkah landed above the “camel,” i.e. in loftier spiritual regions. She perceived for the first time the “taste” of serving the Creator based on super-terrestrial dimensions.
The belief that the thoughts that cross the minds of parents engaged in marital intercourse influence the spiritual focus of a child conceived as the result of their union, is universally accepted in the writings of our sages, and especially so in Nachmanides’ essay האמונה והבטחון, chapter 15, page 395 in כתבי רמב'ן, published by Mossad Harav Kook. [The authorship of this volume has not been determined with accuracy even nowadays. Rabbi Chayim David Chavell, whose edition I am using, devotes 11 pages to his introduction when he explains that there is some genetic spiritual input by both the father and the mother into the soul of the child they produce. If I understand the message in these words, it is that this input is transmitted only at the time when the parents conceive the child, and it outweighs what the parents try to teach the youngster after he or she has been born. It follows that if the parents are interested in transmitting their own and their ancestors’ good characteristics to their own children, they must not only live according to these principles, but even conduct themselves according to these principles in the privacy of their bedrooms. Perhaps this sheds some light on the lament of many parents who have one or more children who do not follow in their footsteps and who fail to understand this. Ed.] Pessachim 50 urging us to be careful to perpetuate the good practices of our forefathers meticulously, the Talmud quotes Proverbs 1,8 שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “my son, hear the moral instruction of your father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.” It is clear from the Torah’s description of Terach before he had sired children (assuming he became a monotheist later) that the thoughts we have described did not occur to him when he and his wife conceived Avram. In fact, if Terach had been a believer in the one and only G’d, much of the credit Avraham accumulated would have been due to his father. Avraham was the first human being, who, by absorbing some of the “sparks” of the Shechinah which we discussed on pages 21-22 was able to transmit such spiritual values by means of his semen. He himself had absorbed only the kind of material input from his father and mother as is capable of being defined through DNA in our days. In the parlance of our sages this input of physical matter by the mother is known as אודם, primarily cells which produce blood, whereas the input by her male partner consists primarily of לובן, albumen. Terach and his wife contributed only elements of the material terrestrial part of the universe to the fetus of Avraham, whereas G’d, anxious to see an eventual Jewish people emerge from that embryo, contributed characteristics that stemmed from the spiritual spheres of the universe. This is the meaning of Avram’s question “how do I know that I will inherit?” The word דעת or ידע always describes a close attachment to the subject or object it describes. Avram wanted to know which spiritual characteristic links him to his existence in the terrestrial world, a link described in Proverbs 1,8 as אבי in the verse שמע בני מוסר אביך, in which Solomon cautions his listeners to carefully perpetuate the moral lessons absorbed from אביך, your father, i.e. your roots. His question was prompted by his realization that he could certainly not be expected to perpetuate the moral lessons that he had been taught in the house of his father Terach. If he were to do this, how could he possibly bequeath to his offspring the qualities needed to become G’d’s people? He knew instinctively that this could happen only if he had in his genes spiritual input from a higher world. The characteristic that represented this spiritual input is know as אב, part of the name אברהם. The word ירושה, inheritance, is always used in connection with inheritance from one’s father; hence seeing that the word אב, father, was part of his name this was the link that enabled him to become the first patriarch of the Jewish people. Avram understood that the origin of the Jewish people, a concept in G’d’s mind and the contribution He had made as the third partner in any human being to Avram’s genes, were of the same kind, so that the Jewish people could truly be described as having its terrestrial root in Avraham, as he would be called shortly before Yitzchok was born. When G’d told him that he should realize that his offspring would begin their collective life as “strangers,” i.e. as a new nation in the families of nations, it was this strain that he shared his spiritual origin with. He would henceforth have to concentrate on his role as the spiritual root of that nation as and when it would become such. G’d reminded him already in verse 7 that this was the purpose for which He had saved him from the fiery furnace in Ur Kasdim continuing this theme in verse 18 when He entered into a sacred covenant with Avram. He had given him a preview that the development of this nation of which he would become the founding father, would undergo a difficult “adolescence” and that these difficulties once endured and overcome with His help would qualify them for their historic mission as trailblazers of monotheism. Although Terach is credited with having sired Avram, (Genesis 11,26) this was merely a biological phenomenon; he was in no way an ancestor of Avram in the sense that Avram as the son would continue a tradition sacred to his father.To the question of how we are to understand Genesis 15,15 ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום תקבר בשיבה טובה, “as for you, you will join your “fathers’ in peace and will be buried in a ripe old age,” the word אבותיך does not refer to Terach; but is an assurance that Avram would die without sharing the servitude his descendants would experience. The Zohar I 78 commenting on Genesis 12,5 ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, writes that Terach became a penitent, but that this does not mean that Avraham would be reunited with his father in the life after death, but since our sages had difficulty in how to understand the words: ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום, they understood this as Terach sanctifying the name of Avraham’s G’d while still alive. The name of “G’d” in that verse therefore is אב, the spiritual genes that we described above as having been injected by G’d into the ovum that eventually developed into Avram. [We may understand this as Terach establishing a horizontal spiritual bond with his son through his penitence instead of the vertical bond created when a father passes on his spiritual values to his son. Ed.] If you find it difficult to accept the argument that Terach is not to be regarded as Avram’s “father” in verse 15, consider the following statement in Yevamot 22. גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, “a convert after conversion is comparable to that of a newly born baby.” He has no residue of the spiritual input normally transmitted by the respective genes of his father and mother. The only spiritual force active within him is that of the soul which has been given to him by his Creator. He is no longer called after his father, when called up to the Torah, the name of his father, the gentile, is not even alluded to. The reason is that he no longer contains the spiritual input his father had transmitted to him at birth. The separation of such a convert from his biological father is so absolute, that according to Biblical Jewish law the convert is free to marry his biological mother, or sister, (assuming either of them has converted). [If the Rabbis forbade this, it is because it raises suspicions that the conversion had ulterior motives. Ed.]. Avram/Avraham both because he was a convert, and because his name was changed by G’d before he sired Yitzchok, was no longer connected to Terach at all. When the Torah writes in Genesis 25,19 ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “and these are the generations of Yitzchok; son of Avraham; Avraham had sired Yitzchok,” the Torah makes a point of describing Yitzchok as descendant of Avraham, whereas it never described Avraham as a descendant of Terach. The term “father,” is mentioned in the Torah only in connection with the characteristic אב which G’d had supplied to Avram, and which helped him to sanctify G’d’s Holy name to large groups of people as we explained previously.
Genesis 25,19 “And these are the generations of Yitzchok, the son of Avraham; Avraham begot Yitzchok.” (We have been told in Genesis 21,12 כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, “for your seed (descendants) will be known through Yitzchok.” G’d told Avraham already before Yitzchok was born that although he had another son, Yishmael, his descendants would always be associated with Yitzchok. It was understood that this promise was contingent on Yitzchok becoming a righteous person, a tzaddik, future generations would not trace themselves back to their ancestor Avraham but each generation would only trace itself back to their immediate forbears, i.e. their fathers. In other words, the new element provided by our verse above is that even Yitzchok’s offspring would trace themselves back to their founding patriarch Avraham. We learn from here also that it is up to the “son” to demonstrate by his deeds that he was not only descended from his father but could claim previous generations as his “roots.” When we consider this, the word תולדה is no longer an adjective, an attribute of a person which he came by naturally, without any input of his own, but it is a tribute to the person so described, meaning that he is a worthy descendant of his illustrious forbears.
11. This is the meaning of “Avraham begot Yitzchak” (Genesis 25:19). Avraham is lovingkindness. Yitzchak is strength, as in “the Dread of Yitzchak” (ibid. 31:42). In other words, holy judgment, which corresponds to Yitzchak, is born to and extends from Avraham, who is lovingkindness. For in truth, this judgment embodies great lovingkindness, because it is for his benefit, as in “those whom God loves, He rebukes,” as explained above.
15. Now, the judgment associated with Yitzchak is mitigated through wisdom, which is knowledge of the Torah, as explained above. This is the aspect of Yaakov, who was born to Yitzchak. For the aspect of judgment/Yitzchak, which corresponds to the soul, begets two aspects: Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov corresponds to wisdom, to speech-with-wisdom, which is the aspect of mitigating the judgment associated with Yitzchak. Esav corresponds to the impurities and utter waste that devolve and descend from the aspect of judgment; he is the aspect of “a soul that transgresses” (Leviticus 5:17). This is: “These are the descendants of Yitzchak the son of Avraham” (Genesis 25:19)—and Rashi comments: Yaakov and Esav, as explained above.
Coming closer to God begins with rejection. As our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: Whoever betters himself in this world, is judged more strictly on high. This is constricted consciousness, as in “Avraham begot Yitzchak.” Avraham is lovingkindness. Yitzchak is strength, “the Dread of Yitzchak.” This lovingkindness is clothed in strength, as it is written, “with the saving strengths of His right arm.” It is likewise said, “For his lovingkindness toward us has grown strong.”
{“The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Genesis 27:22) ☛ a declaration ☛ Esav, “And he raised his voice” (Genesis 27:38) ☛ Yitzchak, time, kuf tzaddi, sleepers, etc. ☛ “you shall return to God your Lord and heed His voice” (Deuteronomy 4:30) ☛ “Yitzchak the son of Avraham” (Genesis 25:19) , time unites ☛ “Avraham who loved Me” (Isaiah 41:8) ☛ “in his eyes but a few days because of his love” (Genesis 29:20) ☛ “the remnant who returns is your son” (Isaiah 7:3) ☛ “If you return, I will take you back and you will stand before Me” (Jeremiah 15:19).} “The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” a declaration. Esav, “And he raised his voice”—That is, one must raise “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” over the voice of the Other Side, which is the concept of Esav, of whom it is stated, “And he raised his voice.” He strengthens himself in order to drown out Yaakov’s voice, God forbid. And so it is necessary for us to overpower and subdue Esav’s voice in order that we merit hearing the voice of Yaakov. One merits this through repentance, which is nullification of the times, as mentioned above.
“And these are the generations of Yitzchak, son of Avraham. Avraham begot Yitzchak.” (Bereshit, 25:19) It is written (Divrei haYamim 1, 28:9), “If you seek it, you will find.” The seeking is Avraham Avinu, and the finding is Yitzchak. The main point of Avraham Avinu was that he always had a great yearning for Torah, and a great desire to make the reign of God known in the world. This is the attribute of love. The attribute of Yitzchak is that of Gevurah (strength, severity), when this became clear and the revelation of God descended into the world. This is called Gevurah, as it is written (Megillah, 31b), “thus Moshe heard from the mouth of Gevurah,” and Yitzchak is also called the Gevurah of God in the world. This goes according to the verse, “and these are the generations of Yitzchak, son of Avraham …,” which means that the generations, or results of Yitzchak Avinu, are the proclamation of the revelation of God in this world. Thereby, “Avraham begot Yitzchak,” for this came about by means of Avraham’s yearning, for yearning is the attribute of Avraham, and so it is that all true words of Torah are born into the world only after the great desire of those who long for them. This also concerns what is said in the Gemara (Baba Metsia, 44a), “In his younger days Rabbi Yehuda haNasi taught his son, ‘silver buys gold,’ and in his old age, ‘gold buys silver.’” In a man’s youth he has great desire and yearning for words of Torah, and by means of this, he is “buying gold,” which means acquiring words of Torah in their true form that are called gold, by means of silver (Kesef), which is desire and yearning (Kesifa). Yet, in his old age a man must ask that his desire for words of Torah not be taken from him, for in old age the powers of desire weaken. Therefore he taught that “gold buys silver.” (The silver, or desire, is then the main point.) The silver is the prayer that he offers to God, that by means of the very words of Torah the desire may come to him for an increase in more words of Torah. This may be compared to a man who is satisfied from eating, and nonetheless, if more good food were placed before him it would draw his appetite to eat further. So it is with words of Torah. This is as we pray each day in the blessing over the Torah, “and may God make words of Torah desirable in our mouths,” that is, may words of Torah become sweetened in such a way that we always have a greater and greater desire for them. This is the meaning of the verse (Yoel, 2:26), “and you shall eat food and be satisfied.” The doubling of the language teaches of this, (In Hebrew, ve’achaltem ochel; “were the doubling of, ochel” is apparent.) for by means of the very eating there will come greater desire. This is all an allegory for words of Torah, as explained above.
And these are the generations of Yitzchak, the son of Avraham etc (Gen. 25:19) We need to explain the explanation of Rashi z"l "Yaakov and Esav that are spoken about in the portion" through the way of hint [remez]. Yaakov is a hint to Judgment [Din], and Avraham is a hint to Lovingkindness [Chesed] as known. And there are tzadikim whose beginning is suffering and whose end is serenity, and there are evil people who are the opposite, and this is "these are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham", meaning, after Judgment, Lovingkindness is born. And "Avraham gave birth to Yitzchak" means that after Lovingkindness, Judgment is born. And the explanation of Rashi z"l (Rashi on Genesis 25:19:1) that these are Yaakov and Esav who are talked about in the portion is to explain this hint that runs throughout the portion, regarding Yaakov and Esav, that is, Yaakov's beginning is Judgement and his end is serenity, as explained, and regarding Esav it is the opposite.
Or say , also, through the way [of interpreting] of remez (hint): behold, we see the deeds of people - evil people doing evil, the incitement of the evil impulse in them begins with saying to them that it is a mitzvah to do this, when in truth it is a transgression. And the tzadikim who safeguard themselves from transgressions sometimes will do a transgression for its own sake [lishmah], as we find 'it is permissible to lie [lit. change] for the sake of peace' (Bava Metzia 24a, Tosafot on Bava Metzia 24a:1:1, see also Yevamot 65b) - and this is "these are the generations of Yitzchak"(Gen. 25:19), meaning, the judgment that comes through transgressions. The reason of the transgression is because "son of Avraham" is a hint to a mitzvah, that is, that the yetzer hara says to him that this is a mitzvah, and there are tzadikim who do a transgression for its own sake, as explained. And this is hinted in "Avraham begot Yitzchak", meaning, a great tzadik sometimes begets "Yitzchak", that is, Judgment, by sometimes doing a transgression for its own sake because of the tzadik's great righteousness. And this is easy to understand.
Or say "these are the generations of Yitzchak etc" (Gen. 25:19) and let's begin by explaining the verse "and Yitzchak sowed in the land etc and found a thousand measures/gates" (Gen. 26:12). One needs to say the hint, that behold the service of the tzadik is always to raise the Holy Shechinah, which is the last letter hey [of the name Havayah], and this is the hint in the commentary of Rashi z"l: "this estimation is for tithing" (Rashi on Genesis 26:12:4) - meaning, Yitzchak estimated himself as tithing - which is terumah, since the Text calls Terumah as Tithing in many places. Terumah is explained as Terom Hey [lit. Raise the letter Hey], and the essence of the service to the Holy Blessed Name through love and fear is the hint [of] Terumah - two from one hundred [trei mimeah] meaning, a person is obligated to bless one hundred blessings every day and one needs to bless [those blessings] in love and awe. And this is called "sowing" regarding the tzadik, that through love and awe a great light is sown within the tzadik, and this is "a light is sown for the righteous" (Ps. 97:11). And through this immediately one hundred measures are found, meaning, through every blessing that the tzadik blesses they open one gate of those Upper Hundred Gates which are called one hundred blessings, meaning, the Upper Pools, and this is "Yitzchak sowed:, as explained, and "found a hundred gates", as explained.
And behold it is known that there is awe that comes before love, since love comes from within awe; and there is Higher Awe that comes from love. And this is the hint in "and these are the generations of Yitzchak"(Gen. 25:19), meaning, awe that through it "son of Avraham", which is love, is born. And there is awe that comes from within love, and this is the hint in "Avraham", which is love, "begot Yitzchak", which is awe. And this is what Rashi z"l explained "Yaakov and Esav, the ones talked about in the portion". What is the practical application that comes out from this? The explanation of Rashi is that the practical application is that through awe and love Compassion is awakened and Judgments are shattered, meaning, "Yaakov" is a hint to Compassion, and "Esav a hint to Judgments. And this is the hint in "after that his brother came out, and his hand was holding onto the heel of Esav", meaning, even though some times the nations are victorious, God forbid, and they want to do evil to Israel, God forbid, and it looks like the thing is just about ready to come, God forbid, and it does not happen, and it does not happen, that after the end of the thing arrives, God forbid, and it is finished, then the power of the tzadik goes out and holds onto the end of the thing that it should not happen at all - and this is "his hand", that is, the tzadik's force "holds onto the heel", that is, the end of, "Esav", that wants to finish the thing, then the tzadik holds onto, and does not permit it to happen, and awakens great compassion for Israel. Amen.
"And these are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham". Rashi of blessed memory explains "Jacob and Esav, those mentioned in the Section."
"These are the generations of Yitzchak, Avraham begot Yitzchak" (Bereishit 25:19). The actions of our forefathers serve as a sign for their descendants, ensuring the benefit of Bnei Yisrael for generations. The holy scriptures state (Zohar 1:12a) that fear derived from love is genuine fear. This is reflected in the phrase "Avraham begot Yitzchak," with Avraham symbolizing love and Yitzchak symbolizing fear. As Rashi explains (25:19), there was clear testimony that Avraham begot Yitzchak. Fear that stems from love is pure and free of falsehood. This fear means being afraid of losing the deep connection of love with Hashem, which is the essence of true love.
ואלה תולדות יצחק, “and these were the descendants of Yitzchok;” previously the Torah had listed the descendants of Yishmael after the descendants of Keturah; now the Torah goes into details of Yitzchok’s descendants.
אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “Avraham sired Yitzchok.” The Torah appears to repeat itself here because it did not refer again to Yitzchok’s mother as opposed to 25,12 where it stressed that Yishmael’s mother was Hagar, stressing that she was of Egyptian origin. Were it not for this detail, I might have said that the reason why the Torah repeated the line that Avraham was Yitzchok’s father was another way of saying that Yitzchok was raised in his father’s house, similar to Moses, of whom the Torah reported that as soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had brought him to Pharaoh’s palace he was raised as if he had been her son. (Exodus 2,10) The repetition is meant to stress that of all the (eight) sons that Avraham fathered, Yitzchok was by far the most important one (for the Jewish people) An alternate explanation: Yitzchok’s father was not Avram but Avraham. As long as Avram’s name had not been changed he had not been able to sire Yitzchok. A third explanation: if you were to ask why the Torah repeated this information, as if Avraham had numerous sons? The Torah wished to stress that ultimately Avraham’s historical stature was assured only by his son Yitzchok. The Torah hints at a famous line by King Solomon in Proverbs 17,6: עטרת זקנים בני בנים, “the crown of the elders are their grandchildren, but the glory of their children are their parents.”
יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “Yitzchok the son of Avraham; Avraham sired Yitzchok. The numerical value of the letters in the word הוליד, is equivalent to the numerical value of the word דומה, “to be a look a like;” it suggests that Avraham and Yitzchok’s facial features made them look as if they were clones.
AND THESE. After recording the generations of Ishmael, Scripture returns to record the progeny of Isaac, Esau and Jacob. Some say that Abraham begot Isaac means that Isaac resembled his father, and all who looked upon him could tell that he was Abraham’s son. (Baba Metziah 87a and Rashi.) Others say that holid (begot) means raised and brought up, as in were born (I.E. renders yulledu as: were brought upon Joseph’s knees. They obviously were not born on his knees.) (yulledo) upon Joseph’s knees (Gen. 50:23). This interpretation is substantiated by And he sent them away from Isaac his son (v. 6). (He did not raise the sons of the concubines but he raised Isaac.)
ואלה תולדת, And these are the developments, etc. Why did the Torah mention the birth of Isaac instead of the birth of his children at this point? Why did the Torah need to tell us here that Abraham fathered Isaac?
The intent of the Torah may be understood thus. "And these are Isaac's developments," refers to events that are mentioned later on in this פרשה. Seeing the Torah will speak about the sons of Isaac, and Isaac himself was not originally capable of siring children since his own existence had been rooted in the "left" side of the emanations [until the fact that he submitted to the binding on the altar resulted in his "graduating" to the status of someone born under the aegis of the "right" side of the emanations (kabbalistic concept) compare 22,2 Ed.], the reader might have asked how Isaac could sire children at all? The Torah therefore hints in this way that the fact that Abraham had fathered Isaac enabled him to bestow upon Isaac the ability to beget children.
Alternately, the Torah may refer to Yevamot 64, where we learn that when two righteous people offer a prayer simultaneously, if one of them is also the son of a righteous person G'd will listen to his prayer first. This is why the Torah described G'd as listening to Isaac's prayer in 25,22. Accordingly, the words: אברהם הוליד את יצחק means that Abraham's righteousness was a factor in G'd enabling Isaac to have children.
A further meaning may be connected to Bereshit Rabbah 63,2 which explains Isaiah 29,22, where the prophet describes the as yet unborn Jacob as having redeemed Abraham, i.e. saved him from Nimrod's furnace. Had it not been for Jacob's merit Abraham might not have survived that experience. Our verse then would hint that it was only the combined merit of Jacob and Isaac that enabled Abraham to live long enough to beget Isaac.
The wording of our verse contains an additional meaning of the word תולדת, "developments, offspring, generations." The true "offspring" of the righteous are their good deeds. The various trials Isaac underwent during his life are not specifically described as such by the Torah, although it was he who offered his life to G'd on the altar at Moriah. There are even commentators (such as lbn Ezra 22,4) who claim that Isaac submitted only against his will. In order to prevent us from arriving at such a conclusion the Torah describes Isaac once more as a true offspring of Abraham, someone who was in no way inferior to his father in his love for and obedience to G'd. This is stressed both by the word בן אברהם and the conjunctive letter ו before the word אלה. Isaac continued to accumulate meritorious deeds just as Abraham had done before him.
The Torah may also simply hint that Isaac had only one son who followed in the footsteps of Abraham, i.e. "and these are the generations of Isaac, the one who was a true son of Abraham."
Still another meaning may be gleaned from the wording "Abraham begat Isaac." Whereas Isaac did indeed match Abraham in good deeds, he could not receive the same credit since he had his father as an example and could model himself accordingly. Abraham was unique. He was "self-made," did not have a father who served as his role model. This was the reason that the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 41,8) quotes G'd as describing Abraham as "the one who loved Him." Abraham had had to initiate this love towards his Creator without the Creator having served as a guiding light for him first.
Another reason that Isaac is described as the son of Abraham here once again is to teach us that a צדיק who is himself the son of a צדיק is in class by himself, not to be compared to a צדיק who is the son of a רשע. Even though Bereshit Rabbah 38,12 states that Abraham's father Terach became a penitent before he died, he had been wicked for most of his life. The activities of a sinful father cast a pall over the spiritual light spread by the son. When looked at from that vantage point Isaac was better prepared for a pious life than his father. All this is included in the wording ואלה תולדת יצחק בך אברהם.
Isaac did not experience all the painful experiences that Abraham endured. The Torah explains the reason why by writing that he was the son of Abraham. He was the first beneficiary of his father Abraham's great and cumulative merit. If Abraham experienced far more turbulence in his life this was because it could not be said of him that a great man fathered him.
עטרת זקנים בני בנים ותפארת בנים אבותם, “Grandchildren are the crown of their elders, the glory of children are their parents” (Proverbs 17,6). According to the plain meaning of this verse, Solomon informed us that the true crown of parents are their children and grandchildren. We find that Terach, Avraham’s father was crowned with his son Avraham. [Had he not had such a son, his soul would have perished. As it is, Avraham’s outstanding life resulted in Terach’s soul deriving some reflected glory so that he did not forfeit his share in the hereafter; this is one way in which the verse (25,6) describing Avraham as “joining his people may be understood.” Ed.] The parents are truly the glory of their children only when they themselves are upright, G’d-fearing, and are setting the personal example upon which their children can model themselves. When such children point with pride at their parents, the parents can experience real glory. This is why Solomon used a different word to describe the parents’ feelings, not עטרת, “crown.” Viewed superficially, a crown is something of higher rank than תפארת, glory, worn on the inside. However, when children do not follow the path set for them by their parents, it would be foolish to describe such parents as wearing their children as a crown, as something they boast about for all to see. On the contrary, in such instances the children actually shame their parents by their conduct (compare Isaiah 30,5). A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma Toldot 4) to these verses. The words עטרת זקנים refer to grandchildren. The righteous are crowned by their grandchildren. This is a reference to Avraham who was crowned by the merit of his grandson Yaakov. When Nimrod threw Avraham into the furnace, G’d saved him because of the eventual merits of his grandson Yaakov. This is the meaning of the words in Isaiah 29,22 לכן כה אמר ה' אל בית יעקב אשר פדה את אברהם, “indeed, this is what G’d said to the house of Yaakov who had redeemed Avraham.” How did Yaakov “redeem” Avraham? He redeemed him from Nimrod’s furnace. This is an example of grandparents being crowned by their grandchildren. How do children “crown” themselves with their fathers? When Yaakov had departed from Lavan and Lavan was in hot pursuit, G’d appeared to him in a dream and warned him not to say anything threatening or complimentary to Yaakov. When, eventually, Lavan caught up with Yaakov he said to him: “had it not been for the fact hat the G’d of your father had addressed me last night, etc.” (Genesis 31,29). Clearly, on that occasion it was Avraham and Yitzchak’s merit which saved Yaakov. Yaakov personally acknowledged this when he said to Lavan during their argument: “if it had not been for the G’d of Avraham and the G’d whom Yitzchak fears who was with me, you would have now sent me away empty-handed” (Genesis 31,42). Lavan was unable to carry out his evil designs due to the interference of the merit of Yaakov’s father and grandfather. Similarly, the evil design of Pharaoh to drown all Jewish boy-babies (Exodus 1,22) boomeranged when G’d drowned Pharaoh and his chariots in the sea (Exodus 15,4). Many hundreds of years later when G’d thwarted the decree of Haman to wipe out all the Jews, it was again the merit of the patriarchs which helped reverse his plan (Esther 9,1). When Bileam wanted to curse the Jewish people and G’d turned his intended curses into blessings (Deut. 23,7), this too was due to the merit of the patriarchs. This is the meaning of Isaiah 54,17 כל כלי יוצר עליך לא יצלח, “No weapon formed against you shall succeed.” Our sages in the Tanchuma there quoted the Roman Emperor Hadrian as having said to Rabbi Joshua ben Levi that the power of the sheep which stands (has managed to survive) amongst 70 wolves (the Gentile nations) is very great indeed. To this observation Rabbi Joshua replied that it is the power of the shepherd who wards off the attacks against this sheep and breaks the power of the attackers which is great. He quoted the verse from Isaiah 54,17 to support his words. The prophet there referred to the Gentiles who will perish from this world. This is also implied in Jeremiah 2,3 קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתה כל אוכליו יאשמו רעה תבוא עליהם נאום ה'. “Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruit of His harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty, disaster will befall them- declares the Lord.” Our history is full of proof that those who tried to eliminate us were eliminated instead. A few examples are: Pharaoh, Amalek, Siserah, Sancheriv, Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, Hadrian, and many others like them. This is why the prophet compared Israel to something sacred, like an offering. When a non-priest consumes a portion of that which is sacred, the penalty for such people is death. This is why all the Gentile nations who at one time or another have “eaten” part of the Jewish people will pay for that with their very existence. The reason the Torah had to repeat here that Avraham had fathered Yitzchak was that there were a number of scoffers who attributed Sarah’s pregnancy to her stay at the palace of Avimelech. G’d arranged for Yitzchak to look extraordinarily like his father Avraham in order to discredit the rumours circulated by these scoffers.
ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק , “and these are the descendants of Yitzchak the son of Avraham; Avraham fathered Yitzchak.” Tanchuma Toldot 6 explains that we find an interesting parallel between Avraham and Yitzchak on one side and David and his son Kilav. When David’s messengers had gone to see Naval and asked for some material assistance, (Samuel I 25,11) the latter replied: “Who is David Who is the son of Yishai? There are many slaves today who run away from their masters....Should I take my water, my bread, and my meat, which I slaughtered for the benefit of my shearers and give it to people whom I do not know whence they have come?” When David heard this he made ready with his men to assault Naval and to take what they wanted. At that point, Avigayil, Naval’s wife, hastened to take 200 loaves of bread, two jars of wine, five dressed sheep, etc., and she told her servants to carry these ahead of her as a gift offering for David and his men. (Avigayil succeeded in persuading David not to act violently against her husband.) The Book of Samuel continues (verse 38) to describe that ten days after this event Naval took sick with a stroke and died. Upon hearing this, David proposed marriage to Avigayil his widow. After Avigayil accepted his proposal, David did not sleep with her for three months in order to avoid the suspicion that any child born to them would be suspected as having been fathered by Avigayil’s first husband. After the three months had passed, David had marital relations with Avigayil and she conceived and gave birth to a son named כלאב, meaning כולו אב “he looked entirely like his father (David),” to preclude anyone thinking that he had been fathered by Naval.
ואלה תולדת אברהם יצחק בן אברהם אברהם. Whereas the Torah when listing Ishmael’s descendants had restricted itself to a brief summary, now when reporting about Yitzchok, the Torah elaborates a great deal more both about Yaakov and about his brother Esau.
אברהם הוליד את יצחק, we are told in Baba Metzia 86 that Yitzchok’s facial features were so similar to those of his father that anyone ever encountering Yitzchok immediately knew that he must be the son of Avraham. The reason that this had been arranged so by G’d was that when someone claims to have become a father in his old age, some people tend to doubt the “father’s” claim, assuming that the woman who had born that child must have been unfaithful to her husband, or that at least the baby now presented as this father’s was in fact a foundling. Yitzchok’s amazing similarity to his father precluded anyone from making such spurious accusations. Another reason that the Torah repeated something which we all knew, i.e. that Avraham had sired Yitzchok, was that Yitzchok possessed the same virtues and wonderful qualities which Avraham excelled in, so that it was clear who must have been his father not only physically, but that the same father also transmitted a spiritual legacy to his son.
AND THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC, ABRAHAM’s SON. Scripture says this of Esau and Jacob, (Ramban’s intent is to teach us that the word toldoth is not to be understood in the broad sense of “generations” but in the more specific sense of “children.” Thus the verse reads, And these are the children of Isaac, namely, Esau and Jacob mentioned further on. Compare Ramban at beginning of Seder Noach.) Isaac’s sons who are mentioned further on. Scripture further mentions the circumstances of their birth. (Thus, in order to explain fully the story of Jacob and Esau, Scripture begins with an account of their genealogy.)
ABRAHAM BEGOT ISAAC. Rashi comments: “Since it was written, Isaac, Abraham’s son, it became necessary for Scripture to say, Abraham begot Isaac, since the scoffers of the generation (Those who did not believe in the Divine Providence that guided Abraham’s destiny.) were saying, ‘It was from Abimelech that Sarah became pregnant.’ Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, formed Isaac’s facial features similar to those of Abraham so that all should say, (“Say.” In our text of Rashi: “testify.”) Abraham begot Isaac.” Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra further says that the meaning of the word holid (begot) is “bring up and raise,” as is the expression, ‘Yuldu’ (were raised) upon Joseph’s knees, (Further, 50:23. The word yuldu there could not mean “were born,” for it would then mean that Joseph’s great grandchildren were actually born upon his knees. It must mean “raised.” Similarly, it means here, “Abraham raised Isaac.”) even as it says, And he sent them away from Isaac his son. (Above, 25:6, referring to the other children that Abraham sent away. Thus it is clear that only Isaac was raised by Abraham.) In my opinion the correct reason [that Scripture states here, Abraham begot Isaac], is that it now reverts and begins the genealogy with the founding father, in consonance with Scriptural custom, which is to revert to the head of the ancestry when dealing with people of distinction. (The Hebrew anshei hama’alah, which literally means “men of elevation,” refers to spiritual or political distinction.) Similarly, it is written in the book of Chronicles, The sons of Shem: Elam and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech. And Arpachshad begot Shelah, and Shelah begot Eber. (I Chronicles 1:17-18.) After Scripture concluded this listing, it began again by saying, Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, (Ibid., Verse 24. This is explained by the fact that Shem is the head of Abraham’s ancestry. Hence Scripture reverts to him in tracing the generations.) until, Abram, the same is Abraham. (Ibid., Verse 27.) So also in the genealogy of Benjamin in the book of Chronicles, Scripture reverts to previous generations and begins, And Ner begot Kish, and Kish begot Saul. (Ibid., 9:39. Saul was king of Israel. Hence Scripture reverts to his founding ancestor.) Here also [the Torah reverts to the founding father and says], Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, as Scripture will soon mention. It is necessary that Scripture return to relate this (“This” refers to the statement, Abraham begot Isaac. For the purpose of indicating Jacob’s distinction it would have been sufficient to mention, And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Merely mentioning Abraham in this connection would have satisfied the Scriptural principle of reverting to the founding father in the case of “people of distinction.” Why then did the Torah continue, Abraham begot Isaac? Ramban proceeds to resolve this difficulty in accordance with Scriptural textual principles as opposed to Rashi, quoted above, who resorted to an Aggadic explanation: “Since the scoffers of the generation were saying etc.”) since it said, And these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Above, 25:12.) Now, had it only said, And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son, it would appear that Scripture equated Ishmael and Isaac with respect to genealogy and distinction, all the more so since it mentioned the firstborn first. (Thus, Ishmael, the firstborn son of Abraham, would seem to be more significant than Isaac since he was referred to in exactly the same manner as Isaac and additionally he was mentioned first. Hence it became necessary to augment Isaac’s distinction by saying, Abraham begot Isaac.) Furthermore it would have been fitting that it begin with Abraham (In other words, instead of saying, And these are the generations of Isaac, it would have been proper that Scripture begin with Abraham, but Scripture had to avoid this for reasons explained further on in the text.) and say, “These are the generations of Abraham.” But Scripture did not wish to do this in order to avoid listing Ishmael and the children of Keturah. (Above, 25:1-4.) It is for this reason that Scripture returns and completes the verse by stating, Abraham begot Isaac, as if to say that it is he [Isaac] alone who is Abraham’s offspring. It is considered as if he [Abraham] did not beget anyone else, just as it says, For in Isaac shall seed be called to thee. (Ibid., 21:12.) It is for this reason that it also says above, And these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bore unto Abraham: (Above, 25:12.) the phrase, whom Hagar, etc., is for the honor of Isaac, as if to say that the genealogy of these generations is not traceable to Abraham, rather they are the children of the handmaid, even as it says, And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation. (Ibid., Verse 13.) Scripture does also similarly in the book of Chronicles. At first it states: The sons of Abraham; Isaac and Ishmael. These are their generations: the first born of Ishmael, Nebaioth. (I Chronicles 1:28-29.) Then it mentions, And the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran. (Ibid., Verse 32.) Now it would have been logical to follow this by saying, “the sons of Isaac,” but instead it reverts and begins: And Abraham begot Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau, and Israel. (Ibid., Verse 32. The repetition, And Abraham begot Isaac, is necessary lest we equate “the sons of Ishmael” with “the sons of Isaac.”)
אברהם הוליד את יצחק, according to the plain meaning of the text this statement was necessary to prevent the wrong impression being created by the previous statement in verse 12 where Ishmael is described merely as having been born by Hagar the Egyptian woman. Here when Avraham’s principal son, Yitzchok is the subject of the paragraph, it was important to repeat who had fathered him. He was the son of Avraham’s true wife, his lifetime companion, and G’d had predicted in Genesis 21,12 that Avraham’s descendants would always be known through his son Yitzchok and his descendants. We have a similar verse in Chronicles I 1,28 describing Yitzchok and Ishmael as Avraham’s sons, [but not in the chronological order of their births, to remind us that the principle of preference for the firstborn was ignored. Ed.] In connection with the sons of Keturah, described as the concubine of Avraham, Chronicles does not even spell out that Avraham fathered Keturah’s sons. In fact, in verse 34 of that chapter in Chronicles, the fact that Avraham fathered Yitzchok is repeated once more, no such repetition being made concerning Ishmael.
ואלה תולדות יצחק AND THESE ARE THE PROGENY OF ISAAC — viz, Jacob and Esau who are spoken of in this section.
אברהם הוליד את יצחק ABRAHAM BEGAT ISAAC — Just because Scripture wrote, “Isaac, son of Abraham” it felt compelled to say “Abraham begat Isaac”, because the cynics of that time said, “Sarah became with child of Abimelech. See how many years she lived with Abraham without becoming with child”. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He shaped Isaac’s facial features exactly similar to those of Abraham’s, so that everyone had to admit that Abraham begat Isaac. This is what is stated here: that Isaac was the son of Abraham, for there is evidence that Abraham begat Isaac (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 1).
Wenn wir bedenken, wie ausführlich im folgenden Verse die Abstammung, Verwandtschaft und Herkunft Rebekkas nochmals vorgeführt wird, so kann uns die Wiederholung der kurzen Notiz: אברהם הוליד את יצחק nicht Wunder nehmen. Diese Verschiedenheit der beiderseitigen Abstammung erscheint als die tiefeingreifende Ursache alles folgenden.
ואלה תולדת יצחק, his biography and his descendants.
אברהם הוליד את יצחק, only Yitzchok is truly called Avraham’s seed.
Yaakov and Eisov who are discussed in this parshah. Meaning: wherever it is written, “And these,” it is a continuation of that which preceded. Just as Avraham fathered a righteous son and a wicked one, so too did Yitzchok father a righteous son and a wicked one.
Because the scoffers of the generations were saying... Re’m writes: The reason that Scripture needed to verify that Yitzchok was Avraham’s son was because [the Torah’s writing of, “And these are the descendants of Yitzchok son of Avraham,”] brought about the scoffers of the generation to claim that Sarah conceived from Avimelech. But Re’m’s reason is not correct. Because if so, let it not write the “and” [which connects it to the preceding narrative.] And let it not write the ה [of אברהם, but rather omit mention of Avraham altogether]. It should say simply, אלה תולדות יצחק, as it says אלה תולדות נח (6:9) and אלה תולדות יעקב (37:2). [This way, Scripture would not elicit the scoffing in the first place.] Rather, Rashi means as follows: Our Parshah discusses Yaakov and Eisov, one of whom was righteous, and the other, wicked. Due to them, our verse needs to offer explanation. So we need not ask why it writes “And these,” and אברהם, because [the answer is:] The scoffers of the generations were already claiming at the time of Yitzchok’s birth [that Sarah conceived] from Avimelech. And now, they found support for their claim! One son [of Yitzchak’s] was righteous like Sarah, and the other, wicked like Avimelech. [They claimed] that both sons would be righteous if they came from Avraham. [Our Parshah is thus connected to an earlier narrative, explaining why it says, “And these.”] This is the reason it was necessary to say, “Yitzchok son of Avraham,” and support it by saying, “Avraham was the father of Yitzchok,” [implying that Yitzchok’s face resembled Avraham’s]. And this is why Rashi concludes by saying: “This is the meaning of what is written here....” It is written here because one son was righteous and the other wicked, [as discussed in our Parshah]. Otherwise, it would be written in another place. (Nachalas Yaakov)
And this is the legacy, the events in the life, of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac.
ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק. “These are the generations of Yitzchok the son of Avraham, Avraham sired Yitzchok.” Rashi explained that the new element the Torah informs us of here, is that Yitzchok’s facial features were almost identical to that of his father Avraham. This was important because it made it impossible for people to claim that Sarah had been impregnated by Avimelech while being kept a prisoner there. Others believe that the reason that the Torah here repeated information we have long been familiar with, is to tell us that Avraham did not only produce Yitzchok physically, but he raised him in his image so that he represented a true continuation of Avraham’s teachings and their impact on his surroundings. This is why people would refer to him primarily as בן אברהם, although he had been named יצחק. Ibn Ezra explains that that the very word הוליד, does not only mean to provide the semen for such a child, but to raise it, educate it, etc. This was also what the Torah had in mind in Genesis 50,23 when the children of Machir, son of Menashe, are described as יולדו על ברכי יוסף, normally translated as “were born on the knees of Joseph.” Surely, what the Torah meant was that Joseph, their grandfather, was still able to become an influence in shaping these children’s character. Nachmanides writes that it is appropriate when speaking of someone’s descendants, to first list his own genealogy. Yichuss, never starts in a vacuum, except with the first man, of course. It is the Torah’s custom, when dealing with people who are of the elite, to list their founding father. The Torah was compelled to do this here in light of having written in 25,12 ואלה תולדות ישמעאל בן אברהם אשר ילדה לו הגר, “these are the generations of Ishmael, son of Avraham, whom Hagar had born for him.” If the Torah had only written:ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, without adding אברהם הוליד את יצחק, we would have equated Yitzchok to Ishmael. As it is, the Torah made plain that we would understand that the only תולדה of Avraham which counts is Yitzchok, and no other biological offspring of Avraham. This is again to remind us that G’d had told Avraham כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, “you will forever be exclusively identified with Yitzchok as your true seed.” 25.20 בקחתו את רבקה, “when he married Rivkah, etc.” Rashi claims that Rivkah was only three years old when she became married to Yitzchok. This is very difficult to accept in view of the fact that the Torah had referred to her repeatedly as נערה, a term used for girls at least 12 years old. This in turn would raise the question why Yitzchok did not divorce Rivkah after she had not born a child after 10 years of marriage, and according to the Talmud Ketuvot 64, in that event a husband should divorce his wife. If so why did Yitzchok even wait for 20 years before he prayed for Rivkah to have children? The Talmud answers the question by explaining that Yitzchok’s situation was unusual in that Rivkah had been biologically unable to have children during the first ten years of her marriage as she had been too young to bear a healthy child. In the Sifri, a sage is quoted giving Rivkah’s age at her marriage as 14 years. Such divergences of opinion between different sages quoted in a Midrash are not unusual, although in this instance that sage has to confront the question why it took Yitzchok 20 years before he prayed for children.
“This is the story of Isaac” [25:19]. These are the births of Isaac. That is to say, the children that will be discussed later in the Torah portion. These are Jacob and Esau. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:19.)
“Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac” [25:19]. Here one asks a question. Why does it have to say that Isaac was the son of Abraham and that Abraham gave birth to Isaac. It is obvious; if he was his son, then he gave birth to him. The explanation is that the verse tells us that people said that Sarah became pregnant through Abimelech and gave birth to Isaac. Because Sarah became pregnant from Abimelech is why Isaac had one son, Jacob, who was righteous and took after Sarah, who was righteous. Esau took after Abimelech, who was an evildoer. That is why in the Torah portion where Esau and Jacob were born, people said that it must be true that Abimelech had slept with Sarah, since half of Isaac took after Sarah and half after Abimelech. That is why his offspring are also half good and half evil. That is why the Holy One caused that the appearance of Isaac was like the appearance of Abraham. Thus, they testified that Abraham had given birth to Isaac. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:19; Devek Tov, Genesis, 25:19, note 1.) Toldot Yizhak asks a question. The custom is that when one has illicit sexual relations with a woman, she is afraid at the time that her husband should not come, and her thoughts are on her husband. The child that she will have with that adulterer will look like her husband. So what did it help that Isaac looked like Abraham? They would say that Sarah slept with Abimelech and that is why Isaac looks like Abraham. This is the custom among those who engage in adultery. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 25:19–26.) However, Devek Tov gives an explanation. A woman who engages in adultery willingly is very worried about her proper husband that he should not come. She thinks about her husband and that is why the child looks like the proper husband. However, Sarah was not afraid, since the whole world knew that she was taken by force to Abimelech. Sarah was not afraid of Abraham since she was taken by force. When Isaac looked like Abraham, they would not say that she had relations, and that is why Isaac looked like Abraham. Sarah did not need to be afraid, since Abraham knew about it. (Devek Tov, Genesis, 25:19, note 1.) Hizkuni writes. “Abraham begot Isaac” [25:19]. That is to say, He called him Abraham with the heh. This was when he circumcised himself and after that time Isaac was born, unlike Ishmael who was born when Abraham was uncircumcised. The verse says that Isaac was worthier, since he was born kosher and not from someone uncircumcised. Toldot Yizhak writes this explicitly. (This explanation is actually found in Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 25:19–26 and not in Hizkuni.)
We see, then, that the hegemony was apportioned to these two twins, each to inherit it at different times. And because of this strong bond between them they were both called "the generations of Isaac," for which reason the parshah opens (Genesis 25:19): "And these are the generations of Isaac…" That is, these two, Jacob and Esau, the subjects of this Parshah, are the generations of Isaac. For though Esau was an evildoer, he is still reckoned as Isaac's son — unlike Ishmael (Genesis [21:10]: "…for the son of this bondwoman will not inherit with my son, Isaac"), who is not accorded the honor of being referred to as "the generations of Abraham," as Isaac is, for which reason it is added "Abraham begot Isaac." The reason for this is that Isaac and Ishmael were not equally beloved of Abraham; but he made Isaac the apple of his eye and bequeathed to him the glory of his wealth, whereas to the sons of the concubines he gave gifts and sent them away form Isaac. After that they had no relationship with Isaac whatsoever and deserved to be forgotten. This was not the case, however, with Jacob and Esau vis-à-vis Isaac — to the point that it was almost Esau who was his favorite son! For both of them were the sons of the noble mistress [Rivkah], attached to each other from birth and conception, and conjoined in kingdom almost forever, as I have explained. For this reason Esau's name cannot be forgotten, though he be an evil-doer, for our fates are so inextricably intertwined. For this reason both of these children are referred to as "the generations of Isaac," and the parshah goes on to describe how their later history is foreshadowed.
"And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son." Rabbi Yosi asks, What has changed? It did not say, "Abraham's son" previously. For although it is written, "Elohim blessed his son Isaac," (Gen. 25:11) Abraham is now dead; the image of Abraham was upon Isaac and stayed with him so that whoever saw Isaac said, "this is surely Abraham," and pronounced that Abraham begat Isaac.
At that time, the Righteous will attain complete knowledge, for as Rabbi Yosi said, When "Hashem rejoices in His works," then the Righteous are destined to grasp the Holy One, blessed be He, in their hearts. And wisdom will abound in their hearts, as if they are seeing Him with their eyes. This is the meaning of the verse: "And it shall be said on that day, this is our Elohim" (Isaiah 25:9). And for their existence together, the soul shall delight in the body more than anything, and that they shall have knowledge and perception of their Master, and shall have the enjoyment of the splendor of the Shechinah. This is the goodness hidden for the Righteous in the future to come. Thus, "And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son," refers to the generations of gladness and laughter that will exist at that time. Abraham's son is the soul worthy of it and is perfect in its ascent; "Abraham begot Isaac," means that the soul sires joy and laughter in the world.
Chapter 37: Torah [1] "These are the generations of Isaac" (Genesis 25:19). This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said across the river, "Come and see how righteous these sons are, they are a great gift. How great was the gift that God gave to Abraham when He said, "I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). And because he had no son, he began to ask God, "How will I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). "What benefit have you given me, seeing I have no children?" (Genesis 15:2). As it says, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless?" (Genesis 15:2). God said to him, "I will give you," as it is said, "I cause those who love me to inherit substance" (Proverbs 8:21), and it is also written, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" (Proverbs 13:22). Therefore, He gave him the great gift of Isaac, as it is said, "And I will give him Isaac" (Joshua 24:3). And why did Abraham ask, "What will you give me?" It was not because he doubted God's ability to provide, but because he was an astrologer and saw that he would not have children, neither he nor Sarah, and all the astrologers agreed. He asked God, "Is it possible for me to have children?" because even though everyone said it was impossible, he didn't believe it until he saw for himself in the stars. God said to him, "Stop looking at these things and leave this state of mind," as it is said, "And He brought him forth abroad" (Genesis 15:5). When they told Abraham that he would not have children and Sarah would not give birth, as it is written, "And Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children" (Genesis 16:1), he asked, "When will you give me children?" And God said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but Abraham," as it is written, "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham" (Genesis 17:5). God said to him, "Abram cannot have children, but Abraham can," and Sarah gave birth, as it is written, "And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son" (Genesis 21:2). Therefore, it is said, "These are the generations of Isaac."
And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day that God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai (Numbers 3:1). Anyone with whom the Omnipresent engages to establish a nation or a family tree from him, the Omnipresent would also engage with him to write generations in his regard, as you find twelve instances of generations in the verses. The first: “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 2:4); “this is the book of the generations of Adam” (Genesis 5:1); “these are the generations of Noah” (Genesis 6:9); “these are the generations of the sons of Noah” (Genesis 10:1): “these are the generations of Shem” (Genesis 11:10); “these are the generations of Teraḥ” (Genesis 11:27); “these are the generations of Ishmael” (Genesis 25:12); “Isaac” (Genesis 25:19); “Esau” (Genesis 36:1); “Jacob” (Genesis 37:2). These are ten generations with which the Holy One blessed be He engaged to create the world and to establish nations. And there are two people that the Omnipresent wrote their generationst, one for the royal dynasty and one for the priestly dynasty: “These are the generations of Peretz” (Ruth 4:18), to establish the royal dynasty from him, and “these are the generations of Aaron and Moses"(Numbers 3:1), for the priestly dynasty.
“This is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac” (Genesis 25:19). “This is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son.” “The father of the righteous will exult with happiness [gil yagil], and the begetter of the wise will rejoice in him” (Proverbs 23:24) – happiness [gila] after happiness when the righteous one is born. “It was in the days of Aḥaz…” (Isaiah 7:1) – Rabbi Hoshaya said: The ministering angels said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, woe that Aḥaz reigned.’ (Ahaz was a wicked king. See II Kings 16:1–4.) He said to them: ‘He is Yotam’s son. His father was righteous, and I cannot extend my hand against him.’ “And the begetter of the wise will rejoice in him” – Rabbi Levi said: From where do you say that anyone who has a son who diligently engages in Torah, that he becomes filled with mercy upon him? The verse states: “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will rejoice” (Proverbs 23:15). Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: I have derived only the heart of his flesh and blood father, from where is it derived that even the Holy One blessed be He becomes filled with mercy upon him when he diligently engages in Torah? The verse states: “My heart too (The midrash is explaining that the verse says "too" as a reference to God, who rejoices with him.) will rejoice.” Happiness after happiness – when he is a righteous one, son of a righteous one; “this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son.”
“The crown of elders is grandchildren” (Proverbs 17:6). The fathers are the crown of their children, and the children are the crown of their fathers. The fathers are the crown of their children, as it is stated: “And the glory of children is their fathers” (Proverbs 17:6). And the children are the crown of their fathers, as it is written: “The crown of elders is grandchildren.” Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak said: Abraham was rescued from the fiery furnace due only to the merit of Jacob. This is analogous to one who had a judgment before the governor, and his sentence, issued by the governor, was that he was to be burned. That governor foresaw through astrology that he [the defendant] was destined to beget a daughter and she would marry the king. He said: ‘He is worthy to be spared due to the merit of his daughter that he is destined to beget, and she will marry the king.’ So, Abraham, his sentence issued by Nimrod was that he was to be burned. The Holy One blessed be He foresaw that Jacob was destined to emerge from him. He said: ‘Abraham is worthy of being spared due to the merit of Jacob.’ That is what is written: “Therefore, so says the Lord to the house of Jacob, who redeemed Abraham…” (Isaiah 29:22). (The order of the Hebrew words allows for "who" to be interpreted as referring to Jacob.) Alternatively, “the crown of elders is grandchildren” – “this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son.”
Abram was called Abraham. Isaac was called Abraham, as it is stated: “This is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son; Abraham.” Jacob was called Israel, as it is written: “He said: No longer will Jacob be said to be your name, but rather, Israel” (Genesis 32:29). Isaac was called Israel, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob [et Yaakov]” (Exodus 1:1). (The midrash interprets the verse as saying that Jacob is included in “the children of Israel.” If so, Israel in this verse is Isaac.) Abraham was called Israel. Rabbi Natan said: It is a profound matter. “The dwelling of the children of Israel that they dwelled in Egypt” (Exodus 12:40), in the land of Canaan, and in the land of Goshen “was four hundred and thirty years” (Exodus 12:40). (The total starts from the Covenant of the Pieces, which God made with Abraham before Isaac was born, and the Torah refers to it as: “The dwelling of the children of Israel.”)
(Gen. 18, 12) After I am waxed old, etc. R. Chisda said: "After her body was wrinkled, and the folds increased, the body was again smooth, the wrinkles of age were straightened out, and beauty returned once more." It is written (Ib) My lord being old. And further it is written: I am old. Hence, the Holy One, praised be He! did not refer to Abraham, when he said this. Regarding this the disciples of R. Ishmael said: "So great is peace, that even the Holy One, praised be He! changed her words for the purpose of peace, as it is said: She said my lord is old. And it is further written: And the Lord said unto Abraham… since I am old." Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should suckle her children? (Ib.) How many children did Sarah suckle? R. Levi said: "That day on which Abraham weaned Isaac, he made a great banquet; and his neighbors of all nations murmured, saying: 'Behold, an old man and an old woman took a child from the market, proclaiming him for their own son. And this is not enough for them, but they are giving banquets, to convince the people that it is as they say.' What did our father Abraham do? He proceeded to invite all the great men of his generation, and Sarah our mother, invited their wives, and everyone of them brought her child along, but without their nurses, and a miracle occured to Sarah, that her breasts opened like two springs, and she nursed all the children there. But it was still murmured and said: 'As Sarah was ninety years old, it is possible that she had borne a child; but Abraham, who is over a hundred years, how is it possible that he should be able to beget children?' Then the face of Isaac at once changed, and resembled the face of Abraham, so that everyone proclaimed: 'Abraham begot Isaac' "
Similarly, (Genesis 29:19) "And he called the name of the place Beth-El." The first name was superseded by the second.
(Gen. 25:19:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM. (Except for most of the last section (# 24), Toledot is not found in Buber’s Oxford MS. Buber has filled in the gap mostly from Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34.) This text is related (to Prov. 17:6): GRANDCHILDREN ARE A CROWN FOR ELDERS, AND THE GLORY OF CHILDREN IS THEIR PARENTS. (Cf. Gen. R. 63:2; Tanh., Gen. 6:4.) Who caused Abraham to be magnified? Jacob, as stated (in Is. 29:22): THUS SAYS THE LORD UNTO THE HOUSE OF JACOB, WHICH REDEEMED ABRAHAM. Why? Because, if one is meritorious as a Torah scholar together with his son and his grandson, it will never again be cut off from him. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 4:9f.): AND MAKE THEM (the statutes and ordinances) KNOWN TO YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN AS ON THE DAY THAT YOU STOOD < BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD AT HOREB >. Just as the gift of < the > Torah did not become cease on the day it was given; so for one who teaches his son and his grandson Torah, it shall never again depart from him. And so it was when the Holy One saw Abraham was busy with the Torah. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE < AND KEPT MY CHARGE: MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY LAWS >. It is also written (above, in 18:19): FOR I HAVE KNOWN HIM. Then Jacob arose up and did not move from the Torah, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN WHO SAT IN THE TENTS (i.e., in the academies). (For this interpretation, see Gen. R. 63:10; Targum Onqelos, Gen. 25:27; PRK 5:7.) What stipulation did the Holy One make with them? (According to Josh. 1:8:) < THIS > BOOK OF THE LAW SHALL NOT DEPART < FROM YOUR MOUTH >…. It is also written (in Prov. 10:1): A WISE SON SHALL MAKE A FATHER GLAD. This is Isaac, since it is stated (in Gen. 21:12): FOR IN ISAAC SHALL YOUR SEED BE NAMED. (Prov. 10:1, cont.:) BUT A FOOLISH SON. This is Ishmael. Thus it is written (in Gen. 25:12): NOW THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISHMAEL BEN ABRAHAM. There are children who suffer disgrace through their parents. Josiah suffered disgrace through his father, as stated (in II Chron. 33:23): FOR AMON INCURRED A LOT OF GUILT. Hezekiah suffered disgrace through < his father > Ahaz, as stated (in Is. 8:16): BIND UP THE TESTIMONY. (According to Gen. R. 42:3; Lev. R. 11:7; Ruth R., proem 7; and Esther R., proem 11, this verse alludes to Ahaz, who had seized (ahaz) the synagogues and the academies.) There are also parents who suffer disgrace through their children. Eli suffered disgrace through his sons, [as stated (in I Sam. 2:12): NOW ELI'S SONS WERE SCOUNDRELS. And Samuel also suffered disgrace through his sons], as stated (in I Sam. 8:3): BUT HIS SONS DID NOT WALK IN HIS WAYS. It did not, however, turn out in this way for Abraham. Instead he was magnified through Isaac, as stated (in Gen. 25:19, cont.): ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC. Did he sire no one but Isaac? Now look, it is written {(in Gen. 25:19): THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISHMAEL.} [(in Gen. 16:15): SO HAGAR BORE A SON TO ABRAM.] And in addition < there are > the sons of Keturah: Zimran and Jokshan, < etc. > (cf. Gen. 25:2). But it does not say that Abraham sired anyone but Isaac, simply because Isaac was righteous. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 25:19): ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC.
[(Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN]… < AND GOD SAID TO HIM: I AM GOD ALMIGHTY >. This text is related (to … Ps. 61:6 [5]): FOR YOU, O GOD, HAVE HEARKENED TO MY VOWS; < YOU HAVE GRANTED THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO FEAR YOUR NAME >. Isaac had a face with a visage like < that of > his father. (Gk.: prosopon. On Isaac’s face being like that of Abraham, see Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 25:19; BM 87a.) (Gen. 25:19:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM: ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC. What is the meaning of ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC? That he had a face with a visage like that of his father. Ergo (in Ps. 61:6 [5]): YOU HAVE GRANTED THE HERITAGE OF THOSE WHO FEAR YOUR NAME. (According to BM 87a, Isaac’s visage miraculously became like that of Abraham and thereby demonstrated his paternity, i.e., that Isaac had a heritage.) Just as Abraham had the Holy One speak with him at the age of ninety-nine years (in Gen. 17:1), so did Jacob have the Holy One speak with him at the age of ninety-nine years. Just as Abraham had the Holy One say to him (in Gen. 17:1): I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY; (These last four words are not found in the Masoretic Text.) so did JACOB have him speak with him as God Almighty. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN … < AND GOD SAID TO HIM >: [I AM GOD ALMIGHTY); BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY.
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses (Exod. 39:32). It is written elsewhere in reference to the verse: He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous; but with kings upon the throne He setteth them forever, and they are exalted (Job 36:7). What does this verse signify? That the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deny the righteous man the realization of his plans. Therefore He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous. You may know this to be so from Abraham, who begot Isaac, who resembled him closely, as it is said: These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). And Jacob begot Joseph, who resembled him, as is said: These are the generation of Jacob: Joseph (ibid. 37:2). Reuben, Simeon, et al., are not mentioned here but only Joseph. It says also: Because he was the son of his old age (ibid., v. 3). (Word-play on zikunim (“old age”) and kunim (“features”).) Hence, He draweth not His eyes from the righteous.
And he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Prov. 13:24). This alludes to Abraham, who punished Isaac, taught him the law, and guided him in his ways, as it is written of him: Because that Abraham harkened to My voice, and kept My charge (Gen. 26:5). And it is also written elsewhere: And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (ibid. 25:19). This teaches us that he resembled his father in every respect; in beauty, wisdom, strength, riches, and (the performance of) good deeds. You know this to be so from the fact that though Isaac, at the time of the sacrifice, was thirty-seven years of age, and Abraham was an old man, yet he bound him and tied him as though he were a sheep, and Isaac did not resist. Scripture states: And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac, but unto the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts (ibid., v. 5); that is to say, he distanced them from Isaac (so that he would have undisputed possession of the land). Hence, And he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son (Gen. 25:19). May it please our master to teach us why peace-offerings (sacrifices) were instituted? (There are three kinds of peace-offerings: the thanks offering, in gratitude for blessings received; the votive offering, upon making a vow; and the free-will offering, as an act of piety.) R. Hiyya the son of Abba taught in the name of R. Judah: They were instituted because anyone who brings a peace-offering brings peace to the world.
Come and observe the importance of peace: Between the time that Sarah left the control of Pharaoh and when she came under the authority of Abimelech, Isaac was conceived. Whereupon people asserted: “It is hardly likely that this centenarian could father a son, she must have conceived either from Pharaoh or Abimelech.” In fact, Abraham also had some misgivings. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He ordered the angel responsible for the formation of embryos to fashion this embryo in the exact likeness of his father, so that everyone would be forced to acknowledge that he was Abraham’s son. We know that this was so from the verse These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). Since the verse states Isaac, Abraham’s son, could we not know from those words that Abraham begot Isaac? Why then does Scripture add the words Abraham begot Isaac? Because everyone who looked at Abraham would exclaim: “Without doubt Abraham begot Isaac, since their countenances are so much alike.” Hence Scripture says: Abraham begot Isaac.
These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him (Prov. 23:24). Concerning whom did Solomon make this statement? He said it about Isaac. When Isaac was born, the entire universe rejoiced; the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars and the planets. Why did they rejoice? Because the world would not have survived had Isaac not been born, as it is said: If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinance of heaven and earth (Jer. 33:25). My covenant refers to Isaac, as it is said: I will establish My covenant with Isaac (Gen. 17:21).
These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). Why does Scripture repeat itself by adding: Abraham begot Isaac? There were some men who whispered among themselves: “It is impossible that this centenarian and this woman of ninety gave birth to a son. This cannot be her offspring, she must have purchased him in the marketplace.” Hence, you find that when Isaac was weaned, Abraham arranged a banquet to which he invited the influential men of the government, while Sarah invited their wives. What did the women do? They said to each other: “Now we shall be able to prove whether or not he is actually her son.” Each of them brought her own son along but neglected to bring the child’s nurse. Soon, the children began to cry and the mothers exclaimed: “I have forgotten to bring the child’s nurse.” Whereupon, milk began to flow from Sarah’s breast, and she took the children and nursed them, as it is said: That Sarah should give children suck (Gen. 21:7). Then they all proclaimed: “In truth, Sarah gives children suck.” Hence it is said: Abraham begot Isaac.
These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). It is written in Scripture: No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their due reward from Me, saith the Lord (Isa. 54:17). You find that Israel cried unto the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, observe how the idolatrous nations persecute us, they do nothing but sit and conspire against us, as it is said: Behold Thou their sitting down and their rising up; I am their deliverer (Lam. 3:63). The Holy One, blessed be He, responded: To what avail are their conspiracies against you? I will void their decisions and destroy them, as it is said: I am their deliverer, and it is elsewhere written: Blessed be God the Most High, who delivered thine enemies into thine hands (Gen. 14:20).
Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). R. Isaac stated; No generation lacks scoffers. While Nabal was shearing his flock, David sent some of his young men to him with the request: Give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David (I Sam. 25:8). But Nabal retorted: Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master; shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men of whom I know not whence they are? (ibid., vv. 10–11). When David’s men returned and repeated Nabal’s words, he armed himself and his soldiers, and with their weapons started out to destroy Nabal. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying: “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; but he hath spoken rudely to them” (ibid., v. 14). As soon as she heard what had transpired, she prepared a gift which she took to David, as it is said: Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of corn … and she said unto her men: “Go on before me; I come after you.” But she told not her husband Nabal (ibid., vv. 18–19). Later on Scripture states: And it came to pass about ten days later, that the Lord smote Nabal so that he died…. and David sent and spoke unto Abigail to take her to him to wife (ibid. 38:39). After he had her brought to him, David stayed apart from her for three months to determine whether or not she had conceived with Nabal. After the third month, David had intercourse with her and she became pregnant. The scoffers in that generation asserted that she had actually conceived from Nabal. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He ordered the angel in charge of the formation of embryos to fashion that embryo in the likeness of its father so that everyone would be forced to acknowledge that David was the father. We know that this is so from the verse And his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and his second, Chileab, of Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite (II Sam. 3:2). Why does Scripture call him Chileab (khilav)? Because he was completely like his father (kulo av), and everyone who saw him said: “David is this child’s father.”
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
Another matter, “these are [ve’eleh] the ordinances,” Rabbi Abahu said: Every place where ve’eleh is written, it adds to the previous matter, and every place that eleh is written it rejects the previous matter. How so? “This is [eleh] the legacy of the heavens and the earth on the day that they were created” (Genesis 2:4). What did it reject? He had been creating heavens and earth and examining them. They were not pleasing to Him, and He would restore them to emptiness and disorder. When He saw this heavens and earth, they were pleasing to Him. He said: “This is the legacy of the heavens and the earth,” but what came before was not a legacy. Similarly, “this is [eleh] the legacy of Noah” (Genesis 6:9). What did it reject? It rejected the generation of Enosh, the generation of the Flood, and Keinan and his counterparts. Therefore it says: “The sons of Yefet, Gomer and Magog” (Genesis 10:2). (The Torah enters into great detail when enumerating the descendants of Noah, but not with the preceding generations.) Similarly, “this is [ve’eleh] the legacy of Ishmael son of Abraham” (Genesis 25:12), adds to the previous matter. Who are they? What is written beforehand, as it is stated: “She bore him (Ketura bore for Abraham.) Zimran and Yokshan” (Genesis 25:2). Here, too, “this is [ve’eleh] the legacy of Ishmael son of Abraham…the firstborn of Ishmael is Nevayot” (Genesis 25:12–13). They were wicked like them. (The sons of Ishmael were wicked like the sons of Ketura. ) Similarly, “this is [ve’eleh] the legacy [toledot] of Isaac son of Abraham” (Genesis 25:19) adds to the previous matter, to what was written beforehand: “The sons of Ishmael” (Genesis 25:16). Who was it? It was Esau and his sons, for he was a son of Isaac. If so, it may be said that since only “this is [ve’eleh] the legacy” is written, Jacob, too, who was part of the legacy of Isaac, is included with Esau? You find that every [time the word] toledot appears in the Bible it is written defectively, (It is written without a vav between the tav and lamed or without a vav between the dalet and the tav.) except for: “This is the legacy [toledot] of the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 2:4), and “this is the legacy [toledot] of Peretz” (Ruth 4:18). And there is a compelling reason why it says: “This is the legacy [toledot] of the heavens and the earth” in full. It is because the Holy One blessed be He created His world and there was no angel of death in the world. That is why it is complete. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Holy One blessed be He minimized all the toledot in the Bible. When Peretz arose, his toledot became full, because the Messiah will emerge from him, in whose days the Holy One blessed be He will eliminate death, as it is stated: “He will eliminate death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). That is the reason that toledot of the heavens and earth and toledot of Peretz are full. This is the reason that toledot of Isaac is defective, to exclude Jacob from the category of the wicked. (The Messiah can also be traced back to Jacob, and therefore the word toledot should have been written regarding Isaac with the vav. It is written without the vav as an indication that it is referring only to Esau and not to Jacob. ) Similarly, “this is [eleh] the legacy of Jacob” (Genesis 37:2), it rejected the chieftains of Esau. Similarly, “these are [ve’eleh] the names of the children of Israel” (Exodus 1:1), adds to the previous matter. Who were they? Those who were written beforehand: The children of Reuben and the children of Simeon. (This is a reference to the listing of the descendants of Jacob who came down to Egypt (see Genesis 46:8–27). ) Similarly, “this is [ve’eleh] the legacy of Aaron” (Numbers 3:1) adds to the previous matter. Who were they? Those who were written beforehand: “These are the counted, that Moses and Aaron…counted” (Numbers 1:44). Just like those beforehand were righteous, so, too, these were righteous. (Although the verses regarding Aaron proceed to list Nadav and Avihu, who were killed due to the offering of a strange fire before God (see Numbers 3:2–4), on the whole they were still considered righteous. ) Here, too, “these are [ve’eleh] the ordinances” adds to the previous matter, that which was written beforehand: “There He instituted for it statutes and ordinances” (Exodus 15:25). Another matter, “these are [ve’eleh] the ordinances.” What is written before this portion? “They shall judge the people at all times” (Exodus 18:22). And it says here: “These are the ordinances,” and the [Ten] Commandments are in the middle. This is analogous to a noblewoman who was walking, an armed guard on this side and an armed guard on that side, and she was in the middle. So, too, the [giving of the] Torah had justice before it and justice after it and it was in the middle. Likewise it says: “I walk on the path of righteousness” (Proverbs 8:20). The Torah says: In which path do I walk? I will walk in the path of those who perform righteousness. “In the midst of the paths of justice” (Proverbs 8:20), the Torah in the middle and justice before it and after it; before it, as it is stated: “There He instituted for it statutes and ordinances,” justice after it, as it is stated: “These are the ordinances.”
How pleasant is the Musar of Love. Anyone whom Hashem loves, God brings down upon them suffering. You find three good gifts that God gave to Israel; and they were only given by way of suffering. These are them: Torah, the Land of Israel, and the World to Come.
The fact that Isaac's features reflected those of his father Abraham is pointed out by Rashi on Genesis 25,19. Rebeccah's features were like those of Sarah, as the Zohar points out on Genesis 24,67: ויביאה יצחק האהלה שרה אמו, "Isaac brought her (Rebeccah) into the tent of his mother Sarah." Rabbi Yossi questioned why the Torah did not say לאהל שרה אמו. He explains that the letter ה at the beginning of a word indicates that this was a special tent, the one that contained the Presence of the שכינה. As long as Sarah had been alive, G–d's Presence had never departed from that tent; Sarah had kept a light burning from one Sabbath Eve to the next. This light went out when Sarah died. Now that Rebeccah entered, it began burning again. The reason that the verse mentions Sarah by name, [after all we all know that Isaac's mother was Sarah! Ed.] is to tell us that Rebeccah was like Sarah in all respects. Rabbi Yehudah adds that just as Isaac's features resembled those of his father so much that he was frequently mistaken for Abraham, so Rebeccah's features resembled those of Sarah to such an amazing degree that this had to be emphasized. The Torah points out that Isaac was comforted so as to show us that this was because he had found such a perfect replacement for his mother. The Torah deliberately avoids saying that Isaac was consoled over Sarah's death, but mentions only אחרי אמו, to show that he found continuity. Thus far the Zohar.
The cynics of the time were saying, “Sarah became pregnant through Avimelekh. See how many years she lived with Abraham without being able to have a child by him.” What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He made Isaac’s facial features exactly resemble those of Abraham, so that everyone had to admit that Abraham begat Isaac. This is what is meant by the words “Abraham begat Isaac” – there was clear evidence that Abraham was Isaac’s father. (.Rashi to Bereshit 25:19, on the basis of Bava Metzia 87a.)
You have to appreciate that in the period under discussion [prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai in which all the holy souls participated Ed.] the holy souls had not yet been separated from the regions in which they were imprisoned. Seeing that Abraham's family was recognised as a region where holiness had found a foothold, both he and Sarah being the first proselytes, anyone who would subsequently convert to Judaism would be called either Abraham if a male or Sarah if a female. It is a fact that holy members of a holy species look for other members of the same species. Abraham was still incomplete in this regard as neither he nor his son Isaac had as yet produced female offspring, i.e. holy female souls. Perhaps this is even the reason that we are told in Genesis 25,19: "Abraham begat Isaac," to remind us that he had succeeded only in producing a holy male soul. This situation still existed when Isaac sent out Jacob to secure a wife. The holy female souls had not yet been separated from their place of imprisonment. Isaac therefore had to send Jacob to search for his lost mate, i.e. the girl in whose body such a holy soul was imprisoned.
ספר תולדות אדם, “the book relating the descendants of man.” According to Nachmanides this is an allusion to the entire Torah which is perceived as the ספר תולדות אדם. If it were not so, the Torah should not have used the expression ספר, “book,” but should simply have written אלה תולדות אדם, just as we find in Genesis 25,12 when the descendants of Ishmael are enumerated, or in Genesis 25,19 where the descendants of Yitzchak are listed. Maybe the meaning of the word ספר in this instance is חכמה, “wisdom,” just as we find it in the ספר יצירה where the expression is ספר וספור as we already mentioned on a previous occasion. The “wisdom” referred to is not ordinary human wisdom but celestial wisdom, a wisdom which would have been man’s had he not sinned. The thrust of our verse then would be: “this book contains the wisdom which should have been an integral part of every human being.” The true descendants of man are not his biological children but his accomplishments in the field of Torah knowledge. The tasks that need to be performed on earth which require a human population could be carried out by someone other than man if need be. This is what Ben Azzai had in mind when he explained that he would not preoccupy himself with marrying and begetting children as his longing was concentrated solely on Torah (Yevamot 63). The complete verse therefore means: “for this book which represents the celestial wisdom, something that ought to belong to every human being seeing he had been created בדמות אלוקים עשה אותו, in the likeness of G’d He made him on the very day that G’d created man.” You will now understand why the Torah saw fit to mention the word אדם twice in this verse.
This is the mystical meaning of: “Abraham begot Isaac” [Genesis 25:19]. When Isaac found the Divine Presence in a state of utter wholeness and fullness from the light of Ḥesed, by means of Abraham’s rectifications, he sensed the deficiency in the Divine Presence, that it was still unfit to receive all that is included in the intent for the Creation, as stated. He therefore went and rectified it into a receptacle, so that it would be fit to receive all the perfection that was desired and incorporated in the intent for the Creation. That is, he awakened the desire to receive from Him as well, but only in the form of a receiving in order to give. This means that one has a great desire to receive, but only because the Giver wishes it to be so. Had the Giver not wished for this, there would be no desire in [the receiver] whatsoever to receive from Him.
The book of Genesis falls naturally into four large sections. The first, usually termed the “Primeval History” (Chaps, 11–11), begins with creation and progresses through the early generations of humanity, ending in Mesopotamia. The second (Chaps. 12 through 25:18) is the cycle of stories concerning Avraham, the father of the people of Israel. Part III (Gen. 25:19 through Chap. 36) deals in the main with stories about his grandson Yaakov. The final section (Chaps. 37–50) is the tale of Yosef and of how the Children of Israel came to live in Egypt (thus paving the way for the book of Exodus).
What did Abraham, our forefather, do? He went and invited all of the great men of that generation, and Sarah, our foremother, invited their wives. Each and every one of the wives brought her child with her but did not bring her wet nurse. And a miracle occurred to Sarah, our foremother, and her breasts were opened like two springs, and she nursed all of these children. And still those people were gossiping and saying to each other: Even if Sarah, at ninety years of age, can give birth, can Abraham, at one hundred years of age, father a child? Immediately, the countenance of Isaac’s face transformed and appeared exactly like that of Abraham. Everyone exclaimed and said: “Abraham fathered Isaac” (Genesis 25:19).
The Gemara relates: And on another occasion, the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Keturah came to judgment with the Jewish people before Alexander of Macedon. They said to the Jewish people before Alexander: The land of Canaan is both ours and yours, as it is written: “And these are the generations of Ishmael, son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore unto Abraham” (Genesis 25:12), and it is written: “And these are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham” (Genesis 25:19). Therefore, the land should be divided between Abraham’s heirs.
And these are the descendants of Yitzchok son of Avraham. Avraham was the father of Yitzchok.
These are the generations of Izhak bar Abraham. And because the appearance of Izhak resembled the appearance of Abraham, the sons of men said, In truth Abraham begat Izhak.
| וַיְהִ֤י יִצְחָק֙ בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּקַחְתּ֣וֹ אֶת־רִבְקָ֗ה בַּת־בְּתוּאֵל֙ הָֽאֲרַמִּ֔י מִפַּדַּ֖ן אֲרָ֑ם אֲח֛וֹת לָבָ֥ן הָאֲרַמִּ֖י ל֥וֹ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | 20 P | Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. |
ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה, Rashi’s comment on this apparently historically irrelevant detail, is that the Torah informed us that Yitzchok, after marrying Rivkah, waited for three years until she was old enough to engage in intercourse and become pregnant. (14 years old) [In his commentary on Genesis 24,16, item 91 Rabbi Kasher in his Torah Shleymah, deals at length with the conflicting opinions about Rivkah’s age at marriage. Sifri on Deuteronomy 34,7 claims that Rivkah lived to the age of 133 years, same age as that of Kehat, son of Levi. Our author calculates that if Rivkah had only been 3 years at the time when she was married that calculation would be wrong by eleven years. He proceeds to give details tracing the various ages of our patriarchs and matriarchs down to the birth of Kehat. He also understands the Midrash according to which Avraham heard about the fact that Betuel had fathered Rivkah as not meaning that this had occurred at the same time as the akeydah, but that Avraham had belatedly heard about this. As proof that Rivkah could not have been only 3 years old when Eliezrer met her, he cites the fact that her brother and mother refer to her as a נערה, a term never applied to someone younger than 12 and a half years of age. The well known traditional historic text known as seder olam in its first chapter, also writes that when Avraham returned from the Akeydah he was told that Rivkah had been born. The meaning of that Midrash was that she had been born some time ago. Another proof that she was of age is that we have an iron clad rule that parents must not marry off a girl who has already reached puberty unless she has been asked and given her consent.] The fact that in our chapter Rivkah’s family proceeds to ask for her consent proves that without it the parents could not have married her off.
מפדן ארם, according to Rashi, this is identical with the region elsewhere described as שדה ארם, (Hoseah 12,13 also sometimes described as שדה פדן. In Arabic it appears as פדן שדה. Yaakov is described in Hoseah 12,13 has having fled from .שדה ארם
אחות לבן הארמי, the sister of Lavan from Aram. It is the custom of the Torah to describe the elder brother of a girl/woman as someone’s ancestry. Compare: מרים אחות אהרן, “Miriam, Aaron’s sister” (Exodus 15,12) or מחלת אחות נביות, “Machalat, Nevayot’s sister.” (Genesis 28,15)
ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה, Yitzchok was forty years old, etc.” According to Rashi, the forty year old Yitzchok married a three year old Rivkah. This is difficult as we have learned from the Sifri that there were three people who reached the same age, i.e. Kehat, Ben Azzai and Rivkah, and the Torah stated that Kehat died at the age of one hundred and thirty three. (Exodus 6,18.) If this were correct she must have been eleven years older than three when she married Yitzchok. [There is no Sifri on the Book of Genesis, but the Midrash hagadol, which originated in Yemen, also claims that Rivkah was 14 years old when she married Yitzchok. Ed.] Rashi’s calculation goes as follows: Rivkah was married at 3 years, and was 23 years old when she gave birth to Esau and Yaakov. Yaakov was 63 years old when he fled to Padan Aram as Rashi explains at the end of this portion. He then spent 14 years in the academy headed by Ever, great grandson of Noach. After that he worked 20 years for his uncle Lavan. He spent 2 years on his return journey home during which time he was informed by Rivkah’s nursemaid that his mother had died, as Rashi explains at the end of parshat Vayishlach, in connection with the burial of that nursemaid called Devorah, and the naming of an oak tree after her. According to this calculation, Rivkah could not have lived to an age older than 123 years. This is also the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah according to whom Rivkah must have been 14 years old when she got married. If you accept that view, Rivkah died at the age of 133. According to this calculation, what we read in seder olam, chapter 1, that Avraham was informed about the birth of Rivkah while on the way home from the binding of Yitzchok, she must have been 11 years old already at that time. This is what bothered Rabbi Moshe Shlomoh ben Avraham known by the acrostic אנסימא"ן, when discussing that a virgin is given 12 month between betrothal and consummation of the marriage (Talmud tractate Ketuvot, folio 57) The Talmud there derives this from the words in our portion, when Rivkah’s family demanded 12 months delay from Eliezer before Rivkah going with him. If Rivkah had been 14 years old already, she would have been considered an adult, and her father would not have had the right to tell her what to do (unless she still continued to live in his house) The Talmud there gives a girl who is over twelve and a half years old at betrothal only thirty days before becoming wed to her fiance, just as the length of time required before a widow can remarry. Our author leaves the question open, not having heard how to reconcile these data to the satisfaction of all scholars.
OF PADDAN. Paddan means a field. It has the same meaning in Arabic. (Similarly Rashi.)
THE SISTER OF LABAN. Laban is mentioned because he was better known and more revered than her father. Elisheba…the sister of Nahshon (Ex. 6:23), is similar.
ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה, When Isaac was forty years old, etc. The reason the Torah reports the age at which Isaac married, something that we were not told concerning Abraham, is in order to to explain why Isaac married so late. The words בקחתו את רבקה, explain that he had to wait that long in order to marry this particular girl. The words: "לו לאשה" "for him as a wife," spell out that only this woman could have fulfilled the role of becoming Isaac's wife. Prior to Rebeccah's birth no בת זוג, suitable potential wife, had existed for Isaac. We have explained in the last פרשה that Rebeccah was very young, having only been born when Isaac lay bound on the altar (at the age of 37) and thus became capable of fathering issue. Under the circumstances no criticism can be levelled at Isaac for not getting married earlier. Rebeccah was only three years old when Isaac married her.
בת בתואל הארמי…אחות לבן, the daughter of Bethuel from Aram,..sister of Laban. The Torah does not repeat this information in order to remind us who Rebeccah was but in order to defend Rebeccah against possible accusations. Inasmuch as the Torah tells us in the next verse that G'd responded to Isaac's prayer (though both of them prayed simultaneously), someone might have concluded that Rebeccah did not merit that her prayer should be answered by G'd; the Torah explains therefore that the only reason G'd did not respond to her prayer at the time was the fact that her father was the wicked Bethuel. Repeating the information that this Bethuel was an ארמי, is an allusion to the other way of spelling these letters, i.e. רמאי, swindler. The Torah deliberately did not mention the town Bethuel lived in in order to have a chance to allude to the fact that the man was a swindler.
The reason that the Torah again mentions that Rebeccah was a sister of Laban, something we already knew from the encounter of Eliezer and Laban at the well, is in order explain why such a fine woman gave birth to the wicked Esau. Having both a father who was a swindler and a brother who was a master swindler in her background, the marvel was Rebeccah's innocence, not the fact that one of her sons might turn out to be wicked. Baba Batra 110 already remarks that most sons turn out to have a character resembling that of their mother's brothers. The Torah attests that Rebeccah herself was an absolutely righteous woman when Isaac her husband is described as praying in the presence of his wife. Should you ask why Isaac did not examine Rebeccah's brother's character before he decided to marry her, we have already answered that she was the only woman who was his בת זוג, divinely appointed to become his wife. Had this not been so Isaac would never have married the sister of a wicked person such as Laban.
The words אחות לבן also allude to the reason that Rebeccah was barren for so many years. According to Bereshit Rabbah 60,13 this was in order that her fertility could not be credited to the blessings bestowed upon her by her brother Laban in 24,60. The Torah therefore alludes to the cause of barrenness before mentioning the fact that she could not conceive. It was because she was Laban's sister that she needed to wait to conceive until her husband's prayer.
ויהי יצחק, the verse tells us that G’d intervened benevolently in Yitzchok‘s life just as He had done in the life of his father; Rivkah too was barren, unable to conceive children unless through a miracle. The fact is proven when we consider that Yitzchok married her at 40 and until he was sixty he could not father a child. G’d had deliberately intervened in the bodies of our matriarchs in order to demonstrate to the nations of the world that He loved Avraham and Yitzchok and therefore He performed miracles to enable their wives to bear children for them. Our sages in Yevamot 64 conclude from the above that G’d so looked forward to the prayers of the patriarchs that He quasi provoked them into praying for the gift of children.
מפדן ארם, from the fields of Aram. Padan Aram is referred to as the field of Aram in Hoseah 12,13. Also in Arabic, the place is known as “the field of Padan.” Alternatively, according to Bab Kama 96, it is possible that the word פדן describes a pair of something, such as a pair of oxen being referred to in the Talmud as פדנא דתורי. There were two countries [according to our author. Ed.] both of which straddle the river Euphrates, one being Aram Tzova, the other Aram Naharayim. This is why each is described as if it were a pair. We know of other “Arams” that are “pairs,” such as ארם דמשק and ארם בית רחב, (Samuel II 10,6). Seeing these localities were each very close to the other they are referred to as if they were twin cities, pairs. It appears that פדן ארם was part of the land known as אור כשדים, whereas ארם נהרים was part of the region known as חרן.
אחות לבן הארמי, because the family was known through him and he conducted the affairs of that house, as we have explained at the time.
בן ארבעים שנה, he is described as 60 years old when the twins Esau and Yaakov were born to him by Rivkah. (verse 28) From the combination of these two verses we know that Rivkah had remained barren for 20 years.
בן ארבעים שנה FORTY YEARS OLD — For when Abraham came from Mount Moriah he received the news that Rebecca was born (22:20). Isaac was then thirty-seven years old, because at that time Sarah died and from the birth of Isaac until the Binding — when Sarah died — there were 37 years since she was 90 years old when Isaac was born and 127 when she died, as it is said, (23:1) “And the life of Sarah was [one hundred and twenty seven years]” — thus Isaac was then 37 years old. At that period Rebecca was born and he waited until she was fit for marriage — 3 years — and then married her (Seder Olam).
בת בתואל מפדן ארם אחות לבן THE DAUGHTER OF BETHUEL THE SYRIAN OF PADAN-ARAM, THE SISTER TO LABAN —Has it not already been written that she was the daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban of Padanaram? But we are told these facts once more to proclaim her praise — she was the daughter of a wicked man, sister of a wicked man, and her native place was one of wicked people, and yet she did not learn from their doings (Genesis Rabbah 63:4).
מפדן ארם FROM PADAN-ARAM — Because there were two Arams — Aram-Naharaim (Mesopotamia) and Aram-Zoba — it is called Padan-aram, (Padan meaning pair). It has the same meaning as צמד in the phrase צמד בקר (Samuel 11:7) which we know signifies a pair of oxen and which is translated in the Targum by פדן תורין a Padan of oxen, so that we see that Padan means a pair. Some, however, explain Padan-aram to be the same as (Hosea 12:13) “the field (country) of Aram”, because in the Arabic language a field is called Padan.
Nicht umsonst hören wir, daß Jizchak bereits vierzig Jahre alt war, als er Rebekka heiratete. So sehr es Abrahams innigster Wunsch und ängstliche Sorge war, daß Jizchak die entsprechende Gattin bekomme, ließ er ihn doch erst vierzig Jahre alt werden, obgleich er bei seinem hohen Alter doch nicht wissen konnte, wie lange er noch leben würde. Allein eben diese Zögerung dürfte aus derselben Sorge erwachsen sein. Jizchaks Charakter sollte erst volle, männliche Selbständigkeit und Reife erlangt haben, damit er nicht nur materiell, sondern auch geistig die ganze Stütze der Gattin werden konnte. Deshalb auch das, nach der Überlieferung, noch vollkommene Kindesalter der Rebekka (worauf ja auch schön oben das הסר) נַעְַרָ) hinweisen würde — siehe daselbst — wenn sie nicht als אילונית gleichwohl an Jahren schon älter gewesen sein könnte), damit sie unter dem um so mächtigeren Einfluss des abrahamitischen Geistes umsomehr eine Sara werden könne. Wir haben schon den schneidenden Gegensatz zwischen Rebekka und ihrer Umgebung kennen gelernt. Gleichwohl erinnert uns die Schrift nochmals an ihre aramäische Herkunft und Verwandtschaft. War gleich Jizchak Abrahams Sohn und hat Abraham und nur Abraham auf ihn einen Einfluss geübt, und war er so zu einem echten Sohn Abrahams gereift, so war Rebekka doch, trotz ihrer unleugbaren Vorzüge, die Tochter eines Aramiten, in Aram geboren und erzogen, und die Schwester eines der ausgeprägtesten Aramiten: Labans! Wenn nach dem Erfahrungssatz unserer Weisen die meisten Söhne den Mutterbrüdern ähneln — רב בנים הולכים אחר אחי האם — welche Kinder würden aus dieser Ehe zu erwarten gewesen sein, wenn die meisten Ebenbilder ihres Oheims geworden wären? — und so sind wir von vornherein auf den später hervortretenden Zwiespalt vorbereitet, werden uns nicht wundern dürfen, daß auch ein Esau erscheint, werden uns wundern, neben ihm doch einen Jakob zu finden.
אחות לבן הארמי, and from her emerged Esau who was similar in character to the brother of his mother.
For when Avraham returned from Mount Moriah... The verse’s statement that Yitzchok was forty needs no support. Rather, Rashi is answering the question: Why did Yitzchok not marry when he was eighteen or twenty? He fulfilled all the Torah, and was a beloved, only son to his father and mother. They should have married him off as soon as he was fit to have children. Rashi answers [that they waited for his destined mate to be born]: “For when...” (Re’m)
And at that time Rivkah was born. He waited for her... Otherwise, why did he wait so long and not marry her as soon as he received the news? [This question arises] because properly speaking, Yitzchok should have married earlier — but could not, as Avraham did not want to marry him to a Canaanite woman. We see this from, “After these words... Milkah has also born children to Nachor” (22:20). There Rashi comments, “The words of the thoughts that came about as a result of the Akeidah...”
Until she was fit for marriage — three years — whereupon he married her. Although she was not fit to conceive, he married her nonetheless, so he would not have improper thoughts.
That she was the daughter of a wicked person and the sister of a wicked person... You might object that the question still stands. When it said before that she was Besueil’s daughter and Lavan’s sister, we could have learned the same lesson, [so why is our verse needed?] The answer is: By writing this verse, Scripture is testifying that she truly was righteous and did not learn from their deeds.
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, who was the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. Padan means field; there is a similar word in Arabic. 1
קחתו את רבקה, “when he married Rivkah, etc.” Rashi claims that Rivkah was only three years old when she became married to Yitzchok. This is very difficult to accept in view of the fact that the Torah had referred to her repeatedly as נערה, a term used for girls at least 12 years old. This in turn would raise the question why Yitzchok did not divorce Rivkah after she had not born a child after 10 years of marriage, and according to the Talmud Ketuvot 64, in that event a husband should divorce his wife. If so why did Yitzchok even wait for 20 years before he prayed for Rivkah to have children? The Talmud answers the question by explaining that Yitzchok’s situation was unusual in that Rivkah had been biologically unable to have children during the first ten years of her marriage as she had been too young to bear a healthy child. In the Sifri, a sage is quoted giving Rivkah’s age at her marriage as 14 years. Such divergences of opinion between different sages quoted in a Midrash are not unusual, although in this instance that sage has to confront the question why it took Yitzchok 20 years before he prayed for children.
אחות לבן הארמי, “sister of Lavan from Aram.” It is customary for the Torah to provide the name of the elder brother of a girl as part of her genealogy.
“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca” [25:20]. Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca to wife. Rashi asks a question here. How is it Isaac should go for so long without a wife? Our sages said that one should marry at eighteen. Rashi asks another question. What does the verse teach us that Isaac was forty years old? The explanation is that he could not take a wife before the age of forty. He had to wait until Rebecca was three years old, when she was appropriate for him to sleep with her. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:20.) Isaac could not take a kosher wife except Rebecca, who was his wife from God. Therefore, the verse tells us that he was forty years old. That is, he waited until Rebecca was ready for him to sleep with her. From here we learn that anyone who lies with his sister or someone who is not permitted to him and she is three years old, he has committed a sin, since when she is three years old, she is a proper woman. (I could not find this discussion in the Toldot Yizhak.)
“Daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban” [25:20]. Here Rashi asks a question. Why does the verse have to say that Rebecca was the daughter of Bethuel and the sister of Laban? We already know this. The explanation is that the verse says another time that Rebecca was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban because they were both evildoers, just like Rebecca was pious and did not learn from the deeds of the evildoers. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:20.)
It is part of civilised behaviour to giftwrap offerings. Already Joseph's brothers giftwrapped their father Jacob's gift at the time they had been invited to lunch with Joseph. (Genesis 43,25) "They prepared the gift until Joseph would arrive at noon." Therefore, halachah, Jewish law requires that when a variety of species are brought as bikkurim, they must be suitably separated and presented species by species. The basket itself is also an integral part of the whole offering. "And you shall proceed to the place" (26,2) indicates, that personal attention is preferable to despatch of a delegate to perform this mitzvah. Since the delegate could not have recited the whole passage of the prayer, (due to the nature of its wording) it is clear that the proper way to perform this mitzvah is by doing it personally. The whole procedure then is a practical demonstration of the "you have enthroned G'd" syndrome, a realisation of the verse "For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, render greatness to our Lord." (Deut.32,3) The processional described by the Tossephta, has great psychological significance then. When reading through the statement made on the occasion of presenting the first fruit, it becomes clear that possession of the land is not the result of military conquest, but that the land was a gift from G'd. The priest accepts the basket in the middle of the declaration, i.e. he interrupts the declaration, so as to show that our gratitude needs to be expressed both in general terms (possession of the land) and in specific terms (our personal share of the bounty G'd bestows on this land) (2) The "you will answer" is to be understood as the stage following deposition of the basket of fruit before the altar. At that time, the donor invites the people to acknowledge the gift of the land, after which he himself acknowledges the personally experienced bounty of the Lord. (4) The "confession" containing a reference to Laban, is to contrast our descent to Egypt with our Exodus. Had it not been for the fact that Jacob had married four daughters of Laban, and that he referred to himself as a blood relation of Laban "the brother of my mother," the hatred and jealousy that existed between the brothers (Jacob's sons and Joseph) could not have been accounted for. As it was, it may have been somewhat hereditary, maternally, since all the brothers were grandsons of the envious and jealous Laban. Had it therefore not been for that blood relationship, Joseph would not have caused his family's eventual bondage in Egypt. He would never have come to Egypt in the first place. Whereas the brothers' descent into Egypt then was caused in no small measure by their own inadequacies, their descendants' exodus had nothing to do with their abilities. However "the Lord took us out from there." It was all G'ds doing. (5) The admission that even the source of individual success flows from the altar, which far from consuming our wealth is its true source, is emphasized by the swinging over the altar of the bikkurim'm the various directions. The word arami, is the word rama-i reversed. Laban is called the arami, since a swindler "reverses" the truth. Just as one appreciates a precious stone more if it had been the gift of a high ranking person, its inherent value being enhanced by the recipient's knowledge that he is held in high esteem, so something similar occurs in the case of bikkurim. When the farmer's efforts are crowned with success, he feels as if he is a recipient of a gift from His Maker, the master of the universe. A gift which originates from on high, is doubly treasured. Harvests therefore are celebrated. Vesamachta bechol hatov, you shall rejoice with all the good. (26,11) The way this joy is expressed in practice includes the Levite, the stranger etc. whose status re ownership of the land precludes him from participating directly in this bounty. The generosity displayed at such a time by the Jewish landowner is described in our opening Midrash as the floral contribution made by the bride to the home she establishes with her groom. The groom will, of course, respond by further increasing and matching the gifts already contributed by his bride.
"And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rivkah for a wife" (Gen. 25:20). Why is Yitzchak's age given here? Isaac was included within north and south, which are fire and water, and was then forty years old when he took Rivkah. Further, the text, "As the appearance of the bow" (Ezekiel 1:28), means green, white, and red. She (the Nukva) was three years old when he seized it, when he took Rivkah. And he sired a son when he was sixty so that he would properly sire Jacob who, as the issue of a man of sixty years, held on to all and became a whole man.
Midrash Ha'Ne'elam "And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham begot Isaac" (Gen. 25:19). Rabbi Yitzchak began the discussion with the verse: "The mandrakes give a fragrance..." (Shir Hashirim 7:14). The sages taught that in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will raise the dead and shake the dust off them. As a result, they will no longer be made of dust, as they were when first created from dust, which does not endure, as it is written, "And Hashem Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7).
[3] Another interpretation: "And Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me.' David said, 'I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. Have you forever rejected us? Will you be angry with us forever?' (Psalm 77:6-8). What did Zion mean when she said, 'The Lord has forsaken me'? She meant to say, 'I have considered all the days since creation and have not been redeemed. I considered the days of menstruation, as the prophet said, "Their way was like the uncleanness of menstruation before me" (Ezekiel 36:17). I considered the days of childbirth, as the prophet said, "Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor bears a child" (Micah 5:2). I thought about the generations, as it is written "May his days be like those of a generation (Psalm 71:7)." I thought that twenty years had passed since Isaac desired to have children, as it says "Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah... (Genesis 25:20)," and he had a son at the age of sixty, as it says "Isaac was sixty years old when they were born (Genesis 25:26)." I thought and was not redeemed. I thought that twenty-two years had passed for Jacob, corresponding to the twenty-two years that Joseph was separated from him [his father], and after twenty-two years he was reunited with him, as it says "Joseph is still alive (Genesis 45:28)." I thought and was not redeemed. I thought that Babylonian rule lasted for seventy years, as it says "When Babylon reaches seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10)," and I thought that the rule of Media and Greece would also end, but I was not redeemed. For many years, Aram enslaved me, and I was not redeemed. Has God forgotten how to pity? (Psalm 77:10), or perhaps "Has His faithfulness disappeared forever?" (Psalm 77:9). Therefore, I say, "God has abandoned me." (Isaiah 49:14)
“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife” (Genesis 25:20). “Isaac was forty years old [when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife]” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: If it is to teach that she is from Aram Naharayim, and is it not already stated: “From Padan Aram,” why does the verse state “Aramean” – “daughter of Betuel the Aramean [haarami]”? (Somebody who lived in Padan Aram was called an Aramean.) Why does the verse state “sister of Laban the Aramean”? Rather, it is coming to teach you: Her father was a charlatan [ramai], her brother was a charlatan, and the residents of her place were likewise so, but this righteous woman who emerged from their midst, to what is she comparable? It is to a “lily among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2). “He went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:5). Why does the verse state: “To Laban the Aramean”? (Genesis 28:5).It teaches that he included them all in deceit.
“Like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the girls” (Song of Songs 2:2). “Like a lily among the thorns,” Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding Rebecca, as it is stated: “Isaac was forty years old, and he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramaean of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramaean, [to be his wife]” (Genesis 25:20). If it is to teach that she was from Padan Aram, why does the verse state: “Sister of Laban the Aramean”? (Why does the verse emphasize that her father was an Aramean and her brother was an Aramean and that she was from Padan Aram?) Rather, her father was a swindler [ramai], her brother was a swindler, and the people of her area were swindlers, and this righteous woman emerged from their midst. To what is she comparable? It is to a “lily among the thorns.” Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Simon: It is written: “Isaac sent Jacob and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban son of Betuel the Aramean,” thereby including all of them in swindling. (By mentioning “Aramean” at the end of the verse, it implies that all those mentioned in the verse were swindlers. Yet Jacob did not learn from their corrupt ways (Etz Yosef).)
“You shall not act in accordance with the practices of the land of Egypt in which you lived, and you shall not act in accordance with the practices of the land of Canaan where I am bringing you, and you shall not follow their statutes” (Leviticus 18:3). “In accordance with the practices of the land of Egypt” – that is what is written: “Like a lily among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2). Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding Rebecca, as it is stated: “Isaac was forty years old [when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife]” (Genesis 25:20). If it is to teach that she was from Padan Aram, why does the verse state that she was the sister of Lavan the Aramean? (Once the verse states that she was from Padan Aram, why did it need to state that her father and brother were Arameans (see Bereishit Rabba 63:4). ) Rather, her father was a deceiver [ramai] and the people of her locality were deceivers, and this righteous woman emerged from their midst. To what is she comparable? To a “lily among the thorns.” Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Simon: It is written: “Isaac sent Jacob and he went [to Padan Aram; to Laban, son of Betuel the Aramean]” (Genesis 28:5), he included them all in deceit. (The fact that the verse refers to Lavan son of Betuel the Aramean is to imply that Lavan and Betuel acted with deceit. The fact that the place was called Padan Aram implies that all the people of that locale acted with deceit. )
ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה בקחתו את רבקה. Rashi comments on this verse that Abraham on his return from Mount Moriah heard of Rebeccah's birth. Isaac was 37 years old at the time,etc. Why did Rashi have to inform us of these facts? They are spelled out in the Torah!
וילבישם, “He clothed them.” It would have been more appropriate for the Torah to write כתנות עור ללבוש, ”coats of leather to serve as clothing.” This is the way Yaakov described it when he asked G-d for בגד ללבש, “clothes to wear” in Genesis 25,20. According to the plain meaning of the text the Torah simply wanted to relate the fact that they were being clothed to G-d Himself to show G-d’s loving concern and His pity for His creatures. Even though they had sinned, this did not mean that G-d no longer related to them with feelings of fondness. He, personally, engaged in the act of dressing them. We find that G-d related similarly to the Jewish people in the desert when He personally provided them with manna. G-d is on record with these words that he Himself made the manna rain down from heaven. We read in Exodus 16,4 “Here I will make manna rain down for you from the heaven.” This was in spite of the fact that the Israelites had committed a sin similar to that of Adam and Chavah He did not cease to relate to hem lovingly. He never stopped providing them with manna during all the forty years in spite of grievous sins committed at one time or another. This is what Ezra referred to when he said (Nechemiah 9,20) ומנך לא מנעת מפיהם, “and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths.” From this we learn that legally speaking, G-d would have been entitled to deny them the manna. We find that G-d performed the miracle of splitting the sea to save the Israelites from the pursuing Egyptians even though there were idolaters among them. This is the meaning of Zechariah 10,11 ועבר בים צרה, “he crossed the sea with an idol.” (Sanhedrin 103 understands the word צרה in that verse as a reference to the idol used by the fake Levite Micah hundreds of years later). All of the items mentioned reflect the love of G-d; this is the meaning of Daniel 9,7 לך ה' הצדקה ולנו בשת הפנים, “Yours, O Lord is the righteousness, and ours is the shamefacedness.
When marrying a woman he should investigate her brothers. However, Lavan the brother of Rivka (Bereishis 25:20), is mentioned only “in order to praise Rivkah.” This is because Yitzchok surely would not have investigated Lavan [to know about Rivkah]. Furthermore, [it is different with Rivkah because] there was no need for Scripture to mention her father, brother or birthplace, as all were mentioned before — forcing us to say that they all have a Midrashic meaning. (Re’m) And we cannot say that it indeed teaches us that one who contemplates marrying a woman should investigate all these factors. First of all, granted that investigating the woman’s brothers has a reason: [her children will probably resemble them] as most children resemble their mother’s brothers. But this is not true of her father, and certainly not of the people of her birthplace. Secondly, [if all of these factors should be investigated], why did Aharon only investigate Elisheva’s brother? We see that her father’s name is not mentioned — implying that Aharon investigated only her brother.
Rava said to Rav Naḥman: Let us derive from Isaac that one may wait a longer period of time, as it is written: “And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah…to be his wife” (Genesis 25:20), and it is written with regard to the birth of Jacob and Esau: “And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). This indicates that one may wait twenty years. Rav Naḥman said to him: Isaac knew that he was infertile, and therefore there was no reason for him to marry another woman, as Rebekah was not the cause of their infertility.
Yitzchok was forty years old when he took Rivkah, the daughter of Besueil, the Aramite, of Padan Aram, sister of Lavan, the Aramite, for a wife.
And Izhak was the son of forty years when he took Rivekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramite, who was of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramite, unto him for a wife.
| וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַתַּ֖הַר רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ | 21 J | Isaac pleaded with יהוה on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and יהוה responded to his plea, and his wife Rebekah conceived. |
"And Yitzchak entreated God regarding his wife, for she was barren, and God was entreated of him..." (Bereishit 25:21). Regarding his wife entirely, and see Rashi on Genesis 25:21 [which says that it means facing his wife]. And we can continue in precision: "for she was barren" has no explanation, and it should have said "And Rivka was barren, and Yitzchak entreated..." And the commentators pose a further problem regarding what Rashi wrote: "[And God was entreated] to him" [Yitzchak] and not to her, because the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person isn't similar to the prayer of a righteous person child of a wicked person. And behold, our Sages of blessed memory said (Ta'anit 25b) regarding Rabbi Eliezer who said 24 prayers and was not answered, and Rabbi Akiva was answered -- not because one was greater than the other, but because this one was forgiving (lit. "passed over his traits"). And it was explained regarding this value[?], that it wished to say that since there was a a child of converts and needed to break his nature and traits and look there -- behold, it seems the opposite, that the prayer of a righteous person child of a wicked person is more acceptable! And we can continue in precision with the language of Rashi, who wrote that the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person isn't similar, etc. - he should have said the opposite, that the prayer of a righteous person child of wicked person isn't similar to the prayer of a righteous person child of a righteous person, and [the former] is better. And we can further continue in precision with Rashi's conclusion, that "therefore [God was entreated] to him and not to her", that it's an additional lip [?] and doubled language. And we can also be precise with its saying of "and [God] was entreated" [vaye'ater ויעתר], and our Sages of blessed memory said, (Sukkot 14a) "Why is the prayer of the righteous like a pitchfork [עתר 'eter]? Just as a pitchfork turns grain on the threshing floor from place to place, so too the prayer of the righteous turns the mind of the Holy Blessed One from justice to mercy. What is this verse teaching us that this matter is specifically here? Did Avraham and the rest of the righteous not also pray, and it didn't say this language [ie that God was entreated]? And we can be further precise, in her saying "If so, why do I exist?" she was praying regarding children, which seems as though she was choosing childlessness from the pain of the pregnancy - and certainly this righteous one was not considering this!
Genesis 25,21. “Yitzchok implored Hashem on behalf of his wife;” it is known that the relationship between the masculine and the feminine parts in a marriage is based on the masculine part initiating and the feminine part responding. This relationship is demonstrated clearly as one of total contrast when both partners in the marriage are completely sterile, in the sense that neither is able to contribute his or her part to conception. When the roles of the male and the female appear to be reversed, i.e. the female appearing to initiate and the male appearing to respond, the usual relationship is totally askew. The latter situation was the case here, and this is expressed by the Torah writing the word לנוכח אשתו, an expression indicating היפוך, a totally reversed situation. This is the reason why the Torah writes of G’d: ויעתר לו, “G’d was entreated on his account.” The word עתר indicates a “reversal,” as we know from Sukkah 14, where the Talmud applies it to a shovel or pitchfork, which is used to turn over the grain.
Now, (This paragraph is emended according to L. H.) it is known that abba (The partzuf of abba (the sefirah of chochmah).) draws from the eighth mazal, (Etz Chaim, Shaar Hakelalim 5; ibid., 14: end of ch. 3, and 8; et passim.—Abba draws from the eighth of the thirteen attributes of mercy (Exodus 34:6 ff.) Both the eighth (related to abba) and the thirteenth of the attributes (related to imma; binah) are referred to as mazal, because everything flows (nozel) from them. The eighth attribute is regarded as the most important one and, accordingly, termed the “superior mazal,” while the thirteenth attribute is termed the “inferior mazal.” See Zohar II:177a; III: 134a ff. and 289a ff. Cf. Nachmanides on Genesis 24:1.) which is the tuft of notzer chesed. (The thirteen attributes are referred to as the “thirteen tufts of the dikna (beard)”; see ref. cited above, note 33 (and cf. Epistle 20, note 42). Notzer chesed (He guards chesed) is the eighth attribute according to the interpretation of the Zohar and the Kabbalists; see Likkutei Sichot, vol. 4, pp. 1348 ff., on the varying enumerations of the thirteen attributes.) Notzer is (composed of the same) letters (as) ratzon. (Will; or Favor. Arizal, Likkutei Torah, Toldot (on Genesis 25:21) and Ki Tissa (on Exodus 34:7); cf. Zohar III:280a.—See Igrot Kodesh by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, vol. 2, pp. 119-120.) It is the et ratzon (Lit., the Time of Will (or Favor). Auspicious time.) that becomes revealed and radiates in a manifest way, from above downward, at the time of the passing of the great tzaddikim (Lit., the tzaddikim of the Most High.) who serve the L–rd out of love, surrendering their soul to the L–rd during their lifetime every evening and morning when reading the Shema. (See Zohar I:124b; cf. Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction 10b and Zohar III:263b; Berachot 61b. See below, Epistle 32, note 18.) For thereby they elevate the mayin nukvin to abba and imma, as known. ( (Brackets appear in the text.) The same applies to (their) study of the Torah, (See Zohar I:124b.) which derives from chochmah. (See above, Epistle 19, note 35.) ) Thus, the aspects of the mayin duchrin were elicited thereby and descended from the tuft of notzer chesed, and they, indeed, radiate in a manifest way at the time of their passing. For as known, all the effort of man, which his soul toiled (Par. Proverbs 16:26 (cf. Isaiah 53:11); see Sanhedrin 99b.) during his lifetime, is above in a hidden and concealed state. It becomes revealed and radiates in a manifest way from above downward at the time of his passing. (Cf. above, Epistle 27.)
On behalf of his wife. The main part of Isaac's prayer was for his wife. He was not afraid, for himself, since if he was not built up through her he would be built up through another -- for behold God had promised (lit. "made him trust" [?]) to Avraham "to your seed I will give this land", and said to Yitzchak that he would call him seed. For this Yitzchak trusted for himself, but he wished to be built up from Rivkah.
ויעתר יצחק, “Yitzchok prayed;” Rashi continues with: this word when used for prayer always describes an intense prayer, one reflecting the urgent need of the petitioner. He describes this as the meaning wherever we encounter this root in this mode. He proceeds to quote three verses from Scripture as proof. Then he adds that this rule applies to this word generally.
לנוכח אשתו, “in order to enable his wife to conceive;” the expression נכח occurs in a similar sense in Judges 18,6 'נכח ה דרככם, “which the Targum renders as: “G-d will ensure that your mission will be successful,” i.e. אתקין ה' ארחכין. He did not pray on his own behalf as he was aware that he was not sterile. The reason that he knew this was so was that G-d had told Avraham his father that his name would be carried on through his son Yitzchok. (Genesis 21,12)
כי עקרה היא, ‘for she was barren;” what was the reason why Rivkah up to that point had been barren? G-d did not want the gentiles to be able to credit her fertility to the blessings that her family had bestowed on her when they said: “may you become the mother of thousands and tens of thousands.”(Genesis 24,60). She therefore could not conceive until G-d responded to her husband’s prayer on her behalf.
לנח אשתו, “in the presence of his wife.” The numerical value of the word אשתו=707, is the same as the combined numerical value of the words: אש וקש, “fire and straw.” This is a hint that Rivkah would give birth to one son, comparable in spiritual values to fire, and another whose value in terms of spiritual values was no better than straw. The prophet therefore compared Yaakov to fire and Esau to straw. (Ovadiah 18)
AND ISAAC ENTREATED. Va-yetar (entreated) is in the kal. However, hatiru (entreat) in Entreat the Lord (Ex. 8:4) is in the hifil. Its meaning is that Isaac appeased (Vocalizing the resh, tzadi, heh with a chirik and reading the word ritzah, as in Vat. Ebr. 38.) God with his prayers. (Reading bi-devarim as in Vat. Ebr. 38, rather than bi-divrehem as in the printed texts. The latter reading is extremely difficult. It reads: ratzah (he wanted)…bi-divrehem (their words). Krinsky tries to justify this reading by maintaining that I.E. explains why entreat is here in the kal and in Ex. 8:4 in the hifil. It is here in the kal because God wanted their prayers. However, He really did not want to hear prayers on behalf of Pharaoh, hence the hifil form in Exodus. The latter being in the causative form implies that Moses burdened God with his prayers on behalf of Pharaoh. Krinsky also suggests that the text be read: he appeased God (vocalizing ritzah rather than ratzah) with their prayers, that is, with Isaac and Rebekah’s prayers. This is a bit forced. Vat. Ebr.’s reading is superior and has been followed.)
AND THE LORD LET HIMSELF BE ENTREATED. Va-ye’ater means and He was appeased. It is a nifal.
ויעתר לו, "He responded to his entreaty." The reason that the Torah does not mention the customary "Isaac knew his wife" (as in Genesis 4,1, or Samuel I 1,19) prior to reporting her pregnancy may have been that they prayed within three days of having had marital relations. Their prayer was that the semen should not go to waste (compare Berachot 60 on the subject of semen turning unfit for conception).
ויעתר יצחק לנכח אשתו כי עקרה היא, “Yitzchak prayed in the presence of his wife seeing she was barren.” Actually, the Torah should have commenced this verse with the statement ותהי רבקה עקרה וגו', “seeing that Rivkah was barren, Yitzchak prayed, etc.” The reason the Torah first mentioned the prayer was to tell us that this was Yitzchak’s main concern. If the prayer had been evoked only by Rivkah’s being barren, this would make the barrenness the major element in this verse. The Torah wanted to be certain that we appreciate that the major element of what the verse tells us is that Yitzchak prayed and that the prayer was effective. In other words, the only reason G’d had allowed Rivkah to be barren until that time was to get Yitzchak (and Rivkah) to pray. Her barrenness was merely a detail in bringing about Yitzchak’s prayer. A major reason why Rivkah had been barren in the first place is explained by our sages in Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2,32: “Why were the matriarchs barren? Because G’d longs for the prayers of the righteous.” This teaches the powerful effect prayer has. It is so powerful that it can bring about changes in the laws of nature. This is also the reason the Torah uses the unusual word עתר to describe Yitzchak’s prayer. We would have expected either ויתפלל, or ויצעק, or other expressions associated with the offering of a prayer. Why did the Torah write ויעתר?. Our sages explain this in the first chapter of Tractate Sukkah. The question is asked why the prayer of the righteous is compared to an Attar, “a shovel, a pitchfork?” The answer given is that just as a pitchfork turns the floor of a threshing ground upside down (after its use), so the prayers of the righteous succeed in changing the mind of G’d from an intention to employ the attribute of Justice (which implies sorrow for the person at whom it is directed) to the decision to use instead the attribute of Mercy. Technically speaking, the (use of) the pitchfork brings the grain which is on the floor to the top of the heap while placing the grain which was on the top to the bottom. In a similar manner the prayer of the righteous raises certain matters which had been at the bottom of G’d’s priorities to the fore, while submerging other considerations of G’d which had been in the forefront of His thinking until the righteous offered a prayer. As a result, G’d’s bounty which had been held back in an inaccessible region is moved to a region from which it is released for man’s benefit forthwith. The word ויעתר is also related to מחתרת, i.e. from the verb חתר, “dig under,” “subvert,” and is similar to עתר. This would be similar to Sanhedrin 103 where Chronicles II 33,13 dealing with G’d’s efforts to accept King Menashe’s repentance is described. We read in that verse ויתפלל אליו ויעתר לו וישמע תחנתו, “He (Menashe) prayed to Him, and He (G’d) allowed Himself to have His priorities changed, He listened to his prayer, etc.” The fact that before the words: “He listened to him,” we find the words ויעתר לו, indicates that some transformation had to occur in G’d’s thinking before He decided to listen to this prayer. You should remember that three out of our four matriarchs were naturally barren. The Torah wrote concerning Sarai ותהי שרי עקרה, (Genesis 11,30); concerning Rivkah it says here כי עקרה היא, “for she was barren.” The Torah also used the term עקרה, “barren” in connection with Rachel in Genesis 29,31. There is a simple reason for the barrenness of these three women. There were two reasons why Sarah was barren; I) in order that Ishmael should be fathered by Avraham. After all, she herself is on record as saying “G’d has prevented me from giving birth, etc., please sleep with my maid servant.” (Genesis 16,2). 2) This was in order for G’d to change her name and to demonstrate an important lesson. The name change was essential in order to teach her and all of us that just as G’d used the letter ה to create the physical part of the universe, so He uses this same letter to bring about changes in the laws of nature in that universe. The potency of the horoscopic influences on man’s (or woman’s) life was nullified by the substitution of the letter ה' in Sarai’s name (compare commentary on Genesis 2,4 בה-בראם). As to Rivkah’s barrenness, we know that Yitzchak was forty years old when he married her and that he was sixty when Esau and Yaakov were born. In other words, she lived with him for twenty years during which no mention is made of their praying to have children. G’d arranged her barrenness in order that Avraham should not experience the disappointment of seeing that one of his grandchildren became disloyal to his teachings. After all, G’d had assured Avraham (Genesis 15,15): “you will join your fathers in peace (of mind).” We have already pointed out that Ishmael became a complete penitent during Avraham’s lifetime. According to Baba Batra 16, Esau began his career as a wicked person on the very day Avraham died (and he sold his birthright). The reason Rachel remained barren for a few years was so that Bilhah and Zilpah could give birth to four of the twelve tribes (Dan, Naftali, Gad and Asher) prior to her becoming pregnant with Joseph.
ויעתר, he prayed long and hard asking that his wife should bear a child, seeing that he loved her very dearly [and would not consider marrying anyone in addition to her. Ed.] He would not even consider taking any of Rivkah’s handmaids as a partner, as had his father Avraham who had married Hagar. As a result of all this prayer, Rivkah did finally become pregnant.
לנכח אשתו, on behalf of his wife, explaining that the reason for his intense prayer was that he did not want to marry anyone else. His prayer did not so much concern his becoming a father as his becoming a father of a child born by his wife Rivkah. He prayed in the presence of his wife so that he would be better able to concentrate on her problem. [whereas the Torah had written that both Avraham and Sarah had been barren, nothing about Yitzchok being sterile had been written anywhere. Ed.]
ויעתר, an expression denoting a lengthy prayer, as in Ezekiel 35,13 העתרתם עלי דבריכם, “you multiplied your words against Me.”
לנכח, on account of.
וַיֶּעְתַּר AND ISAAC ENTREATED —He prayed much and urgently.
וַיֵּעָתֶר לו WAS ENTREATED OF HIM — He let himself be urged, conciliated and influenced by him. I say that wherever this root עתר occurs it has the meaning of heaping up and increasing. E. g., (Ezekiel 8:11) “And a thick (עתר) cloud of incense” which means an abundance of ascending smoke; (Ezekiel 35:13) “You have multiplied (העתרתם) your words against me”; (Proverbs 27:6) “The kisses of an enemy are importunate (נעתרות)”—they appear to be too many and therefore they are burdensome. old French encresser; English to increase.
לנכח אשתו FACING HIS WIFE — He stood in one corner and prayed whilst she stood in the other corner and prayed (Genesis Rabbah 63:5).
ויעתר לו [AND THE LORD] WAS ENTREATED OF HIM — of him and not of her, because there is no comparison between the prayer of a righteous person who is the son of a righteous person and the prayer of a righteous person the child of a wicked-person — therefore God allowed himself to be entreated of him and not of her (Yevamot 64a).
חתר ,ויעתר יצחק verwandt mit חתר: einbohren, מחתרת: Einbruch. Das gewaltsame Andringen eines Schiffes gegen Wind und Wellen ebenfalls: חתר (Jona 1, 13). עתר daher ein dringendes Bitten und Beten. Ahnlich עתר ,פגע ב־ noch stärker. Die gerade aufwirbelnde Rauchsäule heißt auch: עתר ענן הקטורת ,עתר (Ezech. 8, 11). נעתרות נשיקות שונא (Prob. 27, 6): Wenn ein Feind uns küsst, so merkt man, daß die Küsse ihm "abgerungen und abgedrungen sind" daß sie nicht vom Herzen kommen. Pharao spricht: העתירו בעדי, im Hiphil, "lasset etwas zu Gott für mich dringen", sendet einen mächtigen, einflussreichen Fürsprecher für mich zu Gott. Er weiß nicht, daß man zu Gott leichter kommt, als zu dem Unterschreiber des Sekretärs eines Amtmannes.
לנכח אשתו. Zwanzig Jahre lang hatte Jizchak im Gebete vor Gott um Erfüllung des Wunsches gerungen, von Rebekka Kinder zu erhalten. Ihm war ja die Verheißung bekannt: כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע er hatte ja jedenfalls Kinder zu erhoffen; allein ob die Fortträger des Abrahamsbundes von einer Schwester Labans geboren werden würden, daran durfte er, trotz ihrer eigenen Vortrefflichkeit, insbesondere nach so langem Harren, zu zweifeln anfangen, seine Bitte bezog sich daher speziell auf Rebekka. — Wir sehen hier, nicht nur der erste Stein, sondern auch der Weiterbau des Hauses Israels war nur der unmittelbaren Allmachtsspende Gottes zu verdanken. Wie Sara war auch Rebekka עקרה.
לנכח אשתו, even though he had been given an assurance from G’d that he would produce seed, he prayed to G’d that the mother of this child or children should be someone who was meritorious, someone of the calibre of Rivkah who was present and standing opposite him..
To be implored and to be placated and swayed by him. [Rashi says this] because וַיֵrָתֶר (He granted his prayer) cannot mean “increase.” Rather it means “implore,” whose meaning is close to that of “increase.” [Although וַיֵrָתֶר comes later on in the verse,] this is why Rashi explains it before לנוכח אשתו: [in order to explain the meaning of the root עתר]. Since נתפצר [implies giving in due to pressure] and may not to be used for Hashem, Rashi adds the word נתפתה, conveying that Hashem “consented” to his request.
It means imploring and increasing... Rashi is explaining that עתר does not [generally] denote prayer, rather imploring. [Here,] it means he implored and increased his prayers.
And similarly: “Exorbitant are the kisses of the enemy,” meaning, they seem exorbitant... Rashi is answering the question: It was explained above that ונעתרות also means “increasing.” But why would an enemy increase his kisses? Thus Rashi explains that they seem exorbitant and are burdensome. I.e., an enemy kisses only once, but it seems as if he kissed exorbitantly, and even the one kiss is burdensome. [You might ask:] Why did Rashi not mention נעתרות נשיקות שונא above, when he was explaining וַיֶrְתַר which also means increasing? The answer is: Above, we could have said that עתר has two [separate] meanings: imploring and increasing. This would be similar to וישבר למצרים (41:56), where Rashi explains that שבר can mean either selling or buying. Thus וַיֵrָתֶר could be explained as imploring, since increasing does not apply to Hashem — Heaven forbid we should say He “increased”! If so, נעתרות נשיקות שונא could also mean imploring: one must implore the enemy to kiss his adversary. But now that Rashi explained that even וַיֵrָתֶר means [something similar to] increasing, and that עתר always means increasing, we are forced to explain נעתרות נשיקות שונא as, “They seem exorbitant.”
He was standing in one corner and praying... [Although לנוכח usually means “facing,” Rashi explains it differently here] because it is not normal to pray facing one another.
“His” but not hers. For it is not comparable... Rashi is answering the question: Why does it not say, “He granted their prayers”? They both prayed! He answers: “‘His’ but not hers. For it is not comparable...”
Isaac entreated and prayed fervently to the Lord on behalf of his wife while standing opposite her, because he understood from the fact that she had not given birth in the many years since they were married (see verse 26) that she was barren. The Lord acceded to his entreaty, and Rebecca his wife conceived.
ויעתר לו, “G’d responded to his prayer.” The emphasis on the word לו is meant to tell us that G’d did not respond to her prayer. The reason is that we have a principle that a prisoner is unable to free himself (without external help) [In this instance it was Rivkah who could not have children, hence she is comparable to someone who is handicapped, like a prisoner in a cell. Compare Sifssey Chachamim on Genesis Ed.]
“On behalf of his wife” [25:21]. Isaac prayed opposite his wife. That is to say, Isaac stood in one corner and prayed and Rebecca, his wife, stood in the other corner and prayed. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:21.)
“The Lord responded to him” [25:21]. The Holy One accepted Isaac’s prayers. He was a righteous person and the son of a righteous person. However, Rebecca was a righteous woman and her father was an evildoer. (Ibid.)
Prayer is so powerful that it can rip up a decree of childlessness and break through whatever is blocking conception, as it is written: “Yitzḥak pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord responded to his plea, and his wife Rivka conceived” (Bereishit 25:21). The Sages say that Yitzḥak and Rivka recited many prayers and had the same goal in mind. The phrase translated above, “on behalf of his wife,” is “le-nokhaḥ ishto,” which can also be translated as “facing his wife.” These words teach us that: Yitzḥak prostrated himself in one corner and Rivka prostrated herself in another. He said, “Master of the universe, may all the children You give me come from this righteous woman.” She made the same request: “May all the children You give me come from this righteous man.” (Bereishit Rabba 63:5)
When Rav Ashi, in Shabbat 156, advises the person born under the zodiac sign of Mars (symbolising bloodshed) to engage in vocations involving blood, such as becoming a ritual slaughterer or a mohel, someone who circumcises babies, this is meant to help such a person counteract his natural tendencies, sublimate them, channeling them into constructive activities. If Rav Ashi had been of the opinion that such a person's actions were predetermined, his advice would be totally gratuitous. Claiming that mazzal influences our lives, and claiming that mazzal governs our lives are two totally different propositions. Why would the Torah make rainfall dependent on our conduct (Leviticus 26,1-5) if our behavior were not free? The idea of receiving a reward for decisions made under duress would be difficult to swallow. Rabbah and Rav Chisdah, though sharing character traits and accomplishments, were born under different mazzalot. Each achieved what it was possible for him to achieve considering his respective mazzal. Perhaps Rav Chisdah having been born under the influence of a favourable mazzal, needed ninety-two years to achieve on this earth what Rabbah who had been born under an unfavourable mazzal had been able to achieve in forty years, seeing that he had to overcome so many obstacles? Consider the following parable. A king had two ministers. They both enjoyed equal status at Court. One was appointed commander of the king's land based forces, the other was made commander-in-chief of his navy. The commander of the navy obviously had the more challenging task. His task necessitated that he be away from home and family a great deal of the time, would be deprived of the comforts of home. He would also be deprived of the counsel and proximity of the king. The situation of Rav Chisdah and Rabbah may be viewed in a similar light. The Rabbis said in Taanit 2 that G-d reserved three keys for Himself which He did not entrust to messengers (nature). They are: 1) the key to life; 2) children, i.e. the key to being able to have them. 3) rainfall, i.e. the key to livelihood. The Talmud supplies scriptural proof for the fact that G-d retained these keys personally. In view of this, how is it possible to argue that three keys are not subject to one's merit, i.e. that one's behavior does not influence one's access to what these keys stood for? Why would G-d keep these three keys to Himself, except to use them in accordance with people's individual merits? Surely G-d did not keep them to Himself in order to use them capriciously! The answer is that although to begin with, these keys and their availability are subject to mazzal, man's merit does affect their availability. Abraham, according to his mazzal, would not have had children. Due to his merit however, G-d intervened and superimposed His will on that of natural law (compare Shabbat 156). Isaac found himself in a similar situation. Vaye-atar lo, G-d allowed Himself to be entreated by him (Genesis 25,21). G-d allowed Isaac's prayer to activate the key to "children." Compare also Taanit 25, the story involving Rabbi Eliezer ben Pedot. Because we have clear proof concerning these three matters from the lives of our historical giants, these instances were singled out for mention. When Rabbi Akiva, in Yevamot 50, says that those who deserve it have their lifespan completed rather than increased, this is based on his conviction that G-d has decreed the maximum good for each person at the beginning of such person's life. However, this maximum good is subject to review, i.e. reduction, if man does not live up to his respective potential.
As far as its being written (Genesis 23:21): "And Isaac prayed next to his wife," our sages (Yevamoth 64a) expounded this as implying that Rivkah prayed together with Isaac, but that (Genesis, Ibid): "the L-rd was entreated of him," and not of her. But, according to this interpretation, it should have been written "And Isaac and Rivkah prayed." It may be, however, that the interpretation is derived from her prayer not being specifically mentioned but her praying being implied in the expression "next to his wife," this being consistent with homiletic interpretation.
It is first stated that their mother did not conceive them within the conventional framework of nature (for she was barren), but as a result of Isaac's entreaties of the Blessed One on her behalf. These were accepted and she was healed. This may, at first glance, evoke doubt and wonder. For Rivkah did not fall to Isaac's lot adventitiously, but she was the woman designated for him by the L-rd (as seen in the episode of Eliezer). How, then, could He have chosen a barren woman as the lot of His "bound one"? This cannot be resolved except through the dictum of our sages of blessed memory (Yevamoth 64a): "The Blessed One desires the prayers of the righteous." For in this way He draws them close to Him, the soul uniting itself with its Creator in an abundance of prayer which cannot fail of acceptance.
To return to our subject, to explain the two flowers on the right and left branches: The flower on the right branch is parallel to belief in Prayer, that one should pray to G-d and not employ any intermediary. This belief is clarified in the book of Bereishit [which is the right branch, as the first chumash]. We find that the patriarchs all prayed to G-d without any intermediary at all. The Sages already said (Berachot 26b), “The prayers were established by the patriarchs”, and we have found that Avraham prayed in the event with Sodom, and Yitzchak prayed for his wife Rivkah, and Yaakov prayed as they taught regarding Bereishit 28:11, “And he was pogeia in the place.” Note: According to the Talmud, Yitzchak’s prayer took place in the field before Rivkah arrived, in Bereishit 24:63. Rabbi Isserles seems to refer to Bereishit 25:21.] This what Yaakov actually meant when he said (Bereishit 30:1-2), “Am I in the place of G-d, who has withheld, etc.” He meant that one should not place any intermediary between himself and G-d. Therefore Yaakov was angry at Rachel, for she wished to place him between her and G-d, when she said, “Grant me children.” He knew that Rachel was not irrational, thinking that Yaakov could grant children; rather, she meant that he should be an intermediary, and this was what enraged him. All of this is clear.
Rabbi Yehuda continued with the verse, "And Isaac entreated Hashem for his wife" (Gen. 25:21). What is the meaning of "entreated?" That he offered a sacrifice and prayed for her. What offering did he sacrifice? A burnt offering. He sacrificed by studying the verses "and Hashem was entreated of him" (Ibid.), and "So Hashem was entreated for the land" (II Shmuel 24:25). There it means that a sacrifice has been offered, here too it means, a sacrifice has been offered. It is written, "And Isaac entreated," "and Hashem was entreated", a celestial fire that came to meet the lower fire.
Rabbi Acha bar Jacob, said, Come and behold. It is written, "And Isaac entreated Hashem for his wife, because she was barren" (Gen. 25:21). Rabbi Acha asks, Why is she barren? Because the Evil Inclination does not have its full strength in the world, the only fruition and multiplying comes through prayer. It is then written, "and Hashem was entreated by him, and Rivkah his wife conceived." Once the Evil Inclination is aroused, there is procreation!
Chapter [51] 52:Torah [1] And God remembered Rachel (Genesis 30:22). This refers to when the God-fearing people spoke to each other (Malachi 3:16). This is Jacob and Rachel, as it is written earlier in the passage, "And Rachel saw that she had not borne children to Jacob and she envied her sister" (Genesis 30:1). Why was she jealous now? When she saw her sister entering her wedding canopy, she was not jealous, but now she was jealous. Why was she jealous? Rather, she was jealous of her good deeds, saying, "If I am not righteous like her, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not give me children before her." Therefore, she was jealous of her actions, as it is written, "Let not your heart be envious of sinners, but be in the fear of the Lord all day long" (Proverbs 23:17). Therefore, Rachel became jealous and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I am as good as dead" (Genesis 30:1). A woman who is barren and does not give birth is considered dead, but Rachel said, "If I do not give birth from this righteous man, my father will marry me to a wicked man, and I will die with him in the next world," as it is written, "The wicked man's evil will destroy him" (Psalms 34:22). Therefore, she said, "Or else I am as good as dead." Another interpretation: "Give me children." She said to him, "If you ask for me, I will give birth. When you asked for sheep to give birth, they gave birth," as it is written, "And the flocks mated in front of the rods" (Genesis 30:39). Another interpretation: "Give me children." She said to him, "If you ask for me, I will give birth. Do as your father Isaac did, whose wife was barren, and he prayed for her," as it is written, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife" (Genesis 25:21). Jacob said to her, "Isaac had only one wife, so he prayed for her. But I have four wives. Leah has already given birth. If you do not give birth, Bilhah will give birth instead." She said to him, "If you are not willing to do as Isaac your father did, do as Abraham your grandfather did, who listen to Sarah when she said to him, "Behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children" (Genesis 16:2), so you also take my maid Bilhah and come to her (Genesis 30:3). And I will build through her as well, not just Sarah. In addition, what did Rachel see fit to say, "Give me children or else I will die" (Genesis 30:1)? She was prophesying that she would die soon, as it is written, "And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me" (Genesis 48:7). She said to him, "Give me children before I die," as it is written, "Give me children" (Genesis 30:1), immediately Jacob became angry. Is there a God who does nothing but what He desires? I am that God who withheld from you fruit of the womb (Genesis 30:2). I withheld from you, but from me, I have already given you children in abundance. God said to him, "Are you showing kindness to her and saying, 'Is there a God besides me?' As I live, I will cause her to bear a son who will say to his brothers, 'I am above God'" (Genesis 30:19). Indeed, they are talking about these things, as if God inclined His ear and listened and wrote down their words, as it is written, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another" (Malachi 3:16). When the time was right, He took out the Book of Remembrance and remembered her, as it is written, "And God remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22).
[3] Another interpretation: And she vowed a vow, and said, "If you will see me, then you will see that I am barren, and Zion is barren, as it is said, "Sing, O barren one" (Isaiah 54:1). If you see me, then you will also see Zion, and remember me, for me, and do not forget your truth, for Zion. There are seven barren ones corresponding to the seven days of creation. The first is Sarah, as it is written, "And Sarai was barren" (Genesis 11:30), corresponding to the first day. And what was created on the first day? Heaven and Earth, which belong to this purchase by the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "Blessed is Avram to G-d on High, Possessor of heaven and earth" [Rashi: having acquired them by creating them] (Genesis 14:19). The second is Rebecca, as it is said, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren" (Genesis 25:21), corresponding to the second day. And what was created on the second day? The firmament, as it is said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate between water and water" (Genesis 1:6). Rebecca also gave birth to two sons, Jacob and Esau, as it is said, "And I will separate you from the peoples" (Leviticus 20:26). The third is Leah, as it is said, "And the Lord saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb" (Genesis 29:31), corresponding to the third day. And what was created on the third day? Vegetation, as it is said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation" (Genesis 1:11). And Reuben, the son of Leah, built, as it is said, "And Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest" (Genesis 30:14). The fourth is Rachel, corresponding to the fourth day. And what was created on the fourth day? The sun, moon, stars, and constellations, as it is said, "And God said, 'Let there be lights'" (Genesis 1:14). And Joseph, the son of Rachel, stood as her offspring, and they bowed down to him, as it is said, "And behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me" (Genesis 37:9). The fifth corresponds to Thursday, and what was created on Thursday? Birds that fly in the air (Genesis 1:20). And so was Samuel, the son of Hannah, like a bird flying from place to place and from country to country, and eventually returning to his nest. And so was Samuel involved in the affairs of Israel, going to all places, as it is said, "And he used to go yearly on circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places" And his return was to Ramah, for there was his home. (1 Samuel 7:16-17) The sixth corresponds to the Hazzelelponith, the mother of Samson, as it is written: "And their sister (Hazzelelponith) [Hazzelelponi]"(1 Chronicles 4:3) . What was created on the sixth day? Man, and what happened to man? He died by the hand of his wife, as it is written: "And to Adam He said... for from the tree... you shall surely die" (Genesis 3:17), and Samson, too, died at the hands of his wife, as it is written: "And he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, and her name was Delilah" (Judges 16:4). The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes (Judges 16:21). The seventh corresponds to Zion, as it is written: "And on the seventh day He rested" (Exodus 20:11). And Zion is my resting place forever (Psalm 132:14). Therefore, Isaiah said: "Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear" (Isaiah 54:1).
Chapter (72) 73: Torah [1] "And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). As it is written in scriptures: Knowledge [of escape from You] is concealed from me. It is too formidable. I cannot know it. (Psalm 139:6). What is the meaning of "extraordinary level of understanding beyond my grasp"? It refers to something that is difficult for a person to comprehend, as it says, "If there arise among you a matter too hard for judgment" (Deuteronomy 17:8). Jacob said, "I cannot understand this matter." God promised Abraham that he would have twelve tribes, as it says, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them...So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5). Just as there are twelve constellations in the heavens that govern the world, so too I will establish twelve tribes from you that will govern the world, as it is said, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Ishmael was born and he begot twelve princes, as it is said, "And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12), Abraham thought that these were the twelve tribes. But God said to him, "No, not those that you think. Sarah will bear a son for you" (Genesis 17:19), as it is said, "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Genesis 21:12). It is through Isaac that your seed will be called (Genesis 21:12), as I said to you, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Isaac married Rebecca and she was found to be barren, he began to question how the promise that God made to Abraham could be fulfilled, as she was barren, as it is said, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren" (Genesis 25:21), and the children struggled within her (Genesis 25:22). "I'm sorry," she began, "if that's the case, I apologize to one another and "She went to inquire of יהוה," (Genesis 25:22), went to the study hall of Shem, and the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body' (Genesis 25:23). Why did she say why is it? (Genesis 25:22), "this" is numerically equivalent to 12. And God said to her [Sarah], "What you think is not so, but there are two nations in your womb." When Jacob stood up and went out to Laban, Isaac called him and said to him, "Let it be known that the Lord is establishing twelve tribes from you," as it is said, "Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you" (Genesis 28:1-4). The blessing that He blessed Abraham with, saying, "Look up now" (Genesis 15:5), is fulfilled through you. And once Jacob went and took wives and fathered twelve tribes, as it says, "And the sons of Jacob were twelve" (Genesis 35:22), Joseph began to see hints of it in his dream, saying, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream" (Genesis 37:9). Jacob began to keep watch over his father's words, and his father kept the matter (Genesis 37:11). And when Joseph was sold and Simeon was bound and Benjamin was brought to take revenge, Jacob began to cry out, "Me? What do I know? I thought that from my fathers I would establish twelve tribes, but I am dwindling and going down," as it says, "Joseph is gone" (Genesis 42:36). Everything that the old man promised was fulfilled, and yet I am decreasing and going down. "How incomprehensible is this to me," as it says, "I do not know what to say to you, but one thing remains in my hand, the blessing that my father blessed me with, saying, 'And Almighty God bless you'" (Genesis 28:3).
“They sent Rebecca their sister, and her nursemaid, and Abraham’s servant, and his men” (Genesis 24:59). “They blessed Rebecca, and said to her: Our sister, may you become thousands and myriads, and let your descendants inherit the gate of their enemies” (Genesis 24:60). “They sent Rebecca…they blessed Rebecca” – they were downcast and despondent [that she was going], and they blessing her only with their mouths. (Not with their hearts.) “Our sister, may you become thousands and myriads” – Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina: Why was Rebecca granted [conception] only after Isaac prayed for her? (See Genesis 25:21.) It was so that the idolaters [Laban and his mother] should not say: ‘Our prayer bore fruit.’ Instead, “Isaac entreated the Lord on behalf of his wife” (Genesis 25:21). Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: “The blessing of the lost would come to me” (Job 29:13). “The blessing of the lost [oved]” – this refers to Laban the Aramean, as it is stated: “An Aramaean sought to destroy [oved] my father” (Deuteronomy 26:5). “Would come upon me” – this refers to Rebecca. “Our sister, may you become thousands [alfei] and myriads [revava]” – chieftains [alufim] emerged from her through Esau, and myriads through Jacob. Chieftains from Esau – “the chieftain of Teiman, the chieftain of Kenaz” (Genesis 36:15); myriads [revava] from Jacob, as it is written: “I rendered you numerous [revava] like the plants of the field” (Ezekiel 16:7). Some say that both of these emerged through Israel, as it is written: “When it rested, he said: Repose Lord, among the myriad [rivevot] thousands of [alfei] Israel” (Numbers 10:36).
“Isaac entreated the Lord opposite his wife, because she was barren, and the Lord acceded to his entreaty, and Rebecca his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:21). “Isaac entreated [vayetar] the Lord opposite his wife” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because he poured out prayers abundantly [beosher]. (In Aramaic, the root ayin tav reish is parallel to the Hebrew ayin shin reish. ) Reish Lakish said: Because he overturned the decree. On that basis they call a pitchfork atra, as it overturns the grain. “Opposite his wife” – it teaches that Isaac was prostrated here and she was prostrated there, and he was saying: Master of the universe, all the children that You are giving me will be from this righteous woman.’ She, too, said so: ‘All the children that You are destined to give me will be from this righteous man.’ “Because she was barren” – Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Lakish: She did not have a uterus, and the Holy One blessed be He fashioned a uterus for her. “The Lord acceded [vayeater] to his entreaty” – Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to the son of kings, who was tunneling under his father in order to take a litra of gold. This one was tunneling from inside, (The king sought to enable his son to gain access to the gold.) and that one was tunneling from outside, as in Arabia they call tunneling atirata.
R. Isaac said: "Our father Isaac was impotent, as it is said (Gen. 25, 21) And Isaac entreated the Lord (L'nochach) opposite his wife. It is not stated Al (concerning) his wife, but it is said L'nochach (opposite) his wife. Infer from this that both of them were impotent [and therefore both prayed."] If so, then why is it written: And the Lord was entreated of him? Entreated of them, it ought to be? This is because the prayer of a righteous (Isaac), the son of a righteous, is not like the prayer of a righteous (Rebecca), son (daughter) of a wicked. R. Isaac said: "Why were our ancestors childless [until they prayed?] Because the Holy One, praised be He! desires [to hear] the prayers of the righteous." R. Isaac said: "Why are the prayers of the righteous symbolized by a shovel? Because just as the shovel turns the grain at the threshing floor from place to place, so the prayers of the righteous turn the dispensations of the Lord from anger to mercy." R. Ami said: "Sarah our mother was a Tumtum, as it is said (Is. 51, 1) Look unto the rock, (Ib. b) whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence they were dug out. And immediately follows: Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you." 11. Nachman, in the name of Rabba b. Abahu, said: "Our mother Sarah was wombless, as it is said (Gen. 11, 30) But Sarah was barren, she had no child; i.e., even a place for a child (womb) she had not."
[Another interpretation (of Gen. 30:22): THEN GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL.] What is written above on the matter (in vs. 1)? WHEN RACHEL SAW THAT SHE HAD BORNE JACOB NO CHILDREN…. < AND SHE SAID TO JACOB: GIVE ME CHILDREN >, OR ELSE I SHALL DIE. Our masters have said: From here you learn that all who are childless are regarded as dead. Thus it is written of Hannah (in I Sam. 2:6): THE LORD BRINGS DEATH AND GIVES LIFE. Hannah simply said this: Before he gave me a son, I was one of the dead. Now that he has given me a son, I have been reckoned with the living. Rachel said to Jacob (in Gen. 30:1-2): GIVE ME CHILDREN, OR ELSE I SHALL DIE. THEN JACOB'S ANGER WAS KINDLED AGAINST RACHEL. The Holy Spirit says (in Job 15:2): DOES A ONE WHO IS WISE ANSWER WITH WINDY KNOWLEDGE? (Gen. R. 71:7.) Jacob said to Rachel: Am I the viceroy (Gk.: antikaisar.) of the Holy One? (Gen. 30:2, cont.:) AM I TAKING GOD'S PLACE? The Holy One said to him: By your life, in the words you have uttered, AM I TAKING GOD'S PLACE? In these very words her son is < going to > rise up and say to your children (in Gen. 50:19): AM I TAKING GOD'S PLACE? She said to him: Did your father, Isaac, do this to your mother, Rebekah? Did not the two of them stand and pray for each other? It is so stated (in Gen. 25:21): THEN ISAAC ENTREATED THE LORD ON BEHALF OF HIS WIFE. You also should pray unto the LORD for me! And did not your grandfather Abraham do so for Sarah? He said to her: Sarah brought a rival wife into her house. She said to him (in Gen. 30:3): If so, HERE IS MY MAID BILHAH; GO IN TO HER. He did not do so; but, when she had < actually > given him her bondmaid, she immediately (in vs. 5) conceived and gave birth. (Gen. 30:6:) THEN RACHEL SAID: GOD HAS JUDGED ME. He has judged me and found me guilty; he has judged me and found me innocent. He has judged me and found me guilty by not giving me a son; he has judged me and found me innocent by giving my bondmaid a son. (Ibid., cont.:) SO SHE CALLED HIS NAME DAN (i.e., he has judged). Then she conceived and gave birth to Naphtali, AND (according to vs. 8) RACHEL SAID: WITH SUPERNATURAL WRESTLINGS (naphtule) I HAVE WRESTLED (niphtalti) < WITH MY SISTER >. {< Naphtali > should be interpreted as < the Greek word > nymphe, since in the Mediterranean cities they call a bride a nymphe.} Naphtulai < means in translation > that the wedding canopy was mine. Now on each Wednesday (Wednesdays were generally considered unlucky, especially for sick children. See yTa‘an. 4:4 (68b) (bar.); Ta‘an. 27b (bar.); Soferim 17:5. See also Pes. 112b.) she was adorned to enter it, but < it was > Leah < who > entered. (Cf. Gen. R. 71:8.) Therefore, < it was > "my wedding canopy" (naphtulay), but her sister entered. (Gen. 30:8:) < AND RACHEL SAID: WITH SUPERNATURAL WRESTLINGS (naphtule) I HAVE WRESTLED (niphtalti) > WITH MY SISTER; {AND} I HAVE ALSO PREVAILED. SO SHE CALLED HIS NAME NAPHTALI. Why Naphtali (NPTLY)? Because from their border they put a crown on the Torah, (The allusion is to the fact that the borders of Naphtali contain Tiberias, a city which for hundreds of years represented the center of Jewish learning in Israel.) about which it is written (in Ps. 19:11 [10]): SWEETER ALSO THAN HONEY AND THE DRIPPINGS (NPT) OF THE COMB. When Leah saw that she had borne six, she said: The Holy One has made this agreement with Jacob, to raise up twelve tribes. Now here I have borne six sons; and the two bondmaids, four. That makes ten. Then Leah conceived < again >. Our masters have said: She conceived a male. (Ber. 60a; Gen. R. 72:6; cf. Ber. 9:3; yBer. 9:5 (14a).) Leah said: Here I have conceived, but my sister Rachel has not given birth. (Thus, Rachel would not even equal the bondmaids.) What did Leah do? She began to pray for mercy upon her sister Rachel. She said to let whatever should be within her (Probably a misreading for “my” in accordance with the direct discourse of the Hebrew text, which reads literally, “She said: Let whatever is within her belly….”) belly become female, and let not my sister Rachel be prevented from giving birth to a son. The Holy One said to her: By your life, you have had mercy upon you sister. See, I am making that which is within your belly female, and < I > am remembering her in this regard. (Gen. 30:21:) THEN AFTERWARDS SHE BORE A DAUGHTER AND CALLED HER NAME DINAH. What is the meaning of DINAH (DYNH)? That she argued (DYNH) against giving birth to a son on condition that Rachel bear a son; for thus it is written below (in Gen. 30:22-23): THEN GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL…. SO SHE CONCEIVED AND BORE A SON. What is the meaning of SO SHE CONCEIVED AND BORE < A SON >? < The verse > likens her giving birth to her conception. Just as her conception was painless, so was her giving birth painless. (Gen. 30:23, cont.:) THEN SHE SAID: GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY MY SHAME. What is the meaning of HAS TAKEN AWAY? (Gen. R. 73:5.) Simply that before a wife gives birth there is shame found within her house. How? When she breaks a vessel in her house, whom does she have to blame? When she gives birth, she blames her child. She therefore said: GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY MY SHAME.
"His offspring will be mighty in the land." What is the reward for this? "His offspring will be mighty in the land" - this refers to Isaac, as it is said, "For through Isaac shall your offspring be named" (Genesis 21:12). And what was his strength? He prayed for his wife to conceive, as it is said, "And Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife" (Genesis 25:21). Is there a greater strength than this, that he prayed for an infertile woman to conceive?
“He seats the barren woman of the house as a happy mother of children. Hallelujah!” (Psalms 113:9) There are seven barren women: Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah, Manoach’s wife, Chana and Zion…Another explanation. ‘He seats the barren woman’ this refers to Zion. “Sing you barren woman who has not borne…” (Isaiah 54:1) ‘a happy mother of children,’ “And you shall say to yourself, Who begot these for me…” (Isaiah 49:21)
THE DEATH OF SARAH AND THE STORY OF ISAAC AND REBECCA SIX (people) were called by their names before they were created, and they are: Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and King Messiah.
Rabbi Jehudah said: Rebecca was barren for twenty years. After twenty years (Isaac) took Rebecca and went (with her) to Mount Moriah, to the place where he had been bound, and he prayed on her behalf concerning the conception of the womb; and the Holy One, blessed be He, was entreated of him, as it is said, "And Isaac intreated the Lord" (ibid. xxv. 21). The children were contending with one another within her womb like mighty warriors, as it is said, "And the children struggled together within her" (ibid. 22). The time of her confinement came round, and her soul was nigh unto death owing to her pains. And she went to pray in the place whither she and Isaac had gone, as it is said, "And she went to inquire of the Lord" (ibid.). What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? Jacob took hold of the heels of Esau to make him fall, as it is said, "And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel" (ibid. 26). Hence thou mayest learn that the descendants of Esau will not fall until a remnant || from Jacob will come and cut off the feet of the children of Esau from the mountain of Seir, as it is said, "Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands" (Dan. 2:45). Another Scripture text says, "Vengeance is mine, and a recompence, at the time when their foot shall slide" (Deut. 32:35).
“May your house be like the house of Peretz whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the descendants that the Lord will give you from this young woman” (Ruth 4:12). “May your house be like the house of Peretz…[from the descendants that the Lord will give you from this young woman].” They said: ‘May all the children the Holy One blessed be He gives you be from this woman.’ Likewise, “Isaac entreated the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren” (Genesis 25:21) – Isaac was prostrated here and Rebecca was prostrated there, and he was saying: ‘Master of the universe, may all the children that You are destined to give me be from this righteous woman.’ Likewise, “Eli would bless Elkana and his wife [and say: May the Lord grant you offspring from this woman]” (I Samuel 2:20). He said: ‘May the sons that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to give you be from this righteous woman.’ “Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he had relations with her, and the Lord granted her pregnancy, and she bore a son” (Ruth 4:13). “Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: She did not have a womb at all and the Holy One blessed be He carved her a womb. (This is derived from the phrase “she became his wife,” which is interpreted to mean that after Boaz took her she became capable of having children. Alternatively, the exposition is derived from the unusual phrase: “The Lord granted her pregnancy” (Etz Yosef).)
Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: Why did Rebecca become barren? It was so the nations of the world would not say: ‘Our prayer produced results,’ as they said to her: “Our sister, may you become thousands and myriads” (Genesis 24:60). This was until Isaac prayed on her behalf, and she was remembered. That is what is written: “Isaac entreated the Lord on behalf of his wife” (Genesis 25:21). Rabbi Azarya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa: Why did the matriarchs become barren? It was so they would not rely on their husbands due to their beauty. (They would not be fully confident in their relationship with their husbands, despite their great beauty, because their husbands would be frustrated by their barrenness. Therefore, they would place their trust in God (Etz Yosef).) Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: Why did the matriarchs become barren? It was so most of the years would elapse without enslavement. (In the covenant of the pieces Abraham was told that the four hundred years, beginning with Isaac’s birth, would contain elements of being strangers, enslavement, and oppression (Genesis 15:13). The fact that the matriarchs were barren, together with the fact that the enslavement in Egypt did not begin until after Joseph and his brothers died, ensured that the majority of the four hundred years elapsed without slavery (Etz Yosef).) Rabbi Ḥoni [said] in the name of Rabbi Meir: Why did the matriarchs become barren? It was so their husbands would enjoy their beauty, for when a woman becomes pregnant, she becomes ugly and revolting. Know that it is so, as all the years that Sarah our matriarch was barren she would sit in her house like a bride under her wedding canopy. When she became pregnant, her luster was altered, just as it says: “With pain you shall bear children” (Genesis 3:16). Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Shila of the village of Ḥamarta, and Rabbi Ḥelbo in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Why did the matriarchs become barren? It is because the Holy One blessed be He desired to hear their speech. He said to them: ‘My dove, I will tell you why I rendered you barren; it is because I desired to hear your speech.’ That is what is written: “For your voice is pleasant, and your appearance is lovely.”
Variantly: Prayer (tefillah) is called by ten names: ze'akah, shav'ah, ne'akah, rinah, pegiah, nipul, pilul, atirah, chilui, and chinun: ze'akah — (Shemoth 2:23) "And it was in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel moaned under the toil, and they cried out ("vayizaku"). "shav'ah" — (Ibid.) "and their outcry ("shavatham") ascended." "ne'akah" — (Ibid. 24) "And G-d heard their outcry ("na'akatham"). "rinah" — (Jeremiah 7:16) "and do not raise for them an outcry ("rinah"). "pegiah" — (Ibid.) "and do not entreat ("tifg'u") Me." "nipul" — (Devarim 9:18) "And I prostrated myself ("va'ethnapal") before the L-rd as at first." "pilul" — (Ibid. 26:) "And I prayed ("va'etpallel") to the L-rd." "atirah" — (Bereshith 25:21) "And Isaac entreated ("vaye'tar Yitzchak") the L-rd for his wife." "chilui" — (Shemoth 32:11) "And Moses prayed" ("Vayechal Mosheh.") "chinun" — (Devarim 3:23) "And I entreated ("va'ethchanan") the L-rd." (Ibid.)
The "winds" mentioned in the Midrash are references to the dispersal of Israel among the nations. We know this from Zecharyah 2,10: "For I have scattered you like the four winds." Rashi on Genesis 25,21, explains the word ויעתר to mean repeating, multiplying; he cites Proverbs 27,26: "the kisses of the enemy are profuse," in support of this. We already said that this verse in Proverbs alludes to the curses turning into blessings, i.e. the "enemy" showers you with kisses. Another thoroughly treacherous aspect of Bileam comparing Israel to cedars prior to adding the words עלי מים, is that the ארזים are always a symbol for the Patriarchs. The merit of the Patriarchs has always stood by Israel and saved it from destruction. Bileam wanted them to rely on that merit, thus make them feel they did not have to repent while in exile. This is why he emphasizes "there is no harm in sight for Jacob, no woe in view for Israel" (23,21). By lulling Israel into complacency with these flattering comments he hoped to prevent Israel from returning to G–d in penitence. If someone truly loves a person, has his real interests at heart, he will reprove him rather than flatter him, and will draw attention to any blemish such a person may suffer from. The word ארזים, cedars, also has a connotation of stubbornness as we know from Taanit 20b, that "a person should strive to be soft as a reed and not hard like a cedar. The remedy to such hardness lies in one's humbling oneself." Words of Torah are compared to water, since just as water starts in a high place and flows downwards, i.e. water is content to "lower" itself, so words of Torah which originate in high places cannot be fulfilled except by people who are first prepared to humble themselves (Taanit 7a). In light of the foregoing, the comparison to "cedars" is a great blessing indeed. It means that we ourselves are now comparable to the Patriarchs who in turn had been compared to the "cedars of Lebanon."
Since we just had a statement about a pitchfork, the Talmud cites a completely unrelated statement concerning the pitchfork. In Genesis 25:21 Isaac “entreats” the Lord on behalf of his barren wife. The word for entreat is ויעתר which has the same root as the word for pitchfork, עתר. R. Elazar says that prayer is compared to a pitchfork because prayer has the ability to overturn God’s harsh judgments.
It is important to appreciate that the power of prayer is such that it can bring about changes in the laws of nature, save people from mortal danger, and bring about cancellation of evil decrees by G’d. We know that it can effect changes in the laws of nature from Yitzchak whose prayer in the presence of Rivkah brought about the new-found ability of Rivkah to conceive (Genesis 25,21). She had previously been barren, and our sages explain that this was so as G’d wanted to encourage Yitzchak to pray to Him to reverse this situation. (compare Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2,31). Our sages explained to us that the barrenness of our matriarchs was due only to the absence of the prayers of either themselves or their husbands. Proof that prayer can save one from mortal danger is found in Psalms 107,23: “the ones who descend to the sea in ships.” We know that from when Jonah prayed inside the fish, surely a mortal danger if ever there was such. Not only this, but David continues in that psalm describing how the mariners in time of a storm pray to G’d Who saves them from these dangers. As a result of their prayers G’d silences these turbulent waters (verse 29). Proof that prayer is able on occasion to reverse evil decrees by G’d is found in Isaiah 38,8 where G’d tells King Chizkiyah that his prayer has been granted that he will enjoy a 15 year extension of his lifespan after the prophet had told him in the name of G’d to make his last will and testament as he would not recover from his sickness. (Compare Berachot 10 on what the king told the prophet.) The Talmud tells us not to despair even if the sword is poised to fall on one’s neck, that G’d is still able to help. They quote Job 13,15 to prove their point. Incidentally, our sages there reveal that the power of prayer exceeds the power of prophecy. In this connection we must remember that in the period between Moses and the men of the Great Assembly (over 900 years later) prayer was not formalized as it is nowadays. Every person formulated his prayers in his own words in accordance with his knowledge and ability. The men of the Great Assembly organised the formula which serves until this day as the principal prayer commonly known a the Shmone Esreh, (“18,” according to the number of benedictions which it contains). The main reason the men of the Great Assembly formulated this prayer was to ensure that everyone would learn it by heart and be familiar with it. This is why the language of that prayer is very plain and simple. This would prevent people from becoming confused and making errors. The sages wanted the prayers of both fools and wise men to be identical so that the fools would not feel at a disadvantage. These benedictions were composed with the utmost care and with regard to such formulas having proved successful. The introductory benediction, known as אבות introduces the petitioner as a descendant of the patriarchs and as such entitled to a hearing. It is followed by a benediction known as גבורות, a declaration of our awareness of G’d’s mighty deeds. The third benediction is called קדושה, a prayer in which we extol G’d’s Holiness. These three benedictions are followed by a string of בקשות, requests (12 in all) which are arranged both in terms of our spiritual needs, our physical needs, our national needs and our individual needs. The final three benedictions consist of עבודה, a prayer asking for the restoration of the Temple and the sacrificial service in the Temple, followed by a benediction known as הודאה, thanksgiving. This is followed by the blessing by the priests, the prayer for peace, without which all the other blessings are short-lived. If you will examine the letters in the tetragrammaton י-ה-ו-ה you will find that if the letters of that name are spelled in a different sequence you have a total of 12 variations, known as צירופים, permutations. An example of these variations is that starting with the first letter י you could follow it with either a ו followed by two letters ה, or by the letter ה twice followed by the letter ו. The three basic letters in the tetragrammaton, the letters י-ה-ו lend themselves to six permutations, i.e. יהו,יוה,הוי,היו,ויה,והי giving you a total of 6 such צירופים. The tetragrammaton, having four basic letters, doubles the number of permutations possible so that you wind up with basically 12 צירופים. [Some authorities speak about 24. Ed]. The number 12 corresponds to the numerical value of the word זה in the verse זה שמי לעולם, “this is My name forever” (Exodus 3,15). The three first permutations, i.e. the ones using the letter י at the beginning, correspond to the first three of the benedictions representing אבות, גבורות, קדושה. The final three צירופים in that series correspond to the last three benedictions עבודה, הודאה, ברכת כהנים. The 6 permutations in the middle correspond to six of the 12 central requests, i.e. אתה חונן, השיבנו, סלח לנו, גאולה, רפואה, פרנסה. The other six benedictions do not have a specific permutation of the tetragrammaton assigned to them and one can perceive them as being used interchangeably. The reason that the 19th benediction, the one added by later sages as a request to ward off the potential damage caused to Jews and Judaism by its defectors and maligners cannot be assigned any of these permutations of the tetragrammaton is that this benediction is addressed in the first instance to the attribute of Justice, not the tetragrammaton as we want that attribute to neutralize these anti Jewish forces. This nineteenth benediction and its significance has already been alluded to in Psalms 29 where after mentioning the tetragrammaton 18 times, David adds the words ואל הכבוד הרעים, in verse 3, a reference to the attribute of Justice. The only reason David changes the attribute he addresses there after having referred to the tetragrammaton 18 times is that he hints that this attribute ought to be poised, ready to strike these virulent anti-Semites unless they retract. Another reason that David introduces an additional attribute of G’d in that psalm is that he conveys the message that not only our external enemies but our internal enemies, the evil urge, should be taken care of by the attribute of Justice. We encourage the attribute of Justice, so to speak, to vent its anger on our internal enemies.
and He accepted their prayers וְנַעְתּוֹר, similar to if וַיֵּעָתֵר לוֹ accepted his prayer (Gen. 25:21).
They cried out there was no one to deliver them. The words of verse are not written in order [the proper order should be] "They will cry out to Adonoy but He will not answer them and no one will deliver them" (The two words ואין מושיע need to be removed from their position at the beginning of the verse and placed instead at the end of the verse as its last two words.) as [we find], "Man will turn to his Maker", (Yeshayohu 17:7.) as if to say "turn". (i.e., ישעה means “turn to.”) Menachem connected [the word יִשְׁעֶה] with [the verse,] "Adonoy listened to Hevel", (Bereishis 4:4.) and he [Menachem] interpreted it as "listening." This word can be used to denote both the listener and the listened to as [we find], "Yitzchok implored Adonoy… and Adonoy listened to him." (Bereishis 25:21.) So too here "They will implore [God] and they will not be saved" (In our verse.) is a case where the word יִשְׁעוּ is refering to the one praying and "Adonoy listened…" (By Hevel’s offering.) is a case where the word is refering to the [Holy] One being prayed to.
This exchange between Rachel and Jacob was another type scene, one that already occurred twice in Genesis. Two other barren mothers sought children: Sarah and Rebekah. The difference between those situations was with their husbands: Isaac only wanted children with his wife, (Radak, Seforno on Genesis 25:21.) whereas Abraham was content to father children with a surrogate. For Abraham, the problem of children was disconnected from the question of his relationship with Sarah. Jacob, similarly, was not overtly troubled by the fact that his relationship with Rachel did not bear fruit of the womb. Jacob reminded Rachel: “God has withheld children from you; I have children!”
[4] This will be shown still more clearly by the oracle which was given to Rebecca or Patience (Gen. 25:21 ff.). She had conceived the two contending natures of good and evil and considered earnestly, as wisdom bade her, the character of both, when she perceived them leaping and as in a skirmish preluding the war that should be between them. And therefore she besought God to show her what had befallen her, and how it might be remedied. He answered her question thus: “two nations are in thy womb.” That was what had befallen her—to bear both good and evil. But again “two peoples shall be separated from thy womb.” This is the remedy, that good and evil be separated and set apart from each other and no longer have the same habitation.
[47] Again Isaac the all-wise besought God, and through the power of Him who was thus besought Steadfastness or Rebecca became pregnant (Gen. 25:21). And without supplication or entreaty did Moses, when he took Zipporah the winged and soaring virtue, find her pregnant through no mortal agency (Exod. 2:22).
Apropos a pitchfork, the Gemara cites a related aggadic teaching: Rabbi Elazar said: Why are the prayers of the righteous likened to a pitchfork [eter]? It is written: “And Isaac entreated [vayetar] the Lord for his wife, because she was barren” (Genesis 25:21), to say to you: Just as this pitchfork overturns the grain on the threshing floor from place to place, so too, the prayers of the righteous overturn the mind of the Holy One, Blessed be He, from the attribute of cruelty to the attribute of mercy, and He accepts their prayers.
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Isaac our father was infertile, as it is stated: “And Isaac entreated the Lord concerning [lenokhaḥ] his wife because she was barren” (Genesis 25:21). It is not stated that he entreated the Lord for [al] his wife, but lenokhaḥ, which can mean opposite, against, or corresponding to; this teaches that they were both infertile. The Gemara asks: If so, why does the verse continue: “And the Lord let Himself be entreated of him”? The verse should say: And the Lord let Himself be entreated of them. The Gemara answers that their prayers were answered due to Isaac, because the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a righteous individual is not similar to the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a wicked individual, and Rebekah’s father was the wicked Bethuel.
Yitzchok prayed to [before] Adonoy across from [opposite] his wife, for she was barren. Adonoy granted his prayer and his wife, Rivkah, conceived.
And Izhak went to the mountain of worship, the place where his father had bound him. And Izhak in his prayer turned the attention of the Holy One, blessed be He! from that which He had decreed concerning him who had been childless. And he was enlarged, and Rivekah his wife was with child.
| וַיִּתְרֹֽצְצ֤וּ הַבָּנִים֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔הּ וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אִם־כֵּ֔ן לָ֥מָּה זֶּ֖ה אָנֹ֑כִי וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ לִדְרֹ֥שׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה׃ | 22 J | But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why do I exist?” (why do I exist? Meaning of Heb. uncertain.) She went to inquire of יהוה, |
Genesis 25,22. she said: “if so (that the children already quarrel within my womb) ,what is the purpose of my existence?” We can understand this complaint of Rivkah on the basis of a comment by the Ari’zal that righteous women are spared the pain and discomfort of pregnancy. Rivkah, while experiencing even more than the normal amount of pain and discomfort during her pregnancy, had concluded that this was proof that G’d had not considered her righteous. Moreover, it is a tenet of our faith that if someone is not a “good” person, such a person will not serve as a receptacle for anything holy or potentially holy. Our sages have based this insight on Leviticus 11,15 את כל עורב למינו, “and every subspecies of raven each according to its species” (is forbidden to eat). [The word כל in that verse means that even close association with something ritually unclean, i.e. a raven, is an obstacle to such a person hosting holy spirit, etc. Ed.] According to Bereshit Rabbah 63,6 whenever Rivkah passed a Torah academy Yaakov would make an effort to leave her womb, whereas when she passed a pagan temple Esau would try to leave her womb. Thereupon she went to ask G’d about this strange phenomenon. The Midrash states further that the word זה in our verse refers to the fact that originally, -if not for her complaint- Rivkah was slated to become the mother of all the twelve tribes; seeing that she appeared to find fault with G’d’s arrangement, she was told that she would become the mother of only two sons, one of whom would be Esau. One of the sages in the Midrash takes issue with the literal meaning of Yaakov and Esau respectively having shown awareness of when their mother passed a Torah academy or a pagan temple, and states that, of course, this is merely a simile, and that Rivkah consulted with the heads of the academy founded by Shem and subsequently headed by his great grandson Ever. According to another opinion offered, Rivkah knew that the source of holiness is the One known as אנכי, and when she exclaimed למה זה אנכי, she expressed her confusion how she could be the receptacle of a son who clearly strived for holiness if she was not worthy. On the other hand, if she were worthy, why did she experience such a difficult pregnancy? G’d put her mind at rest, telling her that her difficulties did not mean that she was not worthy, but that the other son who would be unworthy was the one that caused her present problems.
Rabbi Shimon said, “I raise my hands in prayer to He who created the world (see Bereshit, 14:22). Even though our predecessors have revealed hidden supernal knowledge in this verse, one would do well to look into and contemplate the secrets of the book of Adam, because this is the source of the hidden book of Shlomo HaMelech.” (Zohar, Yitro, 70a) Thus we find that Shem and Eiver (Whom tradition identifies as pre-Sinaitic Torah scholars, living from the time of Noach until the days of Yaakov. ) had a house of study. When Rivkah was pregnant and the twins were fighting in her womb, it says (Bereshit, 25:22), “She went to ask of God.” The Midrash Rabbah (Bereshit, 63) notes that she went to the house of study of Shem and Aiver. The Gemara teaches us that Yaakov hid himself from Eisav in the house of Aiver (Megillah, 17a).
ויתרוצצו, “they quarreled;” the word means that something is about to be broken. Compare Chronicles II16,10.
אם כן, “if there is so much pain involved in pregnancy, why do I have to remain alive?” I prefer to die immediately and avoid suffering the pains of pregnancy and birth.
ותלך לדרוש את ה, “she went to obtain an answer to her problem from one of the prophets in her time.” (Rash’bam) The answer she sought was why the fetuses inside her were engaged in a fight. She was well aware that her term of pregnancy had not yet been completed. She was afraid that after all these pains she might miscarry.
AND THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED TOGETHER. Va-yitrotzatzu (and they struggled) comes from the word that means running. (The root of run is rash, vav, tzadi. According to I.E., And the children struggled…within her is to be rendered: and the children ran within her, that is, moved quickly within her.) The tzadi is doubled. (As is the rule when an ayin vav is conjugated in the hitpa’el.) Its parallel is found in They run to and fro (yerotzetzu) like the lightnings (Nahum 2:5). (Yerotzetzu (run to and fro) is from the root resh, vav, tzadi. The tzadi is doubled in keeping with the rule that the last letter of an ayin vav is doubled when conjugated in the pi’el.) The Bible refers to the fetuses as children (Banim (children) always refers to born children. A fetus is not a child (Krinsky).) because that is what they ultimately became. (The Hebrew reads: nekre’u banim al shem sofam.) And stripped the naked of their clothing (Job 22:6) (One cannot strip the naked.) is similar. Rebekah asked women who had children if they had had a similar experience. They responded that they did not.
Rebekah then said, if it, namely, the manner and custom of pregnancy, be so as they said, wherefore do I undergo such an abnormal pregnancy. (Lammah zeh anokhi (Wherefore do I live) literally reads: why, then, am I, which I.E. interprets to mean: why, then, am I undergoing an abnormal pregnancy. It should be noted that according to I.E., Rebekah’s questioning of the other women is not stated in the text but is implied by her saying, im ken lammah zeh anokhi.)
Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
"The children agitated within her..." This agitation happened when she would pass by the entrance of the Beit ha-Midrash of Shem and Ever. Yaakov struggled to come out, and Esav grasped his hand. And when she would pass by the entrance of the house of idols, Esav struggled to come out, and Yaakov grasped his hand. But she did not reason out the matter this way, but rather that she had only one fetus in her belly, that wanted to come out whether for a beit midrash or for a house of idols. If true, chas v'shalom, perhaps there are two authorities in existence! Therefore she said, "why am I thus?", if I am just like all the other women who worship idols? What advantage do I have over them if, chas v'shalom, there are two authorities in existence? Therefore, "she went to inquire of ha-Shem", meaning, to inquire after the existence of God and God's essence.
ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה, The children were quarrelling inside her, etc. Both the expression ויתרצצו, "they quarrelled" and the words למה זה אנכי, "why am I therefore" need examination. Rashi explains that "if the pain involved in giving birth is so intense, why did I bother to pray to become pregnant?" It is difficult to reconcile our image of the pious and righteous Rebeccah with Rashi's comment, i.e. that she did not think the pain worth her while in order to become a mother. Also, if that had been her real concern, how did G'd's response alleviate her problem? Our rabbis have offered many and various explanations none of which are acceptable as the plain meaning of the verse. The plain meaning of the word ויתרצצו is based on the root רצץ, to crush. Since there were two fetuses in her womb she felt as if her womb was being crushed. She was afraid that she could not complete her pregnancy and would have a miscarriage as a result. Her question then was rhetorical, i.e. "what good was my becoming pregnant if this pregnancy will not be completed successfully?" The words: "she went to ask G'd," mean that she prayed to G'd to let her complete her pregnancy without mishap. She felt that the miracle of her becoming pregnant after all these years surely should not be wasted by her not giving birth to a healthy child.
ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה, “the children quarreled inside her.” This particular pregnancy was totally different from all the pregnancies experienced by women up until that time. It was quite unknown for women who gave birth to twins to experience turbulence within their wombs during their pregnancies. The fact that these fetuses had begun to behave in such a manner already while inside the womb made Rivkah very distraught. She had her worst fears confirmed when G’d told her through His prophet Shem (Bereshit Rabbah 63,7) that she was going to give birth to founders of two nations whose outlook on life would be totally different from one another. He assured Rivkah that she, personally, had no cause to worry about the physical phenomenon of that tumult within her. A Midrashic opinion (Avodah Zarah 11) draws attention to the unusual spelling of the words גיים in our verse. The correct spelling should have been גוים. This prompted Rabbi Yehudah to see a hint that there would be two individuals belonging to these two nations, i.e. Emperor Antoninus and Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, whose wealth would be such that all manner of vegetables which were not in season would nonetheless be served on their tables all year. At first glance such a statement is difficult to reconcile with the statement made by the same Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi on his deathbed (compare Ketuvot 104), that he had never permitted himself to use his wealth to indulge himself or to otherwise enjoy the pleasures of life on earth, but had made do with absolute necessities only. We need to understand the Midrash in Bereshit Rabbah as describing what Rabbi Yehudah served his guests, not what he himself partook of. Antoninus was a descendant of Esau, of course. He had studied Torah secretly with Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi so that his servants and other members of his Empire would not become aware of this. According to tradition (also quoted in Avodah Zarah 10), Antoninus, (while governor of Palestine) had a subterranean room which was linked by a passage to the home of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi. He would take two slaves with him every day. He would kill the first one at the entrance to the house of Rabbi Yehudah, and the second one at the entrance to his own palace so that there would not be any surviving witnesses to his visits at the home of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi. He requested of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi that at the pre-arranged times when he would visit, Rabbi Yehudah should not have anyone else present at the house. It happened that on one occasion Rabbi Chanina bar Chama happened to be at the house of Rabbi Yehudah when Antoninus arrived. He became very agitated and complained: “did I not tell you not to have anyone present when I come?” Rabbi Yehudah replied that the apparition in the guise of Rabbi Chanina was not a human being. Thereupon Antoninus said to Rabbi Yehudah: “tell this man to get me the slave who stands on guard at the entrance.” Rabbi Chanina, aware that this slave was going to be killed, deliberated what to do. When he came to the place from where he was supposed to get the slave he found that the slave was already dead. He meditated on what to do, saying to himself that if he told Antoninus that the slave was already dead, he would accuse him of having murdered him. At the same time there is a rule that one need not return to the sender in order to bring bad news. On the other hand, he reasoned, if he were simply to leave the dead man and not go back to the house of Rabbi Yehudah at all, this would be a disgrace, and an insult to the Roman Empire. So he decided to pray. As a result of his prayer the dead guard came to life again and he sent him to his master. Thereupon Antoninus said to Rabbi Yehudah: “I am aware that even relatively insignificant Jews possess the power to bring the dead back to life. Nonetheless, I wish that when I come here no other living soul shall be present.” Antoninus used to provide Rabbi Yehudah with a variety of personal services as well as feed him if necessary on a daily basis. He even expressed a wish to be able to serve Rabbi Yehudah in the hereafter as his mattress. One day he asked Rabbi Yehudah if he could expect to be granted life in the hereafter. Rabbi Yehudah answered in the affirmative. Antoninus questioned this, quoting Ovadiah 18 “there will not be anyone remaining of the house of Esau.” Rabbi Yehudah replied that this verse speaks only of people who live in accordance with the principles of Esau. Thereupon Antoninus quoted another verse, this time from Ezekiel 32,29: “There are Edom, her kings and her princes” [The entire passage deals with the descent to Gehinom of all these Gentile people. Ed.] Rabbi Yehudah replied that the verse referred to “her kings,” but not to “all her kings.” He added that Ezekiel had specifically excluded Antoninus as well as a certain Ketiah bar Shalom from his prediction.
ויתרוצצו, as soon as the fetuses had developed to the point where they were able to move, they moved far more violently than is the custom, so that Rivkah had the impression that quarrelling was going on inside her.
ותאמר אם כן, after she felt these strange movements she consulted with other women who were pregnant or who had born children if they too had experienced such a phenomenon. After they all denied ever having experienced such feelings, she burst out asking: אם כן למה זה אנכי, why should such a thing be reserved for me?
'ותלך לדרוש את ה, some of our sages (quoted by Rashi) say that she went to the academy of Shem in order to inquire from him about the meaning of such strange goings on inside her. The truth is that Shem was still alive at that time for he survived Avraham by 31 years. If Shem was identical with Malki Tzedek he would have resided in Jerusalem at that time. Why are we told all this? To draw our attention to the fact that she bypassed her father-in-law Avraham, who we would think, was better qualified than Shem to answer her question. Avraham remained alive until Esau and Yaakov were 15 years of age.
ותלך, perhaps Avraham and Keturah lived in the same house together with Keturah’s children.
AND SHE SAID: IF IT BE SO, ‘LAMAH ZEH ANOCHI?’”If the pain of pregnancy is so great, lamah zeh anochi (why did I) pray for and aspire to pregnancy?” Thus Rashi. But it is not correct. (For the word anochi (I), according to Rashi, implies “I prayed for pregnancy.” And this, comments Ramban, is not correct. (Gur Aryeh.)) Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that she asked the women if they had experienced such pains, and they said, “No,” whereupon she said, “If the matter and custom of pregnancy be as they said, lamah zeh anochi, why am I beset with an unusual pregnancy?” Now according to this exposition, the verse is missing and not complete. (Her inquiring of other women as to their experiences with pregnancy is not even mentioned explicitly although it is central to the thought expressed in the verse, according to Ibn Ezra.) The correct interpretation in my opinion is that she said, “If it shall be so with me, lamah zeh anochi, [why am I in the world]? Would that I did not exist, that I should die or never have come into existence.” (The J. P. S. translation, If it be so, wherefore do I live?, follows Ramban’s interpretation.) This is similar to the verse, I should have been as though I had not been. (Job 10:19.)
AND SHE WENT ‘LIDROSH’ (TO INQUIRE) OF THE ETERNAL. Rashi comments: “To tell (“To tell.” Our text of Rashi reads: “that He should tell her.”) what her outcome will be.” Now I have not discovered the word drishah [lidrosh, to inquire] in relation to G-d except in the context of prayer, as in the verses: I sought (‘darashti’) the Eternal and He answered me; (Psalms 34:5.) seek ye Me, (‘dirshuni’) and live; (Amos 5:4.) As I live, saith G-d the Eternal, I will not be inquired of (‘edareish’) by you. (Ezekiel 20:3. See Ramban on Exodus 18:15.)
ויתרוצצו, a word derived from רץ, “ran,” as for instance in Jeremiah 51,31 לקראת רץ רץ, “runner dashes to meet runner.” The word describes the constant motion of the two fetuses inside Rivkah’s womb. We have a similar construction of the word קם when it appears next to מתקוממים, or the word לן when it occurs next to the word מתלוננים. If the word had been derived from the root רצץ, as for instance in Job 20,19 רצץ עזב דלים, the Torah would have had to write here vayitratzetzu with the vowel patach, instead of vayitrotzetzu with the vowel cholem. We find such a parallel construction in Jeremiah 13,16 ובטרם יתנגפו רגליכם, “and before your feet stumble.”
'לדרוש את ה, an inquiry directed at the prophets that were around in her time. We have a verse in Kings I 22,8 as well as in Exodus 18,15 where this expression describes questions addressed by the common people to the prophet.
ויתרצצו AND [THE CHILDREN] STRUGGLED — You must admit that this verse calls for a Midrashic interpretation since it leaves unexplained what this struggling was about and it states that she exclaimed “If it be so, wherefore did I desire this” (i.e. she asked whether this was the normal course of child-bearing, feeling that something extraordinary was happening). Our Rabbis explain that the word ויתרוצצו has the meaning of running, moving quickly: whenever she passed by the doors of the Torah (i. e. the Schools of Shem and Eber) Jacob moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth, but whenever she passed by the gate of a pagan temple Esau moved convulsively in his efforts to come to birth (Genesis Rabbah 63:6). Another explanation is: they struggled with one another and quarrelled as to how they should divide the two worlds as their inheritance (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 111:2).
ותאמר אם כן means AND SHE SAID, “IF the pain of pregnancy be so great,
למה זה אנכי WHY IS IT that I longed and prayed to become pregnant?” (Genesis Rabbah 63:6).
ותלך לדרש AND SHE WENT TO ENQUIRE at the school of Shem (Genesis Rabbah 63:6).
'לדרש את ה, TO ENQUIRE OF THE LORD, that He might tell her what would happen to her at the end.
ויתרצצו von רוץ, laufen, eilen, im Hiphil: ויריצוהו מן הבור, sie spornten ihn zur Eile an, also: התרוצץ sich, oder, wo wie hier zwei, sich gegenseitig zur Eile drängen. Einer ließ den andern nicht ruhen. — ותאמר אם כן gehört dem Akzente nach zusammen und heißt wohl: sie sagte, wenn es ihr so geschah: Warum ich dies? d. h. warum mache ich so ungewöhnliche Erfahrungen? — ותלך, nach der Erläuterung der Weisen: zu Schem und Eber — den Bewahrern der von Noach empfangenen Traditionen — um durch sie Aufschluss von Gott zu erbitten.
ותאמר אם כן, after it is a fact that these fetuses already are at each other’s throats I have reason to be afraid that one of them will die so that I endanger myself by giving birth to them, causing one of them to be stillborn.
למה זה אנכי, why were my relatives so concerned that it would be I who provide the seed for Yitzchok when they said את היי לאלפי רבבה, “may it be you who will be the source of millions.” (24,60) Also, why did my husband insist that I become the mother of his children?
For it does not clarify what this struggle was... Meaning: since Scripture does not explain the רציצה, assumedly it was [the standard רציצה,] like that of other pregnant women. But if so, why is it written afterwards, “If this is so, why did I desire this?” Did she not know she would have pregnancy pains? Perforce, as the Midrash says, רציצה means moving quickly, not what other women experience. About this Rashi later commented: “She said, ‘If this is so, that the pain of pregnancy is so great’” — more than that of other women — “‘Why did I desire this?’”
To the house of study of Sheim. [Rashi knows this] because otherwise it should simply say, “She inquired of Hashem.” Why does it say, “She went”? Hashem fills the whole world! And while Sheim was still alive, she would not go to the house of study of his grandson Eiver. We need not ask why she did not go to Avraham, as he too was a prophet, for the answer is: Hashem hid the meaning of her pregnancy from Avraham so he would not be pained [over his wicked grandson-to-be, Eisov]. We see that before Eisov fell into to evil ways, Avraham died, so that his death would be “in a good old age” (25:8).
During her pregnancy the children were agitated within her. It will soon become clear that she was bearing fraternal twins. Sensing that something was abnormal and cause for concern, she said: If so, if the pregnancy is so difficult, why am I like this, why do I want it? Alternatively, this means: If my suffering is so great, what is the point of living? And she went to inquire of the Lord. At the time, there were distinguished individuals who accepted the faith of Abraham and his family, such as Malkitzedek king of Shalem (see 14:18–20). Rebecca sought prophetic instruction from such a man. 2
ויתרוצצו, “They quarreled.” According to Rashi the wrangle inside Rivkah’s womb concerned two worlds. According to the plain meaning of the text, seeing that Esau developed a lot of body hair whereas Yaakov was smooth skinned, Esau’s hair kept rubbing Yaakov’s skin, resulting in violent movement inside her womb, Yaakov trying to escape being scratched.
ותאמר: אם כן וגו', “she said: ”if so, etc.” according to Rashi she said that “if my desire to found a nation of twelve tribes involves so much pain as part of the pregnancies, why did I ever aspire to become the founding mother of such a nation?” According to a Midrash, Rivkah’s complaint of למה זה אנכי was the reason that it was not she who became the founding mother of the twelve tribes. In practice, it was Esau who inadvertently damaged Rivkah’s uterus to the extent that she could not again become pregnant. Other commentators interpret Rivkah’s complaint not as directed against future pregnancies, but as her immediate fear of her embryos seeing the light of the world too soon due to their conduct within her womb. She was afraid of giving birth to premature babies, babies that would die at birth or shortly thereafter. Her complaint was that if she had to undergo all these pains only in order to abort at the end, what was the point in her becoming pregnant in the first place? Why would she have been singled out for such a difficult pregnancy? Yet other scholars see Rivkah’s question as not addressed to G’d, but to other women who had born children successfully. After these women told her that they had not experienced any of the symptoms Rivkah had been plagued by during her pregnancy, she then addressed the question of why she had been singled out to G’d, (using the head of the academy of Shem and Ever as her intermediary) Nachmanides understands Rivkah’s question as wanting to know if her children were already quarrelling before they were born, her own life would not be worth living and she would be better off dead.
ותלך לדרוש את ה', “she went in order to enquire from G’d.” Rashi understands her question as pertaining to the future of these children. Perhaps the reason she preferred to address her enquiry to the head of the Academy of Shem instead of to her father-in-law Avraham, who was still alive at the time, was that she did not want to let him know that she was so beset by mental and physical anguish. Nachmanides understands the words ותלך לדרוש את ה', to mean that Rivkah appealed directly to G’d in prayer seeing that she felt so much anguish.
“The children struggled in her womb” [25:22]. The children struggled in her womb. Jacob and Esau argued in their mother’s body. When Rebecca walked past the door of a house of study, Jacob wanted to get out. When Rebecca passed the door of a place of idol worship, Esau wanted to get out and the two nations struggled with each other. Rebecca said: if it is such a great trouble to be pregnant, why did I ask to have children. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:22.)
“She went to inquire of the Lord” [25:22]. Rebecca went to ask of God why the children were struggling? Here Rashi asks a question. Where did she go to inquire? The explanation is that she went to the house of study and asked Shem, who was the rabbi that he should tell her. He told Rebecca: you will have two important children, as it is written, “two nations are in your womb” [25:23]. This means, two lords will come from you. That is, from Jacob will come Rabbi [Judah the Prince], who will be as important as a king. From Esau will come Antoninus, the king of Esau. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:23. Esau is identified with Rome in Rabbinic literature. Antoninus was an emperor of Rome.) Bahya writes. Antoninus was a great king of Esau and studied Torah from Rabbi [Judah the Prince] secretly, and was very afraid that his servants and ministers should not learn about this. The Talmud in [tractate] Avodah Zarah (B. Avodah Zarah, 10b.) says that there was a large cave under the earth. King Antoninus could easily go from his castle to the house of Rabbi [Judah] through that cave. Every day the king went to study Torah with Rabbi [Judah] through that cave under the earth and took along two servants. The king placed one at the door of his house, and the other one he put at the door of Rabbi [Judah’s] house. He did this every day. He told them that no person should come to Rabbi [Judah] when he would come. Once the king came to Rabbi [Judah] and found Rabbi Haninah sitting before Rabbi [Judah]. The king said: I asked you that no person should be here when I came. Rabbi [Judah] responded: this is not a person. The king said: if this is not a person, let him go and call in the one who is sleeping at the door. Rabbi Haninah went and found that the one at the door had been killed. Rabbi Haninah thought; what should I do? Should I tell him that he had been killed? One does not tell bad news easily. If I will go away, then it is degrading to the king that I would not answer him. He prayed and brought him back to life and sent him to the king. The king said: I know well that every Israelite can bring someone back to life. Nonetheless, I ask you, let no person be with you when I come to you. The king served Rabbi [Judah]; he poured his cup and stood before him like a servant. When Rabbi [Judah] wanted to sleep in his bed, the king bowed down to the earth before the bed so that Rabbi [Judah] would step on him, to more easily let him get into his bed. Rabbi [Judah] said: you are a king and it is not just that a king should do this. The king responded: I wish that I would be the bed under you in the next world. He asked Rabbi [Judah]: will I come to the World to Come? Rabbi [Judah] answered him: you will come. The king said: the verse says, “no survivor shall be left of the House of Esau” [Obadiah 1:18]. Rabbi [Judah] responded: whoever does the deeds of Esau. He asked: the verse says, “Edom is there, her kings and all her chieftains” [Ezekiel 32:29]. There in Gehenna is Edom, the king and his ministers. Rabbi [Judah] answered: except for Antoninus and Ketia the son of Shalom, who will not come to Gehenna. (Bahya, Genesis, 25:22.) Rashi writes. Good food that aids digestion, like lettuce and radish, was never absent from the table of Rabbi [Judah]. These always used to be at the king’s table. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:23.) That is to say, Rabbi [Judah] did not desire delicacies, but he was so wealthy and had so many servants in his household that there was much cooking and there was enough that his household had lettuce and radish with which to rejoice. This was the custom among ministers and kings. However, Rabbi [Judah] before he died, he raised his ten fingers toward heaven and said: Lord of the Universe, I had no pleasure from this world, even with my small finger. (Bahya, Genesis, 25:22.)
After many years passed, there arose people (false prophets - Note Hilchot Yesodei Torah 9:5, which states that anyone who states that God told him in a prophetic vision to worship idols should automatically be considered a false prophet. See also the Guide for the Perplexed (Vol. II, Chapter 36) where the Rambam describes how people can be overcome by their powers of imagination to the extent that they - as do others who see them in such a trance - think of themselves as prophets, although, in fact, they received no Divine influence.) - false prophets - who told [their nations] that God had commanded them to say: (Thus, this represents a second stage in the spread of idol worship. At first - as explained in Halachah 1 - star worship was not institutionalized, but was practiced by individuals because of their mistaken conceptions. The second phase involved the development of religious institutions and set modes of worship. The leaders, however, still recognized God and attributed the instructions to worship the stars to Him. In the third stage - as the latter portion of this halachah states - people would worship the stars and idols without any awareness of God.) Serve this star (or all the stars - sacrifice to it, offer libations to it, build a temple for it and make an image of it so that all people - including the women, the children, and the common people - could bow to it. - See the Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah (Avodah Zarah 4:7) and his statements in Chapter 11, Halachah 16, where he explains that idol worship was instituted by the leaders of the nations to unite the people of a particular land, give them a sense of national identity, and establish a hierarchy of leaders.) - or all the stars - sacrifice to it, offer libations to it, build a temple for it and make an image of it so that all people - including the women, the children, and the common people - could bow to it. He would inform them of a form that he had conceived, and tell them that this is the image of the particular star, claiming that this was revealed to him in a prophetic vision. (With these statements, the Rambam explains how people began to worship statues and idols. Since the star was far away and could not be perceived as more than a twinkling dot in the sky, the people wanted a more tangible image which they could relate to. The "prophets" obliged and devised forms for statues to serve as talismans to bring down influence from these stars.) In this manner, the people began to make images in temples, under trees, and on the tops of mountains and hills. (Note Deuteronomy 12:2, which commands the Jews to destroy "all the places where the nations... would worship their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, or under any luxuriant tree." Note the Guide for the Perplexed, Vol. III, Chapter 45, where the Rambam mentions the gentile practice of building temples on hills and mountaintops.) People would gather together and bow down to them (the images) and the [false prophets] would say: This image is the source of benefit or harm. It is appropriate to serve it and fear it. Their priests would tell them: This service will enable you to multiply and be successful. Do this and this, or do not do this or this. (At this stage, their service was clearly self-oriented. They wanted to derive benefit or prevent harm to themselves through this service.) Subsequently, other deceivers arose and declared that a specific star, sphere, or angel (See Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, Chapter 2, for a description of the angels.) had spoken to them and commanded them: Serve me in this manner. He would then relate a mode of service [telling them:] Do this, do not do this. (This represented a further descent. Rather than prophesy in the name of God, these imposters would speak in the names of the idols themselves. (See also Chapter 5, Halachot 6-7.)) Thus, these practices spread throughout the world. People would serve images with strange practices (one more distorted than the other - Note Chapter 3, Halachah 2, which describes the service of Ba'al Pe'or. The people would defecate before the idol as an act of worship.) - one more distorted than the other - offer sacrifices to them, and bow down to them. As the years passed, [God's] glorious and awesome name was forgotten by the entire population. [It was no longer part of] their speech or thought, and they no longer knew Him. (It is not clear at which point in the history of the world this change took place. The period between Enosh's birth and Abraham's lasted slightly more than one thousand years, with the flood taking place approximately 750 years after Enosh's birth.) Thus, all the common people, the women, and the children would know (Note the Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah (Chulin 1:1), where he also differentiates between the people who believe in the spiritual service intended to draw down spiritual energy from these celestial bodies and practice it, and the common people who worship the idols blindly, on faith.) only the image of wood or stone and the temples of stone to which they were trained from their childhood to bow down and serve, and in whose name they swore. (i.e., they conceived of the images as gods. Such worship represented more than a mere conceptual error. Six of the seven mitzvot commanded to Noach and his descendants were also given to Adam, the first man. Among them was the prohibition against serving other gods (Hilchot Melachim 9:1). Thus, by worshiping these images, they were breaking an explicit Divine commandment.) The wise men among them would (not worship the images as gods in their own right, but they would) think that there is no God other than the stars and spheres for whose sake, and in resemblance of which, they had made these images. The Eternal Rock (the true God) was not recognized or known by anyone in the world, with the exception of a [few] individuals: (Our Sages speak critically of these individuals, who were themselves righteous, but did nothing to influence the people around them. for example - See also the Guide for the Perplexed, Vol. II, Chapter 39, where the Rambam cites these individuals as prophets. Chanoch - Note Genesis 5:22: "And Chanoch walked with God." Metushelach - Though his righteousness is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah, it is mentioned by our Sages in a number of places - e.g., Yalkut Shimeoni, Bereshit 42, which states: "Metushelach was a completely righteous man." Noach - See Genesis 6:9: "And Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation." Shem - Noach's second son. and Ever. - Shem and Ever are frequently mentioned by our Rabbis as righteous sages. See Bereishit Rabbah 63:6, which explains that when Rivkah went "to seek out God" (Genesis 25:22 , she went to the house of study of Shem and Ever. The world continued in this fashion until the pillar of the world - the Patriarch Abraham - was born. - Abraham was born in the year 1948 (1812 B.C.E.).) for example, Chanoch, Metushelach, Noach, Shem, and Ever. The world continued in this fashion until the pillar of the world - the Patriarch Abraham - was born.
After recounting the miraculous nature of this conception, the parshah goes on to relate how the origins of these children foreshadow and illumine their later history. First we are told that the brothers warred with each other while yet in the womb, until their mother, in the consciousness that nothing of this kind had ever happened to a pregnant woman before and that it must perforce presage something of great moment, determined to probe it by making inquiry of the L-rd. This is subsumed in (Genesis 25:22): "And the children wrangled within her, and she said: 'If so, why am I thus?' And she went to inquire of the L-rd."
In this context the verse is to be interpreted as meaning that after she had asked these women if they had ever experienced anything similar and had been answered in the negative, she said: "If so, why am I thus" — placed in this strange situation which was never the lot of others? (The Midrash itself does not explicitly interpret the conclusion of the verse, but R. Abraham ibn Ezra interprets it in this manner, and it is, indeed, an apt interpretation.)
After ascertaining that her situation was atypical, she went to inquire of the L-rd by way of prophets (or she isolated herself for the reception of the spirit of the L-rd, which would reveal it to her) what would be her latter end (according to Rashi of blessed memory) — that is, she yearned to know what was presaged by this strange phenomenon. And though the Ramban takes exception to this interpretation, saying that he had never encountered "inquiry of the L-rd" as connoting anything other than prayer, as in (Psalms 34:5): "I have inquired of the L-rd…", (Amos 5:4): "Inquire of me and live," (Ezekiel 20:3): "As I live, I will not be inquired of by you" — it would seem that the following escaped his notice (II Kings 8:8): "And the king said to Hazael: 'Take a present in your hand, and go meet the man of G-d, and inquire of the L-rd by him, saying: "Shall I recover from this disease?"'" and, similarly, (Ibid 1:2): "Go and inquire of Ba'al Zevuv, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover form this disease." These latter inquiries are to determine what will transpire — as is the case here, Rivkah yearning to know the import of the strange thing occurring to her.
To this should be added the fact that the Blessed One, "who scans the actions of men and brings counsel from afar," wished to create animosity between the brothers, so that when the one sinned the other would be "the staff of His wrath and the rod of His anger" to chastise him. And He implanted this in the nature of these two brothers by making them opposites and generating therefrom all of their activities. The entire episode follows this theme. First it is written (Genesis 25:22): "And the children wrangled within her, and she said: 'If so, why am I thus?'" which our sages expounded (Genesis Rabbah 63:6) to the effect that when Rebeccah became conscious of the fetuses' strange movements, she asked the pregnant women if something like this had ever happened to them, and when answered in the negative said: "If so," this not being the way of nature, "why am I thus" placed in this strange situation which was never the lot of others? (Ibid): "And she went to inquire of the L-rd" — (that is, of a prophet) to be apprised why this was happening, and he answered her, viz. (Ibid 23): "And the L-rd said to her: 'There are two nations in your womb, and two peoples will separate themselves from your innards.'" He thereby informed her that these two fetuses would be the progenitors of different mighty nations and peoples, who would be entirely incompatible with each other and unable to co-exist in peace, but (Ibid): "One people will overpower the other." It was for this reason that the Blessed One implanted in these two fetuses natures of the very opposite extremes. This is evidenced both in their physical features and in their character traits. In their physical features — Esau was ruddy and hairy, attesting to his hot-blooded, passionate nature; whereas Jacob was smooth-skinned, attesting to his good, even-tempered nature. And their character traits paralleled their natures. For though character is not dictated by nature, it is undeniably predisposed by it. For this reason it is written (Ibid 27) that Esau "knew hunting" (his nature inclining to stratagems and subtleties, the like being employed in the trapping of animals) and that he was "a man of the field" (seeking movement, his feet not planted in his home). And Jacob possessed the opposite of these two tendencies. He was "a simple man," walking uprightly and "glorying in dwelling at home." Their physical features and their character traits, then, show them to be of diametrically opposed natures, the Blessed One having created them thus (but not having compelled them to be good or evil). And this is the natural reason, in my view, for the two fetuses being antagonistic to each other while yet in the womb. For I do not believe that these two fetuses were invested with a prophetic effluence which foreshadowed their destiny. In any event an explanation in terms of nature is called for, and that is that their antagonism stemmed from the Blessed One's having created them diametrically opposed in nature, so that their natures contended with each other in the womb itself (though they were not pre-determinedly good or evil). And because every natural force, when it encounters its opposite, either attempts to overpower it or flees before it, each one of those fetuses sought through its natural force to overpower the other or to escape it. This is the intent of "Vayitrotzatzu" ["and they wrangled"], which connotes both running and striking. And this was deliberately intended by the Blessed One so that each one be imbued with hatred and aversion towards the other. For similarity of natures produces similar character traits and invites love, whereas dissimilarity in natures produces a corresponding dissimilarity in character traits and arouses hatred. (In my view, the serpent in Genesis is to be understood in the same manner, but this is not the place for it [see The First Discourse]). In sum, the brothers were implanted with diametrically opposite natures to create between them a root of hatred.
And the Blessed One superadded to this the factor of primogeniture. For it is well known that the transference of legacies and the appropriation of what is due another by cause of it is often a strong cause of estrangement between brothers. And because this factor was not yet so pronounced (Esau having acceded in selling the birthright), the Blessed One superadded the factor of the blessing, engineering it in such a way that Esau would attempt to obtain it and Isaac intend to bless him, notwithstanding which it would be fully bequeathed to Jacob, as we have explained. This was a strong, enduring cause furthering the Blessed One's aim of generating hatred between the two brothers and between their children, a hatred that would last until the end of days. For the seed of Esau will not cease from nationhood until the days of the Messiah, as indicated in the words of Daniel. Daniel saw four creatures, three of which were interpreted to him as symbolizing Media, Persia, and Greece, respectively, as indicated there (Daniel 8:20-21), the fourth being identified by our sages as Amalek [=Edom=Esau]. And Daniel prophesied that Israel would be given over into his hands until the end of the time period alluded to there in five places. And, as seems to be indicated from the plain meaning of the verses, the time in question was not made clear even to Daniel's satisfaction. For in the first vision it is stated (Daniel 7:25): "And he [the fourth] shall wear out the holy ones of the most High and think to change times and laws. And they shall be given into his hand for a season, and seasons, and half a season." And Daniel did not understand this, as it is written (Ibid 28): "My thoughts greatly confounded me and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart." And in the second vision it is asked (Ibid 8:13): "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgressions of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" — and answered (Ibid 14): "For two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings then the sanctuary shall be restored." And here, too, it is written (Ibid 27): "And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days … and I was astonished at the vision, but no one understood it." And at the end it is written (Ibid 12:6): "And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river: 'How long shall it be until the end of the wonders?'" And he answered (Ibid 7): "For a time, times, and a half; and when the crushing of the power of the holy people shall have been completed, all these things shall be finished." And here, too, he says (Ibid 8): "And I heard, but I did not understand." And here, too, the response is (Ibid 9): "Go, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end."
It should be explained, however, why a prophet must be wealthy and tall. As far as his being strong, we can understand that one who is sent out to chastise a great multitude must be extremely courageous and turn back for nothing, as the Blessed One exhorts Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17): "Therefore, gird your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; do not be afraid of them, lest I make you afraid of them." But why must a prophet be wealthy and tall?
Under such circumstances the senses cease to act, and the [Active Intellect] influences the rational faculties, and through them the imaginative faculties, which become perfect and active. Sometimes the prophecy begins with a prophetic vision, the prophet greatly trembles, and is much affected in consequence of the perfect action of the imaginative faculty: and after that the prophecy follows. This was the case with Abraham. The commencement of the prophecy is, “The word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision” (Gen. 15:1); after this, “a deep sleep fell upon Abraham”; and at last, “he said unto Abraham,” etc. When prophets speak of the fact that they received a prophecy, they say that they received it from an angel, or from God; but even in the latter case it was likewise received through an angel. Our Sages, therefore, explain the words, “And the Lord said unto her” that He spake through an angel. You must know that whenever Scripture relates that the Lord or an angel spoke to a person, this took place in a dream or in a prophetic vision.
Rabbi Yitzchak said, It is written, "And the children struggled together within her; and she said, 'if it be so, why am I thus?' And she went to inquire of Hashem" (Gen. 25:22). Where did she go? To the academy of Shem and Ever. "the children struggled together within her," because the wicked Esau was warring against Jacob there. The term 'struggle' (Heb. וַיִּתְרֹצֲצוּ) is similar to the expression 'to break' (Heb. רָצַץ) one's head, for they struggled and were divided. Come and behold, Esau was of the side of he who rides the serpent, (Samael) while JACOB was of the side who rides the perfect Holy Throne, of the side of the sun, that is united with the moon.
Chapter (72) 73: Torah [1] "And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). As it is written in scriptures: Knowledge [of escape from You] is concealed from me. It is too formidable. I cannot know it. (Psalm 139:6). What is the meaning of "extraordinary level of understanding beyond my grasp"? It refers to something that is difficult for a person to comprehend, as it says, "If there arise among you a matter too hard for judgment" (Deuteronomy 17:8). Jacob said, "I cannot understand this matter." God promised Abraham that he would have twelve tribes, as it says, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them...So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5). Just as there are twelve constellations in the heavens that govern the world, so too I will establish twelve tribes from you that will govern the world, as it is said, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Ishmael was born and he begot twelve princes, as it is said, "And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12), Abraham thought that these were the twelve tribes. But God said to him, "No, not those that you think. Sarah will bear a son for you" (Genesis 17:19), as it is said, "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Genesis 21:12). It is through Isaac that your seed will be called (Genesis 21:12), as I said to you, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Isaac married Rebecca and she was found to be barren, he began to question how the promise that God made to Abraham could be fulfilled, as she was barren, as it is said, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren" (Genesis 25:21), and the children struggled within her (Genesis 25:22). "I'm sorry," she began, "if that's the case, I apologize to one another and "She went to inquire of יהוה," (Genesis 25:22), went to the study hall of Shem, and the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body' (Genesis 25:23). Why did she say why is it? (Genesis 25:22), "this" is numerically equivalent to 12. And God said to her [Sarah], "What you think is not so, but there are two nations in your womb." When Jacob stood up and went out to Laban, Isaac called him and said to him, "Let it be known that the Lord is establishing twelve tribes from you," as it is said, "Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you" (Genesis 28:1-4). The blessing that He blessed Abraham with, saying, "Look up now" (Genesis 15:5), is fulfilled through you. And once Jacob went and took wives and fathered twelve tribes, as it says, "And the sons of Jacob were twelve" (Genesis 35:22), Joseph began to see hints of it in his dream, saying, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream" (Genesis 37:9). Jacob began to keep watch over his father's words, and his father kept the matter (Genesis 37:11). And when Joseph was sold and Simeon was bound and Benjamin was brought to take revenge, Jacob began to cry out, "Me? What do I know? I thought that from my fathers I would establish twelve tribes, but I am dwindling and going down," as it says, "Joseph is gone" (Genesis 42:36). Everything that the old man promised was fulfilled, and yet I am decreasing and going down. "How incomprehensible is this to me," as it says, "I do not know what to say to you, but one thing remains in my hand, the blessing that my father blessed me with, saying, 'And Almighty God bless you'" (Genesis 28:3).
“The children were agitated within her, and she said: If this is so, why do I exist? She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22). “The children were agitated [vayitrotzetzu] within her” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This one ran [ratz] to kill that one and that one ran to kill this one. Reish Lakish said: This one permitted the command of [matir tzivuyo] that one, and that one permitted the command of this one. (Each of them permitted himself to do what the other deemed prohibited.) Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Levi: So that you will not say that it was after he [Esau] emerged from his mother’s womb that he confronted him, but rather, while he was still in his mother’s womb, his fist [zirte] was outstretched toward him. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt [zoru] from the womb” (Psalms 58:4). “The children were agitated within her” – when she would stand adjacent to synagogues and study halls, Jacob would convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). When she would pass houses of idol worship, Esau would run and convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt from the womb.” “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb, and two nations will be separated from your innards; one nation will prevail over the other nation, and the elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). “Her days to give birth were complete, and behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 25:24). “The first emerged ruddy, all of him like a cloak of hair, and they called his name Esau” (Genesis 25:25). “Then his brother emerged, his hand grasping Esau’s heel, and he called his name Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It teaches that our matriarch Rebecca was circulating around the entrances of women’s houses and saying to them: ‘In your days, did you experience this suffering? If this is the suffering that comes with children; had I only not conceived.’ Rav Huna said: [She said:] ‘If this is how I am destined to produce twelve tribes, would I only not conceive the numerical value of zeh.’ (See the end of the paragraph.) It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: Rebecca was worthy to have twelve tribes emerge from her. That is what is written: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” – these are two; “and two nations” – that is four; “and one nation will prevail over the other nation” – that is six; “and the elder will serve the younger” – that is eight. “Her days to give birth were complete” – that is ten. “The first emerged ruddy” – that is eleven; “then his brother emerged” – that is twelve. There are some who derive it from this verse: “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Zayin – seven, heh – 5, that is twelve, the numerical value of zeh. “She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22) – were there synagogues and study halls in those days? (Had there been, she could have gone to pray there to God; where, then, did she go? She could have prayed at home.) Did she not go only to the academy of Shem and Ever? It is, rather, to teach you that anyone who enters before a Torah scholar, it is as though he enters before the Divine Presence.
But the children struggled in her womb — whenever she passed the gate of a pagan temple, Esau moved convulsively to get out; whenever she passed by synagogues and study halls, Jacob moved convulsively to get out.
Another explanation: They struggled — Esau said to Jacob, "Let's divide the world." Jacob said to him, "You take this world, and I will take the world to come." And likewise did Esau say to Jacob, "You take the world to come and I will take this world."
Another interpretation (of Is. 41:4): WHO HAS WROUGHT AND PRODUCED. The Holy One also told Rebekah what he was going to do, as stated (in Gen. 25:22f.): SO SHE WENT TO INQUIRE OF THE LORD; AND THE LORD SAID TO HER: TWO NATIONS ARE IN YOUR WOMB. Then he said to her: Esau I hate, and Jacob I love, (See Mal. 1:2f.; Romans 9:13; Gen. R. 63:7.) as stated (at the end of vs. 23): AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. The Holy One made known to her everything < about them > before they were born. He said to her: You are like a field that is sown and thrives, so that the storehouses are full of grain and the stables (Lat.: stabula.) < full of > straw. He said: {She shall be the} [You shall be blessed like that] field which fills the barns with grain, and the stables (Ibid.) with straw. The Holy One said to Rebekah: Let there be prosperity in this belly, since it is going to fill up the Garden of Eden with righteous < offspring > and Gehinnom with wicked < offspring >, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): TWO NATIONS ARE IN YOUR WOMB. It is therefore stated (in Is. 41:4): WHO HAS WROUGHT AND PRODUCED. (The two verbs are understood as referring to Jacob and Esau respectively.)
It is written (in Is. 2:2): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT IN THE LATTER DAYS THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD SHALL BE ESTABLISHED …. This text is related (to Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING (rt.: Ts'R), . to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: Ts'R) from his beginning has rest at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: Ts'R) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings oppressed him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest. (Gen. 24:1) NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD, ADVANCED IN YEARS, AND THE LORD BLESSED ABRAHAM . Isaac was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16): AND ABIMELECH SAID UNTO ISAAC: GO AWAY FROM US, FOR YOU HAVE BECOME HAVE BECOME TOO POWERFUL FOR US. In the end they begged him for mercy, [as stated] (in vs. 27): AND ISAAC SAID UNTO THEM: WHY HAVE YOU COME UNTO ME…. Jacob also was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1): THEY HAVE HARASSED ME GREATLY FROM MY YOUTH, LET ISRAEL NOW SAY. While he was in his mothers belly, Esau wanted to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED WITHIN HER…. [Moreover, when he received the blessings, (according to Gen. 27:41:) THEN ESAU HATED JACOB …, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: . So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) over his daughter, and after that Laban wanted to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5): AN ARAMEAN WOULD HAVE DESTROYED MY ANCESTOR. (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1): NOW JACOB RAISED HIS EYES AND SAW ESAU COMING…. There came upon him the trouble over Dinah and the trouble over Joseph. Yet in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12): AND JOSEPH SUSTAINED HIS FATHER …. Ergo (in Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING (rt.: Ts'R), .
[(Gen. 43:14:) AND MAY GOD ALMIGHTY (ShDY) GRANT YOU MERCY.] What was the reason for Jacob to bless them with < the formula > GOD ShDY? (Tanh., Gen. 10:10; below, 10:16.) To teach you that a lot of afflictions had come upon him. While he was in his mother's womb, Esau had contended with him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED TOGETHER WITHIN HER. (Cf. PRK 3:1.) And so it says (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. "His womb" is < what is > written. (DESTROYED HIS WOMB would normally be read as a metaphor and translated by an expression such as “cast off all pity.”) Because of Esau he fled to Laban. See how many troubles there were! (Gen. 31:40:) THUS I WAS: BY DAY SCORCHING HEAT CONSUMED ME…. < Look at > how, when he left, < Laban > pursued after him to kill him, [as stated (in Gen. 31:23)]: AND PURSUED AFTER HIM FOR A JOURNEY OF {THREE} [SEVEN] DAYS. He escaped from him; Esau came with the intention of killing him. On account of him he lost all that gift (Gk.: doron.) (according to Gen. 32:15 [14]): TWO HUNDRED SHE-GOATS…. He went away from Esau; the trouble about Dinah came (in Gen. 34). Then after that, the trouble with Rachel < dying > (in Gen. 35:19). Then, after these troubles, he was intending to rest a bit, until there came the trouble about Joseph (in Gen. 37); and after that, the trouble with his father, Isaac, who died (in Gen. 35:29) ten years after the sale of Joseph. So the Scripture has cried out (in Job 3:26): I WAS NOT TRANQUIL, NOT QUIET, HAD NO REST; AND TROUBLE CAME. After that there came upon him the trouble with Simeon (in Gen. 42:24); and after that, the trouble with Benjamin (in Gen. 42:36; 43:3-15). He therefore prayed (in Genesis 43:14) AND MAY GOD ShDY. Now he says: The one who said: Enough (DY), to the heavens and to the earth should say: Enough (DY), to my afflictions. For, when the Holy One created the heavens and the earth, they continued expanding until the Holy One said to them: Enough (DY). (See above, 1:11; 3:25. below, 10:16.) It is therefore written (in Gen. 43:14): GOD WHO IS ENOUGH (ShDY).
(Deut. 7:12:) “And it shall come to pass if you heed [these statutes].” What is written above the matter (in Deut. 7:7)? “It is not because you are the most numerous of all the peoples [that the Lord desired you and chose you. Rather you are the least of all the peoples].” It is not because you are the most numerous of all the nations,” and it was not because you fulfilled more commandments than they; for the nations do more commandments that they were not commanded than you, and they magnify My name more than you. Thus it is stated (in Mal. 1:11-12), “For from the rising of the sun until its setting My name is great among the nations, [and in every place incense is offered to My name, even a pure oblation; for My name is great among the nations]…. But you desecrate it when you say the table of the Lord is defiled, and its special food is treated with scorn [like ordinary] food.” (Deut. 7:7:) “Rather you were the least of all the peoples.” Rather, because you diminish yourselves for Me, therefore I love you.’ And so it says (in Mal. 1:2-3), “’I have loved you,’ says the Lord …. ‘But I have hated Esau….’” It also says (in Hos. 14:5), “I will heal their veering and love them voluntarily….” My soul has volunteered to love them, even though they were not worthy; and so it says (in Deut. 7:8), “Because the Lord loves you […].” It is written (in Is. 2:2), “And it shall come to pass that in the latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains….” This text is related (to Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), [your end shall greatly flourish].” [This verse is here] to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: ts'r) from his beginning will have it well at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: ts'r) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings pursued him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest, as stated (Gen. 24:1), “Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord blessed [Abraham in all things].” So too was Isaac troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16), “And Abimelech said unto Isaac, ‘Go away from us, [for you have become have become too powerful for us].’” But in the end they begged him [for mercy], as stated (in vs. 27-28), “And Isaac said unto them, ‘Why have you come unto me…?’ And they said, ‘We have clearly seen….’” Jacob also was troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1), “’They have harassed me greatly from my youth,’ let Israel now say.” While he was in his mother’s belly, Esau sought to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22), “But the children struggled [within her].” [Moreover,] when he received the blessings (according to Gen. 27:41), “Then Esau hated Jacob …, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, [and I will kill my brother Jacob]’.” So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: ts'r) over his daughters, and after that Laban sought to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5), “An Aramean would have destroyed my ancestor.” (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1), “Now Jacob raised his eyes and saw Esau coming….” There came upon him the trouble over Dinah, the trouble over Rachel and the trouble over Joseph. But in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12), “And Joseph sustained his father [and his brothers]….” Ergo (in Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), your end shall greatly flourish.” Another interpretation (of Is. 2:2), “the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains… and Mount Tabor shall become very tall.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the palace (Palterin. Gk.: praitorion; Lat. praetorium.) children of a king. They went down from the city and killed lions, tigers, and bears in the forest. Then they brought them and hung them opposite the city gate, so that all the people in the city were amazed from those lions. The Holy One, blessed be he, did so with Sisera. [When] Sisera came against Israel on Mount Tabor; (according to Jud. 5:20), “The stars fought from the heavens; from their courses they fought with Sisera.” (Cf. Pes. 118b, according to which the stars descended and heated the iron implements in Sisera’s army.) All began to be amazed, for there had never been an event like this, when the stars came down from the heavens to make war with flesh and blood. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “In this world the stars have fought on your behalf, but in the world to come (according to Zech. 14:3-4), ‘Then the Lord will come forth and fight with those nations [as when He fights in the day of battle]. And His feet shall stand in that day [upon the Mount of Olives]….’ And [so on through] all that section (of Zechariah).” Then everyone will see and point Him out with the finger, as stated (in Is. 25:9), “In that day they shall say, ‘See, this is our God; [we waited for Him, and He delivered us. This is the Lord; we waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation].’”
And God Almighty. What did Jacob foresee that he blessed him with the words God Almighty? These words indicate that numerous trials had befallen Jacob. While he was in his mother’s womb, Esau quarreled with him, as it is said: And the children struggled together within her (Gen. 25:22). And it says elsewhere: Because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever (Amos 1:11). Furthermore, he was forced to flee from Esau and live with Laban for twenty years, under the most trying conditions, as is said: Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me (Gen. 31:40). Later Laban pursued him in order to kill him, as it is stated: And he pursued after him seven days’ journey (ibid., v. 23). When he escaped from Laban, Esau approached him to kill him. Because of him, he was compelled to lose two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats.
"Do not destroy the conqueror. Is justice truly mute? As Solomon said (Proverbs 21:8), "The way of a man may be straight in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart." The "crooked" ones are the wicked who do not stand by their words, saying and then annulling them. This is how Saul was "crooked." Just last night he said to David (1 Samuel 24:18), "You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord gave me into your hand, you did not kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand." This is what it means (Proverbs 12:26), "The righteous is more excellent than his neighbor." His neighbor refers to Saul, as it is said (1 Samuel 24:11), "And you are seeking to take my life." The righteous one is David, who said to Saul (1 Samuel 24:22-23), "Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house." So Saul swore to David. As soon as Saul had departed, his men said to him, "Behold, we see that the king is in your hands, and that you did not kill him. Therefore now be content and let your heart rejoice." David replied (1 Samuel 26:9), 'Do not destroy him; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?' (1 Samuel 26) And David said, 'As the Lord lives, surely the Lord shall strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.' Why did he mention the name of the Lord twice? To tell him, 'By the life of the Lord, do not kill him; and if you kill him, by the life of the Lord, I will kill you.' Another explanation is that he swore an oath against the evil inclination and rebuked it. (1 Samuel 12) And David took the spear and the jug of water. (1 Samuel 26) And David called to the people, 'You should answer, Abner.' He said to him, 'What do you have to answer? You spoke about the matter of the cave - if someone would harm you, we would enter there and cut him to pieces. Or speak about the incident with the water jug and spear - what do you have to answer?' Abner had nothing to say, so he remained silent. Therefore, David said to them, 'You should speak with righteousness and judge with fairness. In righteousness, you pursued him, as the Torah says (Deuteronomy 16:20), "Justice, justice shall you pursue." Or, you judged with righteousness, as it is written (Leviticus 19:15), "You shall judge your neighbor with righteousness."' Well done, that you do so with fairness. Therefore, speak righteousness even in your hearts." You shall cast out the wicked from your womb. You shall cast out the wicked from your heart. This heart was created only for truth, as it is said (Psalm 15:2), "He who speaks the truth in his heart." But you were not like this; even in your heart, you acted wickedly. And the Holy Spirit says through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5), "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." And likewise, Isaiah says (Isaiah 49:1), "The Lord called me from the womb." And the wickedness in the womb is evident, as you see in Esau, who struggled with his brother in his mother's womb, as it is said (Genesis 25:22), "And the children struggled together within her." For he was crushing with his brother in his mother's womb. He said, "You also have cast out the wicked. Cast out the wicked from your heart. Why do you rage like the rage of a serpent, which does not listen to the voice of enchanters, however skilled they may be?" He said to them, "Do you not know what the Holy One, blessed be He, did to the serpent, which broke its teeth and now eats dust? Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, will do to you who have put out your tongue against Him." He said to them, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'You spoke evil speech; you will fall into Gehenna, and fire will consume you,' as it is said (Psalm 58:9), 'Like the snail that melts away as it goes.'" Do you not see that the sun always shines, but only the righteous (Malachi 3:20) "will be glad when they see the vengeance"? And likewise, it is said (Proverbs 24:17), "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls."
THE DEATH OF SARAH AND THE STORY OF ISAAC AND REBECCA SIX (people) were called by their names before they were created, and they are: Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and King Messiah.
Rabbi Jehudah said: Rebecca was barren for twenty years. After twenty years (Isaac) took Rebecca and went (with her) to Mount Moriah, to the place where he had been bound, and he prayed on her behalf concerning the conception of the womb; and the Holy One, blessed be He, was entreated of him, as it is said, "And Isaac intreated the Lord" (ibid. xxv. 21). The children were contending with one another within her womb like mighty warriors, as it is said, "And the children struggled together within her" (ibid. 22). The time of her confinement came round, and her soul was nigh unto death owing to her pains. And she went to pray in the place whither she and Isaac had gone, as it is said, "And she went to inquire of the Lord" (ibid.). What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? Jacob took hold of the heels of Esau to make him fall, as it is said, "And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel" (ibid. 26). Hence thou mayest learn that the descendants of Esau will not fall until a remnant || from Jacob will come and cut off the feet of the children of Esau from the mountain of Seir, as it is said, "Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands" (Dan. 2:45). Another Scripture text says, "Vengeance is mine, and a recompence, at the time when their foot shall slide" (Deut. 32:35).
(Devarim 32:18) "The Rock of your birth you have weakened": The Holy One Blessed be He said to them: You rendered Me (comparable to) a male who sought to give birth (viz.): If a woman were sitting on the mashber (the birth-stone, and she could not deliver), would she not be in great pain? viz. (I Kings 19:3) "For the sons have come to the mashber (i.e., they are at the point of being born), and she has no strength to bear them" (i.e., to eject them from the womb). And if she were sick and having her first child, would she not be in great pain? viz. (Jeremiah 4:31) "For I have heard an outcry like that of a woman sick (in labor), in pain as with her first child." And if there were two in her womb, would she not be in great pain? viz. (Bereshith 25:22) "And the sons wrangled within her" — And if it were a male, who cannot give birth, that sought to bear, would his agony not be compounded? viz. (Jeremiah 30:6) "Ask now and see if a male has ever given birth!" (Thus: "The Rock of your birth you have weakened.")
I believe this whole story can be interpreted in light of Genesis 25,22 where the as yet unborn twins Esau and Jacob are described as already wrangling inside their mother's womb. Rashi explains this as a struggle for possession of two worlds. This seems very puzzling; who would have thought that Esau was even interested in securing his place in the Hereafter? We must appreciate that the רשעים of earlier times, though wicked, were quite learned, but employed their knowledge to advance evil causes. Their entire purpose was to uproot Israel from its spiritual roots, from its share in the "higher" world. If successful, they themselves would enter the domain of קדושה, sanctity, and they would no longer be merely קליפות. They would find themselves in the sanctuary of the king, i.e. G–d. There is strong scriptural evidence that this is a correct interpretation of Psalms 83,13: 3 נירשה לנו את נאות יעקב, "Let us inherit the meadows of Jacob." [Actually the verse mentions the meadows of אל-הים, which the author seems to equate with the meadows of people that are supposedly G–d's people. Ed.] This verse is the subject of a lengthy commentary in Manot Ha-Levi, whose author explains in his introduction that the quarrel between Jacob and Esau was also about who would inherit the Hereafter. Jacob succeeded in uprooting Esau from the Hereafter but he wanted to receive his share in this world also. Though at first glance this appears unseemly, yet Jacob's interest in this world was not for egotistical reasons, for he was interested in the wealth of this world only so that it would be easier for him to serve G–d without a hindrance such as the need to work for his daily bread. The blessings bestowed upon him by his father Isaac may be interpreted in either of two ways. They may be understood as applying in this world or in the world to come, as I shall explain. Using this approach we can understand the Midrash which I have quoted concerning why the Torah was created with the letter ב, namely to teach us that there are two worlds. Immediately afterwards the Midrash states that the reason the Torah, i.e. Creation, started with the letter ב is, that that letter stands for ברכה, blessing, whereas the letter א symbolizes ארירה, "curse." These two statements are not in conflict with each other. On the contrary, they are complementary. One statement refers to blessings in the Hereafter, the other concerns itself with blessings in this world.
All these matters are alluded to in the word הזה in Genesis 28,17. Bereshit Rabbah 63,8, commenting on Genesis 25,22, where Rebeccah complained about the fetuses within her quarreling, by saying: אם כן למה זה אנכי, quotes Rabbi Nechemiah as saying that Rebeccah had sufficient merit to become the mother of twelve tribes, in accordance with the numerical value of the letters in the word זה; seven corresponding to the letter ז, and five to correspond to the letter ה. Did Rabbi Nechemyah think that we could not count to twelve and had to have this calculation broken down for us? I believe the Midrash wanted to stress why the number twelve here is composed of a combination of 7+5, and not of, say, 8+4 or 9+3. Why did the Midrash have to see in that number a reference to the twelve tribes? The Torah does not mention anything about that number of children! Maybe the number twelve refers to something else?
ואל שדי יתן לכם רחמים לפני האיש, “and may G–d Almighty give you mercy before the man what prompted Yaakov to single out the attribute of G–d known as shadday when blessing his sons before they commenced this journey? It teaches you that Yaakov had already endured many trials in his life. These had commenced already when he was still in his mother’s womb and Esau fought with him to become the firstborn. (Compare Genesis 25,22, when his mother was distraught and asked G–d what was going on inside her womb.) The sages concluded that the two as yet unborn children had already struggled for possession of two worlds. Esau tried to kill Yaakov already as soon as he was born as is evident from Amos 1,11, על רדפו בחרב אחיו, “when he pursued his brother with the sword (simile for trying to kill him). He had to flee to Lavan to save his life, and had endured many problems while with his “uncle” for 20 years. As soon as he left there Lavan pursued him. He lists them during the encounter with Lavan. (Genesis 31,40) Esau then came towards him in order to attack him, As a result he lost a great deal of the wealth he had acquired by buying him off with a gift. Next his best loved wife died on the way and he could not even bury her in the ancestral gravesite. Next his daughter Dinah was raped, and then his beloved son Joseph was lost. When he felt that finally he could settle down to a normal life in one place, (Genesis 37,1) the problems with Joseph began. During the brothers’ first trip to Egypt Shimon, his second oldest son was incarcerated and he now had to Shimon being incarcerated and his sons forced him to allow Binyamin to travel to Egypt in order to secure the release of Shimon. He could have said, as did Job in Job 3,26: “I had no repose, no quiet no rest; trouble came.” (Based on Tanchuma on our portion, section 10.) In light of all this, Yaakov now called on that attribute of G–d to signal that he felt he had undergone sufficient tribulations, i.e. די, to warrant a favourite response to his blessing/prayer.
IF ANY MAN FALL. (Literally, for the one who falls will fall.) Scripture speaks of the end result. (Hence Scripture refers to the person who will fall as the one who falls, even though he had not yet fallen.) The following are similar: The dead shall be put to death (Deut. 17:6); (Translated literally.) And stripped the naked of their garments (Job 22:6); (The naked cannot be stripped. Thus Scripture refers to those who are about to be stripped as stripped.) And the children (The reference is to the fetuses that Rebekah was carrying. Scripture refers to them as children because they soon would be so.) struggled together (Gen. 25:22). There are an innumerable number of words that are named because of the end result. We do not know if this is linguistic style or prophetic statements, as in and pursued as far as Dan (Scripture speaks of Abraham’s pursuit of the Mesopotamian kings who invaded Canaan. Dan, the person after whom the city of Dan was named, was not yet born. Hence the name is used prophetically. See I.E. on Gen. 14:14.) (Gen. 14:14); unto the valley of Eshcol (The Torah relates that the spies sent out by Moses came to a place called the valley of Eshcol. However, it was so named after the spies came there.) (Num. 13:23); and Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother (This was said prophetically by Adam. When Adam made the statement, there were as yet no children or fathers and mothers.) (Gen. 2:24). After laying down the law dealing with the house, Scripture goes on to deal with the laws of seeds and plants, for after entering the land the Israelite would build a house and then plant.
An investigative/rational approach to our verse: The Torah reminds us that when twins are born there are two afterbirths seeing each twin grows within its own setting. In the case of Esau and Yaakov, however, something unnatural occurred. Although they grew up within a single afterbirth, nonetheless their characters were so totally at variance. This was foreshadowed when Rivkah experienced that the fetuses were fighting with one another inside her (25,22). The Torah had to remind us that Rivkah had already endured much before these sons had been born.
According to Tanchuma Miketz 10 the reason Yaakov invoked the attribute of Shaddai when he blessed his sons here was that Yaakov reminded himself of the many afflictions he had already experienced, commencing even before he was born when his twin brother quarreled with him inside his mother’s womb. Subsequently he had had to flee for his life on account of Esau; then he had experienced 20 years of frustrations at his uncle Lavan, etc. When he had finally left Lavan, Esau set out to kill him. Later on his daughter Dinah had been raped. Shortly thereafter his beloved wife Rachel died as a young woman and he was not even able to give her the funeral which befitted her status. Thereafter he suffered the disappearance of Joseph, to be followed by Shimon’s internment in Egypt. Now he was faced with the potential loss of Binyamin. One could truly apply to him the verse in Job 3,26: “I had no repose, no quiet, no rest, and trouble came.” He therefore hinted in his prayer שדי, “that it was enough” already. He meant that the One who had said די,”enough” to the evolutionary activities of the universe during the six days of creation, should now similarly proclaim די, “enough!” to his own problems. Our sages in Berachot 64 interpret Psalms 20,2: “May the Lord answer you in time of trouble, the name of Yaakov’s G’d keep you safe;” as a reference to this attribute Shaddai. This was the reason that David mentioned only the G’d of Yaakov in that hymn and not that of Avraham and Yitzchak. We learn from here that one should always get hold of the thickest part of a beam when trying to move it. Rabbi Joshua son of Levi interpreted the use of the attribute Shaddai here as an allusion to future exile, comparing it to Psalms 106,46 ויתן אותם לרחמים לפני כל שוביהם, “He made all their captors kindly disposed toward them.” [In both verses the attribute רחמים, mercy, is also mentioned. Ed.] The words לפני האיש, are a veiled reference to G’d who is described in Exodus 15,3 as איש מלחמה, “a man (Master) of war.” He interprets the words: “and may He release to you your other brother,” as a reference to the ten tribes who were exiled before the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin. When Yaakov completed his prayer with the words וכאשר שכלתי שכלתי, “if I am to be bereaved, so I have been bereaved,” he referred to the respective destruction of both the first and the second Temple. At the same time he implied that after the destruction of the second Temple there would not occur another destruction of a Temple. In Bereshit Rabbah 92,3 we read as follows: “Another approach to the words “may the man grant his mercy, etc.” “The man” is G’d; Yaakov meant that this attribute of Mercy, one of G’d’s attributes, should stand by his sons in the forthcoming encounter. A prophet, even when praying for relief in a current crisis never fails to also address future crises the Jewish people may be faced with, and he orients himself so that his words cover both situations. In this instance Yaakov prayed that the benevolent Presence of G’d, שכינה, accompany the Jewish people also when they would be in exile. The word רחמים, refers to G’d’s attribute of Mercy. It is possible that the proof that the word האיש was also a reference to G’d is the fact that grammatically speaking it could not apply to Joseph. Yaakov had already said: שובו אל האיש, “return to the man”. Why would Yaakov use the same word twice to describe Joseph? All he had to say here was ויתן לך רחמים לפניו, referring to Joseph with the pronoun ending ו. Seeing that the words of a prophet are based on a careful evaluation of the meaning of the words he employs, it was necessary to interpret that the word האיש in our verse is not a mindless repetition of something Yaakov had already said. If Yaakov did not choose to refer to the attribute Shaddai he had mentioned previously as לפניו using the suffix ו, this is because he wanted to allude to the additional attribute of G’d האישin the sense it has been used in Exodus when G’d was the Master warrior against the Egyptians. In Midrash Shir Hashirim we are taught in the name of ben Nezira that when G’d is referred to there as אשכל, that this is a combination of איש כל, “someone who combines within himself every quality, every attribute,” i.e. G’d.
כי יבא אלי העם לדרוש אלו-הים, “for the people come to me to seek G’d.” Moses did not say that the people came to him to seek Hashem.” The reason was that Moses was engaged in dealing with litigation. The attribute of אלו-הים is appropriate in that connection as we know from Deut. 1,17 כי המשפט לאלו-הים הוא, “for matters of judgment are reserved for the attribute אלו-הים is why Moses used this attribute when he explained to Yitro what he was doing (and why he remained seated). He said והודעתיו את חוקי האלו-הים ואת תורותיו “I acquaint them with the statutes of אלו-הים and with His teachings.” The meaning of the whole verse is: “they need to stand in line before me for a long time because they inquire concerning so many things.” Some of them ask me to pray on behalf of their sick family members; some want me to locate lost property for them; we find that the expression דרישת אלו-הים is used in Scripture in connection with both of these requests; in Kings II 8,8, when Chazael wants to know from the prophet Elisha if he would recover from his sickness, he does so saying ודרשת את ה' מאותו לאמור האחיה מחלי זה? “and through him inquire from the Lord: ‘will I recover from this sickness?’” Chazael meant for Elisha to pray on his behalf and to inform him afterwards if his prayer had been answered. Rivkah did the same when the twins were quarreling in her womb and the Torah says ותלך לדרוש את ה', “she went to inquire from G’d” (Genesis 25,22). With regard to the restoration of lost objects we read in Samuel I 9,9: “Formerly, in Israel, when a man went to inquire of G’d he said: “come, let us go to the Seer.” The subject under discussion in that chapter was the lost donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father. Clearly, the prophet was expected to be able to tell the petitioner where to find things he had lost. In addition, Moses explained to Yitro that he functioned as a judge and in that capacity he taught the people the laws of the Lord.
והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא אל אוהל מועד אשר מחוץ למחנה, “and whoever sought Hashem would go out to the Tent of Meeting.” This teaches that the Shechinah was no longer resident within the camp of the people. Actually, we would have expected the Torah to write: “whoever wanted to seek out Moses, etc.” The fact that the Torah does not use this syntax indicates that seeking out Moses was equated with seeking out G’d’s presence. Moses was described by the Torah as “Hashem” in this regard. We find that our patriarch Yaakov was also accorded the title “G’d” in Genesis 33,20 where the Torah wrote: ויקרא לו אל אלו-הי ישראל. I have explained all this in connection with that verse. [seeing that every judge is called אלוהים in the Torah, this is not as mind-boggling as it appears at first. It is simply an extension of the principle that the messenger is equipped with the status of the sender, a well-known principle in the Talmud. Ed.] When Rivkah experienced an unusual pregnancy, the fetuses struggling within her womb, the Torah describes her as inquiring from G’d what all this meant. The words used by the Torah are ותלך לדרוש את ה'. The meaning there is that she went to a representative of G’d to ask the meaning of her experience. There too the person whom she inquired from is described as Hashem (Genesis 25,22). There are numerous other examples of the same thing throughout the Bible. We learn from Rivkah’s experience that when the Torah wrote ויאמר ה' לה, that she did not experience a revelation or direct message from G’d, but that she received the word of G’d by means of a person designated by G’d to tell her that she would give birth to twins, etc. We find that both the Messiah and the city of Jerusalem have been accorded the title “G’d” on occasion, such as in Jeremiah 23,6 and Ezekiel 48,34. In the latter instance the word שמה must be read with the vowels קמץ twice instead of a שוא under the letter ש. In all the instances mentioned the rule is simply that the messenger adopts the name of the Sender.
AFTER THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D SHALL YE WALK. This is a commandment that we follow His counsel, and of Him alone shall we inquire concerning every hidden thing and inquire concerning the future, as it is written, and she went to inquire of the Eternal; (Genesis 25:22.) because the people come unto me to inquire of G-d. (Exodus 18:15.) And so did the Israelites do with the prophets, [as it is said,] Is there not here a prophet of the Eternal, that we may inquire of the Eternal through him?; (II Kings 3:11.) that the Eternal thy G-d may tell us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing we should do. (Jeremiah 42:3.) And in the Sifre it is stated: (Sifre, R’eih 85.) “After the Eternal your G-d [shall ye walk] — this refers to the cloud [of Glory].” (See Ramban to Numbers 9:19: “They did the will of G-d in following after the cloud [of Glory].” See also my Hebrew commentary here p. 406.) This is as we have explained, that we are to hearken to the “voice” of His signs and follow His counsel.
FOR THE PEOPLE COME UNTO ME TO INQUIRE OF G-D. Moses answered his father-in-law: “They must stand about me a great part of the day, for they come before me for many things. Because the people come unto me to inquire of G-d, that is, to pray for their sick, and to inform them of the whereabouts of what they have lost,” this being “the inquiring of G-d.” And thus the people did with the [later] prophets, just as it is said, In former times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of G-d, thus he said: Come and let us go to the seer. (I Samuel 9:9. The matter there concerned the finding of Saul’s lost asses. The prophet was Samuel.) Similarly, Go meet the man of G-d, and inquire of the Eternal by him, saying: Shall I recover from this sickness? (II Kings 8:8. The speaker is Ben-hadad, king of Aram, and he is sending Hazael to the prophet Elisha, who had come to Damascus.) meaning that the prophet should pray for his recovery and that he should inform him if his prayer was accepted. This is also the meaning of the verse, and she [Rebekah] went to inquire of the Eternal, (Genesis 25:22 (Vol. I, p. 316).) as I have explained there. “Moreover,” [Moses continued], “I adjudicate matters between them, when they have a matter, it cometh unto me, and I judge. (Verse 16.) And I also teach them Torah, and I make them know the statutes of G-d and His laws.” (Verse 16.)
‘LU’ (IF) THOU WILT HEAR ME. This is equivalent to saying, “If you, if you will hear me,” and the purport thereof is like, “if you, if you would hear me,” the redundancy being for the purpose of emphasizing the matter. Similar cases are found in these verses: Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; (Judges 4:18.) Art thou any better, better than Balak? (Ibid., 11:25.) And to speak against him, saying; (II Chronicles 32:17.) And as for me, whither shall I go?; (Further, 37:30.) And I turned myself; (Ecclesiastes 2:12.) And I saw myself; (Ibid., Verse 13.) Seeing all the congregation are all holy. (Numbers 16:3.) All these are examples of expressions of synonimity. In my opinion, this is also the case in the verse, If from a thread even to a sandal tie, if I take (anything that is thine), (Above, 14:23. Here too, there is a redundant “if.”) which is equivalent to saying, “If, from a thread even to a sandal tie, I take anything that is yours.” It may be that [in the verse here before us the meaning is], “If you are as you have said.” that is, if you are speaking what is in your heart concerning the matter, and if you will listen to me and consummate the sale. A similar usage of a missing word is found in the verse, And their brethren said unto them, What are ye? (Judges 18:8.) [which means, “What are you saying?”] In my opinion, a similar case of such usage is the verse, Wherefore am I? (Further, 25:2. See also Ramban there.) [meaning, “Wherefore am I in the world?”] Perhaps this is the opinion of Onkelos who translated here, “if you will do me a favor,” meaning, “if you will do my will as you have said.”
and the One Who formed you from the womb From the time that (Gen. 25:22) “the children struggled within her,” I was your help and I chose you.
The wicked become estranged [even] from the womb From their mother’s womb they become strange to the Holy One, blessed be He, in the way that Esau did (Gen. 25:22): “And the children moved violently against each other in her womb.”
The children clashed [pressed] inside her, and [when this happened] she said, If this is so, why did I desire this? She [then] went to inquire of [to ask for instruction from before] Adonoy.
And the children pressed in her womb, and she said, If such be the anguish of a mother, what now is life, that children are to be mine? And she went to supplicate mercy before the Lord in the beth midrash of Shem Rabba.
And the children pressed in her womb as men doing battle. And she said, If this is the anguish of a mother, what then are children to me? And she went into the school of Shem Rabba to supplicate mercy before the Lord.
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י (גיים) [גוֹיִם֙] בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃ | 23 J | and יהוה answered her, “Two nations are in your womb, Two separate peoples shall issue from your body; One people shall be mightier than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” |
And “when the one rises, the other falls” (Rashi, Genesis 25:23) ; thus the Kingdom of Evil falls and is nullified. As is written (Hosea 14:10), “The ways of God are upright, the righteous walk in them whereas the sinners stumble in them.” That is, by means of “the ways of God”—i.e., the Torah—“the righteous,” who adhere to the Kingdom of Holiness, are fortified and receive strength. “… whereas the sinners stumble in them” corresponds to the Kingdom of Evil—i.e., the evil inclination—which falls and is humbled by means of the Torah, as above.
Now, when a person engages in business activities—business activity being an aspect of monetary law, the Torah’s plain meaning—at the time he does business he is occupied with the Torah in its plain meaning. This is an aspect of Metat, who resides in the World of Formation. Consequently, by doing business, the person’s Chokhmah, Binah and Daat ascend into the World of Formation—i.e., to the Torah in its plain meaning. And all the sparks of holiness that are among the nations and lands surrounding Yerushalayim ascend to the aspect of faith, which is called Yerushalayim and Malkhut. “When one rises, the other falls” (Rashi, Genesis 25:23). This is because the destruction of faith is the destruction of Yerushalayim. As our Sages expounded: Yerushalayim was only destroyed once it no longer had any men of faith (Shabbat 119b). {See there, where it is explained that what they meant was faithful business activity.}
The prophecy given to Rivka about her children: "One nation will be mightier than the other" (Bereishit 25:23). This means each nation's strength derives from the other. Eisav's power is stolen from Bnei Yisrael, and Bnei Yisrael's power comes from overcoming Eisav's negative forces. This is reflected in Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov: "You will have power over your brother" by overcoming him. "The greater one will serve the younger one" implies that Bnei Yisrael should see themselves as "young" and humble, as stated in Devarim 27:29: "For you are the least of all peoples." When Bnei Yisrael become proud of conquering the evil inclination and lower their guard, they give it control. Each Jew must remain vigilant, remembering the constant threat of the evil inclination. The Midrash on Yitzchak's large household (avodah rabbah) indicates that despite his wealth, Yitzchak knew he needed to continually serve Hashem and guard against the evil inclination. Yitzchak may have erred in thinking Eisav could remain "young" and humble. The truth is, the holier a person becomes, the more they gain fear of Heaven and humble themselves, fulfilling "the greater one will serve the younger one." The Zohar (1:122b) states, "A person who is great is actually small." Tehillim 34:10 says, "Fear Hashem, His holy ones, for those who fear Him lack nothing." Holiness follows fear, but one need not worry about missing out on holiness by maintaining fear. By attaching oneself to the fear of Heaven, a person will not lose out, as "those who fear Him lack nothing."
Rashi (Bereishis 37:1), citing the Midrash Tanchuma (Vayeshev 1), compares the mention of Eisav's descendants to a gem that fell into sand. One sifts through the sand (Eisav's descendants) to find the gem (Yaakov and Bnei Yisrael). The Torah details the generations from Noach to Avraham to establish Avraham’s lineage, but why list Eisav's descendants, who were born after Yaakov? The explanation is that Yaakov's perfection came through overcoming these negative forces. The Torah first lists the kings of Edom (Bereishis 36:31) and then states "And Yaakov dwelt" (Bereishis 37:1). This sequence shows that the negative forces exist so the righteous can overcome them and achieve greater heights. This aligns with "And one nation will get strength from another nation" (Bereishis 25:23). Eisav’s power exists only to perfect the side of holiness. Thus, Eisav’s strength comes from Yaakov. When negative forces dominate, their true purpose isn't clear. The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 1:140) likens this to chaff boasting that the field was planted for it. Yet, when the wheat is fully grown, the chaff is blown away. The chaff does protect the wheat, but this becomes clear only once the wheat is fully developed.
However, in its essence and substance, the divine soul in the benoni has no preponderance over the animal soul, except at the time when his love for G–d manifests itself in his heart on propitious occasions, such as during prayer and the like. Even then it is limited to preponderance and dominion alone, as is written, “And one nation shall prevail over the other,” ( Genesis 25:23.) that is, when one rises the other falls, and vice versa. Thus, when the divine soul gains strength and ascendancy over the animal soul, in the source of gevurot which is binah, ( Chochmah corresponds to chesed; binah—to gevurah.) through pondering on the greatness of G–d, the En Sof, blessed is He, thereby generating intense and flaming love of G–d in the right part of his heart—then the sitra achara in the left part is subdued.
It is written, however, “One nation shall prevail over the other nation.” ( Genesis 25:23.) The body is called a “small city.” ( Ecclesiastes 9:14; Nedarim 32b.) Just as two kings wage war over a town, which each wishes to capture and rule, that is to say, to dominate its inhabitants according to his will so that they obey him in all that he decrees for them, so do the two souls—the Divine and the vitalizing animal soul that comes from the kelipah—wage war against each other over the body and all its limbs. It is the desire and will of the Divine soul that she alone rule over the person and direct him, and that all his limbs should obey her and surrender themselves completely to her and become a vehicle ( An instrument without independent will.) for her, as well as a robe [instrument] for her ten faculties and three garments mentioned above, ( Chs. 3 and 4.) all of which should pervade the organs of the body, and the entire body should be permeated with them alone, to the exclusion of any alien influence, G–d forbid. That is to say that the three brains ( The three intellectual faculties chochmah, binah, and daat—chabad—have their corresponding physical brains.) that are in the head shall be permeated with chabad of the Divine soul, namely, the wisdom of G–d and the understanding of Him, by pondering on His unfathomable and infinite greatness, and from them shall be born, through the daat (knowledge), ( See above, note 6.) awe in his mind, and dread of G–d in his heart, ( Awe is regarded as a preliminary to love. There is, however, a higher category of reverence which can be attained only after having attained love. See below, chs. 23, 40-43.) as well as love of G–d that shall flare up like a glowing fire in his heart, like flaming coals, so that his soul shall yearn and long, with passion and desire, to cleave to the En Sof, blessed is He, with his whole heart, soul and might, from the very depths of the right ventricle of the heart. The latter would be so thoroughly permeated with love to overflowing, as to inundate the left side as well, to the extent of subduing the sitra achara with its element of the “evil waters,” namely, the lust stemming from kelipat nogah, changing it and transforming it from seeking the pleasures of this world to the love of G–d. Thus it is written, “‘With all your heart’ ( Deuteronomy 6:5.) —with both your natures.” ( Berachot 54a.)
It is well known that our Sages, of blessed memory, said of him who busies himself with Torah lishmah (For its own sake, as a command of G–d, without any ulterior motives. See Likkutei Amarim, Part I, end of ch. 5.) that “he sets peace among the attendants of above and among the attendants of below.” (Sanhedrin 99b.) The “attendants of above” are the princes (Guardian angels.) and attributes mentioned above. For these are the upper hechalot (Shrines; realms.) in the world of Beriah, mentioned in the sacred Zohar. (Zohar II:245a ff. (see Nitzutzei Orot, ad loc.).) The “attendants of below” are the lower hechalot, and especially this base world which, due to the sin of Adam, is mingled good and evil, and the evil rules over the good as it is written “While man rules in man…,” (Ecclesiastes 8:9; see Etz Chaim 49:4 (quoted in Hadrat Melech on Zohar II:95b).) and “Nation will overpower nation.” (Genesis 25:23; see Rashi, ad loc. (Pesachim 42b, Rashi, ad loc., and cf. Zohar II:236a and 240a).)
ויאמר ה' לה, “the Lord said to her:” by using a prophet to inform her; some commentators say that seeing that Avraham was still alive. [She had turned to him and that he answered her; others say that the reason she had not told her husband about her problem was that she did not want to cause him pain when hearing about her problem, and about the fact that G-d had not revealed the answer to him.] The reason why Avraham answered her instead of her husband was why Yitzchok could not believe that Esau was a wicked person[, as she never told him about all her problems and the answer she had received].
שני גויים בבטנך, Do not worry that you are experiencing so much pain because you are carrying two nations in your womb and it is common knowledge that the birth pains for two are so much greater than for one.
Even though the word for “nations” is spelled in our texts as גיים, it is to be read as if it had been spelled גוים in the regular way.
ממעיך יפרדו, “they are fighting for separation from one another already in your womb. Rashi, on this expression, comments: “one wishes wickedness to prevail on earth, the other righteousness.” G-d implied that at this point in time the outcome of who would prevail in this struggle was not yet known. It would only become clear when the two children’s vocational choices had been made, one a hunter, the other a philosopher, making study his primary occupation.
ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the older will become subservient to the younger.” This is where the Torah decreed that Yaakov, though the younger, will eventually wind up as the senior one of the twins to be born. Rav Hunna (Bereshit Rabbah 63,6) is quoted as having said that it means if Yaakov merits it he will become the senior, if not, Esau will become senior to him. [Not found in the editions of Bereshit Rabbah at my disposal. Ed.] An alternate exegesis: the word רב does not mean: “the senior one,” but simply means “הרבה,” a great deal,” or “for a long time.” The word occurs when Esau first declined Yaakov’s gift by saying: יש לי רב, “I have lots.” (Genesis 33,9).
ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the older one will serve the younger one.” Our author understands the word רב here not as “older, senior,” as do most commentators, but as meaning הרבה, “many, a great number.” Esau himself used the word in that sense when he told his brother Yaakov: יש לי רב, “I have lots,” (Genesis 33,9) The word may mean “lots” in terms of “time;” i.e. Esau would serve Yaakov for a long time.
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO HER. Via a prophet, or through Abraham himself, for Abraham did not pass away until her sons were fifteen years of age. (Abraham begot Isaac at the age of 100 (Gen. 21:5). Isaac was 60 when he begot Jacob and Esau. Abraham lived 175 years (Gen. 25:7). Thus Jacob and Esau were 15 when Abraham died.)
THE ELDER. Elder is the subject. (Et, the indicator of the direct object, is missing in our verse. I.E. points out that even so, elder is the subject and younger the object, the meaning of our verse being the elder shall serve the younger. Ve-rav ya’avod tza’ir is the same as ve-rav ya’avod et hatza’ir. One can argue that since this verse is poetic it has placed the object first and the subject last and that its intention is to teach that the younger shall serve the elder, hence I.E.’s comment.) A son honoureth his father (Mal. 1:6) is similar. (Here, too, et is missing. However, it is obvious that it is the son who honors the father and not the reverse. We thus see that the Bible at times omits et. Nevertheless, the syntax of the sentence remains subject (son), object (father). Similarly in our verse the subject (elder) is stated first and the object (younger) afterward.) I will explain our verse later. (See I.E. on Gen. 27:40.)
"ha-Shem said to her: two nations are in your womb." This was the opposite of what she had thought [as described in the previous commentary], that there is only one authority [God]. Rather, there are two children in your womb, one that will serve ha-Shem and one that will serve idols. Yet ha-Shem is always one, there is no other. There are those who interpret, "Yizchak entreated ha-Shem opposite his wife," that since he was a tzadik, the son of a tzadik, therefore it was certain that from his side he could only have suitable descendants. But he feared that from his wife's side, since she was the daughter of Betuel and the sister of Laban, that in order to prevent her having any kind of unsuitable descendants, she was therefore barren. Since her barrenness continued, therefore he was afraid lest she have a descendant without suitability, just like when Yishmael descended from Hagar, and thus perhaps this was the explanation for her barrenness. When "the children agitated within her", one struggled to come out near the entrance to the Beit Midrash and one struggled to come out near the entrance to the house of idols. By this she felt certain that one would be righteous and one evil. About this the text says, "why am I thus?". For I am just like Hagar! In what way am I better than she? And for what purpose did I pray? "And she went to inquire of ha-Shem", what difference did my prayer make? "ha-Shem said to her: two nations are in your womb" -- these are Rebbi [Yehudah ha-Nasi, and his friend, the Roman emperor] Antoninus! This was the difference her prayer made, that Esav would also have kosher descendants like Antoninus [since Esav is the progenitor of Rome], and all the other righteous converts. This was not true of Yishmael, and in this respect, you are better than Hagar.
ויאמר ה׳ לה, G'd said to her, etc. Although this verse has been explained by many there is still no truly satisfactory answer. G'd responded to her fear that she would miscarry by explaining to her that there was nothing medically wrong in her womb but that she was carrying two instead of merely one fetus. Whereas normally, when a mother expects twins, the two fetuses get along inside the womb (compare Song of Songs 7,4), in Rebeccah's case they did not. Hence her feeling of being crushed. She did not merely carry twins but each one was destined to become a nation with very different characteristics from one another. Not only would each one be a king in his own right, but these respective nations would endure for thousands of years. All of this would not have resulted in her having a feeling of being crushed were it not for the fact that these twins did not conform to the usual pattern of twins. When G'd explained that ממעיך יפרדו, "they will be totally separate already while still inside of you," this meant that they would not only be separate inside of Rebeccah but their being separate would continue after they were born. At any rate, G'd reassured Rebeccah that there was nothing wrong with her womb.
ולאום מלאום יאמץ, "and one nation will be stronger than the other, etc." This means that there is an additional factor preventing these two peoples from dwelling together in harmony; each one will derive its strength from the other (the defeat of the other). We find an example of this concept in a statement in Megillah 6 that the city of Tzor attained its true prominence only through the fall of Jerusalem. Seeing that each nation therefore anxiously awaits the downfall of the other, there is no hope that they will live together in brotherly harmony.
ורב יעבד צעיר, "and the senior one will serve the younger." None of the many commentaries on this expression seem to do justice to the words. Our approach will solve the problem. Not only will one of these two nations attain its respective grandeur at the expense of the other, but the nation which is defeated will wind up in servitude to the respective victor. The victor will not content himself with having vanquished his antagonist and deprived him of his assets, but he will oppress him to boot. This will further inhibit any chance of reconciliation and will increase the degree of mutual hatred. This is what the Talmud (Ketuvot 72) had in mind when it stated that a human being and a snake cannot live together in cramped quarters. The words do not mean that Esau and Jacob respectively will live in such a dependence on each other; the meaning is that whoever will be the senior one of these two nations during different periods of history will relate to the other as a tyrannical overlord.
ויאמר ה' לה, by means of the prophet who was either Shem or Avraham.
שני גויים, the word is written with two letters י and a letter ו which is read but does not appear in the text, something which has been explained in the Talmud Avodah Zarah 11 as affording us the opportunity to read it as גיים, or גאים, a reference to both the Roman Emperor Antoninus as well as Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, who both occupied lofty positions and were so wealthy that vegetables which have a limited season were never absent from their table all year round. The reading of the text (as opposed to the spelling) would represent the plain meaning then, i.e. peoples.
ושני לאומים, in view of this word here, i.e. a second word referring to nations, it is possible that the spelling of the word גיים is parallel to a plural ending as found in the word איים, from אי, “wild beasts.” The problem is that we do not find לאומיים spelled with two letters י anywhere so that we cannot use it as describing the nature of Esau and the Romans descended from him. Our sages in Yevamot 76 view the spelling as teaching that marriage, i.e. weddings in the accepted sense are not legally possible when only one party to such a union is Jewish, i.e. has already converted. The word גיות is also understood in the sense of widowhood during the lifetime of their husbands. (Samuel II 20,3) The prophet told Rivkah that the strange phenomenon she was experiencing in her womb was a sign that two totally different nations would develop from the twins she was about to give birth to. Most children born by the same father and mother will grow up as part of one and the same nation. Not so in the case of Rivkah’s children. The proof that this interpretation was correct was the very fact that they were already quarrelling with one another even before having been born into this world.
ושני לאומים, we have already mentioned several times (21,1) that it is the practice of the Torah when repeating something to use different words to say basically the same thing.
ממעיך יפרדו, as soon as they come out of your womb they will each develop in a different way, even physically. One would be hairy, his skin reddish looking, whereas the other would have smooth skin like normal babies. They would be different in their deeds and choice of occupations as soon as they would be old enough to make such choices. The Torah testifies to this by describing Esau as כי ציד בפיו, being a hunter, whereas Yaakov is described as יושב אהלים, a dweller of tents, i.e. studious bookish type. They would also hate one another as a matter of course.
ולאם מלאם יאמץ, they will never be evenly matched in strength, one of them always being stronger or weaker than the other. (Megillah 6) The letter ל in the word לאם is “weak,” spelled without the dagesh it ought to have. There are numerous such anomalies in Scripture, as for instance Judges 8,2 מבציר אביעזר, where the letter ב in the word mivtzir is unaccountably written without the dagesh. A similar anomaly exists in Ezekiel 32,30 מגבורים בושים, where the letter ג in the word מגבורים should have had a dagesh in it. There are other examples of this phenomenon.
ורב יעבוד צעיר, the word את which we would have expected before the word צעיר is missing. It is not clear who will serve whom, i.e. the predicate in such a construction as is before us. The only clue we have to determine who is meant as serving whom, is the fact that normally the active subject is written first in any verse. In other words, there is a hint that the senior brother (Esau) will eventually be subservient to the junior one (Yaakov). In some verses similarly constructed there is no doubt as to who is the active party. For instance in Job 14,19 אבנים שחקו מים, “water wears away stone,” there is no question that the stone does not wear away water, i.e. that the first subject mentioned is the active one. Similarly, in Isaiah 64,1 מים תבעה אש, “water drowned fire,” there can also be no doubt as to which subject is the active one. The reason we face the problem of meaning in our verse is that the future of the two peoples is not spelled out clearly, in the prophecy, seeing that history teaches that the Jewish people enjoyed distinct periods in which it was in the ascendancy, whereas over the last 1000 years plus the opposite is the case. The only part of the prophecy which is clear is that during most of history Esau was indeed subservient to Israel, hence Esau is mentioned first in this part of the verse, seeing that it is the principally active subject. Not only this, but after the arrival of the Messiah this situation will be restored with Edom/Esau serving his junior brother Israel. The word רב being applied to the older of the twins refers to his seniority at the time of birth, seeing he emerged first from Rivkah’s womb. It follows that the one who emerged last must be referred to as the צעיר, the younger one. We find another examples of the word רב or at least its plural רבים referring to chronological seniority in Job 32,9 לא רבים יחכמו, “it is not the seniors who are wise.”
TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB. The intent of this is that He informed her that she should not fear, for the reason that the struggle in her womb is that she is pregnant with twins, this being the customary way among women who are pregnant with twins. It is possible that He is also saying that since they are destined to be two peoples, hating and warring with each other, at the very beginning of their creation they initiated a quarrel, thus intimating at the situation which will ultimately exist between them. But He assured her that now they will rest, and she will find rest and quiet for herself.
ויאמר ה' לה, G’d’s answer was provided by the prophet.
שני גויים, do not be upset, seeing that the additional pain you experience is due to the fact that you will give birth to twins. This normally accounts for a more difficult pregnancy.
ושני לאומים, kingdoms, as per Psalms 148,11 מלכי ארץ וכל לאומים, “all kings and peoples of the earth.” We know that this interpretation is correct as otherwise the words גויים and לאומים would simply be a needless repetition. The word לאומים therefore refers to nations. Seeing that the prophet had already begun to foretell Rivkah part of the future, he continued further adding:
ורב יעבוד צעיר, that the younger one would in fact be senior to the older one; as a result of this prophecy Rivkah loved Yaakov more than Esau already from birth.
ויאמר ה' לה AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO HER through a messenger: it was told to Shem by holy inspiration and he told it to her (Genesis Rabbah 63:7).
שני גויים בבטנך TWO NATIONS ARE IN THY WOMB —The word is written גיים (exalted, noble persons), an allusion to Antoninus and Rabbi (Rabbi Judah the Prince) from whose table neither radish nor lettuce was absent neither in summer nor in winter (Avodah Zarah 11a)
ושני לאמים AND TWO RACES — The word לאם always denotes a people that has all the characteristics of a kingdom (Avodah Zarah 2b)
ממעיך יפרדו SHALL BE PARTED FROM THY BOWELS —as soon as they leave thy body they will take each a different course — one to his wicked ways, the other to his plain life (Genesis 5:27)
מלאם יאמץ SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER RACE —They will never be equally great at the same time: when one rises the other will fall. Thus it says, (Ezekiel 26:2) “[Because Tyre (colonised by Esau) says about Jerusalem] I shall be filled with her that is laid waste” — Tyre became full (powerful) only through the ruin of Jerusalem (Megillah 6a).
שני גוים וגו׳ ,ושני לאמים וגו׳. Uns scheint die Lehre vom Parallelismus, des כפל ענין וכו׳ eine freilich bequeme, aber schon einer ernsten menschlichen Rede, geschweige denn einer Gottesschrift durchaus unwürdige Interpretationskrücke zu sein. Kaum Kinder, höchstens Betrunkene mögen כפל ענין במלות שונות gedankenleer lallen. לאם ist der Staatsverband, אין לאום אלא מלכות. Verschiedene Völker brauchen doch nicht verschieden geartete Staaten zu bilden. Europa zählt eine Menge Völker, und doch sind die meisten europäischen Staaten im Grundprinzip und Wesen fast dieselben. Rebekka wurde gesagt, sie trage zwei Völker in ihrem Schoße, die zwei verschiedene soziale Gestaltungen repräsentieren werden. Einen Staat, der seine Größe auf Geist und Sitte, auf das Menschliche im Menschen erbaut; einen anderen, der seine Größe in Schlauheit und Macht sucht. Geist und Macht, Sittlichkeit und Gewalt stehen einander gegenüber, und zwar schon von der Geburt an werden sie sich einander gegenüberstehen. Ein Staat wird immer mächtiger sein als der andere. Die Schale wird fortwährend schwanken zwischen לאום ולאום. Die ganze Geschichte ist nichts als ein Kampf, ob Geist oder Schwert, ob, wie das Wort der Weisen diesen Gegensatz ausdrückt, Jerusalem oder Cäsarea das Herrschende sein soll.
רב heißt nie der Altere, sondern immer: groß an Zahl und Macht. Zuletzt wird derjenige, der bis dahin als der Mächtigere erschienen, nur für den materiell Geringeren gearbeitet, dessen Sieg vorbereitet haben, und sich ihm zuletzt selbst unterordnen— der Träger des Geistes und der Sitte geht als der endliche Sieger aus diesem Kampfe hervor, und der Träger der Macht wird nicht vernichtet, wohl aber findet er zuletzt selber sein Ziel in der Huldigung und Hingebung an den andern.
שני גוים בבטנך, this is the reason for the quarrelling you experience inside your womb.
ושני לאמים, they will also be politically different from one another, being separate kingdoms.
ממעיך יפרדו, they will go their different ways after being born, neither of them will die at birth as you fear.
Through an intermediary. We cannot say that Hashem told her Himself, as she did not speak to Hashem herself. Furthermore, Rashi knew this since it is written ויאמר ה' לה, rather than ויאמר לה ה' as it says for Hagar ויאמר לה מלאך (16:9) and for Rus ויאמר לה בועז (Rus 2:14). Perforce, ויאמר ה' לה means that Hashem told her through an intermediary. גיים
is written. This refers to Antoninus and Rabbi... גיים means גאים (great and princely persons) because the י is in place of the א.
Whose tables never lacked radish or lettuce... I.e., Antoninus was a scion of Eisov, and Rabbi [referring to R. Yehudah HaNasi] was a scion of Yaakov. Question: Does it not say in Kesubos 104a that when Rabbi was dying, he lifted his ten fingers toward Heaven and said, “I did not benefit from this world even my little finger’s worth”? The answer is: Rabbi’s household would eat [the special foods], and his table was never lacking. This was the princeliness. But Rabbi himself did not eat them. (Re’m) See Nachalas Yaakov.
The word לאום always means kingdom. Otherwise, why does it say ושני לאומים [after it already said שני גוים]? But R. Noson explained that Rashi knew this from the word יאמץ, which is used only for kings, as Rashi clearly states on Avodah Zarah 12b.
Already from the womb they are separated... Re’m writes that according to Rashi, יִפָרֵדו is to be understood as present tense, for Rashi writes הם נפרדים (they are separated). Here, Hashem is not telling her what is in her womb. He already told her, “Two nations are in your womb.” He is rather telling her the nature of these nations. While still in the womb, as yet unborn, they are exceptionally separated from one another — one to his evil ways and the other to his wholesomeness. This is why Rashi writes נפרדים, present tense, rather than יִפָרֵדו, future tense. He is saying that already in the womb, they are separated. You might ask: Does the Sifrei not say that the evil inclination does not affect a person while he is his mother’s womb? For it is written (8:21), “The inclination of man’s heart is evil מנעריו,” meaning [that he has the evil inclination only] after he is shaken (ננער) from his mother’s womb. The answer is: Before a person is born, the evil inclination does not cause him to lust sins. But Eisov was drawn to the sin of idolatry because it was his nature. He sought out his own kind. (Gur Aryeh)
When one rises the other falls... I.e., both of them cannot be great at the same time because when one rises the other falls. The מ of מלאום is [not] like the מ of מכל מלמדי השכלתי (Tehillim 119:99), which means “more than.” [In other words, מלאום does not imply a comparison, that one government has “more” power than the other.] Rather, the מ of מלאום means “from.” I.e., one government seizes power “from” the other [and thereby acquires its greatness.] Tyre is the kingdom of Eisov.
The Lord said to her: Two peoples, or national leaders (see, e.g., 17:16), are in your womb, and two nations shall be separated from your innards. From the moment they are born it will be clear that they are very different from one another. One nation will prevail over the other nation, as the struggle between them, which you sense within your womb, will continue after they are born. And the elder shall serve the younger. Even in the case of twins, one is born before the other and is the elder.
שני גויים בבטמנך, “there are two nations within your womb.” G’d informed her not to worry, that her condition was due to the fact that she would give birth to twins. All the commotion going on within her was due to that fact; women who are pregnant with twins usually experience these violent upheavals within their wombs. Alternately, it is possible that G’d informed her that the convulsions she had experienced foreshadowed that these twins would not live harmoniously together, especially at the time preceding the redemption of mankind. In the meantime, these convulsions would cease forthwith.
ורב יעבוד צעיר, “and the senior one would serve the junior one.” This can be interpreted in various directions. Either, literally, the older one will serve the younger one, or as in Ezekiel 26,2 אמלאה החרבה, where the prophet describes the city Tzor (Tyre) as discontent as long as Jerusalem has not been destroyed. The philosophies of Esau and Yaakov are mutually exclusive, and as long as both are alive and vibrant the other can not be content. Another approach to the word רב sees in it a reference to “abundance, surfeit,” as in ’ורב מקולות וגו, “enough, too much of the thunder, etc.” (Exodus 9,28) Translated into our verse here, the meaning of the prophecy would be that the many would serve the few. (Yaakov’s descendants being “the few.”)
The very idea of Israel's selection as G-d’s pilot project is based on the fact that it is the part of the human species which has preserved more of the original tzelem elokim, Divine image, than any other section of humanity. G-d has described the relative standing of the Jewish people among the nations, as similar to the standing of humans vis a vis the animal kingdom. In other words, the nations of the world are aware of our dominance and are afraid of us. This is so at least as long as Jews deserve such status due to their moral superiority. We are described as treating our Canaanite adversaries as if they were "our bread" to be consumed by us (Numbers 14,9). Prior to tackling Goliath, David explains to the startled Saul that his experiences with the lion and the bear, both of which he had slain, convinced him of his chance against the uncircumcised blasphemer (Samuel I Chapter 17). David rejected armour and sword, since his victory over the beasts had also not been due to external weapons. David's enquiry about the type of reward the slayer of Goliath would receive is based on the assumption that killing an uncircumcised blasphemer such as Goliath cannot in itself be much of a heroic deed, since the "laws of nature" almost guaranteed victory to any good Jew, and the risk involved was not of the kind which would call for a major reward. The reputation acquired by such deed should in itself suffice as reward. Obviously, David's companions did not understand his meaning, as seen from their response to David's enquiry. However, Saul's advisors sensed David's meaning when David said "let no adam have fear of him." The adam David referred to was the kind of a person who had preserved his tzelem elokim, Divine image. Such a person would not have reason to fear the Philistine. Baba Metzia 114 teaches, "Israel is referred to as adam; the nations of the world do not qualify for such appellation." Upon being challenged by Saul, David detailed past events in his life as proof for his confidence. He attributed his success to G-d, and was confident that the same G-d would grant him success against Goliath. "The Philistines will be no better than one of those beasts." To emphasize our point, the book of Samuel relates that David rejected the armor, to show that his superiority did not stem from such sources, but was in the nature of things. After the battle (Samuel I 17,55), Saul wanted to know, "Who is this lad?" a strange request indeed, since his family status etc. had been common knowledge. David had performed as a regular harpist at Saul's Court (Samuel I 16,19). At that time, Saul had begun to wonder about David's ultimate destiny. In view of the fact that his own son Jonathan had performed deeds of valor of a similar nature previously, we can understand the love and mutual attraction that existed between David and Jonathan. The two shared the distinction of being adam in the full sense of the word. This is what our sages call "a love which is not based on something tangible, something material" (Avot 5, 16). The love is for the basic qualities in the other person. When the Torah says "Love your fellow man like yourself," the "yourself" referred to is that same human quality (Leviticus 19,18).
(1) Since only Isaac and his descendants are called Abraham's seed par excellence, the Torah sees fit to restate Isaac's ancestry, stressing that it did not go back further than to Abraham. Anyone prior to Abraham could not claim a share in Isaac as his descendant. In Jewish law, we have the principle that upon conversion to Judaism, a proselyte's family ties are severed, he ceases to have legal family ties, and is considered like a totally new creature. Abraham having become the first Jew, his children's ancestry was rooted in him and in him only. (2) Isaac married at forty, having attained the mental maturity to found a family, as discussed in Chapter 22. Bethuel was called an Arami since he was deceitful, as implied by that word. For that reason, the two have to be mentioned separately. (3) Rebecca had no hope to have children until Isaac's prayer had been answered, otherwise we might have attributed her pregnancy to the blessing that had been given her by her brother Laban prior to her departure from home (Bereshit Rabbah 63). The meaning of the verse "the Arami was about to cause my father's destruction" (Deut.26,5) could be "the latent traits of deceit and treachery inherited from Laban almost led to my destruction." Isaac's prayer was solely for the benefit of Rebecca, since he as an olah temimah, a flawless offering, and could not have served as such if he had been physically blemished. The word lenochach used to describe Isaac's stance during prayer, means that he concentrated on a single objective. A similar use of that word occurs in Proverbs 4,25-27. (4) Perhaps the reason that we are told that Isaac loved Esau who brought venison to him is to point out that Rebecca possessed enough independence of spirit to love Jacob, whose behavior warranted this, and in whose character she could see the promise of the prophecy that had been revealed to her prior to the birth of the twins that in time the older one would become subservient to the younger one (Genesis 25,23). (5) Jacob's holding on to the heel of Esau may symbolize that values which Esau would stamp his foot on would be the very ones Jacob would cherish.
And in this context can be understood the homilies of our sages (Megillah 6a) on the verses (Genesis 25:23): "and the one people shall be stronger than the other people" and (Ezekiel 26:2): "I shall be filled with her that is laid waste," which they expounded as importing that they cannot both be equal in greatness, but that if one is "full" the other must be "waste." It may be asked why this should be the case with Edom [Esau] more than with any other nation. And the answer will be along the lines mentioned above, with some additional explanation. And that is, in view of the fact that there is no reason for any other nation to envy Jacob, it is possible for other nations to exercise great sway even when there is kingdom in Israel. For the reign of the other nations in their lands, according to their tongues, does not oppress Israel at all, their having nothing to do with Israel. But Esau, the first-born, would be angry for his inheritance, saying: "I, too, am a crown prince; we have the same father." It is for this reason that Jacob's ascent dictates the descent of Esau. The descent of Jacob, however, does not proceed from the ascent of Esau; but the ascent of Esau dictates the descent of Jacob — not inherently, G-d forbid, as the descent of Esau is dictated by the ascent of Jacob, but fortuitously. And that is, if not for the Blessed One's righteousness to Jacob and the humbling of his foes, when He apportions lots to all the peoples and establishes nations in tranquility, whom, among all the many nations, would He more greatly desire to accord the throne of honor than Esau, the son of the beloved mother, whose fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked before Him? For this reason it is dictated that Esau be exalted among the nations when Jacob and his children do not attain to kingdom.
And two ends would thereby be served: first, Isaac, through his prayer, would not cause the hegemony to revert to Esau; the second, that Jacob's dominion over Esau would be more firmly established. For, as I have written above, the prophecies of those days, which were not certain of fulfillment, received confirmation only when combined with a symbolic act imaging what was prophesied. And because the prophecy communicated to Rivkah — "And the elder will serve the younger" — was not repeated to Isaac and he did not know of it at all, there is no doubt that it was strengthened when the Blessed One repeated it to Isaac, and Jacob, its object, was blessed through it.
Likewise, as mentioned above, the roots of the four elements of the holy soul are drawn from these four letters. Therefore, if a person totally lacks a specific mitzvah, the corresponding organ of his holy soul starves to death and departs, God forbid. In turn, when this holiness departs from it, the spirit of impurity from the four elements of the impure soul fills the void and becomes vested in it. This is the secret of the Rabbinic dictum, (Rashi to Genesis 25:23; See Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 42a; Megillah 6a; Zohar II 236a, 238b.) “Tyre did not become a great metropolis until Jerusalem was destroyed.” Thus, the organ now receives its sustenance from the “impure bread” that was exiled from there.
"And Hashem said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples'" (Gen. 25:23). These are the two proud ones, the liver and the heart. Rabbi Yosi said that these are the brain and the heart, but Rabbi Yehuda said, The brain is not included in this, for it is written, "in your womb (lit. 'belly')," and the brain is not in the belly, but in the head. "And two peoples from your bowels and the elder (lit. 'great') shall serve the younger." This is the liver, which is great and big, and which serves the heart, as Rabbi Yehuda said, The liver receives the blood, and serves it to the heart!
Chapter (72) 73: Torah [1] "And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). As it is written in scriptures: Knowledge [of escape from You] is concealed from me. It is too formidable. I cannot know it. (Psalm 139:6). What is the meaning of "extraordinary level of understanding beyond my grasp"? It refers to something that is difficult for a person to comprehend, as it says, "If there arise among you a matter too hard for judgment" (Deuteronomy 17:8). Jacob said, "I cannot understand this matter." God promised Abraham that he would have twelve tribes, as it says, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them...So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5). Just as there are twelve constellations in the heavens that govern the world, so too I will establish twelve tribes from you that will govern the world, as it is said, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Ishmael was born and he begot twelve princes, as it is said, "And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12), Abraham thought that these were the twelve tribes. But God said to him, "No, not those that you think. Sarah will bear a son for you" (Genesis 17:19), as it is said, "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Genesis 21:12). It is through Isaac that your seed will be called (Genesis 21:12), as I said to you, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Isaac married Rebecca and she was found to be barren, he began to question how the promise that God made to Abraham could be fulfilled, as she was barren, as it is said, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren" (Genesis 25:21), and the children struggled within her (Genesis 25:22). "I'm sorry," she began, "if that's the case, I apologize to one another and "She went to inquire of יהוה," (Genesis 25:22), went to the study hall of Shem, and the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body' (Genesis 25:23). Why did she say why is it? (Genesis 25:22), "this" is numerically equivalent to 12. And God said to her [Sarah], "What you think is not so, but there are two nations in your womb." When Jacob stood up and went out to Laban, Isaac called him and said to him, "Let it be known that the Lord is establishing twelve tribes from you," as it is said, "Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you" (Genesis 28:1-4). The blessing that He blessed Abraham with, saying, "Look up now" (Genesis 15:5), is fulfilled through you. And once Jacob went and took wives and fathered twelve tribes, as it says, "And the sons of Jacob were twelve" (Genesis 35:22), Joseph began to see hints of it in his dream, saying, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream" (Genesis 37:9). Jacob began to keep watch over his father's words, and his father kept the matter (Genesis 37:11). And when Joseph was sold and Simeon was bound and Benjamin was brought to take revenge, Jacob began to cry out, "Me? What do I know? I thought that from my fathers I would establish twelve tribes, but I am dwindling and going down," as it says, "Joseph is gone" (Genesis 42:36). Everything that the old man promised was fulfilled, and yet I am decreasing and going down. "How incomprehensible is this to me," as it says, "I do not know what to say to you, but one thing remains in my hand, the blessing that my father blessed me with, saying, 'And Almighty God bless you'" (Genesis 28:3).
“To the woman He said: I will increase your suffering and your pregnancy; in pain you shall give birth to children, and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). “To the woman He said: I will increase your suffering and your pregnancy” – Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Yoḥanan in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Simon: The Holy One blessed be He never deigned to speak with a woman except for that righteous woman [Sarah], and that, too, was for a specific reason. (God had been speaking to Abraham: “Why is it that Sarah laughed?” (Genesis 18:13). Sarah interrupted with her denial: “I did not laugh” (Genesis 18:15). Then it was necessary for the Holy One blessed be He to set her straight: “No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15).) Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: How He spoke in a roundabout manner with her: “No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15). (Instead of saying: “Yes, you laughed,” He said it in an indirect manner.) But is it not written [of Hagar]: “She called the name of the Lord, who spoke to her”? (Genesis 16:13). Rabbi Yehoshua bar Rabbi Neḥemya said in the name of Rabbi Idi: [He spoke to her] through an angel. Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: Through Shem. (Hagar had gone to consult Shem son of Noah, who was a spiritual leader at the time.) “I will increase [harba arbe] your suffering and your pregnancy” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana says in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: Any fetus who has reached harba, I shall grant it growth [arbe]; any fetus that is [born after] two hundred and twelve days (That is, seven months. It is the numerical value of harba: heh – 5 + reish – 200 + beit – 2 + heh – 5 = 212.) [of gestation] can survive. Rabbi Huna said: If it [the fetus] was formed to be born after nine months and is born at seven months, it will not survive; at eight months, it will not survive. If it is formed to be born after seven months and is born after eight, it will survive; all the more so after nine months. They asked Rabbi Abahu: From where is it derived that a fetus born during the seventh month can survive, [but one born during the eighth cannot]? He said to them: From your own [language] I will prove it to you: Zeta (This is the name of the seventh letter of the ancient Greek alphabet, and also means ‘live.’ ) – epta (It means seven. Seven thus indicates life.) ; eta (The name of the eighth Greek letter, also meaning “dying.” ) – okto. (It means eight. Eight thus indicates death.) Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: A woman will always give birth only after two hundred and seventy-one, two hundred and seventy-two, or two hundred and seventy-three days, which is nine months plus the days of their conception. (Conception can take place from one to three days after insemination. From that time gestation will last for two hundred and seventy-one days.) Ḥiyya bar Ada was sitting before Rav. He was explaining [a point] to him, but he did not grasp it. He said to him: ‘Why do you not grasp it?’ He said to him: ‘My donkey is supposed to give birth, and I am worried it might catch a chill and die.’ He said to him: ‘Why does it concern you?’ (It is not yet time for it to give birth.) He said to him: ‘Sometimes it gives birth early, and sometimes it gives birth late. When it gives birth early, it is never less than a lunar year; when it gives birth late, it is never more than a solar year.’ (So there is an eleven day range of when it can give birth.) He said to him: ‘But is it not written: “Do you know the time when ibexes give birth…will you count the months of their reaching term”?’ (Job 39:1–2). (This implies that there is a set term for animal pregnancies.) He said to him: ‘There it is regarding a small animal, and here it is with a large animal.’ He said to him: ‘But Antoninus’s cattle were once inseminating, and they inseminated Rabbi’s cattle from them. Some of them calved at one time and some of them calved later.’ (And the gap between the births was more than eleven days.) He said to him: ‘That was regarding a kosher animal, this is regarding a non-kosher animal [a donkey]’. “Your suffering” – this is the pain of conception; “and your pregnancy” – this is the discomfort of menstruation; “in pain” – this is the pain of miscarriage; “you shall give birth” – this is the pain of childbirth; “to children” – this is the difficulty of raising children. Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon said: It is easier for a man to support an entire legion with olives in the Galilee, than it is to raise one child in the Land of Israel.
“Come, let us descend, and we will muddle their language there, so that one will not understand the language of his counterpart” (Genesis 11:7). “Come, let us descend” – this is one of the instances that they altered for King Ptolemy (When translating the Torah for him. See Megilla 9b.) – [they wrote:] “Come, I shall descend and I shall muddle.” “And muddle [navla] their language there” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: From their language, I will make them into carcasses [nevela]. One of them would say to another: ‘Give me an axe,’ and he would give him a shovel. He would then strike him and split his skull. That is what is written: From their language, I will make them into carcasses [nevela]. “The Lord dispersed them from there upon the face of the entire earth, and they ceased to build the city” (Genesis 11:8). “The Lord dispersed [vayafetz] them from there” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda said: The residents of Tyre went to Sidon, and the residents of Sidon to Tyre. (The dispersion was that each person went to a place different from his original home.) Each land retained its borders. Rabbi Neḥemya said: Each and every person retained his land of his original residence and returned there. What, then, is meant by “He dispersed”? It is that each [of the residents] of the lands gathered at the mountaintops, (They emerged from the valley and ascended to the surrounding highlands, but they did not leave their country.) and each one [mountaintop] would absorb the residents of its place. The Rabbis say: Vayafetz is nothing other than inundated [vayatzef] – He inundated them with the sea and drowned thirty families of them. Rabbi Levi said: There is no misfortune that befalls a person that others do not benefit from it. Those thirty families, from where were they replaced? It was from Abraham: sixteen from Ketura, twelve from Ishmael, and the other two: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23).
“She called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her: You are the God who sees me, for she said: Indeed, I have seen here too, after my vision” (Genesis 16:13). “She called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her: You are the God who sees me” – Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon and Rabbi Yoḥanan in the name of Rabbi Elazar bar Shimon: The Holy One blessed be He never deigned to speak with a woman except for that righteous woman [Sarah], and that, too, was out of necessity. (God had been speaking to Abraham: “Why is it that Sarah laughed” (Genesis 18:13). Sarah interrupted with her denial: “I did not laugh” (Genesis 18:15). Then it was necessary for the Holy One blessed be He to set her straight: “No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15).) Rabbi Abba said in the name of Rabbi Beiri: See how much He spoke in a roundabout manner with her: “No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15). (Instead of saying: “Yes, you laughed,” He said it in an indirect manner.) But is it not written [here]: “She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her”? Rabbi Yehoshua bar Neḥemya said: That was through an angel. But is it not written [regarding Rebecca]: “The Lord said to her”? (Genesis 25:23). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Ḥama: That was through an angel. Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: It was through Shem. (Rebecca had gone to consult Shem son of Noah, who was a spiritual leader at the time.) “You are the God who sees me” – Rabbi Aivu said: It is You who sees the wretchedness of the wretched. “For she said: Indeed, I have seen here [halom] too, after my vision” – she said: ‘As if it was not enough that I encountered divine speech, [I have been granted] kingship as well,’ (I was informed that kings would descend from my son.) just as it says [of David]: “That You have brought me to this point [halom]” (II Samuel 7:18). “Indeed, I have seen…after my vision” – as if it was not enough that I was enabled to see an angel together with my mistress, even my mistress who was with me did not see it. (As explained later in a parable.) Another interpretation, as if it was not enough for me that I encountered [angels] together with my mistress, I [have encountered them now] by myself. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: This is analogous to a noblewoman to whom the king said: ‘Pass by in front of me.’ She passed before him as she was being supported by her maidservant. She turned her face aside and did not see the king, but the maidservant saw him.
“He will be a wild man: His hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him and he will dwell among all his brethren” (Genesis 16:12). “He will be a wild [pereh] man” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This means that everyone else would inhabit settlements, but he would inhabit the wilderness. (The word peleh is used in connection with the wilderness in Jeremiah 2:24: “A wild ass [pereh] accustomed to the wilderness.”) Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: “A wild man” – in its plain sense. Most people plunder wealth, but he plunders people. “His hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him [kol bo].” Read it as “his dog [kalbo]” – he and a dog are equal; just as the dog eats carcasses, so, too, he eats carcasses. Rabbi Elazar said: When will it be that “his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him”? It will be with the advent of that man (Nebuchadnezzar.) in whose regard it is written: “And everywhere the sons of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens dwell, He has given into your hand and set your rule over all of them” (Daniel 2:38). That is what is written: “Concerning Kedar, (Kedar was one of Ishmael’s sons (see Genesis 25:13).) and concerning the kingdoms of Ḥatzor that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote” (Jeremiah 49:28) – Nebuchadrezzar is written, (With an added vav, so that the last four letters spell atzur, gathered in.) as he gathered them together in the wilderness and killed them. “He will dwell among all his brethren” – here it says: “He will dwell [yishkon] [among all his brethren],” but elsewhere it is written “He settled [nafal] (Literally, fell.) [among all his brethren] (Genesis 25:18). The explanation is that as long as Abraham our patriarch was alive – yishkon. When Abraham died – nafal. (He fell in stature.) Before he extended his hand against the Temple – yishkon. Once he extended his hand against the Temple (See Psalms 83:7–13.) – nafal. In this world – yishkon; but in the future – nafal.
“Sarah denied, saying: I did not laugh, for she was afraid. He said: No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15). “Sarah denied, saying: I did not” – Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: The Holy One blessed be He never deigned to speak with a woman, except for that righteous woman [Sarah], and that, too, was out of necessity. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Idi: See how much He spoke in a roundabout manner in order to speak with her: “No, but you did laugh.” (Instead of saying: “Yes, you laughed,” He said it in an indirect manner.) Rabbi Eliezer says: But is it not written: “She [Hagar] called the name of the Lord who spoke to her”? (Genesis 16:13). Rabbi Neḥemya said in the name of Rabbi Idi: That was through an angel. But is it not written [regarding Rebecca]: “The Lord said to her”? (Genesis 25:23). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Ḥama: That was through an angel. Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: It was through Shem son of Noah. (Rebecca had gone to consult Shem, who was a spiritual leader at the time.) “The men arose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off” (Genesis 18:16). “The men arose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off” – the parable says: You fed them, you gave them to drink, accompany them. So, “Abraham was walking with them to see them off.”
Rabbi Eleazar wondered: But it is written, "And she [Hagar] called the name of the Lord who spoke with her, etc." (Gen. 16:13)? Rabbi Yehoshua said in Rabbi Nechemiah's name in Rabbi Idi's name: That was through an angel. But it is written, "And the Lord said to her [Rebecca]" (Gen. 25:23)? Rabbi Levi maintained: That was through an angel. Rabbi Eleazar says in the name of Rabbi Yose b. Zimra: That was through Shem son of Noah.
“Jacob said: Sell me your birthright this day” (Genesis 25:31). “Jacob said: Sell me…this day” – he said to him: ‘Sell me one day (The one day is the length of God’s day, based on an interpretation of the verse: “One thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday [keyom etmol]” (Psalms 90:4).) of yours.’ Rabbi Aḥa said: Anyone who knows how to calculate the days of the exile will find that Jacob sat one day in tranquility in the shadow of Esau. “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die, and why do I need [lama zeh li] a birthright?” (Genesis 25:32). “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die” – Reish Lakish said: He began cursing and blaspheming. “Lama li” (That would have been enough to convey his rhetorical question: “Why do I need a birthright?”) is not written here, but rather, “lama zeh li.” It teaches that he denied: “This is [zeh] my God” (Exodus 15:2). Another matter, “behold, I am going to die” – as Nimrod was seeking to kill him because of that garment that had belonged to Adam the first man. When he would don it and go out to the field, all the beasts and the birds in the world would come and gather near him. “Jacob said: Take an oath to me this day, and he took an oath to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:23). “[Jacob] said: Take an oath to me” – what did Jacob our patriarch see that led him to dedicate himself to acquiring the birthright? It is as we learned: until the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted, and service was performed by the firstborn. From the time that the Tabernacle was established, private altars were prohibited, and service was performed by the priests. (Zevaḥim 112b.) He said: ‘Will this evil one stand and sacrifice?’ That is why he dedicated himself to acquiring the birthright. That is what is written: “For I will render you blood, and blood will pursue you; surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6). Did Esau hate blood? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: This is the blood of birthright and offerings. Rabbi Levi said: This is the blood of circumcision. The Rabbis said: You hated a person’s blood in his body. That is what is written: “He loved curses, and they will now come upon him. [He had no desire for blessing, and it will now be far from him]” (Psalms 109:17). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥama: “He had no desire for blessing” – and no desire for birthright. Rabbi Huna said: This is the blood of the offerings, as it is called blessing, just as it says: “You shall craft for Me an altar of earth…[in every place where I mention my name, I will come to you and I will bless you]” (Exodus 20:21).
“The children were agitated within her, and she said: If this is so, why do I exist? She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22). “The children were agitated [vayitrotzetzu] within her” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This one ran [ratz] to kill that one and that one ran to kill this one. Reish Lakish said: This one permitted the command of [matir tzivuyo] that one, and that one permitted the command of this one. (Each of them permitted himself to do what the other deemed prohibited.) Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Levi: So that you will not say that it was after he [Esau] emerged from his mother’s womb that he confronted him, but rather, while he was still in his mother’s womb, his fist [zirte] was outstretched toward him. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt [zoru] from the womb” (Psalms 58:4). “The children were agitated within her” – when she would stand adjacent to synagogues and study halls, Jacob would convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). When she would pass houses of idol worship, Esau would run and convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt from the womb.” “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb, and two nations will be separated from your innards; one nation will prevail over the other nation, and the elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). “Her days to give birth were complete, and behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 25:24). “The first emerged ruddy, all of him like a cloak of hair, and they called his name Esau” (Genesis 25:25). “Then his brother emerged, his hand grasping Esau’s heel, and he called his name Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It teaches that our matriarch Rebecca was circulating around the entrances of women’s houses and saying to them: ‘In your days, did you experience this suffering? If this is the suffering that comes with children; had I only not conceived.’ Rav Huna said: [She said:] ‘If this is how I am destined to produce twelve tribes, would I only not conceive the numerical value of zeh.’ (See the end of the paragraph.) It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: Rebecca was worthy to have twelve tribes emerge from her. That is what is written: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” – these are two; “and two nations” – that is four; “and one nation will prevail over the other nation” – that is six; “and the elder will serve the younger” – that is eight. “Her days to give birth were complete” – that is ten. “The first emerged ruddy” – that is eleven; “then his brother emerged” – that is twelve. There are some who derive it from this verse: “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Zayin – seven, heh – 5, that is twelve, the numerical value of zeh. “She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22) – were there synagogues and study halls in those days? (Had there been, she could have gone to pray there to God; where, then, did she go? She could have prayed at home.) Did she not go only to the academy of Shem and Ever? It is, rather, to teach you that anyone who enters before a Torah scholar, it is as though he enters before the Divine Presence.
“The Lord said to her” (Genesis 25:23) – Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Yoḥanan in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Shimon:: The Holy One blessed be He never deigned to speak with a woman except for that righteous woman, (Sarah, see Bereshit Rabba 48:20.) and that, too, was for a reason. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: How much did He go in a roundabout manner in order to speak with her: “No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15). But is it not written: “She (Hagar.) called the name of the Lord who spoke to her”? (Genesis 16:13). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Abba Ḥama bar Ḥanina: It was by means of an angel. Rabbi Elazar said: By means of Shem son of Noah. “Two peoples [goyim] are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23) – two of the proudest of peoples are in your womb. This one is proud of his world (His world that exists for the sake of Torah and leads to the World to Come.) and that one is proud of his empire. Two of the proudest of peoples are in your womb – Hadrian among the idolaters and Solomon in Israel. Another matter, two of those hated by the peoples are in your womb. (The word “two” is extraneous, as unless otherwise indicated, the plural “peoples” connotes two. The word “two [shenei]” is expounded as sonei or senuei – those hated by peoples.) All the idolaters hate Esau, and all the idolaters hate Israel. [Alternately] the most hated of the sons is in your womb, as it is written: “But I hated Esau” (Malachi 1:3). “And two nations will be separated from your innards” (Genesis 25:23) – from here it is derived that he was born circumcised. (They were already different while they were in the womb. Jacob was circumcised and Esau was not.) “One nation will prevail over the other nation” (Genesis 25:23) – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: To this point, they would be called: “Savta, Raama, and Savtekha” (Genesis 10:7). (Small nations and families were counted.) From you, Jews and Romans would arise. “The elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23) – Rabbi Huna said: If he [Jacob] merits, he [Esau] will serve, but if not, he [Esau] will be served.
“They were a source of bitterness for Isaac and for Rebecca” (Genesis 26:35). “They were a source of bitterness” – why for Isaac first? Because Rebecca was the daughter of idolaters, she was not particular about the filth of idol worship. But this one, because he was the son of the holy, he was particular about the filth of idol worship. That is why it was for Isaac first. Another matter, why for Isaac first? It is because the matter was attributable to her, as it is stated: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23). (It was because of her lineage that one of the twins was wicked.) That is why it was for Isaac first. Another matter, why for Isaac first? It is because it is the way of women to sit inside the house, and the way of men to go out on the road and learn understanding from people. But this one, because his eyes dimmed, and he was sitting inside the house, that is why it was for Isaac first. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He [Esau] caused the Divine Spirit to depart from his parent.
ABODA ZARA (Fol. 2) R. Chanina b. Papa, according to others, R. Simlai, lectured: "In the future, the Holy One, praised be He! will bring the Holy Scroll in His arm, saying: 'Whoever was occupied with the Torah shall appear and receive his reward.' The nations then at once will gather themselves and come motley crowded, as it is said (Is. 43, 9) All the nations are gathered together, etc. The Holy One, praised be He; however, will tell them: 'Do not enter in such confusion, but let each nation (Ib. b) with her scribes enter separately,' as it is said (Ib. ib. ib.) And the peoples (I'umim) are assembled.' And l'umim (people) refers to kingdoms, as it is said (Gen. 25, 23) And the one people shall be stronger than the other people (Ul'om milom ye'ematz). Can there be such a thing as confusion before the Holy One, praised be He? It means they themselves shall not be confused, so that they shall understand what will be said to them. Immediately thereupon the kingdom of Rome will enter first on account of its greatness. And whence do we know that it is great? The passage says, (Dan. 7, 23) And shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And R. Jochanan said: 'This refers to Rome whose government is recognized all over the world.' But whence do we know that the more distinguished come first to judgment? It is as R. Chisda said: 'When a king and the people appear before justice, the king should be considered first; as it is said (I Kings 8, 59) To maintain the cause of his servant (the king David) ); [and after this it says] And the cause of His people. Why so? If you wish, you may say it would not be good ethics to have the king sit outside of the court during the trial of the people! and if you wish you may say, he (the king) should be tried before the court becomes excited with anger.' The Holy One, praised be He! will question her (Rome): 'What was your occupation in the world?' To which she will answer: 'Sovereign of the Universe! We have established many markets, we have constructed many bath-houses, we have multiplied in great mass gold and silver and all this was done for the sake of Israel, to enable them to study the Torah.' To which the Holy One, praised be He! will remark: 'It is foolish of you to state that all you have done was for the sake of Israel, while in reality it was but for yourselves. The construction of markets was for the purpose of prostitution. The establishment of bath-houses was for your own pleasure, and as to gold and silver, it is mine, as the passage says (Hag. 2, 8) Mine is the silver, and Mine the gold. But, are there, then, among ye those who have studied the Law?' They will go out in despair. After Rome has departed, Persia will enter, because she is considered second to Rome. Whence do we know this? From the following passage (Dan. 7, 5) And behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear. To which R. Joseph taught: 'Thereby the Persians are meant, the people who eat and drink like bears, are overgrown with hair and are fleshy like bears, and have no rest, like bears.' The Holy One, praised be He! will ask them: 'What was your occupation?' To which they will answer: 'Sovereign of the Universe! we have built and constructed many bridges, conquered many great cities, we were engaged in many wars, all for the sake of Israel to enable them to study the Torah.' Thereupon the Holy One, praised be He! will say to them: 'Ye foolish people, all that was done by you was done for your own sake. Bridges, for the collection of duties. Great cities, to establish forced labor. And as to wars, I have conducted them, as it is said (Ex. 15, 3) The Lord is a man of war. But are there among ye those who have studied this (the Torah)?' Immediately thereupon they also will leave in despair." But why did Persia enter after seeing that Rome was disappointed? They thought: "We have more chance than Rome, as the latter has destroyed the holy Temple, while we have rebuilt it."
(Fol. 11) Uunklus b. Klenikuss embraced Judaism, and the Caesar sent militia to take him. He, however, persuaded them, and they also became proselytes. He then sent other militia, warning them that they should not converse with him. When they took him and were going, he said to them: "I will tell you something; usually the torch-bearer carries the light in front of the litter, the chief lecticarius (behind the litter, carries the light) for the dux, the dux for the hegeman, the hegeman for the comes; but do the comes carry the light before the people?" And they answered, "No." Said he: "The Holy One, praised be He! carries the light before Israel, as it is written (Ex. 13, 21) And the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud, etc." And they also became proselytes. The Caesar then sent other ones after him, telling them not to talk to him at all. But when they took him, he saw a m'zuzah on the doorpost and said to them: "Do you know what this is?" They answered: "No, but you may tell us." He then said: "It is customary with a human king that while he is within the palace his servants guard him from without. With the Holy One, praised be He! it is the contrary. His servants are inside, and He guards them from without, as it is said (Ps. 121, 8) The Lord will guard thy going out and thy coming in, etc." Then these also became proselytes, and the Caecar did not send any more after him. (Gen. 25, 23) And the Lord said to her, two nations are in thy womb. Said R. Juda in the name of Rab: "This refers to Antoninus (of Essau) and Rabbi (of Jacob) upon whose tables were not missing lettuces, cucumbers and radishes, neither during the summer nor during the winter; as the master said: Radishes cut the food [in the stomach], lettuces overturn it, and cucumbers extend the gut. But have not the disciples of Ismael taught that cucumbers are as harmful to the body as swords? This present no difficulty, as one speaks of large ones, and the other of small ones."
R. Juda said in the name of Rab: "He who withholds from imparting an Halacha to a disciple is considered as if he would rob him of the inheritance of his ancestors, for it is said (Deut. 33, 4) The law which Moses commanded us is the inheritance of the congregation of Israel. Hence the law is considered as an inheritance to all Israel since the creation of the world." R. Chana b. Bizna, in the name of R. Simon the Pious said: "He who withholds (or denies) the explanation of an Halacha to a disciple, even the embryos in the entrails of their mothers, curse him, as it is said (Prov. 11, 26) Him that withholdeth corn, (Fol. 92) (l'om) the people will (ye'kabuhu) denounce, and the word l'am refers to embryos, as it is said (Num. 23, 8) How shall I denounce (Kabo) whom God … , and Bar means the Torah, as it is said (Ps. 2) And if one do teach." What will be his reward for such? Raba, in the name of R. Shesheth, said: "He will be rewarded with the blessing with which Joseph was blessed, as it is said (Pr. 11, 26) But blessing will be heaped upon the head of the one (Mashbir) that selleth it, and Mashbir refers to Joseph; as it is said (Gen. 48, 6) And Joseph, he was the governor over the land, he it was that sold corn to all the people." R. Shesheth said again: "He who teaches the Torah in this world will be rewarded by teaching it in the world to come, as it is said (Prov. 11, 25) He that refresheth [others] will do the same in the future." Mar Zutra said: "Whence do we infer the resurrection from the Torah? It is said (Deut. 33, 6) May Reuben live, and not die, i.e., he may live in this world, and not die in the world to come." Rabina says: From the following (Dan. 12, 2) And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to disgrace and everlasting abhorrence. And R. Ashi said: From (Ib. ib. 13) But thou, go [thy way] toward the end; and thou shalt rest, and arise for thy lot at the end of the days. R. Elazar said: "A leader of a congregation, who leads them humbly, will be rewarded by leading the same in the world to come, as it is said (Is. 49, 10) For he that hath mercy on them will lead them, and by springs of water will he guide them." R. Elazar said again: "Wisdom is of great importance, as it was placed between two divine names (I Sam. 2, 3) For a God of knowledge is the Lord." Another thing said R. Elazar: "Every man who possesses wisdom may consider himself as if the Temple were built in his days, as both wisdom and temple are placed between two divine names." R. Elazar said further: "He who possesses no knowledge does not merit that one should have mercy upon him, as it is said (Is. 27, 11) For it is not a people of understanding; therefore he that made it will not have compassion upon it, and he that formed them will not be gracious unto them." R. Elazar said also: "He who feeds one who does not possess any knowledge, will suffer as a reward for it, as it is said (Ob. 1, 7) They that eat thy bread have struck thee secretly a wound, there is no understanding in them." R. Elazar said again: "A man that has no knowledge will finally be exiled, as it reads (Is. 5, 13) Therefore are my people led into exile, for want of knowledge."
R. Elazar said: "Any man who possesses the power of flattery causes wrath to be brought upon the world, as it is said (Job. 36, 13) But the hypocrites in heart lay up *** (Page 250) ger. Not only this but even his prayers will not be accepted, as it is said (Ib.) They cry not for help when He chastiseth them." R. Elazar said further: "Every man who possesses the power of flattery, will be cursed even by the embryos, as it is said (Prov. 24, 24) He that sayeth unto the wicked: 'thou art righteous,' people shall curse him, nations shall execrate him, and the word Kob means curse, as it is said (Num. 23, 8) How shall I denounce (Akob) whom God has not denounced, and the word nations (l'umim) refers to embryos, as it is said (Gen. 25, 23) And one people [Ul'om] shall be stronger than the other people, [referring to the embryos of Jacob and Isaac]." R. Elazar said further: "Every man who possesses the habit of flattery will fall in Gehenna, as it is said (Is. 5, 20) Woe unto those who say of the evil, it is good, and of the good it is evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. What is written later? Therefore as the tongue of five devoureth the stubble, and as the chaff is consumed in the flames; so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust." R. Elazar said further: "Whoever flatters the wicked will at the end fall into his hand; and if he does not fall into his hand he will fall into the hand of his son: and if he does not fall into the hand of his son he will fall into the hand of his grandson, as it is said (Jer. 28, 5) Then Jeremiah the Prophet, said unto the Prophet Hanminh… . Amen, may the Lord do so: May the Lord fulfill thy words, etc. And after this, (Fol. 42) it is written (Ib. 37, 13) But as he was in the gate of Benjamin, there was a captain of the guardsmen whose name was Yeriyah, the son of Shelemyah, the son of Channniah; and he took hold of the prophet, Jeremiah, etc., and again it is written. And Yeriyah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes." R. Elazar said further: "Every congregation where hypocrisy pevails will in the end be exiled; as it is written (Job. 15, 34) For the assembly of hypocrites shall be desolate [Galmud], and again it is written (Is. 49, 21) Thou shah say in thy heart: 'Who has begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary Galmuda], an exile and wandering to and fro? Behold, I was left entirely alone; these, where were they?' "
Another interpretation: R. Dostay (Gk.: dositheos.) said: If you take a wife who bears < a child > and dies, do not be idle in your old age without a wife. Why? (Eccl. 11:6:) BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHICH WILL SUCCEED. From whom do you learn < this fact >? From Abraham, who in his youth only sired one < child > but in his old age sired twelve. R. Levi said: He is the one to whom the Holy One said: (in Gen. 12:3): AND IN YOU ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED. Thus God arose in the generation of the dispersion and dispersed them into thirty families, as stated (in Gen. 11:8): SO THE LORD DISPERSED THEM…. R. Levi said: The Holy One said: I am producing them out of you. He is the one to whom the Holy One had said: AND IN YOU < ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH > SHALL BE BLESSED. So from him he produced thirty families; and they are the following: twelve princes which he produced from Ishmael (Gen. 25:13-16), the sixteen descendants of Keturah (Gen. 25:1-4), and (according to Gen. 25:23) TWO NATIONS ARE IN YOUR (Rebekah's) WOMB, for a total of thirty families. Ergo (in Gen. 25:1): THEN ABRAHAM TOOK ANOTHER WIFE.
(Deut. 25:17:) REMEMBER WHAT AMALEK (Esau's grandson) DID TO YOU. This verse is related (to Ps. 109:14): MAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED BEFORE THE LORD…. Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (Tanh., Deut. 6:4; PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14): MAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED! simply a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how did he sin against his fathers? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham (The “only” is found in the parallel account of Tanh., Deut. 6:4.) lived a hundred and seventy-five years. (The Tanh. parallel adds here: “Why so? Because he did not foresee Esau’s shame.”) Rabbi Levi said: During the five years that were withheld from Abraham's life, Esau committed two serious transgressions. He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29): THEN ESAU CAME FROM THE FIELD, AND HE WAS EXHAUSTED. Now FIELD can only be a reference to a BETROTHED MAIDEN [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25): IF IN THE FIELD THE MAN FINDS A MAIDEN WHO IS BETROTHED, ] Moreover, EXHAUSTED can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31): WOE TO ME, NOW! FOR MY LIFE IS EXHAUSTED BEFORE THOSE WHO KILL. Rabbi Zakkay [the Elder] said: He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU. (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One said: I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15): YOU SHALL GO UNTO YOUR ANCESTORS IN PEACE; YOU SHALL BE BURIED . But now he would see his grandson, when he was robbing with violence, practicing seduction, and shedding blood. At that time he was a good grandfather; it was better for him as a righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4 [3]): FOR STEADFAST LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE. And what sin did he commit against his father? He caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said: Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his eyes to grow dim during his lifetime. A wicked son came from Isaac, as written (in (Gen. 27:1): AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE. [Why? Because he produced Esau the Wicked.] In regard to a wicked disciple, from Ahijah the Shilonite, as stated (in I Kings 14:4): NOW AHIJAH {THE SHILONITE} COULD NOT SEE, BECAUSE HIS EYES WERE DIM FROM OLD AGE. Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) AND LET NOT THE SIN OF HIS MOTHER BE BLOTTED OUT.] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and masters . R. Judah says: When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) {i.e., placenta}, with the result that she would not bear . This is what is written (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED ALL PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says: You should not say in reference to when he had left . (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) {i.e., fist} was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob). What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4 [3]:) THE WICKED GO ASTRAY (zoru) FROM THE WOMB. R. Nehemiah says: He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes, since Rav Huna has said: Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23): AND THE LORD SAID TO HER: TWO NATIONS ARE [IN YOUR WOMB. (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here] are two. (Ibid., cont.:) AND TWO PEOPLES. Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ONE PEOPLE SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER. Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. Here are eight. (vs. 24:) AND BEHOLD THERE WERE TWINS IN HER WOMB. Here are ten. (vs. 25:) THE FIRST CAME OUT RUDDY. [Here are eleven.] (vs. 26:) AND AFTERWARD HIS BROTHER CAME OUT. Here are twelve. There are also some who apply a passage to her (from vs. 22): AND SHE SAID: IF SO, WHY AM I HERE (ZH)? By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) Z (=7) + H (=5) twelve. But masters have said: He was the cause of her bier not going forth publicly . You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying: Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-aram. Should Esau the Wicked go before her? Then people would say : (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man {i.e., : cursed be the breasts that have suckled one like this man}. What did they do? They brought out her bier at night. R. Jose bar Hanina said: Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8): THEN REBEKAH'S NURSE, DEBORAH, DIED [AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon-bacuth)]. What is the meaning of Allon-bacuth? Two weepings. (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance of mourning for {his} [her] nurse, the news about his mother came to him. This is related (to Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN […,] AND BLESSED HIM. With what blessing did he bless him? He blessed him with the blessing mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One said: Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grand[father] pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? So should I pay him back with evil? When you mention his name below, I shall blot out his name above. (Ps. 109:15:) LET THEM (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) ALWAYS BE BEFORE THE LORD. Whatever he has done, he has done against me. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): AND MAY HE HAVE THEIR MEMORY CUT OFF FROM THE EARTH. [Ergo] (in Deut. 25:17): REMEMBER WHAT AMALEK (Esau's grandson) DID TO YOU.
(Gen. 49:28:) ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, TWELVE IN NUMBER. These are the tribes, but < it is written > elsewhere about Ishmael (in Gen. 17:20): HE SHALL SIRE TWELVE PRINCES. (Tanh., Gen. 12:15; Gen. R. 47:5.) As for the tribes, that has a basis in the structure of the world. The day has twelve hours, the night has twelve hours, the year has twelve months, < and there are > twelve planets. R. Johanan said: Were there < really > twelve tribes? Now do not Ephraim and Manasseh make fourteen? It is simply that, when Levi was numbered with them, Ephraim and Manasseh were not numbered with them. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in the list of Numb. 1:10, which omits Levi): FROM THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH: FROM EPHRAIM, ELISHAMA BEN AMMIHUD; FROM MANASSEH, GAMALIEL BEN PEDAHZUR. Ergo (in Gen. 49:28): ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, TWELVE IN NUMBER, no less and no more. Even Rebekah saw {them} [these twelve], as stated (in Gen. 25:23): (Cf. Gen. R. 63:6; 97, New Version, on 49:28 (= pp. 1226—1227 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); cf. also PRK 3:1.) AND THE LORD SAID TO HER: TWO NATIONS ARE IN YOUR WOMB. Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) AND TWO PEOPLES < SHALL ISSUE > FROM YOUR BOWELS. Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ONE PEOPLE SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER. Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) AND BEHOLD, THERE WERE TWINS IN HER WOMB. Here are ten. (Vs. 22:) AND THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED WITHIN HER. Here are twelve.
(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.” This verse is related (to Ps.109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord […].” Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered?” [The verse is] simply [referring to] a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham only lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Why so? So he would not see Esau’s shame. Abraham had [Isaac] when he was a hundred years [old]. (Gen. 25:26-27:) “And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. And the lads grew.” Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. R. Levi said, “To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. As long as they are small, no one [can] distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one gives off its pleasant smell, but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small, no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up (in Gen. 25:26, cont.), ’Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.’” And Esau would go out and rob and extort, and people would maledict him. And during the five years [that were withheld from Abraham's life], Esau committed two serious transgressions: He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29), “then Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.” Now field can only be a reference to a betrothed maiden [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25), “If in the field the man finds [a maiden who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her…].” Moreover, exhausted can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31), “woe to me, now; for my life is exhausted before those who kill.” Rabbi Zakkay said, “He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 1:5), ‘If thieves have come to you.’” (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15), ‘And you shall go unto your ancestors in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age].’ But now he would see his grandson go to bad culture and hear what people say about his grandson; [that he was] transgressing sexual prohibitions and shedding blood. He would [then] wonder and say, ‘Are these the stipulations that the Holy One, blessed be He, being fulfilled with me?’ And he would voice a complaint, ‘And this is not “a good old age.”’ What should I do for him?” [So] He gathered him from the world. It is better for the righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4), “For Your steadfast love is better than life.” Behold, he [thus] sinned against his grandfather. He sinned against his father, as he caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said, “Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his [own] eyes to grow dim during his lifetime.” From where [in Scripture] do you learn [this]? A wicked son, from Isaac, as stated (in (Gen. 27:1), “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old [and his eyes were too dim to see].” [In regard to] a wicked disciple, [we learn] from Ahijah, as it is written (in I Kings 14:4), “now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.” Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.”] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and [our] masters [differ]. R. Judah says, “When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus, (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) with the result that she would not bear [any more children]. This is what is written (in Amos 1:11), ‘because he (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his pity (rachamiv),’ as it is written, ‘his uterus (rechemo).’” (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says, “You should not say [this] in reference to when he had left [his mother's uterus]. (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) [i.e., fist] was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob).” What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4:) “The wicked go astray (zoru) from the womb.” R. Nehemiah says, “He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes.” As Rav Huna has said, “Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23), ‘And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are [in your womb].” (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) “and two peoples.” Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) “And one people shall be stronger than the other.” Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the elder shall serve the younger.”’ Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) ‘And behold there were twins in her womb.’ Here are ten. (Vs. 25:) ‘The first came out ruddy.’ That is eleven. (Vs. 26:) ‘And afterward his brother came out.’ Here are twelve.” And there are some who bring this [idea] from here (vs. 22); “and she said, ‘If so, why am I here (zh)?’” By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) z (=7) + h (=5) [for a total of] twelve. But [our] masters have said, “He caused her bier to not go forth publicly [to her funeral]. You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying, ‘Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-Aram. Should Esau the wicked go before her? Then people would say [in Aramaic], (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) “Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man.”’ What did they do? They brought out her bier at night, so that Esau not go out in front of her, and all say, ‘Cursed are the breasts suckled this evil man.’” R. Jose bar R. Hanina said, “Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8), ‘Then Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died [and she was buried under the oak below Bethel] and its name was called Weeping Oak (Allon-Bacuth)],’ as they wept two weepings (bekhiot).” (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance [of mourning] for her nurse, the news about his mother came to him, as stated (to Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again […,] and blessed him.” With what blessing did He bless him? He blessed him with the blessing of [consolation given to] mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grandfather pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? I shall pay him back with evil, as his children destroyed My house. You and I shall rise against him, as stated (Obad. 1:1), “Rise, and we shall rise up against her for war.” Israel said to him, “Master of the world, we cannot [overcome] him.” [So] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, “You mention his name below, and I shall blot out his name above, as stated (Ps. 109:15) ‘Let them (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) always be before (neged) the Lord.’ Whatever he has done, he has done against (neged) Me.” [Therefore] (ibid., cont.), “and may He have their memory cut off from the earth.” Ergo (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.”
Similarly, Rebecca foresaw that there would be twelve tribes, as it is written: And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels (Gen. 25:23). This equals four. And the one people shall be stronger than the other (ibid.); this adds up to six. And the elder will serve the younger (ibid.) makes it eight. When her days to be delivered were fruitful, Behold, there were twins in her womb (ibid., v. 24); this makes ten. The first came forth, and after that his brother (ibid.), totaling twelve in all.
"You rebuked nations. This refers to Amalek, as it is said (Numbers 24:20), 'Amalek was the first of the nations.' You destroyed the wicked. This refers to Esau, the wicked one, as it is said (Malachi 1:4), 'They will call them the border of wickedness.' He committed five sins in one day: he had relations with a betrothed woman, committed murder, denied the resurrection of the dead, denied God's sovereignty, and showed contempt for the birthright. Their name shall be blotted out, as it is said (Exodus 17:14), 'I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek.' Rabbi Levi said: It is written (Genesis 25:23), 'Two nations are in your womb.' What did [God] say to her [Rebecca]? 'Two governments are in your womb.' I reveal to you what is hidden: 'The first of the nations shall emerge from you,' as it is said (Jeremiah 2:3), 'Israel is the holy first fruits of his harvest.' Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: God never needed to rely on an intimate relationship with a woman, except for that righteous woman [Rebecca], and even she was only through the medium of an angel. Rabbi said in the name of Rabbi Yose: It was through the name of Noah's son that [Rebecca] was blessed. 'Two nations are in your womb' - I [God] made seventy nations from [Noah's three sons], as it is said (Genesis 10:19), 'These are the three sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.' How? Japheth had fourteen descendants, Gog and Magog had thirty, and Ham had thirty. That makes seventy. (Genesis 10:5) 'From these the isles of the nations were separated.' 'And two nations are in your womb' - I will make from one [nation], seventy souls, and they will be fruitful and multiply. Another interpretation of 'two nations' is that one is proud of his wealth, and the other is proud of his royalty: Edom among the nations and Solomon among Israel." Another matter, two nations whose hatred is embedded in your womb, all hate Esau and all hate Jacob. Another matter, two nations that hate each other. They will separate from your womb. From this, we learn that Jacob was born circumcised and uncircumcised. He is one of the thirteen who were born circumcised. Adam, the first man, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Terah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah were all born circumcised. Adam was at the beginning of the creation of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated, "And he begot in his likeness, after his image" (Genesis 5:3). Enoch, as it is stated, "And Enoch walked with God" (Genesis 5:24). And it is stated, "Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). Noah, as it is stated, "Noah was a righteous man" (Genesis 6:9). Shem, as it is stated, "These are the generations of Shem" (Genesis 11:10). Whoever had his name repeated was born circumcised, such as Shem, Shem, Noah, Noah, Terah, Terah. Jacob, as it is stated, "And Jacob was a straightforward man" (Genesis 25:27). And it states, "Jacob, Jacob" (Genesis 46:2). Joseph, as it is stated, "These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph" (Genesis 37:2). This teaches us that he was born circumcised like him [Jacob]. Moses, as it is stated, "Moses, Moses" (Exodus 3:4). And it is stated, "And she saw that he was good" (Exodus 2:2). He was born circumcised. (Samuel I 3:10) (meaning Samuel IV, as it is written) Samuel, Samuel. Isaiah, as it is stated, "The Lord called me from the womb" (Isaiah 49:1). Jeremiah, as it is stated, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5). David, as it is stated, "A golden Psalm of David" (Psalms 16:1). And much will the young servant serve. Rav Huna said, "If he merited, he will serve, and if not, he will not serve." And when David saw how Esau made Israel slaves, he said before the Holy One, blessed be He, "Rebuke the nations who seek to destroy me" (Psalms 44:6).
Jacob took all the tithe of his possessions and sent it by the hand of his servants, and gave it to Esau, saying to them: Say ye || to him, "Thus saith thy servant Jacob" (Gen. 32:4). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Jacob ! That which was holy hast thou made profane? He replied to Him: Sovereign of all worlds ! I flatter the wicked, so that he should not slay me. Hence the (wise men) say, we may flatter the wicked in this world for the sake of the ways of peace. Esau said to him: O my brother, I have enough; as it is said, "And Esau said, I have enough" (Gen. 33:9). And because he gave honour to Jacob, therefore the sons of Jacob paid honour to the sons of Esau with the same expression; as it is said, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough" (Deut. 2:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Jacob ! Is it not enough for thee that thou hast made profane that which is holy? Nay, but I have said, "And the elder shall serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23); and yet thou hast said, "Thy servant Jacob" (Gen. 32:4). By thy life ! it shall be according to thy words; he shall rule over thee in this world, and thou shalt rule over him in the world to come. Therefore Jacob said to him (Esau): "Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant" (Gen. 33:14). Hence thou mayest learn that the sons of Esau will not fall until a remnant from Jacob shall come, and cut off the feet of the children of Esau from Mount Seir, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will descend. "And there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it" (Obad. 18).
This is what Rebbi Yehuda praised himself in the statement I quoted, that he did not derive pleasure from this world, not even for his little finger, although he was Prince of Israel and his table was necessarily a table of kings due to the dignity of his position, as our sages of blessed memory taught: "'two nations are in your womb' (Bereishis 25:23) - this refers to Rebbi and Antoninus, from whose table neither lettuce, nor radish nor cucumber was ever absent either in summer or winter" (Avodah Zarah 11a). This was likewise the case for Chizkiyahu, King of Yehuda.
And there they became a ‘great’ nation - This teaches us that Israel became distinctive there: Like its English counterpart, the word “Gadol” ‘great,’ has two meanings; it can mean “large” in a physical sense or it can also mean “great” in a qualitative and spiritual sense. In this verse it is not clear in which sense “Gadol’ is being used. Did Israel become physically great by increasing in number or did they become a great nation by vitrue of the character and integrity? The Maggid understands ‘great’ in the second sense of the word but it is not clear how he arrives at this conclusion. Rabbi Epstein explains that the Maggid arrives at this interpretation based on the use of the word “Am” instead of the word “Goy” for nation. Although these two words mean nation they have different connotations. The word “Am” implies a large nation and is often used in a disparaging way in the Bible. (See Rashi, Numbers 11:1.) When Israel is referred to as a “Goy,” it is usually used in a more complimentary way, such as Samuel 11, 7:23, “Israel is a unique nation on earth,” and Genesis 25:23, “There are two nations in your womb,” implying that the two sons to which Rebecca would give birth would each be the father of a great nation. The fact that the verse calls Israel a “Goy Gadol” implies that they are a great nation and not just a large nation....
וישלח יעקב...כה תאמרון לאדוני לעשו, Yaakov sent......thus you shall say to my lord, to Esau: Yaakov was punished for referring to Esau as “my lord.” G–d said to him: “I have said to your mother that the older of her sons will serve the younger” (Genesis 25,23) and you have taken it upon yourself to address your elder brother as “my lord” eight times? This is why in this portion we will read that eight kings ruled over the kingdom of Esau (Edom) before the first king ruled over Israel. This is why this very point has been recorded in this portion at the end of this portion (Genesis 36,31-43)
My reading of the text is therefore this. (For a more detailed explanation, see Covenant & Conversation: Genesis – The Book of Beginnings (Jerusalem: Maggid, 2009), 153–158, 219–228.) The phrase in Rebecca’s oracle, verav yaavod tzair (Gen. 25:23), is in fact ambiguous. It may mean, “The elder will serve the younger,” but it may also mean, “The younger will serve the elder.” It is what the Torah calls a ḥidda (Num. 12:8), that is, an opaque, deliberately ambiguous communication. It suggested an ongoing conflict between the two sons and their descendants, but did not foretell who would win.
Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the elder will serve the younger. (Gen. 25:23)
The statement regarding Hagar “And God opened her eyes” (19. Gen. 21:19.) —is surely similar to that which was said of Eve. (20. Gen. 3:7 records that God opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to see beyond corporeal matters, as explained in the Guide I:2.) Regarding what is said of Rebecca—“And the Lord said unto her” (21. Gen. 25:23. According to the preceding point, the tetragrammaton would be misplaced here, for the context is of childbirth and other material matters.) —there is no problem, for | it is not always and forever necessary to be precise. Sometimes the Torah is exact, and at other times it is inexact, as Maimonides wrote regarding the fifth cause of contradiction as found in the Torah and Prophets. (22. Here Kaspi alludes to the Guide : Introduction to the first part, which states that on occasion the Torah does not use the exact terminology, instead leaving such precision to another context in the Torah. This principle of Kaspi’s exegesis is discussed in Chapter 2 above. In MK II 67, however, Kaspi prefers to explain that the tetragrammaton here alludes to the Lord as the most distant mover of all speech.) Accordingly, occasionally the Torah will be careful to use “God” on account of His being the immediate cause, while at other times “Lord” appears on account of His being the distant mover of all. Reliable evidence of this usage is “And the Lord said to the children of Israel,” (23. Judg. 10:11.) (which conveys the truth that) in any case He is the mediate speaker. (24. This means that the Lord spoke to them through some intermediate speaker, for it is not conceivable that there was another revelation to the entire nation as there had been at Sinai.)
No less surprising is Moses’ insistence: “Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother.” Edom was, of course, the other name of Esau. There was a time when Esau hated Jacob and vowed to kill him. Besides which, before the twins were born, Rebecca received an oracle telling her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the elder will serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). Whatever these words mean, they seem to imply that there will be eternal conflict between the two brothers and their descendants.
Their relationship, suggests the Netziv, was never casual, candid, and communicative. The result was, at a series of critical moments, a failure of communication. It seems likely that Rebecca never informed Isaac of the oracle she had before the twins, Esau and Jacob, were born, in which God told her “the elder will serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). That apparently is one reason she loved Jacob rather than Esau, knowing that he was the one chosen by God. If Isaac knew this, why did he favour Esau? He probably did not know, because Rebecca had not told him. That is why, many years later, when she hears that Isaac is about to bless Esau, she is forced into a plan of deception: she tells Jacob to pretend he is Esau. Why did she not simply tell Isaac that it was Jacob who was to be blessed? Because that would force her to admit that she had kept her husband in ignorance about the prophecy all the years the children were growing up.
We may understand the meter of our verse as being that Bileam says in effect: "the reason I say that G'd is not mildly or severely angry at this people and has not cursed them in any way is not only that I have made a superficial examination of them. I have examined every aspect of this people, i.e. מראש צורים, and have come up with a blank. Not only that but ומגבעות אשורנו, (verse 9) I have even examined their maternal ancestry, their matriarchs, and I have not been able to find any kind of defect in the root of their holy soul that would allow my curse to take hold." We may be surprised at that as we know that Terach was an idol worshiper and so were Bethuel and Laban. We would have assumed that such an association would have left a mark on the holy soul of this people! Bileam answers this by saying הן עם לבדד ישכון ובגוים לא יתחשב. "They are a nation that lives in solitude and does not consider itself as part of the nations surrounding it." They do not share a common root with Terach and his ancestors, their soul is not part of that branch. Their collective soul has been hewn out of a separate "quarry," the one all Israelite souls emanate from. The words "and does not consider itself as part of the surrounding nations" includes even those nations who consider themselves closely related to the Jewish people through common ancestors. Bileam referred to Ishmael and Esau both of whom are called גוים in the Torah. The Torah mentions that Ishmael is a גוי in Genesis 17,20: "I will make him into a great nation." In Genesis 25,23 when G'd tells Rebeccah that she will give birth to twins, the Torah states that both children will develop into nations, שני גויים בבטנך, "you have two nations in your womb." However, in Genesis 21,12, G'd made it plain to Abraham that He would only consider his son Isaac as his true seed. This excluded Ishmael and Esau from being considered as true descendants of Abraham, descendants whose task it was to carry on Abraham's contribution to establishing the kingdom of G'd on earth. In view of all this Bileam could not find any way to make a curse against Israel stick, not against the average Israelites, and certainly not against the elite, the righteous. While it is true that the Israelites had been guilty of the sin of the golden calf plus that of the spies who had caused the whole nation to reject the land of Israel some 38 years ago, G'd had already said clearly that He had forgiven the people for those sins. Perhaps the reason that G'd did not display His anger against them during the last 38 years was to deprive Bileam of the opportunity to make a curse against them effective.
AND EDOM SHALL BE A POSSESSION, SEIR ALSO, EVEN HIS ENEMIES SHALL BE A POSSESSION. The downfall of Edom (See Vol. I, pp. 444-445, and 568-569, for an explanation why this term is used about Rome.) will be by the hand of the Messiah, because our present exile under the hand of Rome is considered Edom’s [exile], just as it is said: The punishment of thine iniquity is absolved, O daughter of Zion, He will no more carry thee away into captivity; He will punish thine iniquity, O ‘daughter of Edom,’ He will uncover thy sins (Lamentations 4:22.) — for G-d will not punish Edom until the sins of Zion are absolved, at the time when He will no more keep them in captivity. (Lamentations 4:22.) Therefore Balaam mentioned Edom, for it is he who disputes our [right to] kingdom, and about him it has been said, and the one people shall be stronger than the other. (Genesis 25:23. “They will never be equally great at the same time; when one rises, the other will fall” (Rashi ibid.).) Balaam was thus prophesying that Edom will not completely fall until the time of the end [of the exile] by the hand of ‘the star’ [i.e., the Messiah] who will step forth out of Jacob [as stated in the previous verse]. Seir also, even his enemies shall be a possession. This means that Seir will become a possession of his enemies [i.e., of Israel]. (This is Rashi’s interpretation, according to which the phrase his enemies is to be interpreted as to his enemies.) Or [the term] his enemies may refer to [Jacob’s enemies, i.e.,] Edom and Seir mentioned [previously in the verse], who are the enemies of Jacob, [and the meaning of the verse would thus be: “Edom, and Seir also, who are the enemies of Israel] will become a possession [of Israel].” (See my Hebrew commentary p. 301 for a quote from the Zohar, which interprets the verse in this way.)
Before any king reigned. Before Moshe reigned over them.
The word וידבר (He spoke) was not mentioned, only ויאמר (He said). I.e., the term “He spoke” was not used affectionately, for “He spoke to me” is not mentioned, as it is here. Instead it only said, “He spoke,” which lacks affection (Maharitz). You might ask that, in Parshas Beha’aloscha (Bamidbar 12:1) regarding the verse, “Miriam spoke,” Rashi explains: “Spoke” implies harsh speech — not affection, whereas “said” implies affection. The answer is: Anywhere it is written, “Adonoy spoke,” with the Tetragrammaton, it implies affection. Though it is harsh, it implies affection towards Moshe. But not, “Adonoy said,” for this can mean, “Adonoy said through a messenger.” As in (Bereishis 25:23), “Adonoy said to her,” which was through a messenger. And also as in (Shemos 18:6), “And he said to Moshe, ‘I am your father-in-law Yisro, etc.’” And also as in (Bereishis 48:1), “He said to Yoseif, ‘Behold your father is ill’.” In contrast, “he spoke,” implies affection, for it means, “(to be speaking) face-to-face,” as it says (Bamidbar 12:8), “Face-to-face I speak to him.” Although to any other prophet it would imply harsh speech, regarding Moshe it implies affection, as Hashem said, (ibid. v. 7), “Not so is My servant Moshe, etc.” See Maseches Ta’anis (30b).
אחרי ה' אלוקיכם תלכו, “You shall follow Hashem your G’d;” Nachmanides interprets these words as Moses urging the people to follow G’d’s advice exclusively, and if they feel the urge to know something in the future because they are consumed with worry, to turn only to Him via His accredited prophets. They are to emulate our matriarch Rivkah, who, when she was unable to account for what by all accounts was an unusual pregnancy, went to “enquire from a Divine source.” (Compare Genesis 25,23)...
ונתתיך לגויים, “I shall make you into nations;” Rashi believes that the plural “nations” refers to the Jewish people on the one hand and to Edom (Rome) on the other. Seeing that Yishmael had already been born, Rashi does not consider this promise/prophecy as applying to the Arab nation. Nachmanides considers Rashi’s commentary as flawed, seeing that it is most unlikely that at the time when G’d was preoccupied with the circumcision He should prophesy to Avraham concerning an as yet unborn Esau. After all, Avraham was neither in charge of Esau nor did the duty to circumcise him devolve upon him instead of upon his father Yitzchok (if and when). . According to Nachmanides both Yishmael and Esau’s descendants are called גויים, whereas the Jewish people are referred to as עם. He quotes Deut. 33,3 אף חובב עמים as proof. There are other verses of the same kind. [however, there are numerous occasions when the Jewish people are referred to as גוי, as in Exodus 33,13, Joshua 3,17, Genesis 25,23, Deut. 4,38 and numerous others. Ed.]
[88] Once again, of Jacob and Esau, when still in the womb, God declares that the one is a ruler and leader and master, but that Esau is a subject and a slave. For God the Maker of living beings knoweth well the different pieces of his own handiwork, even before He has thoroughly chiselled and consummated them, and the faculties which they are to display at a later time, in a word their deeds and experiences. And so when Rebecca, the soul that waits on God, goes to inquire of God, He tells her in reply, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy belly, and one people shall be above the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23).
[129] The souls then whose pregnancy is accompanied with wisdom, though they labour, do bring their children to the birth, for they distinguish and separate what is in confusion within them, just as Rebecca, receiving in her womb the knowledge of the two nations of the mind, virtue and vice, distinguished the nature of the two and found therein a happy delivery (Gen. 25:23). But where its pregnancy is without wisdom, the soul either miscarries or the offspring is the quarrelsome sophist who shoots with the bow (Gen. 21:20), or is the target of the bowman.
Concerning The Sons Of Isaac, Esau And Jacob; Of Their Nativity And Education. 1. Now Isaac's wife proved with child, after the death of Abraham; (30) and when her belly was greatly burdened, Isaac was very anxious, and inquired of God; who answered, that Rebeka should bear twins; and that two nations should take the names of those sons; and that he who appeared the second should excel the elder. Accordingly she, in a little time, as God had foretold, bare twins; the elder of whom, from his head to his feet, was very rough and hairy; but the younger took hold of his heel as they were in the birth. Now the father loved the elder, who was called Esau, a name agreeable to his roughness, for the Hebrews call such a hairy roughness [Esau, (31) or] Seir; but Jacob the younger was best beloved by his mother.
§ The Gemara returns to its discussion of Antoninus: When the matriarch Rebecca was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, “the Lord said to her: Two nations [goyim] are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23). Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Do not read it as goyim, meaning nations; rather read it as geyim, meaning proud ones. This verse was fulfilled in two prominent individuals who descended from Rebecca, Antoninus and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, whose tables, due to their wealth, never lacked for lettuce, nor cucumbers, nor radish, neither in the summer nor in the rainy season, despite the fact that these foods do not grow year round. The reason they ensured that these items were always present at their tables is that the Master said: A radish breaks up food, lettuce stirs up food, and cucumbers expand the intestines.
with their scholars, as it is stated: “And let the peoples [le’umim] be assembled” (Isaiah 43:9); and the term le’om means nothing other than kingdom, as it is stated: “And the one kingdom [ule’om] shall be stronger than the other kingdom [mile’om]” (Genesis 25:23). The Gemara asks: But is it possible for there to be intermingling before the Holy One, Blessed be He, that it should be necessary for each nation to stand and be addressed separately? Rather, the nations are instructed to stand separately so that they will not become intermingled with each other in order that they will each hear what He says to them.
It was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: Why are they called cucumbers [kishu’im]? Because they are as harmful [kashim] to the body as swords. The Gemara asks: Is that really so? Is it not written: “And the Lord said unto her: Two nations [goyim] are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23) and the Gemara says: Do not read it as goyim, rather read it as gayim, proud ones. And Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This verse was fulfilled in these two great individuals who descended from Rebecca: Antoninus and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, whose tables, because of their wealth, never lacked for radish, lettuce or cucumbers, neither in summer nor in the rainy season. Apparently, cucumbers are good and are even a delicacy of kings.
(Gen. rabba 20(12), 45(14), 63(8).) Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Simeon: We do not find that the Omnipresent talked to a woman, except only to Sarah. But is there not written (Gen. 3:16.) : “To the woman He said: I shall increase,” etc.? Rebbi Jacob of Kefar Ḥanin (Elsewhere he is called “from Kefar Ḥanan”.) said, through an interpreter (Adam is addressed by the Eternal in 3:9, the woman in 3:13, the snake in 3:14.) . But is there not written (Gen. 25:23.) : “The Eternal said to her, two peoples are in your womb”? Rebbi Abba bar Cahana said, the Word fell to her (A word about her fell to a prophet (in the opinion of Gen. rabba, Sem ben Noah.)) . Rebbi Biri said, how many weaver’s shuttles! The Holy One, praise to Him, desires to hear the talk of the just women: “He said no, but you laughed. (The only time we find a mention of God addressing a woman directly it is about an unimportant matter.) ”
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: The same idea may be derived from here, a verse dealing with Jacob and Esau: “And the one people shall be stronger than the other people” (Genesis 25:23), teaching that when one nation rises, the other necessarily falls.
And now, after the destruction of the Temple, Edomite wine does not turn to vinegar unless one places barley into it. This is called Edomite vinegar, to fulfill that which is stated with regard to Tyre, and the same applies to other enemies of the Jewish people: “Because Tyre has said against Jerusalem: Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be filled with her that is laid waste” (Ezekiel 26:2). The Sages expound: If this one, Jerusalem, is full, then that one, her enemy, is laid waste; and if this enemy is full, then she, Jerusalem, is laid waste. Therefore, when the Jewish people fall, their enemies can achieve the success that was once attained by the Jews. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This notion can be derived from here, where the verse states regarding Esau and Jacob: “The one people shall be stronger than the other people” (Genesis 25:23), meaning that when one nation gains power, the other is weakened, because they cannot both be strong at the same time.
the people [leom] shall curse him [yikkevuhu], but blessing shall be upon the head of one who provides” (Proverbs 11:26). And the term leom is referring to nothing other than fetuses, as it is stated: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your bowels; and the one leom shall overcome the other leom” (Genesis 25:23). And kabbo is referring to nothing other than curse, as it is stated in the statement of Balaam: “How can I curse one who is not cursed [kabbo] by God?” (Numbers 23:8). And bar is referring to nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “Pay homage to bar lest He be angry” (Psalms 2:12), i.e., observe the Torah to avoid God’s wrath.
And Rabbi Elazar says: Any person who has flattery in him, even fetuses in their mothers’ wombs curse him, as it is stated: “He who says to the wicked: You are righteous, peoples shall curse him [yikkevuhu], nations [leummim] shall execrate him” (Proverbs 24:24); and kov, the linguistic root of the word yikkevuhu, means only a curse, as it is stated: Balaam explained that he did not curse the Jewish people, as he said: “How can I curse [ekkov] whom God has not cursed [kabbo]?” (Numbers 23:8). And le’om is homiletically interpreted to mean only fetuses, as it is stated with regard to Jacob and Esau, when they were still in Rebecca’s womb: “And one people [le’om] shall be stronger than the other people [le’om]” (Genesis 25:23).
Adonoy said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two Kingdoms will separate from within you. One government will be mightier than the other, but the greater one will serve the smaller one.
And the Lord said to her, Two peoples are in thy womb, and two kingdoms from thy womb shall be separated; and one kingdom shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger, if the children of the younger will keep the commandments of the Law.
| וַיִּמְלְא֥וּ יָמֶ֖יהָ לָלֶ֑דֶת וְהִנֵּ֥ה תוֹמִ֖ם בְּבִטְנָֽהּ׃ | 24 J | When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. |
והנה תומם, “and behold there were twins.” The word for “twins,” i.e. תומים, has been spelled defectively, the letter י being missing. The reason is to draw our attention to the fact that although, generally speaking, twins resemble each other greatly, in this instance the one was covered with body hair, while the other was smoothskinned. Also, Esau was born with a foreskin, whereas Yaakov was born without. One, Esau, had reddish skin not resembling human skin, whereas Yaakov’s skin was goodlooking. According to Psalms 80,14, the conquerors of Jerusalem are viewed as resembling wild boars, whereas in Jeremiah 50,17 Israel, i.e. Yaakov is described as a lamb. If they were all that different the question arises: “why were they born as twins?” After all, as the proverb says: “where there is straw there must also have been a harvest first.” To quote Ovadiah 1,18, ובית עשו לקש, “the house of Esau will be turned to straw.” We also have a verse: קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתו, “Israel is sacred for G-d, the first of His harvest;” (Jeremiah 2,3). The reference to Yaakov in Rivkah’s womb [the Torah describes him as the only one of the two twins who is worthwhile]; hence the word is in the singular mode.
TWINS. The root letter alef is missing in the word tomim (twins). Tomim in this regard is like the word sheritikha (release thee) (This is the J.P.S. translation. I.E. renders it your remnant. She’erit is usually spelled with an alef, which is missing in our verse. Thus tomim is like sheritikha in that the root alef is missing in both words. Tomim should have been written te’omim and sheritikha, she’eritkha.) in Verily I will release thee (sheritikha) for good (Jer. 15:11), the meaning of which is: I will deal well with thy last years (she’erit). (Your last years, your she’erit, will be happy years. Cf. Kimchi’s comment on this verse.)
והנה תומם בבטנה , “and here there were twins in her womb.” The word תומם, “twins,” is spelled defectively, with the letters י and א missing. The reason for the defective spelling is that one of Rivkah’s children was going to be a wicked person. The next time the birth of twins is mentioned in the Torah, i.e. the sons of Tamar and Yehudah, Peretz and Zerach, the word is spelled properly, i.e. תאומים, seeing that both of the sons Peretz and Zerach were going to be righteous.
וימלאו ימיה, the days of her pregnancy.
והנה תומים בבטנה, the twins in her womb emerged. The word תומים is spelled defective with the letter א of the root, i.e. the middle letter missing. According to an aggadic interpretation the missing letter hints at the fact that only one of these twins would become a righteous Individual (quoted by Rashi).
והנה תומים whenever the Torah speaks about something new it uses the expression והנה in connection with this. Thus we find it in 29,25 where Yaakov is reported as finding that he had slept with Leah instead of with Rachel as he had thought. In 41,7 we also find the expression הנה when Pharaoh awakens from what he thought was a factual experience only to find that it had been a dream.
וימלאו ימיה AND WHEN HER DAYS TO BEAR WERE FULL — But in the case of Tamar it is written, (37:27) “And it came to pass at the time of her travail”, for her days were not fulfilled as she gave birth to them (her children) at the end of seven months.
והנה תומם BEHOLD, THERE WERE TWINS — The word for twins is written defective (without א and י) whilst in the case of Tamar it is written תאומים (with א and י); because in the latter case both children proved righteous whilst here one was righteous and the other wicked (Genesis Rabbah 63:8).
והנה .והנה תומם וגו׳ leitet immer etwas Unerwartetes ein. Da nun Rebekka bereits völlig darauf vorbereitet war, daß sie zwei Knaben in ihrem Schoße trug, so kann ja dieser nun auch sich also erweisende Umstand nichts Unerwartetes gewesen sein und sich hierauf das והנה nicht beziehen. Es scheint daher das Gegenteil. Nach dem ihr gewordenen Aufschluss von dem völligen Gegensatz der zu erwartenden Kinder hatte man nichts anderes erwartet, als daß die beiden Kinder einander durchaus nicht ähnlich sein würden, wie dies ja selbst bei Zwillingen vorkommt. Das Überraschende war daher, daß sie sich wirklich wie Zwillinge völlig ähnlich waren. Nur in der Konstitution waren sie verschieden, der eine war —, wie dies gleich erzählt wird — körperlich ausgebildeter, kräftiger als der andere. Vielleicht weist auch die mangelhafte Schreibweise תומם :חסר דחסר für לתאומים (wie ויחדו יהיו תמים על ראשו Schmot 26, 24) auf die äußerlich völlige Gleichheit und scheinbare Einheit hin. Diese äußerliche völlige Ähnlichkeit, zusammen gehalten mit der verkündeten völlig verschiedenen einst entwickelten Zukunft, hätte geeignet sein dürfen, darauf aufmerksam zu machen, daß der Keim zu dieser einstigen Verschiedenheit tief innerlicher liege, und zu veranlassen, diese tiefverschiedene Innerlichkeit der beiden Knaben früh zu studieren. — תאומים, wenn תהום von המס kommt, so würde analog תאום von אמם, der Wurzel von אֵם und אִם, abzuleiten sein und dann zwei Wesen bezeichnen, die sich gegenseitig bedingen, die gleichzeitig aus einer Wurzel ihre Existenz gefunden, und so sich in dem vorhandenen Erhaltungsfonds zu teilen haben. Dann wäre allerdings die Verbalform תואמים (Schmot 26, 24) ungewöhnlich aus der Substantivform gebildet.
והנה תומים בבטנה, before they were born, the onlookers already realised that there were twins in her womb. Therefore, when the first one emerged being completely covered with hair, this was a birth which was presumed to be more difficult than the passage of Yaakov whose skin was smooth and did not cause friction with the lining of the womb, they called the first one עשו, attributing his easy passage to his twin brother who had helped push him out of the womb of his mother. [I believe that the author understands the plural ending in עשו, as equivalent to assu, i.e. the result of a combined effort by both him and his brother.]
Her days to give birth were complete, and behold, there were twins in her womb.
“When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb” [25:24]. The nine months of pregnancy ended and there were twins in her womb. Toldot Yizhak writes. Why did Isaac not pray immediately for Rebecca and waited for ten years? The explanation is that he prayed immediately. The Holy One said: it would be good if the evildoer should not be immediately born into this world. Rebecca said: if an evildoer is to be born, let him not be born immediately. That is why it is written, “When her time to give birth was at hand.” The nine months had been completed. That is, the Holy One caused the evildoer to tarry in his mother’s womb, that he should not leave early. However, Moses Our Teacher, the righteous one, left his mother’s womb when he was only six months and several days in his mother’s womb. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 25:19–26.) That is why it is written, “there were twins” [25:24], without an aleph, because one was an evildoer and the other one was righteous. However, concerning Tamar, they were both righteous, Peretz and Zerach. Therefore, it is written concerning Tamar, twins, with an aleph. (Bahya, Genesis, 25:24.) Some ask why Rebecca did not ask Isaac, what is the meaning of the children struggling with each other, since Isaac was also a prophet? The explanation is that Rebecca did not want to say that she was having trouble with her pregnancy. Isaac would say that she had more anguish than other women because she had more sins than other women and Isaac would divorce her. Therefore, she did not want to tell him.
If a Seifer Torah is found to be defective due to an error, if the error is a serious one we are not permitted to read from it, and another Seifer Torah must be taken out [of the ark] (see Chapter 79: 10). What constitutes a serious error? For example, [if there is] one letter too many, or one missing, or even if one letter is exchanged [with another] and as a result the pronunciation is changed, for example [if the word] tomim (twins) (Genesis 25:24, 38:27.) [is written with an added aleph, and would now be read] te'omim, or the word migresheihen (Numbers 35:3, 35:7.) [with a nun at the end] [would be written] migresheihem [ending in a mem], even though the meaning of the word is the same, [i. e., their ground], nevertheless, since the pronunciation is not the same, it is considered a serious error. Likewise, if the error is such that the word could be pronounced, as though it were written correctly, but it was written in a way that changes its meaning; for instance, in the [weekly] portion Terumah (Exodus 25:10.) [in the phrase] amah vacheitzi rochbo, the word rochbo (with a vav at the end) was instead written rochbah (with a hei at the end) although (even with the erroneous spelling) the beis can be pronounced with a cholam -o- (vocalized rochbo) nevertheless, since, as it is written [now] it is an error, because the meaning of the word is changed, it is also considered a serious mistake. And if the error is of the kind that it changes neither the pronunciation nor the meaning [of the word], (If massoretic rules regarding exceptions in the size or shape of certain letters are not complied with in the writing, no other Seifer Torah has to be taken out. (Mishnah Berurah 143:27)) for example, if instead of the correct [spelling] of the word avosam with a vav after the beis, it is found [written] without a vav, or vice versa, or, if instead of the correct [spelling of a word] with an auxiliary yud [to indicate the plural], as for instance, if the word avoseichem is found written without a yud, or vice versa, or any similar case, we do not take out another Seifer Torah, (because [nowadays] our Sifrei Torah are not so exact that we can say [with certainty] that the other one will be more fit.) But if a Yud is missing that is part of the root [of the word], if, for instance, [in the verse] mah lach Hagar al tire'i, (Genesis 21:17.) [what's the matter Hagar? Do not fear]. the word (tire'i) [would be written] without a yud after the tav, or if [in the verse] al tira Avraham [do not fear, Avraham] (Genesis 15:1.) the word tira would be written [without a Yud], then another Seifer Torah should be taken out.
THE term male is a homonym which denotes that one substance enters another, and fills it, as “And she filled (va-temalle) her pitcher” (Gen. 24:16); “An omer-full (melo) for each” (Exod. 16:32), and many other instances. Next, it signifies the expiration or completion of a fixed period of time, as “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled (va-yimleü)” (Gen. 25:24); “And forty days were completed (va-yimleü) for him” (Gen. 1. 3). It further denotes attainment of the highest degree of excellency, as “Full (male) with the blessing of the Lord” (Deut. 33:23); “Them hath he filled (mille) with wisdom of heart” (Exod. 35:35) He was filled (va-yimmale) with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning” (1 Kings 7:14).
Now, because King David, peace be upon him, was garbed with the quality of the Living God-E”l Chai-א״ל חי, and is the matter of the fourth leg of the Chariot (Merkavah), he therefore included kindness-Chessed, judgment-Din, and mercy-Rachamim from the other three legs of the Chariot (Merkavah). Scripture therefore states about him, (Samuel I 16:12) “He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and good looking.” The word, “He was ruddy-Admonee-אדמוני” hints at the influence of judgment-Din, which is called “the red fire-Aish Adom-אש אדום.” The words, “with beautiful eyes-Yefeh Aynayim-יפה עינים” refer to the kindness of Avraham-Chessed Avraham-חסד אברהם, which is called “a kind eye-Ein HaChessed-עין החסד,” (See Mishnah Avot 5:19 that one of the qualities of the students of Avraham is the good eye-Ayin Tovah-עין טובה,” which is the eye of kindness-Ain HaChessed-עין החסד.) and he was “the eye of the world-Eyno Shel Olam-עינו של עולם.” (See Bava Batra 4a, and Sotah 10a; Midrash Bereishit Rabba 42:3; Kallah Rabbatee 3:4 and elsewhere.) The words “good looking-Tov Ro’ee-טוב רואי” refer to splendor-Tiferet, which is the quality of Yaakov, which the quality of good-Tov-טוב is tied to. (That is, the quality of good-Tov-טוב is the quality of Yosef, and is the quality of foundation-Yesod, as mentioned before.) Now, if you question this with the verse about Esav, (Genesis 25:24) “The first one emerged red-Admonee-אדמוני,” know that the redness-Admonee-אדמוני of Esav has neither good-Tov-טוב nor beauty-Yofi-יופי in it, but is as the verse continues, “completely red-Admonee-אדמוני like a hairy mantle.” In contrast, about David it states, “He was ruddy-Admonee-אדמוני, with beautiful eyes-Yefeh Aynayim-יפה עינים and good looking-טוב רואי”
“The children were agitated within her, and she said: If this is so, why do I exist? She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22). “The children were agitated [vayitrotzetzu] within her” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This one ran [ratz] to kill that one and that one ran to kill this one. Reish Lakish said: This one permitted the command of [matir tzivuyo] that one, and that one permitted the command of this one. (Each of them permitted himself to do what the other deemed prohibited.) Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Levi: So that you will not say that it was after he [Esau] emerged from his mother’s womb that he confronted him, but rather, while he was still in his mother’s womb, his fist [zirte] was outstretched toward him. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt [zoru] from the womb” (Psalms 58:4). “The children were agitated within her” – when she would stand adjacent to synagogues and study halls, Jacob would convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). When she would pass houses of idol worship, Esau would run and convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt from the womb.” “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb, and two nations will be separated from your innards; one nation will prevail over the other nation, and the elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). “Her days to give birth were complete, and behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 25:24). “The first emerged ruddy, all of him like a cloak of hair, and they called his name Esau” (Genesis 25:25). “Then his brother emerged, his hand grasping Esau’s heel, and he called his name Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It teaches that our matriarch Rebecca was circulating around the entrances of women’s houses and saying to them: ‘In your days, did you experience this suffering? If this is the suffering that comes with children; had I only not conceived.’ Rav Huna said: [She said:] ‘If this is how I am destined to produce twelve tribes, would I only not conceive the numerical value of zeh.’ (See the end of the paragraph.) It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: Rebecca was worthy to have twelve tribes emerge from her. That is what is written: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” – these are two; “and two nations” – that is four; “and one nation will prevail over the other nation” – that is six; “and the elder will serve the younger” – that is eight. “Her days to give birth were complete” – that is ten. “The first emerged ruddy” – that is eleven; “then his brother emerged” – that is twelve. There are some who derive it from this verse: “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Zayin – seven, heh – 5, that is twelve, the numerical value of zeh. “She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22) – were there synagogues and study halls in those days? (Had there been, she could have gone to pray there to God; where, then, did she go? She could have prayed at home.) Did she not go only to the academy of Shem and Ever? It is, rather, to teach you that anyone who enters before a Torah scholar, it is as though he enters before the Divine Presence.
“Her days to give birth were complete” (Genesis 25:24) – elsewhere (When Tamar gave birth (Genesis 38:27).) they (The days of pregnancy.) are incomplete, and here they are complete. Elsewhere it is written: “Twins [teomim]” (Genesis 38:27) – Peretz and Zeraḥ were both righteous, but here, “tomim” – Jacob was righteous, Esau, wicked. (The regular spelling is teomim. The midrash explains that a letter missingfrom the word indicates that something is amiss.) “The first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25) – Rabbi Ḥagai said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: Due to the merit of: “You shall take for you on the first day” (Leviticus 23:40), (The mitzva of the four species.) I reveal myself to you first, as it is stated: “I am first and I am last” (Isaiah 44:6); I will exact retribution on your behalf from the first – that is Esau, as it is written: “The first emerged”; I will build for you the first – this is the Temple, in whose regard it is written: “Throne of glory, exalted from the first, [is the place of our Temple]” (Jeremiah 17:12); and I will bring you the first, this is the messianic king, in whose regard it is written: “The first to Zion, behold, here it is” (Isaiah 41:27). Another matter, “the first emerged ruddy” – why did Esau emerge first? It was so he would emerge and his corruption would depart with him. Rabbi Abahu said: It is like that bathhouse attendant who washes the bathhouse and then bathes the king’s son. So, why did Esau emerge first? It was so he would emerge and his corruption would depart with him. (The womb would remain clean for Jacob.) A noblewoman asked Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥalafta, she said to him: ‘Why did Esau emerge first?’ He said to her: ‘The first droplet (Of semen.) was Jacob’s.’ He said to her: ‘This is analogous to an instance where you place two pearls into one tube, is it not the one that you placed first that will emerge last? So, the first droplet was Jacob’s.’ “Ruddy,” Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: As though he were a shedder of blood. When Samuel saw that David was ruddy, as it is written: “He sent and brought him and he was ruddy” (I Samuel 16:12), he was afraid and said: ‘This is a shedder of blood like Esau.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: “With beautiful eyes” (I Samuel 16:12). Esau killed at his own initiative, but this one kills at the initiative of Sanhedrin. The emperor Diocletian was a swineherd near Tiberias. When he would come to the study hall of Rabbi, (Rabbi Yehuda Nesia, grandson of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.) the children would go out and strike him. Sometime later, he became emperor, and he descended and resided near the Panyas; variant reading: Pamyas, and he sent directives to Tiberias just before nightfall on Thursday: ‘I decree that the prominent leaders of the Jews shall appear before me before morning on Sunday.’ He commanded the emissary and said to him: ‘Do not deliver them [the directives] to them until sunset on Friday.’ Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman went down to bathe. He saw Rabbi standing before the great study hall, and he saw that his face was sickly. He said to him: ‘Why is your face sickly?’ ‘Such and such directives were sent to me by the empire.’ He said to him: ‘Come and bathe, as your Creator performs miracles on our behalf.’ They entered to bathe, and the demon Arginiton came, and was laughing and dancing before them. Rabbi wanted to scold him. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said to him: ‘Leave him alone, as sometimes he appears for the purpose of miracles.’ He said to him: ‘Your master is in distress and you are standing, laughing, and dancing.’ He [the demon] said to them: ‘Go eat and drink and observe a fine Shabbat, as your Master will perform miracles on your behalf, and I will have you stand before him on Sunday morning.’ At the conclusion of Shabbat, after the service, he took them and stood them outside the gates of Panyas. They [servants] entered and said to him [Diocletian]: ‘They are standing before the gates.’ He said: ‘Close the gates.’ He [the demon] took them [the Rabbis] and placed them on the city wall. They [servants] entered and told him [Diocletian]. He said: ‘I decree that they should heat the bathhouse for three days, and then they will enter, bathe, and come before me.’ They went and heated the bathhouse for three days, and one of the Arginiton demons entered and diluted it (With cold water.) for them. They entered, bathed, and came before him. He said to them: ‘Because you know that your God performs miracles on your behalf, you belittle the emperor.’ They said to him: ‘We belittle Diocletian the swineherd, but we are subjugated to Diocletian the emperor.’ He said to them: ‘Even so, do not demean a young Roman, and not a low ranking soldier.’ “All of him like a cloak of [kaaderet] hair” (Genesis 25:25) – all of him is worthy of the cloak. The Rabbis of the South in the name of Rabbi Alexandri, and Raḥava in the name of Rabbi Kahana said: He came out all unkempt and scattered like an aderet – like the chaff and the straw from the threshing floor [idera]. That is what is written: “Then the iron…were pulverized, and became like the chaff from the threshing floors [idrei] of summer” (Daniel 2:35). Rabbi Hanina bar Yithak said: What caused them to be pulverized? “From the threshing floors [me’idera] of the summer” (Daniel 2:35) – it is because they extended their hands against the great [adirim]. (Israel.) “They called his name Esau [Esav]” (Genesis 25:25) – this is the falsehood [heh shav] that I created in My world. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: You called your swine a name, I, too, call My firstborn son a name: “So said the Lord: My son, My firstborn, is Israel” (Exodus 4:22).
“It was at the time of her giving birth, and, behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 38:27). “It was at the time of her giving birth” – here they were incomplete, but elsewhere they were complete. (Regarding Rebecca’s birth of Jacob and Esau it is written: “Her days to give birth were complete” (Genesis 25:24).) “Behold there were twins [teomim] in her womb” – teomim is written complete, as here they were both righteous. Elsewhere tomim (Genesis 25:24) is written, incomplete, as one was righteous and one was wicked. (Regarding the birth of Jacob and Esau, the word for twins is written without an alef, so that it is read tomim rather than teomim. This is because only Jacob was righteous. ) “It was as she was giving birth, one extended a hand; the midwife took and bound upon his hand a crimson thread, saying: This one emerged first” (Genesis 38:28). “It was as she was giving birth, one extended a hand” – Rava bar Rav Ḥisda said: There are three who are believed immediately, and these are: The midwife, the caravan, and a woman who attests to the purity of another woman. Midwife – as it is written: “The midwife took and bound upon his hand a crimson thread, saying: This one emerged first.” Caravan – as Rabbi Simon brother of Rabbi Yehuda bar Zavdi said in the name of Rav: A child, as long as he is cast in the street, his father and mother can testify in his regard. When he is gathered from the street, he requires two witnesses. (If a young child is abandoned in the street, and adults come and claim to be his parents who were passing by in a caravan and lost their child, they are believed. But if the child has already been taken in from the street, testimony is required to establish the relationship between the child and individuals who claim to be his parents. See also Kiddushin 73b. ) And a woman who attests to the purity of another woman – as we learned: If three women were sleeping in one bed and there was blood under one of them, they are all impure. If one of them examined herself and found blood, she alone is impure. Rava said: Provided that it is within twenty-four hours.
It is taught that Abba Benjamin says: "I was always sorry for two things, that my prayer should be in front of my bed, and my bed should be placed between the north and the south." My prayer should be in front of my bed. What is meant by 'in front of my bed'? Shall I say it means to pray near the bed? Has not R. Juda said in the name of Rab, and according to others it was R. Joshua b. Levi who said: "Whence do we learn that he who prays shall have nothing between him and the wall? It is said (Is. 38, 2.) Then did Hezekiah turn his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord." [Hence we see, that a man ought not to pray before his bed.] Do not say 'Before the bed,' but say 'Immediately after rising.' And what does he mean by 'My bed shall be placed between the north and the south'? This refers to what R. Chama the son of R. Chanina and according to others R. Isaac said: "He who places his bed between the south and the north will have male children; as it is said (Ps. 17, 14.) And whose belly thou fillest with thy hidden treasury they will be satisfied with sons." Rab. Nachman b. Isaac said: "It will also prevent his wife from having a mis-carriage; for it is written here. Thou fillest their belly, and it is written there (Gen. 25, 24.) And when her days to he delivered were fulfilled." It was taught that Abba Benjamin says: "Two entered the synagogue to pray; one of them finished his prayer first and went out without waiting for his friend; will his prayer be torn to pieces, as it is said (Job 18, 4.) He teareth himself in his anger: shall for thy sake the earth be forsaken? And moreover he causes [by his action] the Shechina to depart from Israel, as it is said (Ib. ib. ib.) And shall the Tzur move away out of His place? And the word Tzur, refers only to the Holy One, praised be He! as it is said (Deu. 32, 18.) Of the Rock (Tzur) that begot thee thou wast unmindful." And if he waits for his friend what shall his reward be? (Fol. 6a) R. Jose the son of R. Chanina said: "He will be worthy of the following blessings which are said (Is. 48, 18.) Oh, that thou hadst but listened to my commandments! Then would have been as a river thy piece. and as the waves of the sea, thy prosperity." We are taught that Abba Benjamin says: "The prayers of men are not heard [by God] save only when they come from the synagogue, for it is written (I Kin. 8, 28.) To listen, unto the song of Thy praise and unto Thy prayer, i.e., in the place where songs of praise are said, there should be the place of prayer." Rabin b. R. Ada said in the name of R. Isaac: "Whence do we learn that God frequents the synagogue? It is said (Ps. 82, 1.) God standeth in the Congregation of God; whence do we learn that when ten men are praying together the Sheehina rests with them? It is said (Ib.) God standeth in the congregation of God; whence do we learn that when three are sitting and discharging judgment, the Sheehina rests with them? It is said (Ib.) In the midst doth He judge. And whence do we learn that when two are sitting together and studying the Torah. the Sheehina is with them? It is said (Malachi 3, 16.) Then conversed they that feared the Lord, one with another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and there was written a book of remembrance before him for those who feared the Lord and for those who respect his name." What should be understood by the words. And for those who respect His name? R. Ashi said: "Even when one intended to observe a commandment but was accidentally prevented from doing so, it is credited to him as if he had actually observed it." And whence do we learn that even if one sits and studies the Torah, the Sheehina is with him? It is said (Ex. 20, 24.) In every place where I shall permit my name to be mentioned, I will come unto thee and I will bless thee. Now let us see, since we know that the Sheehina is even with one, why is it necessary to infer that it rests with two? Because if two study together the Sheehina inscribes their words in the book of remembrances; for one, however, it does not inscribe his words in the book of remembrances. Since we know that when two study, the Sheehina is with them, why do we need any inference for three? Because we should not think that discharging judgment is merely bringing peace and nothing else, and the Sheehina therefore is not with them. It informs us then that discharging judgment is as important as the Torah: and since we know that the Sheehina is with three, why do we need the inference concerning ten? Because in the case of ten people, the Sheehina precedes, but for three, the Sheehina does not appear until the three are together.
What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 38:13-14)? AND IT WAS TOLD TO TAMAR, SAYING: < HERE IS YOUR FATHER-IN-LAW COMING >…. SO SHE PUT HER WIDOW'S CLOTHES OFF [FROM HER] AND COVERED HERSELF WITH A VEIL. < THEN, HAVING WRAPPED HERSELF, SHE SAT DOWN AT THE ENTRANCE TO ENAIM >. Two women covered themselves with a veil and bore twins. These are Rebekah and Tamar. (Gen. R. 60:15; 85:7.) Of Rebekah it is written (in Gen. 24:65): SO SHE TOOK THE VEIL AND COVERED HERSELF. Then she bore twins, Esau and Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 25:24): BEHOLD, THERE WERE TWINS IN HER WOMB. As for Tamar, she covered herself with a veil and (according to Gen. 38:27-30) bore twins, Perez and Zerah.
That is why it is written, “there were twins” [25:24], without an aleph, because one was an evildoer and the other one was righteous. However, concerning Tamar, they were both righteous, Peretz and Zerach. Therefore, it is written concerning Tamar, twins, with an aleph. (Bahya, Genesis, 25:24.)
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Moreover, his wife will not miscarry. From where do we derive this? It is written here: “And whose belly You fill [temaleh] with Your treasure,” and it is written there, concerning Rebecca’s pregnancy: “And her time to give birth was fulfilled [vayimle’u] and there were twins in her belly” (Genesis 25:24), consequently: You fill with Your treasure refers to a pregnancy that proceeds without complication.
When her days of pregnancy were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.
And the two hundred and seventy days of her being with child were completed to bring forth; and, behold, twins were in her womb.
| וַיֵּצֵ֤א הָרִאשׁוֹן֙ אַדְמוֹנִ֔י כֻּלּ֖וֹ כְּאַדֶּ֣רֶת שֵׂעָ֑ר וַיִּקְרְא֥וּ שְׁמ֖וֹ עֵשָֽׂו׃ | 25 J | The first one emerged red, like a hairy mantle all over; so they named him Esau. (Esau Synonym of “Seir,” play on Heb. se‘ar “hair.”) |
And through the lights of the patriarchs one merits ShaBbaT, “lehaShBiT [the] enemy,” and he merits peace, as mentioned above. Then the gate of holiness is built a third time, in the aspect of “render peace-promoting justice in your gates” (Zekhariah 8:16), and in the aspect of charity—”Do not oppress the pauper in the gate” (Proverbs 22:22). Thus, they subdue the enemies who draw sustenance from the gate of Aram, in the aspect of “Those who sit by the ShaAR (gate) talk about me” (Psalms 69:13), because “the liver [that] is angry”—which is Esav-Edom, as mentioned above, for he is “like a mantle of Sei’AR (hair)” (Genesis 25:25)—has been subdued. This is the gate of Aram falling a third time.
And this is the concept of the white tallit (prayer shawl) that God donned when He set [before Moshe] the Thirteen Attributes (see Rosh HaShanah 17b). For the Thirteen Attributes corresponds to the holy ruach-of-life; and the tallit with its four corners alludes to the ruach from the four corners [of the earth]. This is “the white tallit,” which is the antithesis of the ruach of the husks—corresponding to Esav, who is “reddish, as hairy as a fur coat” (Genesis 25:25). Rashi explains: “[The hair covered him] like a tallit.” Specifically “like a tallit”—the tallit of the husks, which is a red garment. For from there, the ruach of the wicked is drawn.
I thank God with all my heart, (This opening is based on the verse in Tehillim (111:1).) In the counsel (“Sod,” in Hebrew, means both counsel and mystery. “In the counsel of those who remain,” “b’sod hanisharim” in Hebrew, is a play on the words of Psalm 111, “b’sod yesharim,” “in the mystery of the upright of heart.” This leads us to the simple principle that the unknown becomes known through proper counsel, which is the aim of this treatise. It is also an allusion to the four major works penned by this author, collectively called Sod Yesharim, as mentioned in the introduction. As is often the case regarding the titles of Hasidic works, the numerical equivalent of the phrase, “sod yesharim,” is “Gershon Henokh.” (=630) It may be that this equation is the least significant of the mysteries contained in the pages of this book. ) of those who remain (“Those who remain and those who love,” refers to members of each generation who yearn for Divine truth. It is as though, at this point in the opening of the work, the author is inviting the souls of the great Torah masters of the past; for he is entering into a battle of the spirit, and not going alone. His polemic is not only armed and positioned with a regiment of prophetic spirits, but with the prophets themselves and the One who speaks to them. All God fearing men who enter into a dialogue with the soul and the “penimiyut,” or internal aspect of the Torah are a part of the counsel, and all who revere the message and morals of prophets and kabbalists and are worthy of the mystery.) and those who love, (cf. Megilla 6b, “אוהבי שרידים יושבי רקת”. According to Rashi, “lovers of Israel.”) Those who thirst for God’s word, Those love His Torah with truth and wholeness. They do not learn the Torah as a woodsman sharpens his axe, in order to earn a living. (See Pirkei Avot, 4:5, Nedarim 62a, where the Sages speak sharply against those who use the Torah in order to gain honor or riches. ) Nor do they adorn themselves in it like a fur coat. (כאדרת שער, cf. Bereshit 25:25, “And the first came out all red, like a hairy garment.” Esav, the hunter, the man of the field, would put on the act of righteous to win his father, Yitzhak’s favor. Those who, “adorn themselves in the Torah as one wears a fancy coat,” were religious men whose saintliness was more an expression of self-aggrandizment than inner dedication. The author was known as a bold fighter, and not afraid to compare many of the self-styled scholars and holy men of his generation to Eisav.) Yet they bend their ears to hear the words of the sages. Their hearts yearn to know the truth.
THE FIRST ONE EMERGED RED [...]; THEN HIS BROTHER EMERGED. The Midrash states that the reason that Esau emerged first is so that his afterbirth (refuse) would emerge with him. R’ Abahu said, like the bathing master who first scours the bath and then afterwards the king’s son bathes. One can understand the intent of this statement and the allegory that R’ Abahu gave and what additional information he conveyed with the allegory. In all circumstances, the first is the most important and the foundation of what comes after, The first is also greater in stature than the second. This is the significance of the firstborn. However, when one considers BT Pesachim (5a) where a distinction is made in the gemara between where “first” is written by itself and where “first” is written with a “heh ha’yedi’a” (the first.) “First” without the “heh” means literally first and what comes after is subordinate to it. (The gemara is talking about a case) where the first day of the holiday is the most important day and the days that follow are subordinate to it, but where “first” is written with the “heh” (“the first”) it means earlier (but not necessarily most important.) See the verse (Exodus 12:15) which states “on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses” that the gemara establishes is referring to the day before Passover and not the first day of Passover, because “the first” implies ordering (and not importance) as in Job (15:7) – “Were you the first man born?” It makes no sense to says that the day before Passover is the most important and the first day of Passover is secondary to it; what is meant is merely that it is before Passover and after it comes the first day of Passover. For example, when a king travels, he is the first in the procession and his minister comes behind him; the king is called “first”. It is known, however, that the king’s servants travel before the king’s procession to clear the way and to announce his arrival; it makes no sense to say that they go first and the king goes after them and is subordinate to them; they are not called “first,” they merely travel earlier and are called “the first” with a “heh.” Afterwards, the king travels in the front of the procession. It makes no sense to say the king is in procession after them; he is only traveling behind them so that they can do their job to clear the way or to give honor to the king (by announcing his arrival.) This is why the verse is exact with regard to Esau since the word “first” is not written, just “the first emerged” (with a “heh”, implying order and not importance.) Esau is not called “first” to imply that Jacob was subordinate to him, he is just called “the first” to imply birth order. Similarly, the verse does not say “after him his brother emerged” because this would imply that he was subordinate to Esau. The verse instead say “afterwards his bother emerged”, that is, after Esau emerged and performed his function by emerging first (to remove the afterbirth and refuse) Jacob emerged. This is the question being answered by the Midrash as to what purpose was served by Esau emerging first; the Midrash answers to clean the way so that Jacob would be clean when he emerged because Esau had emerged and brought the afterbirth and refuse with him. R’ Abahu then gives the allegory “like the bathing master who first scours the bath and then afterwards the king’s son bathes” to say that after to work that the bathing master did to clean the bath, (it is fit for the king’s son to bathe.) I saw some a similar idea in the book “Beit David”, see there. At the outset of their birth, the prophecy of Shem and Ever was fulfilled; they had said to Rivka that the older (“rav”) would perform serve the younger (“tzair”). At the outset of their emerging, Esau did a service for Jacob. This is why they did not say “the firstborn” (bekhor) will serve the younger. Similar to the language of scripture in a number of other places where firstborn (“bekhor”) is used in comparison to younger “tzair”, (for example Exodus 43:33.) In truth, Esau was not the firstborn, Jacob was, since he was conceived first. A similar allegory is brought in the midrash:; two pearls are placed in a vial – the pearl that was placed in the vial second comes out first. Esau is called older “rav” since he was born first, and he will serve the younger brother who is the firstborn (“bekhor”).
ויצא הראשון “the first one emerged;” why was he born first? In order that he together with any afterbirth, i.e. something dispensable and at the same time despicable content of the womb, would be discarded with the emergence of Esau. Rabbi Abahu illustrated this by means of a parable in Pessikta Zutrata: when entering a bathtub or public bath, the servant always precedes his master in order to clear away any offensive residue left behind by the previous user. An alternate exegesis: the reason why Esau was born first is that he would inherit the material physical parts of the earth, which had been created before the world to come. Another version: he was born first as he was the product of the last drop of Yitzchok’s seminal ejaculation. We owe this insight to Rabbi Yossi, recorded from a conversation he had with a well educated lady, quoted in the above mentioned midrash. He explained to her that if someone puts two pearls inside a tube sealed at one end, and he wants to access the first one he inserted, he first has to remove the ones he inserted at a later stage. In our story also, in order for the world to be able to enjoy the benefits Yaakov contributed to Judaism and thereby to mankind, Esau had to be born first, as he had blocked Yaakov’s way. Yaakov was conceived from Yitzchok’s first drop of semen so that he was innermost in Rivkah’s womb.
אדמוני, from the word אדם, a complete human being. He is also described as hairy like a fur coat. Some commentators view the verse as reflecting abbreviations, the word אדרת not being understood as in a construct mode to the word שער, hair. The meaning that results would be: “he was covered with hair as if wearing a mantle.” (Ibn Ezra)
ויצא הראשון אדמוני, “the first baby emerged, reddish looking;” according to a Midrash, when his father saw that, he concluded that the blood of the infant had not yet matured to the stage when he could be circumcised without that operation endangering his life, and that is why he delayed the date for the circumcision. Something similar is related in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat, folio 134, where Rabbi Nathan relates that he once met a lady who had lost two of her children as a result of circumcision. She asked him if she had to circumcise her third son also and risk losing him too. When Rabbi Nathan looked at the infant, he noted that his skin looked extremely red. He therefore told his mother to wait with circumcising him until this red skin would become normal looking. She did so, and circumcised him in due course and he survived without further problem. When Yitzchok waited a year or two for the skin colour of Esau to change and it did not happen, he assumed that this son was going to remain in that condition, but he still did not circumcise him. When he turned 13, he still restrained himself from circumcising him. He had waited all this time thinking that seeing he had not been circumcised at the age of eight days he would circumcise him at the age Yishmael had been circumcised. This is what was meant in the Book of Ezekiel chapter 35,6: אם לא דם שנאת ודם ירדפך, “surely though you have hated blood, blood shall pursue you.”
[RUDDY.] The yod of admoni (ruddy) is superfluous. It is similar to the yod of akhzari (cruel). (Akhzar and akhzari mean the same thing, cruel. Hence its yod is superfluous. Similarly admoni and admon mean the same thing and Scripture could have read admon.)
[LIKE A MANTLE.] Ke-adderet (like a mantle) is not in the construct with se’ar (hairy). (That is, the text is not to be interpreted as kullo ke-adderet se’ar (all over like a hairy mantle) but as kullo se’ar ke-adderet (all over hairy; like a mantle). In other words, kullo (all over) refers to se’ar (hairy) even though the word ke-adderet (like a mantle) separates the two (Krinsky).) The verse is to be read as follows: all over hairy, like a mantle. However, others say that ke-adderet is in the construct with se’ar. (In this case the verse reads: all over like a mantle of hair.)
AND THEY CALLED HIS NAME. Those who saw him called him thus. The name Esau possibly connotes a unique occurrence (ma’aseh). (Krinsky maintains that I.E., like Rashi, explains Esau to mean asui, a participle meaning made, the idea being that Esau was born a complete man. Filwarg explains that Esau’s birth was a unique event (ma’aseh) in that unlike all other children he was born hairy.) This birth was extremely wondrous. Every human being leaves the womb in a placenta which covers him. (Thus Jacob and Esau were each in a separate placenta. The fact that Jacob and Esau’s individual placentas opened simultaneously made their birth exceptional.) However, in this instance the two placentas opened simultaneously. (This is obvious since Jacob was born grasping Esau’s heel.)
Synonym of “Seir,” play on Heb. se‘ar “hair.”
ויצא הראשון אדמוני, “the first one emerged all reddish looking.” According to Bereshit Rabbah 63,8 the performance of the commandment to take the Lulav and Etrog on the first day of Sukkot (Leviticus 23,40) and to give thanks to G’d for His bounty is the reason that G’d appeared to the Jewish people first, demands payment (for their sins) “from the first one,” “builds for them first,” “brings them (to the Holy Land) first”. The fact that G’d appeared to the Jewish people first is derived from Isaiah 44,6 אני ראשון ואני אחרון; the fact that G’d enacts payment from the first one, i.e. Esau first, is derived from our verse i.e. ויצא .הראשון אדמוני“He builds for them first,” is a reference to the Holy Temple as we know from Jeremiah 17,12 כסא כבוד מרום מראשון, “O Throne of Glory exalted from the first.” The fact that G’d brings the redeemer to the Jewish people first, is attested to by Isaiah 41,27 ,ראשון לציון הנה הנם ולירושלים מבשר אתן, “the things predicted to Zion originally, behold they are here! And again I send a herald to Jerusalem.” [I am not sure why our author brings this Midrash unless it is to demonstrate that the word ראשון, “first,” does not necessarily imply an advantage, such as when G’d demands an accounting for his sins from Esau first because he emerged first from Rivkah’s womb. Ed.]
כלו כאדרת שער, “all of him looking like a fur coat.” The meaning is as if the Torah had written כלו שער, כאדרת, “his entire body covered with hair, just like a mantle.” Seeing he was born with this much hair, people called him איש שעיר, “a hairy man” (27,11). The word שעיר is an all encompassing expression which includes the demonic qualities which are attributed to the deities called שעירים, which the Torah enjoins us from offering sacrifices to (Leviticus 17,7.) The author quotes an unidentifiable Midrash according to which the strength of that demonic power is concentrated in the hair which covers its heart. At the time of the redemption, (arrival of the Messiah), G’d will make the demonic power collapse when He blows the Shofar heralding the redemption, as we know from וה' אלוקים בשופר יתקע והלך בסערת תימן, “and My Lord G’d will sound the ram’s horn, and advance in a stormy tempest” (Zechariah 9,14). [The author appears to substitute the letter ש for the letter ס in the word סערת, something quite common. Ed.]
ויצא הראשון אדמוני, even though most newborn babies are reddish in colour, this was one was exceptionally so.
כלו כאדרת שער, as hairy as a fur coat. He had tufts of hair all over him. In both of these regards he was different from other newly born babies.
ויקראו שמו עשו, those who saw him spontaneously called him עשו, giving expression to something that was strange, unusual about this baby. [the name would somehow reflect the word מעשה זר. Ed.] It is also possible that Yitzchok and Rivkah are the ones naming this baby as Esau.
(1) ADMONI. Roux in O.F.
אדמוני כאדרת שער, like the garments worn by the clergy.
ויקראו, they all called him
עשו, fully matured, complete due to the fact that he was covered with hair.
אדמוני RED — a sign that he would always be shedding blood (Genesis Rabbah 63:8).
כלו כאדרת שער means full of hair like a woolen garment that is full of hair old French floche; English flock).
ויקרא שמו עשו AND THEY CALLED HIS NAME ESAU — every one called him thus because he was made (עשה means to make) and fully developed with hair as a lad several years old.
אדמוני, auch von David Sam. I. 16, 12, rotwangig, Zeichen von Lebens- frische. Er war auch haaricht. Haar bei neugeborenen Kindern ist ein Zeichen, daß so viel Überfluß an Kräften und Säften vorhanden, daß davon sogar bereits auf die Bildung des Haares — dieses sonst viel später sich bildenden Körperteils — verwendet werden konnte. Und nun hier gar noch ein solcher Überfluss, daß der ganze Körper bereits Flaum hatte. Deshalb nannten sie, d. h. alle, die bei seiner Geburt gegenwärtig waren, ihn עשו (von עשה), einen schon fertigen, gemachten Mann. Der hat das "Leben" und die "abwehrende Kraft" schon in Fülle mitgebracht.
A sign that he will be a murderer. [Rashi knows that] this was written here to be a sign, because otherwise, why would Scripture tell us he was reddish? Whereas it is understandable that it says he was hairy — this explains why his name is “Eisov.” Although it is written also about Dovid that “He was reddish” (Shmuel I 16:12), the earlier sages have explained in Bereishis Rabbah 63:8 that concerning Dovid it is written (ibid), “With beautiful eyes” — teaching that David shed blood according to the directives of the Sanhedrin, who are called “Eyes of the congregation” (Bamidbar 15:24).
Full of hair like a woolen garment. Rashi is answering the question: How can it say כאדרת שער, implying that a robe has hair? A robe is made of wool! Thus Rashi explains: “Full of hair like a woolen garment.” Rashi is saying that שער does not refer to אדרת. Rather, it conveys that Eisov was full of hair like a robe is full of wool. (Re’m) But Nachalas Yaakov writes: Re’m forgot about the verse in Zechariah 13:4 which clearly states, “They will not wear a hairy robe (אדרת שער).” Thus, שער indeed refers to אדרת! Rather, our verse means that Eisov was completely full of hair like a robe that is full of hair. The verse should have said כולו שער כאדרת שער, but [did not because in the word כאדרת,] the כ conveys this point, since כ means “like.” And so explains Radak in his entry on the word שער: “A robe has hair.” See there.
The first emerged with red skin, redder than that of an average person. 3 And he was covered, all of him like a cloak of hair, as he was very hairy. And they called his name Esau, perhaps due to his hair [ se’ar ], or because he appeared mature, like an object that is fully fashioned [ asui ]. 4
“The first one emerged red” [25:25]. The first one came out red and was full of hair and they called him, Esau, because he was hairy. Then his brother emerged and his hand grabbed his brother’s heel. They called him Jacob, because he grabbed the heel. Jacob had held on to Esau so that he should not emerge first. Jacob was Isaac’s firstborn. He was the first drop of Isaac. A parable. If some one puts two small stones into a pipe that is tight, the stones follow each other and the one that was put in first into the pipe will emerge last. So too, Jacob was first into the mother’s womb and therefore he emerged last. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:26.) Imre Noam writes. Esau destroyed his mother’s womb when he went out first violently. That is why he was red, smeared with blood. However, Jacob had mercy for his mother, even in the womb. He said: I will hold on to Esau’s foot in the hope that I will go out together with him. My mother’s womb should not be damaged for my sake. (Imre Noam, Genesis, 25:26.)
The author explains how future events are hinted at in the encounter between Yehudah and Tamar, especially events involving the tribe of Yehudah, the house of David etc.
The cause of this, however, is perplexing; for, beyond a doubt, these fetuses were not created so greatly at odds with each other as to begin battling in the stomach! There is no escape, then, from positing a natural cause for this phenomenon, that cause being, in my view, the diametric opposition of the nature of the one to the nature of the other. For Esau was (Genesis 25:25): "reddish, all over like a hairy cloak," indicating boiling humors and an excess of vapors, whereas Jacob was a smooth-skinned man, of quiescent humor and dormant vapors. And this was paralleled in their ways and deeds, Esau being a man of the field, seeking movement, his feet not planted in his home, and Jacob, a dweller of tents, "glorying in dwelling at home." Now these fetuses, being thus disparate in nature, would undoubtedly be naturally oppressive to each other. For those things which are mutually antagonistic attack and forcefully repel each other. For this reason the fetuses wrangled in the womb.
In any event, what transpired with them in the womb was an augury of what would transpire with them all the days of their lives. Similarly, what transpired with Jacob upon his leaving the womb is a sign and omen of what will transpire with us in the end of days. For he left with his hand grasping the heel of Esau. And there is no question that this was not an adventitious occurrence. For when the Holy One Blessed be He chastised Jacob for his ingratitude in the face of all the lovingkindnesses He had accorded him, He said (Hosea 12:4): "In the womb, he seized his brother by the heel and in his strength he prevailed against a god [the angel of Esau]." And if this were an adventitious act, why should He chastise Jacob because of it? This is compounded by the fact that it is a highly unnatural occurrence. A fetus is extremely frail. How, then, could he have been grasping his brother's heel? Undoubtedly, then, this was a Divine intimation of what would occur in the end of days, that at the end of Esau's reign Jacob would seize his kingdom, and would, in that sense, be grasping his heel. And this is, indeed, what will transpire in the future as stated in the prophecy of Ovadiah (Ovadiah 1:18): "And the house of Jacob shall be fire and the house of Joseph, flame, and the house of Esau, stubble…" after which it is written (Ibid 21): "and liberators shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the L-rd's." And this is the intent of the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 63:12): "A certain general asked one of the sages of the house of Siloa: 'Who shall take over the kingdom after us?' The latter immediately brought a smooth piece of parchment and wrote upon it (Genesis 25:25): 'And after that his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel.' The former thereupon remarked: 'Behold, old words from a new elder.'" It is apparent, then, that Jacob's grasping his brother in the womb was portentous and not adventitious. The Blessed One chastises Jacob for ingratitude [for His lovingkindnesses] over having grasped his brother just as he chastises him for ingratitude [for His lovingkindnesses] over having prevailed against the angel.
Come and behold, Esau was born all red, as it is written, "And the first came out red all over" (Gen. 25:25). Thus, he is the same as Isaac, who is of Harsh Judgment above, (in Holiness) and Esau, who issued from him, is the Harsh Judgment below. He resembled Isaac. And because each is drawn to his own kind, Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob, as it is written, "And Isaac loved Esau, he relished his venison" (Ibid. 28). Here it is written, "For he relished his venison," which is similar to, "wherefore it is said, 'like Nimrod the mighty hunter before Hashem'" (Gen. 10:9). [In both places, hunting refers to Harsh Judgment, and the scriptures tell us that he loved him because they were both of Severe Judgment.]
"And the first came out red" (Gen. 25:21). Rav Kahana explained that the liver is the first and is red. Why is it red? Because it is first to swallow the blood. Rabbi Eliezer asks, Why is it called 'first'? Because it is the first to swallow the blood from all the food; the first in blood but not in creation. And why is it that "the great shall serve the younger?" Because despite its being greater and bigger in size than the heart, it serves the heart. Rabbi Abba then asks, What is the purpose of this text if not to teach the people in the world that though there will be perfection upon earth, the path and nature of the world will not change? Rabbi Yisa said, Come and behold. The liver hunts and has venison in its mouth, while the heart contemplates and is "dwelling in tents" (Ibid. 27). As it is written, "And Jacob cooked pottage" (Ibid. 29), while thinking deep thoughts and occupying himself with the Torah.
Cast the “red one” (Esau.) into the dark shadows (We ask God to destroy Esau, the arch-enemy of the Jewish People. Esau is referred to as “the red one” in Genesis 25:25.)
“Esau came from the field” – Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Aivu, Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Levi, and the Rabbis in the name of Rabbi Simon: You find that Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and Isaac one hundred and eighty. Those five years that the Holy One blessed be He withheld from his life, it is because Esau violated two transgressions: He consorted with a betrothed young woman, as it is stated: “For he found her in the field” (This verse refers to a betrothed woman who was raped.) (Deuteronomy 22:27); “and he was weary” – he killed a person, just as it says: “For my soul is wearied by the killers” (Jeremiah 4:31). Rabbi said: He stole as well, just as it says: “If thieves came for you, if plunderers of the night…” (Obadiah 1:5). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This is what I promised to Abraham, and said to him: “You shall go to your fathers in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age]” (Genesis 15:15) – is this “a good old age,” that he sees his grandson engaging in idol worship, engaging in forbidden sexual relations, and shedding blood? It is preferable that he leave the world [without seeing it].’ That is what is written: “For Your kindness is better than life” (Psalms 63:4). “Esau said to Jacob: Feed me now from that red, red [haadom haadom] dish, as I am weary. Therefore, his name is called Edom” (Genesis 25:30). “Esau said to Jacob: Feed me [haliteni] now from that red” – Rabbi Ze’eira said: That wicked one opened his mouth wide like a camel. He said to him: ‘I will open my mouth and you continuously pour,’ like what we learned: One may not forcibly overfeed a camel and one may not force feed it. However, one may place food into its mouth [malitin]. (Shabbat 155b.) “From that red, red [ha’adom ha’adom]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From him and from his Patron. (God is the Patron of Jacob. Esau sought to consume the stew, and the Temples of Jacob’s God.) Reish Lakish said: From him, and from those like him [hadomin lo]. (His righteous descendants, who are similar to him.) He is red, his cooked food is red, his land is red, his warriors are red, his garments are red, One who is red exacts retribution against him, in red garments. (See Isaiah 63:1–2.) He is red – “the first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25). His cooked food is red – “feed me now from [that] red.” His land is red – “to the land of Se’ir, to the field of Edom" (Genesis 32:4). His mighty ones are red –“his warriors’ shields are reddened” (Nahum 2:4). His garments are red – “his soldiers are colored scarlet” (Nahum 2:4). One who is red exacts retribution against him – “my beloved is clear and ruddy” (Song of Songs 5:10). In red attire – “why is there red in Your attire?” (Isaiah 63:2).
“The children were agitated within her, and she said: If this is so, why do I exist? She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22). “The children were agitated [vayitrotzetzu] within her” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This one ran [ratz] to kill that one and that one ran to kill this one. Reish Lakish said: This one permitted the command of [matir tzivuyo] that one, and that one permitted the command of this one. (Each of them permitted himself to do what the other deemed prohibited.) Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Levi: So that you will not say that it was after he [Esau] emerged from his mother’s womb that he confronted him, but rather, while he was still in his mother’s womb, his fist [zirte] was outstretched toward him. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt [zoru] from the womb” (Psalms 58:4). “The children were agitated within her” – when she would stand adjacent to synagogues and study halls, Jacob would convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). When she would pass houses of idol worship, Esau would run and convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt from the womb.” “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb, and two nations will be separated from your innards; one nation will prevail over the other nation, and the elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). “Her days to give birth were complete, and behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 25:24). “The first emerged ruddy, all of him like a cloak of hair, and they called his name Esau” (Genesis 25:25). “Then his brother emerged, his hand grasping Esau’s heel, and he called his name Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It teaches that our matriarch Rebecca was circulating around the entrances of women’s houses and saying to them: ‘In your days, did you experience this suffering? If this is the suffering that comes with children; had I only not conceived.’ Rav Huna said: [She said:] ‘If this is how I am destined to produce twelve tribes, would I only not conceive the numerical value of zeh.’ (See the end of the paragraph.) It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: Rebecca was worthy to have twelve tribes emerge from her. That is what is written: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” – these are two; “and two nations” – that is four; “and one nation will prevail over the other nation” – that is six; “and the elder will serve the younger” – that is eight. “Her days to give birth were complete” – that is ten. “The first emerged ruddy” – that is eleven; “then his brother emerged” – that is twelve. There are some who derive it from this verse: “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Zayin – seven, heh – 5, that is twelve, the numerical value of zeh. “She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22) – were there synagogues and study halls in those days? (Had there been, she could have gone to pray there to God; where, then, did she go? She could have prayed at home.) Did she not go only to the academy of Shem and Ever? It is, rather, to teach you that anyone who enters before a Torah scholar, it is as though he enters before the Divine Presence.
“Her days to give birth were complete” (Genesis 25:24) – elsewhere (When Tamar gave birth (Genesis 38:27).) they (The days of pregnancy.) are incomplete, and here they are complete. Elsewhere it is written: “Twins [teomim]” (Genesis 38:27) – Peretz and Zeraḥ were both righteous, but here, “tomim” – Jacob was righteous, Esau, wicked. (The regular spelling is teomim. The midrash explains that a letter missingfrom the word indicates that something is amiss.) “The first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25) – Rabbi Ḥagai said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: Due to the merit of: “You shall take for you on the first day” (Leviticus 23:40), (The mitzva of the four species.) I reveal myself to you first, as it is stated: “I am first and I am last” (Isaiah 44:6); I will exact retribution on your behalf from the first – that is Esau, as it is written: “The first emerged”; I will build for you the first – this is the Temple, in whose regard it is written: “Throne of glory, exalted from the first, [is the place of our Temple]” (Jeremiah 17:12); and I will bring you the first, this is the messianic king, in whose regard it is written: “The first to Zion, behold, here it is” (Isaiah 41:27). Another matter, “the first emerged ruddy” – why did Esau emerge first? It was so he would emerge and his corruption would depart with him. Rabbi Abahu said: It is like that bathhouse attendant who washes the bathhouse and then bathes the king’s son. So, why did Esau emerge first? It was so he would emerge and his corruption would depart with him. (The womb would remain clean for Jacob.) A noblewoman asked Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥalafta, she said to him: ‘Why did Esau emerge first?’ He said to her: ‘The first droplet (Of semen.) was Jacob’s.’ He said to her: ‘This is analogous to an instance where you place two pearls into one tube, is it not the one that you placed first that will emerge last? So, the first droplet was Jacob’s.’ “Ruddy,” Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: As though he were a shedder of blood. When Samuel saw that David was ruddy, as it is written: “He sent and brought him and he was ruddy” (I Samuel 16:12), he was afraid and said: ‘This is a shedder of blood like Esau.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: “With beautiful eyes” (I Samuel 16:12). Esau killed at his own initiative, but this one kills at the initiative of Sanhedrin. The emperor Diocletian was a swineherd near Tiberias. When he would come to the study hall of Rabbi, (Rabbi Yehuda Nesia, grandson of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.) the children would go out and strike him. Sometime later, he became emperor, and he descended and resided near the Panyas; variant reading: Pamyas, and he sent directives to Tiberias just before nightfall on Thursday: ‘I decree that the prominent leaders of the Jews shall appear before me before morning on Sunday.’ He commanded the emissary and said to him: ‘Do not deliver them [the directives] to them until sunset on Friday.’ Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman went down to bathe. He saw Rabbi standing before the great study hall, and he saw that his face was sickly. He said to him: ‘Why is your face sickly?’ ‘Such and such directives were sent to me by the empire.’ He said to him: ‘Come and bathe, as your Creator performs miracles on our behalf.’ They entered to bathe, and the demon Arginiton came, and was laughing and dancing before them. Rabbi wanted to scold him. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said to him: ‘Leave him alone, as sometimes he appears for the purpose of miracles.’ He said to him: ‘Your master is in distress and you are standing, laughing, and dancing.’ He [the demon] said to them: ‘Go eat and drink and observe a fine Shabbat, as your Master will perform miracles on your behalf, and I will have you stand before him on Sunday morning.’ At the conclusion of Shabbat, after the service, he took them and stood them outside the gates of Panyas. They [servants] entered and said to him [Diocletian]: ‘They are standing before the gates.’ He said: ‘Close the gates.’ He [the demon] took them [the Rabbis] and placed them on the city wall. They [servants] entered and told him [Diocletian]. He said: ‘I decree that they should heat the bathhouse for three days, and then they will enter, bathe, and come before me.’ They went and heated the bathhouse for three days, and one of the Arginiton demons entered and diluted it (With cold water.) for them. They entered, bathed, and came before him. He said to them: ‘Because you know that your God performs miracles on your behalf, you belittle the emperor.’ They said to him: ‘We belittle Diocletian the swineherd, but we are subjugated to Diocletian the emperor.’ He said to them: ‘Even so, do not demean a young Roman, and not a low ranking soldier.’ “All of him like a cloak of [kaaderet] hair” (Genesis 25:25) – all of him is worthy of the cloak. The Rabbis of the South in the name of Rabbi Alexandri, and Raḥava in the name of Rabbi Kahana said: He came out all unkempt and scattered like an aderet – like the chaff and the straw from the threshing floor [idera]. That is what is written: “Then the iron…were pulverized, and became like the chaff from the threshing floors [idrei] of summer” (Daniel 2:35). Rabbi Hanina bar Yithak said: What caused them to be pulverized? “From the threshing floors [me’idera] of the summer” (Daniel 2:35) – it is because they extended their hands against the great [adirim]. (Israel.) “They called his name Esau [Esav]” (Genesis 25:25) – this is the falsehood [heh shav] that I created in My world. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: You called your swine a name, I, too, call My firstborn son a name: “So said the Lord: My son, My firstborn, is Israel” (Exodus 4:22).
“Messengers [malakhim]” – these were flesh and blood messengers. The Rabbis say: Actual angels. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Hagar was Sarah’s maidservant and five angels happened upon her, (See Genesis 16:7–12.) this one who is the beloved of the household, all the more so. If several angels escorted Eliezer, (See Genesis 24:7 and Bereshit Rabba 59:10.) who was a slave of the household, this one, who was the beloved of the household, all the more so. Rabbi Yosei said: Joseph was the youngest of the tribes and three angels escorted him; that is what is written: “A man found him” (Since the “man” is unidentified and appears by chance, and also plays a crucial role in the story, the midrash understands that the mysterious man was, in fact, an angel.) (Genesis 37:15), “the man asked him” (Genesis 37:15), “the man said to him” (Genesis 37:17); this one, who was the father of them all, all the more so. “Before him” – before the one whose time to assume kingship was before his. (See Genesis 36:31.) Rabbi Yehoshua said: He removed his royal purple garment and cast it before him. He said to him: ‘Two starlings cannot sleep on one board.’ (Our kingdoms cannot overlap.) “To Esau his brother” – although he is Esau, he is his brother. “To the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” – he is ruddy, his cooked food is red, his land is red, his mighty are red, his garment is red, and a red one will exact retribution from him in red garments. He is ruddy – “the first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25); “his cooked food is red” – “feed me please from that red, red dish” (Genesis 25:30); “his land is red” – “to the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” (Red, adom, is similar to Edom. See Genesis 25:30.) ; “his mighty are red” – “mighty ones are colored scarlet…” (Nahum 2:4); and a red [adom] one will exact retribution from him – “my beloved is clear and ruddy [adom]” (Song of Songs 5:10); in red garments – “why is there red on your garments?” (Isaiah 63:2).
(Exod. 12:2:) THIS MONTH SHALL BE FOR YOU THE HEAD (R’Sh. In the biblical context this word would normally be translated BEGINNING, but the midrash requires the translation HEAD.) OF THE MONTHS; IT SHALL BE THE FIRST (R'ShWN) OF THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR FOR YOU. > The Holy One said to Israel: In this month you shall be redeemed. (PRK 5:18; PR 15:25; Exod. R. 15:1.) They said to him: You have said that we are being redeemed, but are we going to be enslaved another time? He said to them: Up to now you have had a HEAD (R'Sh) and a FIRST (R'ShWN). HEAD signifies the kingdom of Babylon. (See below, 7:6.) Thus it is stated (in Dan. 2:38): YOU ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD. This refers to Nebuchadnezzar. FIRST signifies Esau, as stated (in Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY. These are the ones who are going to be enslaved by you.
Another interpretation (of Exod. 25:3): AND THIS IS THE PRIESTLY SHARE…: [GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE]. GOLD corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon, concerning which is written (in Dan. 2:38): YOU (Nebuchadnezzar) ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD. (Tanh., Exod. 7:7; cf. Exod. R. 35:5; above, 3:15.) SILVER: This denotes the kingdom of Media, concerning which is written (in Esth. 3:9): THREE THOUSAND TALENTS OF SILVER. (The money was to be Haman’s payment into the treasury of the king of the Persians and Medes.) AND BRONZE: This denotes the kingdom of Greece, which was the least of them all. (Exod. 25:5:) REDDENED (rt.: 'DM) RAM SKINS. This denotes the kingdom of Edom, as stated (in Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY (rt: 'DM). (See also above, Gen. 8:4.) The Holy One said: Although you have seen these four kingdoms exalting over you, by your life, I am producing salvation for you out of the midst of slavery. What is written next (in Exod. 25:6)? OIL FOR LIGHTING (ma'or). What is the meaning of LIGHTING? This denotes the Messianic (Mashiah) King, as stated (in Ps. 132:17): THERE I WILL MAKE A HORN SPROUT FOR DAVID; [I HAVE PREPARED A LAMP FOR MY ANOINTED ONE (Mashiah)]. (Below, 8:6.) When Daniel saw these [four] kingdoms, he was afraid. It is so stated (in Dan. 7:15): AS FOR ME, DANIEL, MY SPIRIT WAS DISTURBED . What did Daniel see? It is simply that, when Nebuchadnezzar saw the dream, Daniel came and interpreted it for him. He said to him (in Dan. 2:38): YOU (Nebuchadnezzar) ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD. (Dan. 2:32:) ITS BREAST AND ITS ARMS WERE OF SILVER. This denotes the kingdom of Babylon. (Cf. the Oxford MS, marked, “Michael 577, no. 155”; Codex Vaticanus, Ebr., 34; and the parallels in Tanh., Exod. 7:7 and Exod. R. 35:5. They all read here, “Kingdom of Media,” and identify the other kingdoms to fit this rendering.) (Dan. 2:39:) BUT ANOTHER KINGDOM SHALL ARISE AFTER YOU, INFERIOR TO YOU. (Dan. 2:32:) ITS BELLY AND ITS THIGHS WERE OF BRONZE. This denotes the kingdom of Media. (Dan. 2:39, cont.:) THEN YET A THIRD KINGDOM, ONE OF BRONZE, WHICH SHALL RULE OVER THE WHOLE EARTH. (Dan. 2:33:) ITS LEGS WERE OF IRON. This denotes the kingdom of Greece. (Dan. 2:40, 42:) BUT THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE AS STRONG AS IRON<….> {AND ITS} [THE] FEET (The Masoretic Text renders, “AND THE TOES OF THE FEET.”) WERE PARTLY {OF} IRON AND PARTLY {OF} CLAY. This is Edom. Why was it likened to iron and clay? Our masters have said: This wicked kingdom is going to use clay coinage.
(Exod. 26:7:) THEN YOU SHALL MAKE TENT SHEETS OF GOATS' HAIR …. This text is related (to Mal. 1:2): I HAVE LOVED YOU, SAYS THE LORD. (Tanh., Exod. 7:9.) Who spoke this verse? Malachi spoke it. When? When he rebuked Israel. Malachi said to them (in Mal. 3:8): WOULD ANYONE ROB GOD? They answered him (ibid., cont.): HOW ARE WE ROBBING YOU? Our masters have said of the generation of Malachi: He rebuked them, and they answered him. He said to them (ibid.): WOULD ANYONE ROB (QB') GOD? R. Levi said: That (i.e., QB') is an Arabic word. (RH 26ab; M. Pss. 57:2.) When an Arab comes to talk with his companion says to him: Are you stealing (GNB) from us? Are you robbing (QB') us? (Ibid.:) WOULD ANYONE ROB (QB') GOD. Then he said (ibid., cont.): BUT YOU SAY: HOW ARE WE ROBBING YOU? IN THE TITHE AND THE PRIESTLY SHARE, because they are not collecting them properly. Again he said to them (in Mal. 1:2): IS NOT ESAU JACOB'S BROTHER? And you say (ibid.): HOW HAVE YOU LOVED US? By universal custom, when someone has two sons, one first-born and one younger, who receives the most? The first-born. Esau came out < of the womb> first, as stated (in Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY. It was proper for him to receive two shares, but I did not act in this way. Instead Jacob received two shares, this world and the world to come. Esau said so to Jacob (in Gen. 33:12): LET US GO ON OUR JOURNEY…. Let both of us walk in the world . (Gen. R. 78:14; Deut. R. 1:20; Tanna deve Eliyahu Zuta 19; y‘AZ 2:1 (40c); cf. T‘AZ 3:4; PRE 37.) Jacob said to him: Take your world and go away. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 33:14): PLEASE LET MY LORD GO AWAY…, UNTIL I COME TO MY LORD IN SEIR. R. Jacob said: I went through all the Scripture whether Jacob did or did not go to Seir, and I found no < indication that he did so>. Then when is he going ? In the Age to come, as stated (in Obad., vs. 21): FOR SAVIORS SHALL GO UP ON MOUNT ZION …. Therefore (in Mal. 1:2): YET I HAVE LOVED JACOB. Jacob is a partner with Esau in this world; {I } [but Esau is no] partner with Jacob in the world to come. Solomon said (in Prov. 5:17): LET IT BE FOR YOU ALONE AND NOT FOR STRANGERS ALONG WITH YOU.
(Ibid., cont.:) TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM. [What is the meaning of TO THE LAND OF SEIR (rt.: S'R)?] That he makes one's hair (rt.: S'R) stand on end. TO THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM). (Gen. R. 63:12; 75:4.) He is red (rt.: 'DM), his food is red, his warriors are red, his attire is red, his shields are red, his land is red, the one who stands up to him is red, and the one who exacts retribution from him is red in red attire. He is red (according to Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY. His food is red (according to Gen. 25:30): < PLEASE LET ME GULP DOWN > SOME OF THIS RED RED STUFF. His warriors are red (according to Nahum 2:4): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His attire is red (according to ibid., cont.): AND HIS SOLDIERS ARE CLOTHED IN CRIMSON. His shields are red (according to ibid.): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His land is red (rt.: 'DM) (according to Gen. 32:4 [3]): TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM). The one who stands up to him is red. This is David (according to I Sam. 16:12): SO HE SENT AND BROUGHT HIM. NOW HE WAS RUDDY. And what < else > is written about him (in II Sam. 8:14)? HE PUT GARRISONS IN EDOM. And the < the Holy One >, who exacts retribution from him, is red (according to Cant. 5:10): MY BELOVED IS BRIGHT AND RUDDY. (Is. 63:1:) WHO IS THIS COMING FROM EDOM (rt.: 'DM)? < He comes > in red attire (according to vs. 2): WHY IS YOUR CLOTHING SO RED … ?
As to Jacob, the Holy One, named him also, as it is said: And his name was called Jacob (ibid. 25:26). The four letters in Jacob’s name in Hebrew correspond to the four crowns through which his descendants adored the Holy One, blessed be He. The yod corresponds to the Ten Commandments, the ayin (seventy) corresponds to the seventy elders, the kuf (one hundred) to the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, that his descendants erected for the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: And he measured the house, a hundred cubits (Ezek. 41:13), and the bet (two) corresponds to the two tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandants. They were redeemed from Egypt by Jacob’s merit, as it is said: And He established it unto Jacob for a statute (Ps. 105:10). Were it not for Jacob, Abraham would not have been redeemed from the furnace, as it is said: Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob (Isa. 29:22). However, as for Esau, his father and mother named him, as it is said: And they called his name Esau (Gen. 25:25). About him, Scripture states: His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name abroad (Job 18:7).
This is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, etc. (Exod. 25:3). The gold corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon, as it is written concerning her: Thou art the head of gold (Gen. 2:38); the silver corresponds to the kingdom of Media, as is written: And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver (Est. 3:9); and the brass corresponds to the kingdom of Greece, which was the least (powerful) of all. And rams’ skins dyed red corresponds to the kingdom of Edom, for it is said: And the first came forth ruddy (Gen. 25:25). (A play on words, linking Esau who was born ruddy (adom) with Edom.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Even though you suffered because of the four arrogant kingdoms that attacked you, I will bring salvation unto you from the midst of servitude. As it is written: The oil for the light, (Exod. 25:6). This refers to the Messiah, as it is said: There will I make a horn to shoot up unto David, there have I ordered a lamp for Mine anointed (Ps. 132:17).
Normally, if a man has twins, and one is firstborn, the other is considered just another child. Who receives two portions? The firstborn. However Esau was the firstborn, as it is said: And the first came forth ruddy (Gen. 25:25), and was entitled to a double portion, but I did not do that. Instead, Jacob received two portions. That is why, when Esau said to Jacob: Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee (ibid. 33:12), Esau was saying to him: “Let us go together.” Jacob replied: Take your possessions and go forth, (He was fearful that Esau would take revenge for his stealing the birth-right.) as it is said: Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servants, and I will journey on gently according to the pace of the cattle that are before me, and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my Lord, unto Seir (ibid., v. 14).
“The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be for you the first of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you” (Exodus 12:1–2). “The Lord spoke to Moses.… This month shall be for you the first of months” – that is what is written: “The voice of my beloved, behold, he is coming” (Song of Songs 2:8), (In standard editions of Shemot Rabba, there is an obscure reference inserted here into the text. There are in fact similar midrashim to what follows in Pesikta deRav Kahana, Pesikta Rabbati, and Shir HaShirim Rabba. ) as it is stated: “My beloved spoke and said to me” (Song of Songs 2:10): ‘What are you doing here in the place of the impure, “whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses”’ (Ezekiel 23:20)? “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and go” (Song of Songs 2:10). He [Moses] said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, You said that we would be enslaved four hundred years, (A reference to Genesis 15:13, where God informs Abraham that his descendants will be slaves in a land not theirs for four hundred years.) but they have not yet been completed.’ He said to him: ‘They have already been completed, as it is stated: “For behold, the winter has passed”’ (Song of Songs 2:11); immediately, the righteous uncovered their heads, which had been covered, (They were covered as a sign of mourning.) as it is stated: “The blossoms have appeared in the land” (Song of Songs 2:12) – these are the [members of the] tribe of Levi, all of whom were righteous. Alternatively, “the blossoms [hanitzanim]” – these are the priests, “the sons of Aaron, Elazar his son, Pinḥas his son” (I Chronicles 6:35). (The reference is to the High Priests, who wear the sacred diadem [tzitz].) Alternatively, “the blossoms” – these are the kings: David, Solomon, Reḥavam, Asa, Aviya. Alternatively, these are the Levites: “Asaf the leader and his deputy Zekharia” (I Chronicles 16:5). Once the Holy One blessed be He saw that it was so, He said: “The time of the songbird has come” (Song of Songs 2:12) – the time has arrived for the Levites to recite songs and psalms before Me. Another matter: “The time of the songbird has come” – when the Holy One blessed be He heard Israel reciting the song, (I.e., the Song of the Sea, Exodus 15:1–18. Alternatively, the psalms said while eating the paschal lamb.) He said: “The sound of the turtledove is heard in our land” (Song of Songs 2:12) – that He heard the voice of Israel due to the merit of Abraham, who sacrificed a turtledove and a young pigeon. (See Genesis 15:9–10.) What is written thereafter? “The fig tree has formed its unripe figs” (Song of Songs 2:13) – these are the righteous and the upright. “The vines in blossom give scent” (Song of Songs 2:13) – these are the middling who repented. From that point on: “Arise my love, my fair one, and go” (Song of Songs 2:13). When the children of Israel left Egypt, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘You have no other month that is greater than this one; it is therefore called first, as it is stated: “The first of months.”’ Another interpretation: “It shall be the first [month of the year] for you” – as it were, the Holy One blessed be He is called first, as it is stated: “I am first and I am last” (Isaiah 44:6). Zion is called first, as it is stated: “Throne of glory, exalted from the first, the place of our Temple” (Jeremiah 17:12). Esau is called first, as it is stated: “The first emerged…” (Genesis 25:25). The messiah is called first, as it is stated: “The first to Zion, behold they are here” (Isaiah 41:27). May the Holy One blessed be He, who is called first, come and build the Temple that is called first, and exact retribution from Esau, who is called first; and let the messiah, who is called first, come during the first month, as it is stated: “This month shall be for you the first of months…”
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: By the merit of “you shall take for you on the first day,” I [God] will be revealed to you first, and I will exact retribution from the first, that is, the wicked Esau, in whose regard it is written: “The first emerged” (Genesis 25:25). I will build for you the first; this is the Temple, in whose regard it is written: “Throne of glory, exalted from the first, the place of our Temple” (Jeremiah 17:12). I will bring to you the first; this is the messianic king, in whose regard it is written: “The first to Zion, behold, they are here, and to Jerusalem I will provide a herald” (Isaiah 41:27).
Let us now explore the mystical dimension of the name יעקב. In Genesis 27,35 Isaac says to Esau: בא אחיך במרמה, "Your brother came with wisdom to take the blessings." This means that Jacob came to outwit Esau. Isaac referred to Jacob having outwitted what Esau stands for, i.e. Satan, the pollutant of the original serpent, seeing Esau is also Edom, the classic symbol of all that is polluted and cursed. This original serpent had been described in the Torah as ערום, sly (Genesis 3,1). This being so, Jacob had to resort to a wily strategy to outwit such an opponent. He had to counter with ערמה, slyness, in order to defeat the serpent or its representative at its own game. We find something similar when Rashi explains (Numbers 31,8) that the reason the Torah stresses that Bileam was killed by the sword was because the sword was his stock-in-trade. He should have stuck to his trade. Isaac had told Esau that he would live by his sword (27,40), whereas the traditional weapon of Israel is the mouth, i.e. prayer. Since Bileam perverted his function by using Israel's weapon, the mouth, Israel used his own traditional weapon against him. In order to best him absolutely, he had to be killed by the weapon that he had once considered himself a champion of. The Zohar goes as far as to say that the only way it was possible to kill Bileam was by the sword. Onkelos explains the meaning of יודע ציד in 25,27 as being "Esau was shrewd." The Tziyoni derives from that word נחשירכן (the word Onkelos uses to explain יודע ציד), that the mystical dimension of the serpent is contained in the ירך, reproductive organ, thigh, and that Esau had the likeness of a serpent tatooed on his thigh. This was the reason that Samael, or the spiritual representative of Esau, tried to injure that organ of Jacob's during the nocturnal confrontation. The reason he did not succeed was that Jacob did not contain any residual pollution of the serpent. Bileam alluded to this when he said in Numbers 23,23: כי לא נחש ביעקב, that Jacob was not infected by the serpent. Esau is rooted in the cursed serpent. Jacob and his descendants ירך יעקב, are of blessed origin. Jacob had to come with עקבה, trickery, the craft of the serpent, and he wrested the blessing from the clutches of the unworthy. We know from Proverbs 8,12 that חכמה and ערמה are used interchangeably, i.e. אני חכמה, שכנתי ערמה, "I, wisdom, am neighbor to ערמה.” Later on, when he had established a hold in the Celestial Regions, the source of all blessings, he is referred to as ישראל, since he had ascended to these "higher" regions. The level of ישראל in those regions is very high, seeing that Israel surpassed the level of the angels during his ascent. He occupies a position there that is not even accessible to the angels. He proceeds to rise higher and higher until he even surpasses the region of the ministering angels, the most highly placed angels. It is this that Onkelos referred to when he described Israel as "you are a great lion before G–d and men."
There are other clues. The word se’ir, “goat,” is associated in the Torah with Esau. He and his descendants lived in the land of Seir. The word se’ir is related to sei’ar, “hairy,” which is how Esau was born: “his whole body was like a hairy garment” (Gen. 25:25). When Rebecca urged Jacob to pretend to be Esau in order to take Isaac’s blessing, Jacob said, “My brother Esau is a hairy [sa’ir] man while I have smooth skin” (Gen. 27:11). According to the Mishna, a red thread was tied to the scapegoat, and “red” (Edom) was Esau’s other name. So there was a tradition that the scapegoat in some way symbolised Esau. Azazel, the mysterious place or entity for which the goat was intended, was Samael, Esau’s guardian angel.
And likewise, by spilling blood, are they the opposite of Yaakov. For we have not found anyone who was as much the opposite of spilling blood as Yaakov. And this is an amazing matter. For we say in Tractate Niddah (13a) in the chapter [entitled] Kol HaYad, "One who emits semen for naught is considered as though he sheds blood - as it is stated (Isaiah 57:5), 'You that inflame yourselves among the terebinths, under every leafy tree, those who squeeze (sochatei) the children!' Do not read it as 'sochatei'; rather, read it as 'shochatei (those who kill) the children.'" And since Yaakov was far from the spilling of blood, Yaakov did not see an inadvertent emission all of his days - as they, may their memory be blessed, expounded (Yevamot 76a) upon the verse (Genesis 49:3), "Reuven, you are my firstborn, my might, and the first of my strength." Even though this is beyond one's control, he was so far from the spilling of blood that no inadvertent emission - which is connected to formation - came from him. And all of this is known to those that understand, as Yaakov and Esav are opposites: Esav was called, "ruddy" (Genesis 25:25), and he was a man of blood (Rashi on Genesis 25:25); whereas life was with Yaakov. And hence Yaakov also never died (Taanit 5b), as is known to one who stood in the council of the holy ones. These things are all appropriate for the forefathers from the angle of their level and their highest virtue. And therefore if [the Jews] lean towards the spilling of blood, they would be veering from the trait of Yaakov, who was fit for the Land, and they would be exiled from it.
A Midrashic approach (based on Tanchuma Terumah 8): The words “gold, silver, copper,” refer to three different host-countries in which the Jews have been exiles. “Gold” refers to the kingdom of Babylon. We know that Nevuchadnezzar said (Daniel 2,38) “You O G’d are the head of gold.” The word “silver” is an allusion to the exile under the Medes, for it is written of Haman that he was offering ten thousand talents of silver in order to obtain permission to kill all the Jews (Megillat Esther 3,9). Copper is an allusion to the exile under the Greeks which was the most abominable of the three kingdoms mentioned. The words אלים מאדמים “red-dyed ram skins,” are an allusion to the Roman Empire. Esau, the progenitor of the Romans, was described as red-skinned already at his birth (compare Genesis 28,25) ויצא הראשון אדמוני. The allusion to the exile under the descendants of Esau is followed immediately by the words ושמן למאור, “and anointing oil,” i.e. a reference to the מלך המשיח King Messiah of whom it is written in Psalms 132,17 שם אצמיח קרן לדוד ערכתי נר למשיחי, “There I will make a horn sprout for David, I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.” The words בשמים לשמן המשחה are an allusion to the fact that in the future the High Priest will once more be anointed with this oil; the words לקטורת הסמים are a promise that the Jewish people will once again enjoy being in G’d’s good graces. This has been promised by Ezekiel 20,41 בריח ניחוח ארצה אתכם, “by means of sweet smelling fragrances I will display My goodwill for you.” The words אבני שוהם refer to אבני כדכד of which Isaiah 54,12 said: ושמתי כדכד שמשותיך,”I will make your battlements of rubies.” The words ועשו לי מקדש refer to the Holy Temple which may soon be rebuilt in our days. The words ושכנתי בתוכם are an assurance that when that time comes G’d will dwell in our midst forever.
We know that the words: “G’d saw that it was good,” appear in connection with all the six days of creation [except the second day, but twice with the third day, Ed.]. This means that G’d’s directives calling the respective parts of the universe into existence and arranging for them to function were all the result of דבר בעתו, “a word spoken at the time appropriate for it.” This does not conflict with the view we expressed that the entire universe was created at one and the same moment. Our sages have already illustrated how we are to understand this apparent contradiction when they told us the parable about the farmer who planted six different seeds all at the same time. The plants growing out of these different seeds each germinated, grew and became ripe at different times (Bereshit Rabbah 12,3). Even though they were all put in the earth at the same time, they did not grow at a uniform rate of speed. Concerning such careful timing by G’d Solomon said in Kohelet 3,1: “He did everything at the appropriate time.” The creatures which matured later were not inferior, but on the contrary, they were superior, more sophisticated. As a result, man was the most superior creature of all coming into meaningful existence last. Similarly, the Sabbath is the best of all the days seeing it was last to make its appearance. Israel was the last nation to emerge as a separate nation, 70 other nations having preceded it. This makes the Jewish nation the choicest of them all. Although the last to make their appearance on the stage of history, G’d had planned to have a Jewish people on earth long before He made provision for all the other nations to become historical entities. By the same token, the hereafter, known as עולם הבא, precisely because it takes such a long time to mature, to emerge from its cocoon, is a superior world. We have evidence that Israel was first in G’d’s planning from Jeremiah 2,2: “Israel is holy to G’d the first (and choicest) of His harvest.” In other words, the first (and finest) harvest G’d looked forward to was Israel. The other nations may be viewed as “miscarriages,” fetuses prematurely aborted. When G’d referred to the Jewish people in the verse from Jeremiah we just quoted in translation, He did not use the adjective kadosh or kedoshim to describe their being holy, but He chose the word kodesh, a noun, meaning that Israel was holy in its own right. The implication is that the Jewish people draw on the source of holiness for their existence. We find a similar word when the Torah commands or promises the Jewish people that their destiny is to be or become אנשי קודש, “men (and women) devoted to holiness” (Exodus 22,30). When the Torah describes the Jewish people as G’d’s portion (Deut. 32,9), the idea is similarly that the Jewish people are part of G’d, i.e. of His Holiness. G’d did not assign inter-stellar forces, signs of the zodiac known as mazzalot to supervise the fortunes of the Jewish people as He had done for the 70 nations of the earth, but instead He supervises them personally by means of what is known as hashgachah peratit, “personal benevolent supervision of our collective and individual fates.” When Israel was described as G’d’s first harvest, ראשית תבואתה, (the reading of the last letter is “au”, i.e. the masculine pronoun referring to Hashem). Remember that there are five species of grain all of which are “harvested.” The word ראשית derived from ראש, head, means “the choicest.” The letter ה at the end of the word תבואתה may refer to the 5 kinds of physical harvests, i.e. the five different kinds of grain from which bread is made, or, in the case of the Jewish people, to the five kinds of spiritual harvest, i.e. the “Five Books of Moses,” the Torah. The choicest of the five species of grain is wheat, whereas the choicest Books of the Bible (Torah) are the Five Books of Moses. Concerning all this, the Midrash quotes a parable. There was a king who betrothed a bride to himself giving her five rings as token of the betrothal. The number “five” corresponded to the betrothal between G’d and Israel described in Hoseah 2,21-22 with the words: “I will betroth you to Me forever, with righteousness, with justice, with goodness and with mercy; and I will betroth you to Me with faithfulness, and you will be devoted to the Lord.” This then is the meaning of the word ראשית, i.e. it ranks first. The “first” of which the prophet speaks includes that Israel ranks higher in attributes than the other nations, and that it also enjoys an advantage in time, i.e. they were the first consideration G’d entertained when He planned to create man, etc. The word ראשית denoting superior quality is found in Amos 6,6 ראשית השמנים, “the choicest of the oils.” The same word describing precedence in terms of time occurs in Genesis 10,10 ותהי ראשית ממלכתו בבל, “the first country under his rule was Babylon.” We have established that whereas Israel was first in terms of G’d’s planning it was last in terms of that plan being executed. Consider the fact that Esau and the rulers descended from him preceded Yaakov’s development as a nation commencing with Esau’s birth which is described as “the first one emerged (from Rivkah’s womb) very reddish looking, etc.” (Genesis 25,25). Esau developed much earlier than his twin Yaakov. Esau married at the age of 40. The only reason the Torah bothered to tell us all these details about Esau and his descendants is to contrast them with Yaakov who was a “late bloomer,” not marrying until he was 84 years of age. Nonetheless, David already said in Psalms 40,6 “You have set out wonders and devised them for us.” We find a saying in the Kuzari 3,73 that תחלת המחשבה סוף המעשה, “that which came first in planning was the last to be carried out.” Let us illustrate the reason for such apparently illogical behaviour. Reuven wanted to study Torah but did not have a study hall with the requisite library. In order to carry out his plan he first has to build the study hall and acquire the necessary books. In other words, the Torah study, the purpose of all these endeavors, can only be carried out after preparatory activities. The parable we just described has much in common with a comment by our sages on Deut. 2,19 exhorting us not to harass the Moabites or Ammonites. In answer to the question why G’d had singled out these two nations, warning the Israelites not to harass them, our sages in Baba Batra 35 explain hat this was on account of two great descendants that would emerge from these two peoples, Ruth the Moabite and Naamah the Ammonite. Clearly, although these women were born many hundreds of years later than the Israelites’ trek through the desert, this is another example of future events casting long shadows ahead, i.e. G’d’s foreknowledge determining present day behaviour. All of the examples mentioned showed that fruits which develop later are superior to results which are visible immediately. One may compare this to someone who has lost a pearl at the beach and who sieves through bucket after bucket of sand, until finally, he finds the pearl. All that sand, though apparently having no immediate use, was necessary in order to enable the pearl to be found. All the tedium of sifting the sand proved worthwhile in retrospect. This explains much of human history, and even much of Jewish history. Tanchuma Vayeshev 1 explains the ten generations between Adam and Noach and the ones between Noach and Avraham as necessary preludes to someone like Avraham. All of human history and G’d’s frustrations with its disobedience to Him must find their justification in the eventual emergence of such pearls as Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The tedious process of ploughing, seeding, etc., etc., has only one ultimate but long delayed objective, i.e. the fruit which the soil or tree will yield as a result. Man is described by David in Psalms 139,5 as ראשון ואחרון צרתני, “You have formed me both first and last;” David meant that though man was the last creature to emerge on earth on the sixth day, he was the first in G’d’s planning of the entire creative process. The word ראשון in that psalm may also mean “choicest, most accomplished.” The word אחרון of course, applies to the process of actual creation. As soon as G’d created man, He gave him the first positive commandment as well as a negative commandment. The first commandment was that he was to eat from all the trees in Gan Eden; the first negative commandment was that he was not to eat from the tree of knowledge. In a manner paralleling what G’d commanded Adam when He had placed him in Gan Eden, in the previous portion the Torah devoted three paragraphs to different categories of life in this terrestrial earth and how such animals may or may not interact with superior forms of life, i.e. man. First the Torah deals with the mammals, animals whose primary raw material is earth, dust, i.e. the most primitive of the four elements making up the terrestrial universe which we discussed already. Secondly, it deals with what may and what may not be eaten of the animals primarily formed from the element water, a slightly more sophisticated element. Thirdly, it dealt with which birds may not be eaten, i.e. creatures whose primary element is the רוח, the wind, i.e. an element much closer to the celestial domain than the previous two. Finally, beginning with our portion, the Torah addresses the most superior creature, i.e. man and immediately repeats the commandment of circumcision as if to emphasise that further refinement of man the species was still necessary. The Torah makes plain by means of this commandment that the principal reason man has been created is to perform G’d’s commandments. This is what Job had in mind (Job 5,7) when we are told there that אדם לעמל יולד, “man has been born in order to toil.” The “toil” referred to is the effort involved in studying and observing G’d’s Torah. This is the reason why the commandments connected to a woman giving birth are surrounded by a variety of commandments both before and after that particular paragraph. The commandments preceding the laws to be observed in connection with the birth of a human being all deal with permitted or forbidden food. This is what our sages (in Tanchuma Tazria 1) had in mind when they interpreted the above-mentioned verse in Psalms 139,5 to mean that the אחור, “after,” the prophet referred to were all the mammals, birds and creeping creatures which had been created before man, whereas the word קדם they understand as applying to the human baby being born to whom G’d already gave directives concerning how to conduct itself after it would leave the mother’s womb. In other words, man’s creation or birth is conditional on his keeping G’d’s commandments. The immediate commandment is the perfor- mance of circumcision of the male baby. [Or, seeing the fetus is taught the Torah while still in its mother’s womb, this is what entitles it to be born. Ed.]
The tanna provides the sources for his statement. To eradicate the descendants of Esau, as it is written: “And the first [harishon] came forth red, all over like a hairy mantle; and they called his name Esau” (Genesis 25:25). And to the construction of the Temple, as it is written: “The Throne of Glory, on High from the beginning [merishon], the place of our Temple” (Jeremiah 17:12). And the Jewish people were also entitled to the name of Messiah, as it is written: “A harbinger [rishon] to Zion I will give: Behold, behold them; and to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings” (Isaiah 41:27). However, harishon stated with regard to Passover is referring to the day before the Festival.
There are other clues: The word se’ir, “goat,” is also associated in the Torah with Esav. He and his descendants lived in the land of Se’ir. The word se’ir is related to sei’ar, “hairy,” which is how Esav was born: “His whole body was like a hairy garment” (Bereshit 25:25). According to the Mishna, a red thread was tied to the scapegoat, and “red” (Edom) was Esav’s other name. So there was a tradition that the scapegoat symbolised Esav. In particular, the phrase “two kids of the goats,” shenei se’irei izim, mentioned in the high priest’s rites, reminds us of the very similar expression, “two kids of the goats,” shenei gedayei izim, mentioned in Bereshit 27, when Rivka shares with Yaakov a plan to deceive Yitzḥak into giving him Esav’s blessing: “Go out to the flock and bring me two choice kids of the goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father…so that he may give you his blessing before he dies,” instructs Rivka. Such verbal parallels are not coincidental in the Torah. They are examples of complex web of interconnected words and themes in which one verse sheds light on another.
The first one came out with a reddish complexion, covered completely with what was like a hairy robe, and they named him Eisov.
And the first came forth wholly red, as a garment of hair: and they called his name Esau.
And the first came forth wholly red, as a garment of hair: and they called his name Esau, because he was born altogether complete, with the hair of the head, and the beard, and teeth, and grinders.
| וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֙זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְיִצְחָ֛ק בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּלֶ֥דֶת אֹתָֽם׃ | 26 J | Then his brother emerged, holding on to the heel of Esau; so they named him Jacob. (Jacob Play on Heb. ‘aqeb “heel.”) Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. |
Genesis 25,26. “while his hand was holding on to Esau’s heel.” I assume that the reader is aware that Satan, [also known as the angel of death, Esau himself describing himself as headed for death, Ed.] is considered as the protective guardian of Esau. Yaakov was bent on vanquishing this force, (also known as the poison resulting in death) so that this force would not overwhelm us, his descendants. It is noteworthy that the numerical value of the word עקב (172) is twice the numerical value of the attribute of Justice, אלוהים (86). Symbolically speaking, Yaakov used this numerical superiority of the letters in his name to challenge the supremacy of Justice when not tempered by Mercy.
Genesis 38,28. “while she was in labor, one of them put out his hand, etc.;” “when he subsequently withdrew his hand, etc.,” “afterwards his brother emerged (completely); he called him Peretz, and he called his brother Zerach.” The name זרח, reflects what we are told in Niddah 30 that as long as an embryo is still within the womb of its mother, a light keeps shining above its head. This light enables the embryo to see from one end of the earth to the other. The Talmud uses this parable to describe that as long as the embryo is as innocent of sin as was Adam before he sinned when he could see all parts of the globe, the embryo is in a similarly sublime condition. When it enters our world upon leaving its mother’s womb, an angel slaps his face so that the infant promptly forgets all it had known thus far, and experiences a new awakening which includes its ability to dedicate itself exclusively to the service of its Creator. It is G’d’s will that man’s spiritual maturity will be attained not as a gift sent from heaven, but after he has undergone trials, so that the accomplishment, when it is attained, is the result of his own efforts though aided by G’d once man has initiated it. This is what the Zohar 1,77 alludes to as אתערותא דלעילה, quoting Isaiah 62,6 and psalms 83,2 “do not keep silent,” or “you who make mention of Hashem take no rest,” so that there will always be an awakening from below, as a result of which an awakening from above is aroused. At the same time, so that man does not think that everything in our “lower” world is by definition, irreparably evil, and that all the pleasurable experiences on earth are not only transient, but contribute to our becoming victims of the evil urge, G’d maintains a “window of opportunity,” that is open to a higher world by means of which it is possible to sublimate experiences on earth, hallow them and thus make them instruments of our service of the Lord and our coming ever closer to Him. In other words, man has not been placed on earth in order to negate earth, but in order to be G’d’s tool that elevates the material universe to serve the aggrandizement of His name universally. In kabbalistic parlance, the tool G’d holds out to us humans is called “white light,” as opposed to the physical light that we make use of everyday that is perceived by contrast as “black light.” [I have rephrased some of our author’s words in order to make them easier to follow. Ed.] The author proceeds to explain the description of the twins Peretz and Zerach in terms of the concepts we have just explained. The word פרץ, breaking forth, bursting out of one’s mould, describes that on doing this the infant suddenly sees brilliant light, זרח. A “dark” womb has suddenly been opened with a vista to overpowering light. In light of that experience the newly born is likely to opt for a denial of all that reminds him of his previous dark, opaque existence. When the infant extends his hand into this brilliant world, G’d extended to this newly born (not quite) a glimpse of overpowering light as encouragement, before the soul had a chance to taste all that is wrong and evil on earth. On the other hand, immediately thereafter, in order not to hand man his salvation on a platter so that he cannot claim a share in having personally achieved spiritual maturity, this “hand” was withdrawn and replaced by the “twin” brother, symbolizing that life on earth is a “two edged sword.” The author informs us that the Jewish people, though one people, are on occasion referred to as אחים, brothers, as in psalms 122,9 למען אחי ורעי, “for the sake of my brothers and companions,” so that his allegorical exegesis of why the Torah describes the birth of these twins in such detail appears amply justified.
This discourse is based on Rebbe Nachman’s lesson Tik’u Tokhachah, LM II, 8. Study the full lesson there, from start to finish.
WASHING WITH DAAT Reb Noson now shows how the revelation of daat engendered by the nighttime devotions as clarified above is also the deeper reason for washing one’s hands when waking up from sleep. He begins by explaining that the water one washes with corresponds to daat. And this daily tikkun of daat also relates to the morning netilat yadayim, the ritual washing of the hands, upon arising from sleep. (See also Pri Eitz Chaim, Shaar HaBerakhot 5, that one should do this immediately upon arising, in order to remove the spirit of impurity that settles upon the hands during sleep.)
Reb Noson explains that the water of netilat yadayim must be poured specifically over the hands, in order to conjoin its aspect of daat with the emunah aspect of the hands. This is why it is the hands in particular that we have to wash with the waters of daat. For power and might need to be given mainly to the hands, so that they can overpower the “heel” of the Sitra Achra, that is, the pull of the body, as in “his hand holding on to Esav’s heel.” (See §1 and note 32 above.) The verse accentuates this by specifying “his hand,” when it would have sufficed to say, “Then his brother came out holding on to Esav’s heel.”
This voice subdues the heel of the Other Side, for it is the concept of “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Genesis 27:22). Yaakov therefore attained the concept of scent, as in “See, my son’s fragrance is like the scent of a field” (ibid. :27). This was said of yaAKoV, who subdues the AKeiV of the Other Side, as in “his hand holding on to Esav’s akeiv (heel)” (Genesis 25:26).
וידו אוחזת, “with his hand grabbing;” the younger baby’s had is portrayed as holding on to the older twin’s heel already while still inside Rivkah’s womb. The author cites as proof for this Hoseah 12,4: בבטן עקב את אחיו, “in the womb he tried to overtake his brother.” The word עקב is understood to mean: “heel, hoof.” Yaakov is presumed to have tried to prevent Esau from becoming the firstborn. He wanted to become the firstborn as he had developed from his father’s first drop of semen as quoted by Rabbi Yossi’s response to the lady’s question in Pessikta Zutrata. This would enable Yaakov to claim the status of being the legal firstborn. His failure to prevent Esau from emerging from Rivkah’s womb first, prompted him years later to acquire that status through buying the birthright from his brother.
בן ששים שנה, “sixty years old.” Rashi comments on this that during the first ten years of their marriage Rivkah had not been old enough to conceive, and that during the ten years following he had waited before praying to have children as had his father Avraham during the first ten years in the land of Canaan. When she had failed to conceive during these years, he realised that she was barren and prayed on her behalf. He did not want to sleep with a Canaanite concubine, as his status of having been a burnt offering on the altar on Mount Moriah made this inappropriate. All Canaanites are viewed as “slaves,” both males and females. [The author’s quoting this Rashi at this point is interesting as he had previously gone to some length to prove that Rivkah could not have been so young when she got married. Ed.]
ויקרא שמו יעקב, “he called his name Yaakov.” The name Yaakov has four letters, symbolising the four crowns with which his descendants would “crown” the Almighty. The letter י symbolises the Ten Commandments. The letter ע symbolises the seventy elders. The letter ק symbolises the length of hundred cubits of the Sanctuary built by King Solomon. (Kings I chapter 7) The letter ב symbolises the two Tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. The Israelites were redeemed from slavery in Egypt due to the merit of Yaakov. We know this from Psalms 105,10: ויעמידה ליעקב לחק, לישראל ברית עולם, “He confirmed it as a decree for Yaakov, as an eternal covenant for Israel.” If it had not been for the fact that G–d wanted Yaakov to be born, He would not have saved Avraham from Nimrod’s furnace. (B’reshit Rabbah 63,2).This is what the prophet Isaiah 29,22, had in mind when he wrote: כה אמר ה' אל בית יעקב אשר פדה את אברהם, “thus said the Lord to the house of Yaakov which had redeemed Avraham. A different interpretation of that verse in Isaiah [which begs the question, Ed.] by Yalkut Shimoni: Yaakov released Avraham from the heartache associated with trying to raise children. [He did so by successfully raising all his children in his spirit, something neither Avraham nor Yitzchok had been able to do. Ed.]
AND HIS NAME WAS CALLED. Someone, or Isaac his father, called him Jacob. (Literally, he called his name. The subject (he) is not identified, hence, I.E.’s comment.)
Play on Heb. ‘aqeb “heel.”
ויקרא שמו יעקב. He called his name Jacob. The Torah refers to G'd, not to Isaac. Proof is that had Isaac been the subject in our verse, the Torah would not have continued : "and Isaac was sixty years, etc," but would have written: "and he was sixty years, etc."
ואחרי כן...וידו אוחזת בעקב עשו, this too, was an allusion that at the end of time he would dominate Esau, as a human being dominates something matters which he grabs with his hand. The heel is the lower end of the body. It was clearly a hint from G’d concerning the future, as a normal baby does not manage to extend his hand outside the placenta and make contact with its twin.
ויקרא שמו יעקב, Yitzchok named him thus.
ויצחק בן ששים שנה, this is mentioned to let us know that Rivkah had been unable to bear a child during 20 years.
ואחרי כן יצא אחיו וגו AND AFTERWARDS HIS BROTHER CAME OUT, ETC. — I have heard a homiletical midrash that expounds it according to its simple meaning: It was with justice that he was grabbing him to hold him back. Jacob was conceived from the first drop and Esau from the second. Go and learn from a tube with a narrow opening - put in it two stones, one after the other. The one that goes in first will come out last, and the one that goes in last will come out first. It comes out that Esau, who was conceived last, came out first, and Jacob, who was conceived first, came out last. And [so] Jacob came to hold him back, so that the first for birth would be the same as the first for conception; and he would open [his mother's] womb and take the first-born status with justice (see Genesis Rabbah 63:8).
בעקב עשו ESAU’S HEEL — a sign that this one (Esau) will hardly have time to complete his period of domination before the other would rise and take it (his power) from him
ויקרא שמו יעקב AND HE CALLED HIS NAME JACOB — The Holy One, blessed be He, thus named him (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 4). [Some versions add: He said to them (to those who gave Esau that name cf. Genesis 5:25): You have given your first-born a name, I, too, will give my son, my firstborn, (cf. Exodus 4:23) a name. That is what is written, “And He called his name, Jacob” (Genesis 26:26). Another explanation is: his father called him Jacob because he was grasping Esau’s heel
בן ששים שנה THREESCORE YEARS OLD — Ten years passed from the time when he married her until she became thirteen years old and capable of child-bearing, and a further ten years he hopefully waited as his father did in regard to Sarah. When even then she did not become with child he realised that she was barren and he prayed for her. But He did not wish to take a maidservant as a second wife because he had been sanctified on Mount Moriah to be a burnt-offering without blemish.
ויקרא, da nannte er, Jizchak. Auf diesen Umstand hatte die Umgebung nicht geachtet, wohl aber Jizchak. Er sah dem Esau fast ähnlich; das bei ihrer Geburt erscheinende Besondere war aber ein Gegensatz. Esaus Besonderheit lag in seiner Persönlichkeit; Jakobs in dem, was er tat, oder in der Stellung, die er einnahm. Er nannte ihn יעקב: der wird hinterdrein kommen, lässt Esau den Vortritt, kommt aber nach, ist eben der צעיר, der Geringere, Schwächere, der unerwartet zuletzt als der erste dastehen wird. (עקב heißt unerwartet nachkommen. Daher עֵקֶב die nicht erwartete Folge, der nicht angestrebte Lohn. Daher auch עקב: jemanden unerwartet Leides tun, ihn überlisten). (Siehe zu Kap.22, 18).
ויקרא שמו יעקב. The word means he will remain at the heel, and the tail-end. This is based on the future mode of the word יעקב. Our sages (quoted by Rashi) say that the subject in our verse is G’d Who named Esau’s brother Yaakov, the reason for the unusual formulation being that after the destruction of the Kingdom of Edom and other nations, successor of Esau, only Yaakov and his descendants will remain. Our sages base all this on Jeremiah 46,28 אעשה כלה בכל הגויים...ואותך לא אעשה כלה, “I will make an end of all nations…but I will not make an end of you.”
I heard an Aggadaic exposition that interprets it according to its plain meaning... Rashi is answering the question: If it is written, “The first one came out,” why then is it not written, “The second one came out”? Rashi answers: I heard an Aggadah that explains why it does not say, “The second one.” Yaakov rightfully should have come out first, just as he was conceived first!
A sign that this one will not yet have completed his dominion... Otherwise the verse should have [omitted all mention of “the heel of Eisov,” and] just said, “His hand grasping him.”
God called him... Rashi is answering the question: Why is it not written who named him? Furthermore, since it says [right afterward], “Yitzchok was sixty years old,” it is implied that until now the verse was not speaking of Yitzchok. Thus Rashi explains that Hashem named him.
Another explanation: his father called him... [Question: If so,] why is Yitzchok not written? [The answer is:] So the gentiles will not say that Yaakov’s father called him so because he knew Yaakov would deceive Eisov twice.
On account of his holding the heel. When Rashi said before that [holding the heel of Eisov is] “a sign that this one will not yet have completed his dominion,” this is according to the first explanation, that Hashem named him Yaakov. For if Hashem named him, we ask: “Why does it need to mention Eisov’s heel?” [And we answer:] “Perforce, it is a sign that...” But according to the alternate explanation, that his father named him, it means that Eisov’s heel is not mentioned superfluously at all. It is needed to explain why his father named him Yaakov, [so it is not a sign].
And the following ten years he hoped and waited for her... Rashi is answering the question: Why did Yitzchok wait until he was sixty before praying? Avraham waited only ten years, as Rashi explained in Parshas Lech Lecha (16:3), while Yitzchok waited twenty years. This is why Rashi explains as he does. And lest we say that from here we can learn that a husband who waits ten years [without children] should pray, not take another wife, Rashi explains: “He refused to marry a hand-maid because he was sanctified....” It was not just a hand-maid [that Yitzchok did not take; it was any other wife].
And thereafter his brother emerged. Their birth, like her pregnancy, was unusual, as his hand was grasping Esau’s heel [ akev ]; and he called his name Jacob [ Ya’akov ]. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. Since he married Rebecca at the age of forty, evidently they had lived twenty years as a childless couple.
וידו אוחזת בעקב עשו, “and his hand was holding on to the heel of Esau.” He tried to keep Esau from becoming the firstborn. Possibly, Yaakov only wanted to emerge from his mother’s womb simultaneously with his brother. He did not want his mother to experience separate birth pangs on his account.
ויקרא שמו יעקב, “his father called him ‘Yaakov.’” Seeing that Yitzchok’s name is not mentioned here as such, Rashi considers G’d Himself as the subject of the word ויקרא. His view has been confirmed by the Midrash. When the Jerusalem Talmud states that whereas both Yaakov and Avraham whose names had been given by their respective fathers, underwent changes of name, Yitzchok who had been named by G’d in the first place, never underwent such a change of name, this may not be a contradiction to the Midrash, but may mean that the reason Yitzchok’s name was never changed was that he was so named before Sarah had even conceived him. Seeing that Yaakov was not named by G’d until after he had been born, his name could be subject to change, [or in his case to an addition, seeing that the name Yaakov was never abolished. Ed.]
“Isaac was sixty years old when they were born” [25:26]. Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob and Esau were born. Rashi asks a question. Why did Isaac wait for twenty years and prayed after twenty years. One prays after ten years when one’s wife does not have children. The explanation is that Isaac first waited until Rebecca was thirteen years old when she could have children. From thirteen years, he waited another ten years, as is the custom to wait when a woman has no children and then one prays. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:26.)
In any event, what transpired with them in the womb was an augury of what would transpire with them all the days of their lives. Similarly, what transpired with Jacob upon his leaving the womb is a sign and omen of what will transpire with us in the end of days. For he left with his hand grasping the heel of Esau. And there is no question that this was not an adventitious occurrence. For when the Holy One Blessed be He chastised Jacob for his ingratitude in the face of all the lovingkindnesses He had accorded him, He said (Hosea 12:4): "In the womb, he seized his brother by the heel and in his strength he prevailed against a god [the angel of Esau]." And if this were an adventitious act, why should He chastise Jacob because of it? This is compounded by the fact that it is a highly unnatural occurrence. A fetus is extremely frail. How, then, could he have been grasping his brother's heel? Undoubtedly, then, this was a Divine intimation of what would occur in the end of days, that at the end of Esau's reign Jacob would seize his kingdom, and would, in that sense, be grasping his heel. And this is, indeed, what will transpire in the future as stated in the prophecy of Ovadiah (Ovadiah 1:18): "And the house of Jacob shall be fire and the house of Joseph, flame, and the house of Esau, stubble…" after which it is written (Ibid 21): "and liberators shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the L-rd's." And this is the intent of the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 63:12): "A certain general asked one of the sages of the house of Siloa: 'Who shall take over the kingdom after us?' The latter immediately brought a smooth piece of parchment and wrote upon it (Genesis 25:25): 'And after that his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel.' The former thereupon remarked: 'Behold, old words from a new elder.'" It is apparent, then, that Jacob's grasping his brother in the womb was portentous and not adventitious. The Blessed One chastises Jacob for ingratitude [for His lovingkindnesses] over having grasped his brother just as he chastises him for ingratitude [for His lovingkindnesses] over having prevailed against the angel.
Jacob went out twice: Once from his mother's womb, as it is stated: Then his brother came out, holding on to the heel of Esau (Genesis 25:26). And once from the womb of his city, as it is stated: And Jacob went out from Beersheba (Genesis 28:10). When he came out of his mother's womb, he came back and entered her tents, as it is stated: and Jacob was a plain man, staying among the tents. (Genesis 25:27). Plain as a baby, folded up like a ledger. Until she grabbed him firmly by the hairs and shook him: get up and flee (Genesis 27:43)! He heard the echo of a voice saying, "Flee, my beloved. and you shall be like a gazelle" (alluding to Song of Songs 8:14). And across from it an echo of a voice answers, "Come, my beloved, let us go out to the field, let us lodge in the villages... let us see if the vine has blossomed, if the tender grapes have appeared, if the pomegranates are in bloom; there I will give my love to you" (alluding to Song of Songs 7:12-13). He understood in his bone and his flesh that the time had come for him to go out into the world: And Jacob went out.. and he went to Charan... and he lodged there...
We must especially point out that David, Solomon, and Daniel belonged to this class, and not to the class of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nathan the prophet, Elijah the Shilonite, and those like them. For David, Solomon, and Daniel spoke and wrote inspired by the holy spirit, and when David says, “The God of Israel spoke and said unto me, the rock of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:3), he meant to say that God promised him happiness through a prophet, through Nathan or another prophet. The phrase must here be interpreted in the same manner as in the following passages, “And God said to her” (Gen. 25:26); “And God said unto Solomon, Because this hath been in thy heart, and thou hast not kept my covenant,” etc. (1 Kings 11:11). The latter passage undoubtedly contains a prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, or another prophet, who foretold Solomon that evil would befall him. The passage, “God appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream by night, and God said” (ibid. 3:5), does not contain a real prophecy, such as is introduced by the words “The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying” (Gen. 15:1) or, “And God said to Israel in the visions of the night” (ibid. 46:2), or such as the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah contain: in all these cases the prophets, though receiving the prophecy in a prophetic dream, are told that it is a prophecy, and that they have received prophetic inspiration. But in the case of Solomon, the account concludes, “And Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream” (1 Kings 3:15); and in the account of the second divine appearance, it is said, “And God appeared to Solomon a second time, as he appeared to him at Gibeon” (ibid. 9:2); it was evidently a dream. This kind of prophecy is a degree below that of which Scripture says, “In a dream I will speak to him” (Num. 12:6). When prophets are inspired in a dream, they by no means call this a dream, although the prophecy reached them in a dream, but declare it decidedly to be a prophecy. Thus Jacob, our father, when awaking from a prophetic dream, did not say it was a dream, but declared, “Surely there is the Lord in this place,” etc. (Gen. 28:16); “God the Almighty appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan” (ibid. 48:3), expressing thereby that it was a prophecy. But in reference to Solomon we read And Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream” (1 Kings 3:15). Similarly Daniel declares that he had a dream; although he sees an angel and hears his word, he speaks of the event as of a dream: even when he had received the information [concerning the dreams of Nebukadnezzar], he speaks of it in the following manner—“Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a night vision (Dan. 2:19). On other occasions it is said, “He wrote down the dream” “I saw in the visions by night,” etc.; “And the visions of my head confused me” (Dan. 7:1, 2, 15); “I was surprised at the vision, and none noticed it” (ibid. 8:27). There is no doubt that this is one degree below that form of prophecy to which the words, “In a dream I will speak to him,” are applied. For this reason the nation desired to place the book of Daniel among the Hagiographa, and not among the Prophets. I have, therefore, pointed out to you, that the prophecy revealed to Daniel and Solomon, although they saw an angel in the dream, was not considered by them as a perfect prophecy, but as a dream containing correct information. They belonged to the class of men that spoke, inspired by the ruaḥ ha-kodesh, “the holy spirit.” Also in the order of the holy writings, no distinction is made between the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Psalms, Ruth, and Esther; they are all written by divine inspiration. The authors of all these books are called prophets in the more general sense of the term.
"And he called his name Jacob," the Holy One, blessed be He, assuredly called him 'Jacob'. Come and behold, it is written, "and he called his name 'Jacob'" (Gen. 27:36), and not, 'and his name was called Jacob'. But "Did he not rightly call him "Jacob?' for he has supplanted me (Heb. יַּעַקְבֵנִי)?" (Ibid.). Surely the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the primordial serpent was wise in an evil way. When Jacob came, (Hashem) said that he must be wiser than the serpent. Therefore He called him 'Jacob',
[3] Another interpretation: "And Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me.' David said, 'I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. Have you forever rejected us? Will you be angry with us forever?' (Psalm 77:6-8). What did Zion mean when she said, 'The Lord has forsaken me'? She meant to say, 'I have considered all the days since creation and have not been redeemed. I considered the days of menstruation, as the prophet said, "Their way was like the uncleanness of menstruation before me" (Ezekiel 36:17). I considered the days of childbirth, as the prophet said, "Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor bears a child" (Micah 5:2). I thought about the generations, as it is written "May his days be like those of a generation (Psalm 71:7)." I thought that twenty years had passed since Isaac desired to have children, as it says "Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah... (Genesis 25:20)," and he had a son at the age of sixty, as it says "Isaac was sixty years old when they were born (Genesis 25:26)." I thought and was not redeemed. I thought that twenty-two years had passed for Jacob, corresponding to the twenty-two years that Joseph was separated from him [his father], and after twenty-two years he was reunited with him, as it says "Joseph is still alive (Genesis 45:28)." I thought and was not redeemed. I thought that Babylonian rule lasted for seventy years, as it says "When Babylon reaches seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10)," and I thought that the rule of Media and Greece would also end, but I was not redeemed. For many years, Aram enslaved me, and I was not redeemed. Has God forgotten how to pity? (Psalm 77:10), or perhaps "Has His faithfulness disappeared forever?" (Psalm 77:9). Therefore, I say, "God has abandoned me." (Isaiah 49:14)
Rabbi Pinḥas ben Ya’ir said: Twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins, twelve golden ladles, twelve cattle, twelve rams, twelve lambs, twelve goats correspond to twelve constellations, corresponding to twelve months of the solar year and twelve months of the lunar year, correspond to the twelve tribes, the twelve princes, twelve implementers of the soul, (Two hands, two feet, two kidneys, spleen, liver, gall bladder, stomach, maw, and craw.) and the twelve loaves of showbread on the Table. “All the silver of the vessels was two thousand and four hundred, in the sacred shekel” (Numbers 7:85) – from when the world was created until Moses was thirty-two years old, when he began to instruct Israel in Egypt, were two thousand four hundred years. “Twelve golden ladles” (Numbers 7:86) that weigh one hundred and twenty – it corresponds to the days of Moses the pious. Likewise the living offerings correspond to these: Bulls correspond to kings; (There were twelve righteous kings.) rams correspond to princes; goats correspond to chiefs, deputies, and governors; (There were four of each of these categories who served under the kings.) and lambs correspond to officials and “the Keretites and the Peletites” (II Samuel 8:18). Twenty-four bulls of the peace offerings corresponded to the twenty-four books, and the twenty-four priestly watches, and atonement for the twenty-four thousand who perished due to Baal Peor (see Numbers 25:9). “Sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty lambs” – they corresponded to the sixty myriads; and corresponded to the esoterica [sod], whose numerical value (The numerical value of its first letter.) is sixty; and corresponded to “they are sixty queens” (Song of Songs 6:8); corresponded to the second Temple, which was built sixty by sixty: “Its height shall be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits” (Ezra 6:3); and Elisha served Israel sixty years; corresponded to the “sixty cities, the entire region of Argov” (Deuteronomy 3:4); “Isaac was sixty years old” (Genesis 25:26); (When Esau and Jacob were born.) corresponding to the sixty letters of the Priestly Benediction, as it is stated: “Sixty warriors surrounding it” (Song of Songs 3:7). The offering of each and every prince was peace offerings of three species, fifteen for each of them, corresponding to the verse: “May the Lord bless you” (Numbers 6:24), which contains fifteen letters. Each and every species was of five each, corresponding to the fact that each and every verse is five letters longer than its predecessor. How so? The verse “may…bless you” is fifteen letters. The next verse has five letters more, as it consists of twenty letters. “May the Lord lift His countenance” (Numbers 6:26) is five letters longer than it, as it is twenty-five letters. Because it concludes the Priestly Benediction with peace: “And grant you peace” (Numbers 6:26), that is why they sacrificed peace offerings corresponding to them. “Sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty lambs” – that is one hundred and eighty, corresponding to the years of Isaac. “This was the dedication of the altar after it was anointed” – if it was “on the day that it was anointed” (Numbers 7:84), is it, perhaps, before it was anointed? The verse states: “After it was anointed.” From here you learn on the day that it was anointed, and after it was anointed, the princes began to present their offerings.
“The children were agitated within her, and she said: If this is so, why do I exist? She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22). “The children were agitated [vayitrotzetzu] within her” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This one ran [ratz] to kill that one and that one ran to kill this one. Reish Lakish said: This one permitted the command of [matir tzivuyo] that one, and that one permitted the command of this one. (Each of them permitted himself to do what the other deemed prohibited.) Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Levi: So that you will not say that it was after he [Esau] emerged from his mother’s womb that he confronted him, but rather, while he was still in his mother’s womb, his fist [zirte] was outstretched toward him. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt [zoru] from the womb” (Psalms 58:4). “The children were agitated within her” – when she would stand adjacent to synagogues and study halls, Jacob would convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). When she would pass houses of idol worship, Esau would run and convulse to emerge. That is what is written: “The wicked are corrupt from the womb.” “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb, and two nations will be separated from your innards; one nation will prevail over the other nation, and the elder will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). “Her days to give birth were complete, and behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 25:24). “The first emerged ruddy, all of him like a cloak of hair, and they called his name Esau” (Genesis 25:25). “Then his brother emerged, his hand grasping Esau’s heel, and he called his name Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It teaches that our matriarch Rebecca was circulating around the entrances of women’s houses and saying to them: ‘In your days, did you experience this suffering? If this is the suffering that comes with children; had I only not conceived.’ Rav Huna said: [She said:] ‘If this is how I am destined to produce twelve tribes, would I only not conceive the numerical value of zeh.’ (See the end of the paragraph.) It is taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya: Rebecca was worthy to have twelve tribes emerge from her. That is what is written: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” – these are two; “and two nations” – that is four; “and one nation will prevail over the other nation” – that is six; “and the elder will serve the younger” – that is eight. “Her days to give birth were complete” – that is ten. “The first emerged ruddy” – that is eleven; “then his brother emerged” – that is twelve. There are some who derive it from this verse: “She said: If this is so, why do I exist [lama zeh anokhi]?” Zayin – seven, heh – 5, that is twelve, the numerical value of zeh. “She went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22) – were there synagogues and study halls in those days? (Had there been, she could have gone to pray there to God; where, then, did she go? She could have prayed at home.) Did she not go only to the academy of Shem and Ever? It is, rather, to teach you that anyone who enters before a Torah scholar, it is as though he enters before the Divine Presence.
“Then his brother emerged” (Genesis 25:26) – a certain officer asked one of the Sages in Beit Seloni. He said to him: ‘Who will assume the kingdom after us?’ He took a blank paper, took a quill, and wrote on it: “Then his brother emerged, his hand grasping…heel” (Genesis 25:26). They said: ‘See ancient matters from the mouth of a modern Sage, to inform you how much pain that righteous one suffered.’
(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.” This verse is related (to Ps.109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord […].” Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered?” [The verse is] simply [referring to] a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham only lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Why so? So he would not see Esau’s shame. Abraham had [Isaac] when he was a hundred years [old]. (Gen. 25:26-27:) “And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. And the lads grew.” Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. R. Levi said, “To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. As long as they are small, no one [can] distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one gives off its pleasant smell, but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small, no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up (in Gen. 25:26, cont.), ’Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.’” And Esau would go out and rob and extort, and people would maledict him. And during the five years [that were withheld from Abraham's life], Esau committed two serious transgressions: He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29), “then Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.” Now field can only be a reference to a betrothed maiden [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25), “If in the field the man finds [a maiden who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her…].” Moreover, exhausted can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31), “woe to me, now; for my life is exhausted before those who kill.” Rabbi Zakkay said, “He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 1:5), ‘If thieves have come to you.’” (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15), ‘And you shall go unto your ancestors in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age].’ But now he would see his grandson go to bad culture and hear what people say about his grandson; [that he was] transgressing sexual prohibitions and shedding blood. He would [then] wonder and say, ‘Are these the stipulations that the Holy One, blessed be He, being fulfilled with me?’ And he would voice a complaint, ‘And this is not “a good old age.”’ What should I do for him?” [So] He gathered him from the world. It is better for the righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4), “For Your steadfast love is better than life.” Behold, he [thus] sinned against his grandfather. He sinned against his father, as he caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said, “Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his [own] eyes to grow dim during his lifetime.” From where [in Scripture] do you learn [this]? A wicked son, from Isaac, as stated (in (Gen. 27:1), “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old [and his eyes were too dim to see].” [In regard to] a wicked disciple, [we learn] from Ahijah, as it is written (in I Kings 14:4), “now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.” Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.”] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and [our] masters [differ]. R. Judah says, “When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus, (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) with the result that she would not bear [any more children]. This is what is written (in Amos 1:11), ‘because he (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his pity (rachamiv),’ as it is written, ‘his uterus (rechemo).’” (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says, “You should not say [this] in reference to when he had left [his mother's uterus]. (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) [i.e., fist] was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob).” What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4:) “The wicked go astray (zoru) from the womb.” R. Nehemiah says, “He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes.” As Rav Huna has said, “Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23), ‘And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are [in your womb].” (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) “and two peoples.” Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) “And one people shall be stronger than the other.” Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the elder shall serve the younger.”’ Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) ‘And behold there were twins in her womb.’ Here are ten. (Vs. 25:) ‘The first came out ruddy.’ That is eleven. (Vs. 26:) ‘And afterward his brother came out.’ Here are twelve.” And there are some who bring this [idea] from here (vs. 22); “and she said, ‘If so, why am I here (zh)?’” By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) z (=7) + h (=5) [for a total of] twelve. But [our] masters have said, “He caused her bier to not go forth publicly [to her funeral]. You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying, ‘Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-Aram. Should Esau the wicked go before her? Then people would say [in Aramaic], (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) “Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man.”’ What did they do? They brought out her bier at night, so that Esau not go out in front of her, and all say, ‘Cursed are the breasts suckled this evil man.’” R. Jose bar R. Hanina said, “Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8), ‘Then Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died [and she was buried under the oak below Bethel] and its name was called Weeping Oak (Allon-Bacuth)],’ as they wept two weepings (bekhiot).” (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance [of mourning] for her nurse, the news about his mother came to him, as stated (to Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again […,] and blessed him.” With what blessing did He bless him? He blessed him with the blessing of [consolation given to] mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grandfather pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? I shall pay him back with evil, as his children destroyed My house. You and I shall rise against him, as stated (Obad. 1:1), “Rise, and we shall rise up against her for war.” Israel said to him, “Master of the world, we cannot [overcome] him.” [So] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, “You mention his name below, and I shall blot out his name above, as stated (Ps. 109:15) ‘Let them (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) always be before (neged) the Lord.’ Whatever he has done, he has done against (neged) Me.” [Therefore] (ibid., cont.), “and may He have their memory cut off from the earth.” Ergo (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.”
As to Jacob, the Holy One, named him also, as it is said: And his name was called Jacob (ibid. 25:26). The four letters in Jacob’s name in Hebrew correspond to the four crowns through which his descendants adored the Holy One, blessed be He. The yod corresponds to the Ten Commandments, the ayin (seventy) corresponds to the seventy elders, the kuf (one hundred) to the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, that his descendants erected for the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: And he measured the house, a hundred cubits (Ezek. 41:13), and the bet (two) corresponds to the two tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandants. They were redeemed from Egypt by Jacob’s merit, as it is said: And He established it unto Jacob for a statute (Ps. 105:10). Were it not for Jacob, Abraham would not have been redeemed from the furnace, as it is said: Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob (Isa. 29:22). However, as for Esau, his father and mother named him, as it is said: And they called his name Esau (Gen. 25:25). About him, Scripture states: His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name abroad (Job 18:7).
THE DEATH OF SARAH AND THE STORY OF ISAAC AND REBECCA SIX (people) were called by their names before they were created, and they are: Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and King Messiah.
... The judgment of the wicked in Gehinnom lasts twelve months, as it says “And it shall be from new moon to new moon…” (Yeshayahu 66:23) R’ Yochanan ben Nuri says: from Pesach until Atzeret (Shavuot), as it says “…and from Sabbath to Sabbath…” (ibid.) After twelve months the souls of the sinners of Israel who transgressed the Torah and the commandments are consumed and their bodies are consumed and they are turned to dust. Gehinnom spits them out and the wind scatters them underneath the feet of the righteous, as it says “And you shall crush the wicked, for they will be as ash under the soles of your feet…” (Malachi 3:21) But those who separated from the ways of the community, like the Sadducees, and the betrayers and the hypocrites and the heretics, and those who ‘spread their terror in the land of the living,’ and those who denied the resurrection, and those who say Torah is not from heaven, and those who scoff at the words of the Sages – Gehinnom is locked before them and they are judged there forever, as it says “And they shall go out and see the corpses of the people who rebelled against Me…” (Yeshayahu 66:24) Not only this, but the netherworld will cease to be but they will not cease to be, as it says “…and their form will outlast the grave as his dwelling place (zevul).” (Tehillim 49:15) From His dwelling place He will wear out their form, and their form will wear out the netherworld. What caused this to happen to them? Because they stretched out their hands against the dwelling place, as it says ‘as his dwelling place,’ and there is no dwelling place other than the Holy Temple, as it says “I have surely built You a house to dwell in…” (Melachim I 8:13)
And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn over, Sarah, and to weep over her, and he stood up from before his dead and spoke unto the sons of Heth, the in habitants of the land, saying: I am a stranger and so journey with you; give me a possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him: Behold the land is before thee, in the choice of the land bury thy dead, for verily, no man will pre vent thee from burying thy dead. And Abraham said unto them: If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is in the end of his field, and I will purchase it of him for whatsoever he may desire for it. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth, and they went and called him, and he came into the presence of Abraham; and Ephron said unto Abraham: Whatsoever thou wishest thy servant will do. And Abraham said: Nay, but I will buy the cave and thy field for its full value, as a possession for a burial place forever. And Ephron answered, saying: Behold the field and cave are before thee, give me whatsoever pleaseth thee. But Abraham said: Nay, only for its full value shall I purchase it from thy hands and from the hands of all those that go in at the gate of thy city, and from thy seed forever. And Ephron and all his kinsmen heard this, and Abraham weighed unto Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, into the hands of Ephron and his brethren; and Abraham wrote down these proceedings and had it testified by four witnesses, and these are their names: Ami gal, son of Abishna, the Hittite; Adihoron, son of Ashu nash, the Hivite; Abdon, son of Ahirom, the Gomrite, and Bakdil, son of Abidos, the Zidonite; and Abraham took the book of the sale and placed it in his treasury, and these are the words that Abraham wrote into the book saying: That Abraham bought the cave and the field from Ephron, the Hittite, and from his seed, and from all those that went in at the gate of his city and from their seed forever, to be the purchased possession of Abraham and his seed, and of all those that go forth from his loins for a possession of a burying place forever. And he put a seal thereto and had it testified by witnesses. Thus the field and the cave therein and the entire ground were secured for Abraham and his seed after him, from the children of Heth; and behold it is before Mamre, even in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan. And after this Abraham buried there Sarah his wife, and that place with all its boundaries became the possession of Abraham and his seed for a burying place. And Abraham buried Sarah in great display, as it is customary with the burials of kings, and she was interred in very beautiful and costly garments. And her bier was attended by Shem and his sons Eber and Abimelech, also by Auer, Eshcol, and Mamre, and all the dignitaries of the land followed her bier. And the days of Sarah were a hundred and seven and twenty years when she died, and Abraham made a great and heavy mourning, and he observed that mourning for seven days. And all the inhabitants of the land consoled Abraham and Isaac his son concerning Sarah. . And when their days of mourning were over Abraham sent away his son Isaac to go unto the house of Shem and Eber to learn the ways and instructions of the Lord. And Isaac remained there for three years. At that time Abraham arose with all his servants and they started to return home, towards Beer-sheba. And when the year was around, Abimelech king of the Philistines, died in that year. He was one hundred and ninety-three years old when he died. And Abraham went with all his people into the land of the Philistines to comfort the household of Abimelech, and all his household, and then he returned to his home. And after the death of Abimelech the people of Gerar took his son Benmelech, who was then only twelve years of age, and they made him king in his father's place; and they called his name Abimelech after his father, for such was their way of doing in Gerar. And Abimelech ruled in the place of his father and he sat upon his throne. And Lot the son of Haran died also in these days, in the thirty-ninth year of Isaac's life; and all the days that Lot lived were one hundred and forty years when he died. And these are the sons of Lot, born unto him by his daughters. The name of the first-born was Moab and the name of the second was Benamy. And the two sons of Lot took unto themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they bare unto them children. And these were the children of Moab: Ed, and Majon, and Tarsus, and Canvil, four sons, and they are the fathers of the children of Moab even unto this day. And all the families of the children of Lot went forth to dwell wherever they should find a suitable place, for they were very fruitful and they increased greatly. And they went out and built cities unto themselves in the land of their habitation, calling the names of the cities which they built after their own names. And Nahor son of Terah, Abraham's brother, died in those days, in the fortieth year of the life of Isaac; and all the days of Nahor were one hundred and seventy-two years, and when he died he was buried in Haran. And when Abraham heard of his brother's death he was full of grief and sorrow and he mourned over him many days. And Abraham called Eliezer, his head-servant, to give him orders concerning his house, and he came and stood before him, and Abraham said unto him: Behold I am old, I do not know the day I may die, for verily I am advanced in years. And now arise and go forth and do not take a wife for my son from this place, nor from this land, from the midst of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom we are dwelling. But go thou to my land and to my native place and take from there a wife for my son. And the Lord God of heaven and earth who hath taken me from the house of my father and brought me to this place; and who hath said unto me: To thy seed I will give this land for an inheritance forever, he will send his angel before thee and give thee success on thy way that thou mayest procure a wife for my son from my family and from the house of my father. And the servant answered unto Abraham his master saying: Behold I will go to thy birth-place and to thy father's house to take a wife for thy son from there. But per adventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land; must I need bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him: Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord before whom I have walked will send his angel before thee to make thy way a success. And Eliezer did according to Abraham's orders and Eliezer swore unto Abraham, his master, concerning this matter. And Eliezer arose and took ten camels of the camels of his father, and ten men from the servants of his master he took likewise, and they departed for Haran, the city of Abraham and Nahor, to bring thence a wife for Isaac the son of Abraham. And while they were gone Abraham sent to the house of Shem and Eber, and they brought thence his son Isaac. And Isaac came back to his father's house in Beer-sheba at the same time that Eliezer and his men arrived in Haran. And they stopped in the city near the watering place, and Eliezer made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of wa ter, and they remained there; and Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, prayed, saying: O, Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham, and appoint this day a wife for the son of my master from his own family. And the Lord hearkened to Eliezer's voice for the sake of his servant Abraham, and he happened to meet the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and Eliezer came into her house. And Eliezer related unto them all his affairs, and that he was the servant of Abraham, and they were greatly rejoiced with him; and all of them blessed the Lord for bringing about this event, and they gave him Rebekah, Bethuel's daughter, to be the wife of Isaac, and the young maiden was very comely of appearance; she was a virgin and ten years old at that time. And Bethuel, and Laban and his children, made a great feast that night, and Eliezer and his men came and ate and drank and were exceedingly rejoiced that night; and in the morning Eliezer and his men arose and he called the whole household together, saying: Let me depart now that I go to my master. And they arose and sent away Rebekah, and her nurse Deborah, daughter of Uz, with her. And they gave her silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and they blessed her. Thus they sent away Eliezer with his men and the servants that took Rebekah, and he went and returned unto his master into the land of Canaan. And Isaac took Rebekah and she was unto him a wife, and he brought her into the tent, and Isaac was forty years of age when he took Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, his uncle, for a wife. And at that time Abraham again took a wife in his old age, from the land of Canaan, and her name was Keturah; and she bare unto him: Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah—six sons. And the sons of Zimran were: Abihen, and Molech, and Marim. And the sons of Jokshan were: Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Medan were: Amido, and Joab, and Gochi, and Elisha, and Notach. And the sons of Midian were: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abi da, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ishbak were: Makiro, and Bejodua, and Tator. And the sons of Shuah were: Bildad, and Mamdad, and Meman, and Mehan. All these are the families of the children of Keturah, the Canaanitish woman, which she bare unto Abraham, the Hebrew. And Abraham sent all of them away, giving them gifts, and they went away from Isaac his son, to locate wheresoever they should find a suitable place; and they went all unto the mountains eastward and they built unto themselves six cities and they dwelt therein even unto this day. And the children of Shebah and Dedan, the sons of Jokshan, did not dwell with their brethren in their cities, and they journeyed about camping in the countries and in the deserts even unto this day; and the children of Midian, son of Abraham, went eastward of the land of Cush, where they discovered a large valley in the country of the east, and they located there and built a city, and they dwelt in it. That is the land of Midian unto this day. And Midian dwelt in the city which he built, with his five sons and all belonging unto him; and these are the names of Midian's sons, according to their names and their cities: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ephah were: Methach, and Meshar, and Avi, and Tzanua. And the sons of Epher were: Ephron, and Zur, and Alirun, and Medin. And the sons of Chanoch were: Reuel, and Rekem, and Azi, and Alyoshub, and Alad. And the sons of Abida were: Chur, and Melud, and Keruy, and Molchi. And the sons of Eldah were: Miker, and Reba, and Malchiyah, and Gabol. These are the names of the Midianites according to their families; and afterwards the families of Midian spread throughout the land of Midian. And these are the families of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. - - And Ishmael took a wife from the land of Egypt, and her name was Ribah, the same is Meribah. And Ribah bare unto Ishmael: Nebayoth, and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and their sister Bosmath. And Ishmael disowned his wife Ribah, and she went from him and returned to Egypt to the house of her father, and she dwelt there, for she had been very wicked in the sight of Ishmael, and in the sight of his father Abraham. And Ishmael afterward took a wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she bare unto him: Nishma, and Dumah, and Masa, and Chadad, and Tema, and Yetur, and Naphish, and Kedma. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, twelve princes according to their nations; and the families of Ishmael spread forth, and Ishmael took his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to locate where they should find a suitable place, And they went and dwelt near the wilderness of Paran and their dwelling was from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt as thou comest toward Assyria; and Ishmael and his sons dwelt in the land, and they had chidren born unto them, and they were fruitful and increased greatly. And these are the names of the sons of Nebayoth, the first born of Ishmael: Mend, and Send, and Mayon; and the sons of Kedar were: Alyon, and Kezem, and Chamad, and Eli. And the sons of Adbeel were: Cha mad, and Jabin; and the sons of Mibsam were: Obadiah, and Ebedmelech, and Yeush—these are the families of the children of Ribah, the wife of Ishmael; and the sons of Mishma, the son of Ishmael, were: Shamua, and Zecaryon, and Obed; and the sons of Dumah were: Kezed, and Eli, and Machmad, and Amed; and the sons of Masa were: Melon, and Mula, and Ebidadon; and the sons of Chadad were: Azur, and Minzar, and Ebed melech; and the sons of Tema were: Seir, and Sadon, and Yakol; and the sons of Yetur were: Merith, and Yaish, and Alyo, and Pachoth; and the sons of Naphish were: Ebed, and Tamed, and Abiyasaph, and Mir; and the sons of Kedma were: Calip, and Tachti, and Omir—these were the children of Malchuth, the wife of Ishmael, according to their families. All these are the families of Ishmael according to their generations, and they dwelt in those lands wherein they had built themselves cities unto this day. And Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s son, was barren in those days, she had no offspring. And Isaac dwelt with his father in the land of Canaan, and the Lord was with Isaac; and Arpachshad, son of Shem, the son of Noah, died at that time, in forty-eighth year of Isaac’s life; and all the days of Arpachshad’s life were four hundred and thirty years when he died.
When the Holy One Blessed be He appeared to give Torah to Israel, He "thundered" the entire world on its inhabitants," as it is written (Psalms 29:3) "The voice of the L-rd upon the waters; the G-d of glory thunders. When the nations of the world heard the thunders all of them gathered near Bilam and said to him: It seems that G-d is going to destroy His world. He answered: Is it not already written (Bereshith 9:15) "And the waters will no more be a deluge to destroy all flesh"? They asked: What is this sound? He answered (Psalms 29:11) "The L-rd is giving oz to His people," oz being nothing other than Torah, as it is written (Iyyov 12:16) "With Him there is oz and might" — whereupon they responded: If so, "let the L-rd bless His people with peace!" (Psalms 29:11).
We have been handed over to the dominion of a force which after all originated in the regions of sanctity and purity, i.e. we have been subjected to their ראש, which is metaphor for their origin in Holy Spheres. These pagans are not allowed, however, to have sin-offerings presented on their behalf on the altar of the Holy Temple because their sin-offerings are impurity personified. All of this is the mystical dimension of the 70 bulls the Jewish people offered on behalf of the Gentile nations during the course of the holiday of Tabernacles as described in Numbers 29,14-34. It will be explained there in greater detail. While we have said that Esau was first-born from the physical aspect, i.e. that he was born first, we nonetheless look forward to the time of the redemption when it is he who will become the עקב, heel, not Jacob. When the Torah describes Jacob as holding on to the heel of Esau in Genesis 25,27, this is an allusion to Esau being the last of the שרים to have dominion over Israel at any time.
Moses said afterwards: -"Not a hoof will remain;" this was an allusion to the other "temporary" first-born, the spiritual representative of Esau, otherwise known as Edom. There is a special sign which proves that this שר has a hold on a holy domain. It is known that Esau is also called חזיר, the pig. The source for this is Psalms 80,14: יכרסמנה חזיר מיער וזיז שדי ירענה, "Wild boars gnaw at it and creatures of the field feed on it." The pig is known to stretch out its hooves as if to demonstrate that it possesses the marks of purity [Leviticus 11,7, although it does not chew the cud, the other mark of purity required. Ed.]. When the Torah describes Jacob as holding on to the heel of Esau at the time he was born, this is allegorical. It means that Esau does possess one mark of purity, and it is this mark of purity, his heel, read: its hoof, to which Jacob cleaves. Moses alluded to this mark of purity of Esau when he said that he would not leave a hoof in Egypt, "for from it we shall take to sacrifice to the Lord our G–d." This verse is parallel to the earlier verse in which Moses described how Israel would offer sacrifices on behalf of Pharaoh, or the שר של מצרים. The words "from it," indicate that something of Esau's is fit to be rendered as an offering to G–d. Israel would benefit from this, but Moses was not yet sure how and when that benefit would accrue to Israel, i.e. "we do not know what we shall serve the Lord until the time comes to prepare the offering." The basic benefit we derive from our own sacrifices cannot be assessed until the Hereafter, since no human eye has beheld the glory in store for us there. The true dimension of spiritual benefit reserved for us is known only to G–d Himself.
This does not preclude a change in the future. Jacob was אוחז בעקב "holding on to the "heel" (Genesis 25,26) i.e. to humility already from the moment he was born. This is also the mystical dimension of ויבא יעקב שלם, that "Jacob attained perfection" (Genesis 33,18). When Jacob was called ישראל because he prevailed in a struggle with the Divine, this is an allusion to the World to Come, a domain even closer to G–d than the domain of the angels. This is alluded to in Numbers 23,23 by Bileam who said: כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל א-ל. "Jacob is told at once, Yea, Israel, what G–d has planned." [The author tries to demonstrate that when manipulating the spelling of the name יעקב the name ישרון which is the name used to describe the Jewish people on their highest spiritual level, can be obtained. When one omits the first letter of a "word" representing the "full" spelling of a letter such as the letter י being spelled יוד, this is called a concealed way of spelling the word, נעלם. In our example, if you spell the word יעקב "full" i.e י"וד-ע"ין-ק"וף ב"ית, and you then omit the letters I have highlighted i.e. י-ע-ק-ב, you will be left with ו"ד-י"ן-ו",-י"ת. The numerical value of the last 8 letters is 566, the same as the numerical value of ישרון. Ed.]. This is the mystical aspect of Isaiah 40,4: והיה העקוב למישור, "and the crooked will become straight," an allusion to the perception of Jacob as devious and engaging in deception as claimed by Esau. The "concealed" spelling of these names is a hint of the great good in store for the Jewish people. The three names יעקב-ישראל-ישרון correspond to the שלמות of Jacob in three areas: his body, גוף, his relationship with the material goods of this world, ממון, and his spiritual life, נפש (cf. Rashi on Genesis 33,18). These three areas are the subject of the manner in which we are to relate to G–d with love, i.e. "בכל לבבך, ובכל נפשך, ובכל מאדך. The body will be as much part of an everlasting life in the future we speak of as is the soul in our times. All the Kabbalists are agreed that this is so because the body has been created בצלם אלוקים, in the image of G–d. The names ישראל and ישרון allude to this dual "perfection" of body and soul, i.e. that both will gain everlasting life. The name ישרון symbolizes ישר, that G–d has created man ישר, upright, honest. He could not have done otherwise for ישרים דרכי ה', "the ways of the Lord are upright" (Hosea 14,10). It is relatively easy for a soul, רוח, to return to the Celestial Regions it has come from. When we speak about שלימות ממונו, the Torah means אלוהי כסף ואלוהי זהב לא תעשו (Exodus 20,23), that one must not elevate the value one places on silver and gold as something akin to a deity.
The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."
This is the key to the meaning of 32, 29: "Your name will not be said to be Jacob any longer but Israel." We must remember that at birth Jacob was named Jacob because his hand gripped the heel of Esau. Esau interpreted this as referring to עקבה, deception. He exclaimed in Genesis 27, 36: "Is he not rightly called Jacob since he has deceived me already twice?" There is a conceptual relation between what happened at the birth of these twins, what happened when Jacob bought the birthright, and again at the time he secured the blessing. At birth, Jacob did not want Esau to leave the womb first, for he, Jacob, considered himself the בכור, the firstborn. He claimed that distinction because Isaac's first drop of semen resulted in fertilization of the ovum that would produce him (cf. Rashi on 25, 26). Jacob was thus within his rights then when he tried to retrieve what he had been deprived of by resorting to עקבה וערמה, devious ways and trickery. It was Esau who used deviousness already at birth, by forcing his way out of his mother's womb first. What he experienced later at the hands of Jacob was no more than מדה כנגד מדה, tit for tat. Jacob took a leaf out of Esau's book and "donned" Esau's kind of garments. After Jacob died and was resurrected his name "Jacob" assumed a different meaning. Jacob, i.e. "heel," or result, consequence, is an allusion to the eventual permanent world which follows on the heels of the transient world in which the Esaus and their kind feel at home.
This is hinted at by Rashi in his comment on "He called his name Jacob," in Genesis 25,26. Rashi states there that the subject in the verse: "He called his name," is G–d Himself. At that point (33,20), G–d's own name applied to Jacob, seeing that after Jacob's "resurrection," what remained of him would be permanent, enduring.
From the womb. With this expression the prophet alludes to Jacob (comp. Hos. 12:4; in my commentary thereon I shall explain it), (I. E. takes the expression womb literally, and refers it to the incident recorded Gen. 25:26, in the account of the birth of Jacob and Esau.) or metaphorically to the time, when Israel was declared to be the people of the Lord.
‘All,’ includes the messianic era: It is hard to understand how ben Zoma bested the sages in this discussion since they were able to offer their own explanation of the word kol, ‘all,’ thus throwing into question his explanation as referring to the evenings. In the Mekhilta, this discussion continues between ben Zoma and the sages: Ben Zoma retorted to the sages: Will it be necessary to mention the Exodus in Messianic era? Do we not learn, “Assuredly, a time is coming” says the Lord “when it shall no more be said, ‘as the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but rather, ‘as the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of the Northland and out of the land to which He has banished them, (Jeremiah 16:14-15; also 23:8-9) ’” Rabbi Natan said, the words, ‘that brought us up and that led’ prove that even in the future they will mention the Exodus from Egypt . (In Jeremiah 23 the same verse contains a double expression “Who brought us up and who led us” Rabbi Natan understands one term referring to the Exodus and the other to the future redemption.) The passage in the Mekhilta goes on to offer proof texts for the opening blessing of the Amida (that we say, ‘the God of Abraham…Isaac…and Jacob…’) and the Grace after the Meal. (See Mekhilta Parshat Bo, 16) How then are we to understand Ben Zoma’s point of view? Elsewhere we learn that Ben Zoma held that in fact, the exodus will be mentioned in messianic time but the new redemption will be more essential and the Exodus will become secondary. Similarly, we learn regarding Jacob that even though he was given a new name, Israel, his old name was still used afterwards. Israel, however became his essential name and Jacob secondary. Yet if that is so then why do we say the God of Jacob in the opening blessing of the Amida – we should say the God of Israel since that is our forefather’s essential name! That is why the Mekhilta offers a proof text for the Amida in which the name of Jacob is used. Without a biblical citation we would have assumed that the opening blessing of the Amida should have said, ‘the God of Israel.’ It would seem then that Ben Zoma is in agreement with Rabbi Natan not only regarding the mentioning of the Exodus but in these other cases as well. The continuation of the discussion in the Mekhilta is relevant to Ben Zoma’s point of view. We learn that while it is a transgression to refer to Abraham by his previous name, Abram, the same is not true for Jacob/Israel. (BT Berachot 13a) The reason for this is that the name Jacob has a negative and a positive connotation in the Torah. He is called Jacob because he tricked (vaya’akveini) Esau and he is called Jacob because in the future he is destined to supplant Edom/Esau and rule over him, as was prophesized to Rebecca. (See Genesis 25:26 and 27:36) In the future when Jacob supplants his older brother then he will truly be Israel and not Jacob any more. It would seem that both names have a good connotation while the name Abram has no purpose at all. Similarly, we learn that by mentioning the exodus in the Birkat Hamazon that mentioning the Exodus is relevant at all times, night and day and that Ben Zoma’s explanation is correct.
ויאמר לא יעקב יאמר עוד שמך , remember that the name Yaakov has a connotation of “humiliation, degradation.” We encounter this when he was born when the Torah described him as holding on to his twin brother’s heel (Genesis 25,26). Such an activity as holding on to someone else’s heel is certainly creating an image of someone servile, someone in a degrading condition. After all, the heel is the very lowest part of the body. The name ישראל by contrast evokes the image of something superior. This is why the “angel” said: “you are entitled to be known by a name which conveys something lofty.” He gave as the reason for this change of name the fact that כי שרית עם אלו-הים ועם אנשים, that Yaakov’s intellectual life-force had proven to be equal to the intellect of disembodied spiritual beings even though his own intellect was still imprisoned within a body, This is the meaning of the words ועם אנשים. Actually, there had been no need for this word; if someone holds his own in a contest with divine forces he is most certainly understood to be even to or superior to any human contestant. The use of the words עם אנשים therefore adds a new dimension to our verse. Yaakov was very anxious to have confirmation that his own נפש השכלית, was on a par with that of disembodied spiritual creatures though his own spirit was still connected to his body.
From a more rational/scientific point of view we may detect a distinct pattern in the Torah sometimes choosing to refer to Yaakov by his original name and sometimes by his additional name. The name Yaakov applies to the physical part of Yaakov’s personality, matters connected to his terrestrial existence, whereas the name Yisrael refers to spiritual aspects of his personality, matters connected to his eternal existence in celestial regions. When Yaakov had first been given the name “Yaakov” the Torah stated that this reflected his holding on to the heel of his brother Esau (Genesis 25,26). We find the name Yisrael first used in connection with Yaakov having successfully contended with the celestial force representing his brother Esau (Genesis 32,29). It is therefore clear that the additional name Yisrael was intended principally to reflect Yaakov’s spiritual accomplishments.
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS ‘EIKEV’ YE HEARKEN. Eikev means “because.” So also, ‘eikev’ (because) that Abraham hearkened to My voice. (Genesis 26:5.) And Rashi wrote: “If you will hearken even to the lighter commandments which a person usually treads upon with his ‘heels’ [i.e., those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly] then G-d will keep His promise to you.” (Rashi thus explains eikev as meaning “heel, footprint.” — The term “lighter commandments” thus means “lighter” in the sense that people regard them lightly because they think that the reward for their observance is of minor significance, and therefore, “they tread upon them with their heels,” so to say. But, as Scripture continues, these people are mistaken, since the reward for even these commandments is boundless.) Now Scripture mentions the ordinances [And it shall come to pass ‘eikev’ ye hearken to these ‘ordinances’] (In other words, according to Rashi, that the verse is speaking of the “lighter commandments,” the question arises why are the ordinances mentioned here? It must be that the sense of the verse is as follows: “If you will hearken to those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly, such as the ordinances about monetary matters — then etc.” Thus, the reason ordinances are singled out more than statutes and testimonies is that Scripture wants to teach us that we should not hold them in disdain despite the fact that they deal merely with monetary matters.) perhaps because he admonishes them not to be disdainful of the lightly-esteemed ordinances such as the laws pertaining to monetary matters. And the commentators (Ibn Ezra and R’dak.) have said that the meaning of the word eikev is that “in the end” there will be reward. Similarly, in keeping them [the ordinances of G-d] ‘eikev rav’ (there is [in the end] great reward). (Psalms 19:12.) The verse here is thus stating: “and the end [the ultimate consequence] of your hearkening to the ordinances and your observing them is that G-d shall keep the covenant and the mercy, and He will love thee. ” (Verse 13.) This is correct, for in the Sacred Language the beginning of anything is called rosh [literally: “head”], as it is said, ‘rosh’ (the beginning of) Thy word is truth. (Psalms 119:160.) So also is the leader of the generation called “the head of the people,” and the best of spices is called rosh. (Exodus 30:23. Take also unto thee ‘b’samim rosh’ (‘the chief’ spices).) Similarly, the conclusion of any matter is called akeiv (heel) as the Sacred Language adopts these figurative expressions from the human body; and thus “the head” is the beginning while “the heel” is the conclusion and end of the body. Scripture also speaks of the head and the tail (Further, 28:13: And the Eternal shall make thee the head and not the tail.) [with reference to people], figuratively using the body of the animal. And Onkelos rendered the word eikev as chalaf (“in exchange for”), like ‘cheilef’ (in return for) your service. (Numbers 18:31.) Onkelos thus made it an expression of “roundabout” [the end result of a series of events], derived from the verse, and ‘he’akov (the crooked) shall be made straight (Isaiah 40:4. — I.e., the return of the exiles to Jerusalem will be unimpeded.) — that is, the circuitous road which goes roundabout [will become a straight, level path]. So also ‘akubah’ of blood (Hosea 6:8.) means “it is surrounded and encircled” [with blood]. The verse here is thus stating [according to Onkelos]: “and it shall come to pass that the effect caused by your hearkening to the ordinances and your performing them will be that G-d will keep His covenant with you.” He has explained it well. A similar expression is ‘biglal’ (for the sake of) this thing (Further, 15:10.) which means “on account of,” from the word ‘v’gal’lu’ (and they roll) the stone. (Genesis 29:8.) Similarly it is my opinion that every expression of akeivah is a term denoting “circle” or “circuit.” Thus: ‘akov haleiv’ (the heart is deceitful); (Jeremiah 17:9.) ‘vaya’akveini’ (and he hath gotten the better of me) these two times; (Genesis 27:36.) but Jehu did it ‘b’akbah’ (in subtlety) (II Kings 10:19.) — all these being expressions of “rolling” and “circling.” Therefore they called Jacob “Jeshurun” (Further, 33:5. See also above, 2:10 (towards the end).) [from the root yashar (straight and upright)] because the opposite of “the deceitful one” is he who is “upright” [as indicated by the name “Jeshurun”]. Similarly, the end-part of the foot, called akeiv — as it is said, and his hand seizing ‘ba’akeiv (the heel) of Esau (Genesis 25:26.) — is so called because of its roundness, just as the [Sacred] Language calls the middle part [palm and sole] of the hand and foot kapoth, (Ibid., 4:11: And I gave the cup into ‘kaph’ (the hand of) Pharaoh. Ezekiel 1:7: ‘v’kaph’ (and the sole) of their feet.) because of their being shaped like golden kapoth (spoons). This usage [of the term akeiv] is common in the [Sacred] Language, just as the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: (Sifre, V’zoth Habrachah 343.) “At His right hand was a fiery law unto them. (Further, 33:2.) When the word came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it would go by way of the right hand of the Holy One to the left of Israel, v’okeiv (and it encircled) the camp of Israel twelve miles by twelve miles.” So also is the expression: (Baba Kamma 113a.) “they come upon him ba’akifin,” meaning “with circuitous and subtle arguments,” like the word akeivin as these two letters [the veth and the fei] were considered by the Sages to be interchangeable, as I have already explained. (Leviticus 19:20. See also Exodus 15:10 — Vol. II, p. 198.) He mentioned these ordinances (According to Rashi who explained that the word eikev suggests “the lighter commandments” [as explained above] we understand why the verse singles out only these ordinances [and not the statutes etc.] because the ordinances, applying as they do to monetary matters, are often treated lightly by people; hence the need by Scripture to warn against it. But according to the interpretation of Onkelos and Ramban that eikev means “in return for,” and the verse refers to the reward for observing the commandments, the question arises why did Scripture single out only the ordinances? Ramban proceeds to answer this question: “He mentioned these ordinances in order etc.”) in order to warn exceedingly concerning the ordinances [i.e., judgments], for it is impossible that of a large nation, everyone be heedful of all commandments so as not to transgress any of them, and it is only through the judgments [of the court] that they establish [the firm authority of] the Torah, just as it says of them, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Further, 21:21.) Moreover, many people will have pity [and refrain from] stoning a man or burning him after the transgression had been committed, as it is said, Thine eye shall not pity him. (Ibid., 19:13.) Then also they might fear the mighty ones as well as those who lead astray, as it is said, ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man, for the judgment is G-d’s, (Above, 1:17.) and in the case of the false prophet it says, thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Further, 18:22.) He mentioned all these in the case of an inciter [to worship idols] saying, thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shalt thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, (Ibid., 13:9.) warning nor hearken unto him (Ibid., 13:9.) because of his misleading [you], neither shalt thine eye pity him (Ibid., 13:9.) because of the pity that compassionate people show towards the condemned, and neither shalt thou conceal him (Ibid., 13:9.) by remaining silent [and not presenting testimony against him] because of his might and fear of members of his family.
Why were the years of Ishmael mentioned in the Torah? For what purpose were we told the life span of that wicked man? In order to reckon through them the years of Jacob. As it is written: “And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty-seven years” (Genesis 25:17). How much older was Ishmael than Isaac? Fourteen years. As it is written: “And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram” (Genesis 16:16). And it is written: “And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him” (Genesis 21:5). And it is written with regard to Jacob and Esau: “And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). Based on these verses, how old was Ishmael when Jacob was born? Seventy-four. How many of his years remained then until his death? Sixty-three, as Ishmael died at the age of a hundred and thirty-seven.
Rava said to Rav Naḥman: Let us derive from Isaac that one may wait a longer period of time, as it is written: “And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah…to be his wife” (Genesis 25:20), and it is written with regard to the birth of Jacob and Esau: “And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). This indicates that one may wait twenty years. Rav Naḥman said to him: Isaac knew that he was infertile, and therefore there was no reason for him to marry another woman, as Rebekah was not the cause of their infertility.
Thus said GOD: For three transgressions of Edom, For four, I will not revoke the decree: (the decree See note at v. 3.) Because he pursued his brother (his brother I.e., an army of the descendants of Israel; cf. Gen. 25.25–26; 35.10; 36.1.) with the sword And repressed all pity, (repressed all pity Or “destroyed his womenfolk”; cf. Judg. 5.30. Change of vocalization yields “destroyed his wombs”; cf. v. 13.) Because his anger raged unceasing And his fury stormed (stormed Cf. Akkadian shamaru and Jer. 3.5.) unchecked.
In the womb he tried to supplant his brother; Grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being, (Cf. Gen. 25.26; 32.29.)
Each of you, beware of your friend! Trust not even your kinsfolk! For every sibling takes advantage, (every sibling takes advantage Or “every brother is a heel-grabber”; cf. Gen. 25.26; 27.36.) Every friend deals basely. (deals basely See note at Lev. 19.16.)
After that his brother came out, his hand grasping the heel of Eisov, and he [Yitzchok] named him Yaakov. Yitzchok was sixty years old when she [Rivkah] gave birth to them.
Afterward came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on the heel of Esau. And they called his name Jakob (Yaakov). And Izhak was a son of sixty years when he beget them.
| וַֽיִּגְדְּלוּ֙ הַנְּעָרִ֔ים וַיְהִ֣י עֵשָׂ֗ו אִ֛ישׁ יֹדֵ֥עַ צַ֖יִד אִ֣ישׁ שָׂדֶ֑ה וְיַעֲקֹב֙ אִ֣ישׁ תָּ֔ם יֹשֵׁ֖ב אֹהָלִֽים׃ | 27 J | When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob became a mild man, raising livestock. (raising livestock Heb. yoshev ’ohalim; NJPS “who stayed in camp,” lit. “a sitter in tents.” The idiom for a pastoralist; cf. 4.20.) |
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! (ibid. 24:5) Fear of G‑d is greatest when it is internal, when it is concealed and inapparent. This is not like the words of the prayer: “A man should always be G‑d-fearing inwardly as he is outwardly.” (This is the text used in a number of prayer books, such as nusach Sefard, commonly used by the Chasidim, and nusach Sefardi. However, the Ashkenazi prayer book, as well as the Chabad text, merely says: “A man should always be G‑d-fearing inwardly.”) This is the meaning of “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob,” which refers to the curtains that hung as a tent over the Tabernacle. It is good that your tents – your revealed side – should be Jacob, the simple level. However, “your dwellings” – that is, your internality – should be Israel, which is a lofty level. (In Midrashic and Kabbalistic texts, the name Jacob represents simplicity and the common folk, as the verse says, “And Jacob was a simple man…” (Genesis 25:27). The name Jacob is also from the word “heel” ekev, as in the verse: “and after that the second one came out, and his hand was holding the heal of Esau” (ibid. 25:26). The heel also represents the lowest levels. On the other hand, the name Israel was given to Jacob after he defeated the angel, and contains the letters li rosh – “He is a head to me.”) After I wrote these words, I heard the same thing in the name of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, and I rejoiced. Zerizusa d’Avraham
The land upon which you lie, I will give to you… (28:13) Rashi states that G‑d folded up the entire land of Israel under Jacob’s head. (Based upon the Talmud, Chulin 9ab.) This means that Jacob would not have to travel from place to place to retrieve his sparks, but could find them in his place. (See the Baal Shem Tov on parashat Toldos: Genesis 25:27. Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye explains: “This is accomplished through da'at, that is, when a person concentrates on the letters of his Torah study and prayers, and knows how to cull out the sparks that fell in the “breaking of the vessels,” by means of these letters.) Ben Poras Yosef, p. 18b
Yet Yaacov is praised as a “simple man” (Genesis 25:27), and we are directed to be “simple with Hashem your God” (Deuteronomy 18:13)—that same God Who is the source of wisdom, and one of Whose titles is “Wise.” This is true wisdom, pure wisdom. A wisdom that is simple and direct possesses a certainty.
Genesis 29,11. “Yaakov gave Rachel a kiss, etc;” [note that the Torah does not refer to Rachel’s physical appearance until verse 17 after Yaakov had already worked for him for over a month. Ed.] Genesis 29,17. “and Rachel was shapely and beautiful.” At first glance it is surprising that the Torah appears to link Yaakov’s falling in love with Rachel in verse 18, ויאהב יעקב את רחל, “Yaakov loved Rachel,” to the description of her physical assets in verse 17. Is it possible that Yaakov, the most highly admired of our patriarchs, was attracted by Rachel’s physical features, and that this is why the Torah reports matters in this sequence? Our sages called our attention to Yaakov’s message to his brother Esau in Genesis 32,4 where he told him עם לבן גרתי, ”I have remained a stranger while with Lavan, etc.” The numerical value of the letters in the word גרתי, equals 613, the number of commandments in the Torah. Yaakov reminded his brother that during the entire period that he spent in Charan he had observed the Torah, and therefore had little to fear. A man who could make such a statement certainly did not marry Rachel because he was smitten by lust to possess her shapely body. Anyone who observes the 613 commandments is well aware of the statement by Solomon in Proverbs 31,30 that שקר החן והבך היופי, that external attributes such as physical beauty or even a graceful walk, etc., are deceptive and offer no clue to the owner’s character. We must look further for the reason why the Torah made a point of mentioning Rachel’s physical attributes. I have heard from my revered teacher the Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Baer, of sainted memory, that we must understand this as follows. We know that the principal attribute used by Yaakov in serving the Lord is the attribute known as תפארת, harmony, located in the center of diagrams of the 10 emanations, ספירות. Any physical matter on earth, containing a “spark” from this emanation, is spiritually elevated by the presence of this spark, regardless of how secular it is by nature. Through this spark of the attribute of תפארת, its host is brought closer to its roots in the celestial regions, and engages in some degree of service to the Lord. We must look further for the reason why the Torah made a point of mentioning Rachel’s physical attributes. I have heard from my revered teacher the Maggid of Mezeritch Dov Baer, of sainted memory, that we must understand this as follows. We know that the principal attribute used by Yaakov in serving the Lord is the attribute known as תפארת, harmony, located in the center of diagrams of the 10 emanations, ספירות. Any physical matter on earth, containing a “spark” from this emanation, is spiritually elevated by the presence of this spark, regardless of how secular it is by nature. Through this spark of the attribute of תפארת, its host is brought closer to its roots in the celestial regions, and engages in some degree of service to the Lord. When the Torah (Genesis 39,13) reports that Joseph וינס ויצא החוצה, “fled and went “outside,” to escape the efforts of Potiphar’s wife to seduce him, he did so because he realized that that woman had used her mode of dress to lure him into a sinful relationship (Yuma 35). She had employed whatever holy spark she possessed in a reverse manner, instead of a means to come closer to her Creator. When Joseph escaped from her presence he took with him this “holy spark” thereby serving his Creator and paving the way for this “spark” that had escaped from the Shechinah to find its way back to its roots. It is known that Joseph, though, of course also serving the Lord, did not do so by using principally the attribute of harmony as his father was in the habit of doing. However, at this critical juncture, in his fateful seclusion with the wife of his master Potiphar, he resorted to the attribute of תפארת as the means to avoid sinning. It is also known that every tzaddik who serves the Lord, regardless of which of the attributes in the diagram of the emanations he uses as his primary model, will be granted a vision of the tzaddik who had made that attribute his primary role model in serving the Lord. When the Talmud Sotah 36 relates that at the critical moment before the seduction, Joseph had a vision of his father, it is a vision of the emanation of תפארת that the Talmud refers to as having been seen by Joseph.
whose way is perfect — This corresponds to “Yaakov, a man of perfection” (Genesis 25:27). [Yaakov] is the aspect of inner intelligence, as above. That is, to merit focusing on the inner intelligence of each thing—the aspect of “Yaakov, a man of perfection”—is achieved by means of the Torah. And this is:
And this is what our Sages said: “And you shall write them”—the writing shall be whole (Shabbat 103b). This corresponds to (Genesis 25:27), “Yaakov was a whole person.” For through him—“And he graced the city’s countenance”—there was a rectification of the coin.
Yitzchak is the wise son, for the name “Yitzchak” derives from the tzchok (joviality) and joy, and “A wise son makes his father rejoice” (Proverbs 10:1). Esav is the wicked son. Yaakov is the simple son, as is written (Genesis 25:27), “Yaakov was a simple man.” Yishmael is the son who does not know how to ask, for, as our Sages said: Yishmael repented (Bava Batra 16b). And the essence of repentance is the aspect of not knowing to ask—i.e., to repent and ask the Holy One for forgiveness regarding the unknown [sins]. This is the essence of repentance, as in (Psalms 69:5), “That which I did not steal, I must then return.”
… the pride of Yaakov — This is the vav in the middle of the aleph, the tent. It is the light that Moshe shone into Yehoshua, as is written (Genesis 25:27), “but Yaakov was a man of perfection who remained in the tents.”
“Let your eyes be on the field where they are reaping ….” (Ruth, 2:9) “Let your eyes be on the field” means the ability to expand outward. “Where they are reaping” means that surely it will be completed for the good. There is sowing, and there is reaping. “Sowing” is when one first accepts upon himself the yoke of the sovereignty of heaven. At that time he must constrict himself against running after the object of his lust. This is as it is said (in the third section of the Shema, concerning tsitsit, Bamidbar, 15:36), “so you will not seek out after your eyes and after your hearts.” On this it is said in the Tehilim (126:5), “those who sow in tears [will reap in joy].” “Tears” signifies constriction. This is understood in the laws of truma (tithes). The Gemara comments on the verse (Shemot, 22:28), “do not delay in giving the produce of your winepresses (Dima’acha the same as the word for tears, which Rashi says refers to required tithes).” There it says that even one grain of wheat that must be tithed is mixed into a measure of wheat that is exempt, then the whole measure must be tithed. (Hence the word for tear, Dima’a, signifies constriction and limitation.) This all concerns the time of sowing. However, in the time of reaping, when man’s heart is sufficiently refined, and he only desires that which is God’s will, then he is permitted to extend as befits his will. On this it says, “let your eyes be on the field where they reap,” meaning that in the time of reaping it is permitted to seek out after your eyes. (Or, where your desires lead you.) “Field” signifies expansion into one’s desires. This is why Eisav was described as (Bereshit, 25:27) “a man of the field,” for he went after his heart with all of his desires. However, before one has purified his heart, it is forbidden to expand outward. Then at the time when his heart is refined, it is called “the scent of a field that God has blessed.” (Which Yitzchak said of Yaakov when he blessed him.) (In this sense, “field” refers to the ‘energy field’ emanating form the heart – which extends much further than even the energy field of the brain. [Hagahot Peretz])
“… and there he built an altar to Hashem, and he called in the name of Hashem.” (Bereshit, 12:8) The first test Avraham Avinu encountered was “lech l’cha,” “get thee away.” This represents poverty and constriction (that the journey would cause), for it must be first clarified in man that he will not hold grudges against God. Rather he should ask of God that He not bring him into dire straits, God forbid, which would cause a man to go against the His ways. Poverty means one who is not happy with his portion but rather seeks excessive luxury, and for this he must ask from God that he not covet luxury. As it is said of Yaakov (Bereshit, 25:27), “Yaakov was a simple man,” meaning that he was complete in his soul without any desire for excesses, just accepting everything with love according to the will of the blessed Creator. This was the prayer of Avraham Avinu at his first test, that he be happy with his portion and not experience any dire poverty, and this is the meaning of “and he called in the name of God,” that poverty not divert him from the God’s path. Therefore when he returned from Egypt it was said, “and Avram was very heavy [with cattle and silver and gold]” (Bereshit, 13:2). After he was completely clarified concerning poverty through his first test, it is said, “very heavy,” an expression related to seriousness. In his soul he feared wealth, like the prayer of King Shlomo (Mishlei, 30:8), “give me neither poverty or riches.” And with Lot the expression kaved, “heavy,” is not used. Rather it says, “and Lot, who went with Avraham, had sheep,” etc., and “had” (haya) always signifies rejoicing, for he had no fear whatsoever. This was not so with Avraham where it is written “heavy,” because of his fear. Therefore it follows immediately with, “and he went on his journeys … and there he called in the name of Hashem” (Bereshit, 8:3–4), for here too his soul feared wealth, as mentioned above. Thus he was clarified in all these matters.
The Zohar writes concerning the goal of human completeness (Yitro 78b-79a): “You shall see the work of God that I shall do, it is awesome.” (Shemot, 34:10) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is the completion of everything.” … “It is awesome,” refers to Yaakov, (In the first of the eighteen benedictions we say, “God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, the Great, the Mighty, and the Awesome God.” “Awesome” (norah) signifies the main quality of the patriarch Yaakov, who thus represents a complete fear of the awesome power of God. It was Yaakov, after his dream of the ladder, who said, “how awesome (norah) is this place!” (Bereshit, 28:17) ) the ish tam, the man complete in all his attributes. (Generally, in the Zohar, Yaakov Avinu represents the Torah, or the sefirah of Tiferet, which is beauty, balance, and pride. Yaakov and Tiferet also represent completeness. See Bereshit, 25:27, “Yaakov was an ish tam (wholehearted, simple, complete), dwelling in tents.” Yaakov further represents completeness, in that all of his children were completely righteous, as opposed to Avraham who begat Yishmael and Yitskhak who begat Eisav.) Wherever you find completeness, it is called “awesome.” … The fear of God rests only in a place of completeness. (“A place of completeness” – see note 185.) And in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (51b): “You have established equity” (Tehillim, 99:4). This is the “middle bar” (Shemot, 26:28), (This was inserted in the midst of the boards comprising the walls of the tabernacle.) signifying the Holy One, blessed be He. (In the Zohar, the term “the Holy One,” refers to the sefirah of Tiferet, which corresponds to Yaakov, the Torah, and the trait of “completeness.”) Rabbi Yitzhak said, “This is Yaakov.” It is really all the same matter. If the king is complete in all aspects, clearly his knowledge is complete in all aspects. What is the way of this king? He shines continually as the sun, for he is complete. When he judges, he judges for the good and for the bad. When a wise person sees the king’s face shining, he says, “Certainly the king is complete in all aspects; his knowledge is complete and his completeness is above all others. In this shining light of his face I see that he is judging more than I see, yet it is covered.” … So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, is ever complete … For this reason, one must take great care to guard himself from Him. (Meaning to honor God and adhere to His commandments. ) Fear that is not rooted in the Torah can fall to the low level of the fear of deficiency, as mentioned above. This is as the Tikkunei Zohar, above, explained the verse, “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” However, the true fear of God, rooted in the Torah and based on faith, is called, “the completion of holy faith.” This is as it is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a): What is the meaning of the verse (Bereshit, 28:17), “And Yaakov feared, and said, how awesome (norah) is this place!” What did Yaakov see that he could only describe as dreadful and awe-inspiring (norah)? He saw the absolute completion of holy faith which existed in that place, just as it is above in the upper worlds. Every place that is at such a level of perfection is called, “awesome (norah).” (That is, perfect faith results in an exalted type of fear, more correctly known as “awe.”) The Torah is the straight path, and is called the “book of yashar,” (Yashar means straight, direct, even.) as it is written (Shmuel 2, 1:18), “Is it not written in the book of yashar?” The Torah comes from the middle column, (There are three columns in the array of the ten Sefirot – right, left, and middle. The middle column joins and synthesizes the opposing forces of right and left, .) and is whole, for one who grasps onto the Torah lacks nothing. This is because it straightens and balances a person’s attributes so that he is not steeped in any one extremity, which is what brings him to deficiency. If a person is subjugated to any one of his attributes, and thereby lacks the strength of mind to balance its power and prevent it from becoming extreme, then the attribute is deficient, even if it is a good trait that could otherwise be the source of good behavior. If this attribute is taken to its extremity, and then becomes an involuntary mode of behavior, without any reckoning or deliberation, then the attribute, albeit good, will be used in the wrong way. (This relates to the teaching of the Izhbitzer that there are no bad attributes, only bad applications of good attributes. For example, as R. Gershon Henokh explains here, kindness is neither an inherently good nor evil trait. Used correctly, it is good, but used improperly, as in the case of one who shows kindness to evil-doers, the trait becomes a sin. (This explains the Izhbitzer’s vindication of the sins of various biblical characters. According to him, they never intentionally sinned, but only mistimed the use of certain attributes.) The goal of the Torah is to produce perfected and balanced human beings (symbolized by Yaakov, Tiferet), who always know how to use their character traits in the right way, according to the needs of the situation. An imbalanced person, on the other hand, becomes stuck in a certain mode of behavior, and is unable to deviate from it, even when the situation calls for an alternative approach. This person is deficient in the other traits – a lack that engenders within him a fear of situations in which his innate character trait cannot apply. (See note 177, above.) According to Rav Mordechai Yosef, this person may objectify his lack in the form of an idol, which he will fear, though what he is actually fearing is his own, innate deficiency (his “dark side”). Thus, in praying to the idol to be saved from that which he fears, he is really only praying to his own fear and deficiency. This approach is most likely a Hasidic interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of the death of the seven Edomite kings (based upon Genesis 36). Each king symbolizes a different trait, or sefirah, used by God to create the world. Nonetheless, these traits were flawed, inasmuch as each one sought to be an exclusive conduit for God’s creative energy: be it Hesed (Love), Gevurah (Severity), or Tiferet (Mercy). This led to the “breaking of the vessels,” and the current, fallen nature of reality, which demands repair. Each “king” said, “I, and only I, will rule.” However, the verses in Genesis do not record the death of the eighth king, Hadar, and they also mention that he had a wife (Meheitavel). In other words, he was the only one who made room for another perspective; thus he did not “die” (i.e. the trait did not shatter), and represents the attribute of “tikkun,” or rectification. This led to the new emanation of the sefirot in which each one contains all ten: love contains wisdom; understanding contains balance, and so forth. In this way, by adapting and being flexible, the vessels could contain God’s light and the world could survive. In the psychological terms used by R. Gershon Henokh, a person on the level of the seven kings will exhibit an inflexible commitment to one particular character trait, and lack the ability to negotiate situations that are not suited to that attribute; whereas the rectified approach means using the whole variety of shades of love, fear, etc, and adapting and relating to the plethora of stimuli one encounters in the world.) Take, for example, the trait of kindness, which is clearly a good attribute. However, when it is used indiscriminately and bestowed generously upon cruel people, it becomes destructive; for there is no greater evil than acting kindly toward the cruel. (This is based on the aphorisim of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 7:16): “One who is kind to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind.” ) One who errs in this way upholds and even strengthens destructive forces in the world. Clearly, every attribute must be used with clear and conscious deliberation, at the proper time and in the proper place. In this way, he may “establish equity” (As in the verse from Tehillim, 99:4, cited above. ) in every aspect of his behavior, according to the approach of the Torah. Then, he will be complete and lack nothing. (Lacking nothing, he will be free from the lower level of fear. His actions will all be balanced and in line with God’s will. His fear of God will be like that of Yaakov – norah – an expression of awe and faith.) Above all, the greatest deficiency a person can have is a lack of emunah (faith). On this it is written in the Zohar (Vayikra, 16b): “And it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty…” (Vayikra, 5:23). Because of this, God withdraws from everything; then God, so to speak, does not exist in creation, and Knesset Yisrael (Knesset Yisrael means the “Congregation of the people of Israel,” and is synonymous with the Shechinah, the sefirah of Malchut, the attribute of faith, and the Divine presence which rests upon the Israelite nation. One could say, “God/the Shechinah/faith is hidden from that place.” ) has left her place. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 7:28), “Emunah has perished.” That means that Knesset Yisrael has perished. (Meaning, separated from her place.) Of this it is said (Tehillim 92:3), “To speak of Your emunah in the nights.” (“Speaking of your faith at night,” means that if one has true faith, then even after the sin, when man sits in darkness, so to speak, he can still amend his ways and return to God. )
[Moreover,] regarding the verse, (Joshua 2:12) “And you shall give me a sign (Ot-אות) of truth,” it states in the Zohar, (Zohar III 2a; Also see Sefer HaMaamarim 5565, Vol. 1, pg. 368.) “This is the letter (Ot-אות) Vav-ו.” This is the aspect of Yaakov who is the middle line, “The middle beam… [that passes through from one end to the other”]. (Exodus 26:28; Also see Zohar II 175b. Similarly, it states (Genesis 25:27), “And the boys grew: and Esav was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; while Yaakov was a pure man (Ish Tam), dwelling in tents.” It is explained (Zohar I 146a) that the word “tents - Ohalim” is plural and teaches us that the aspect of Yaakov (Tiferet) dwells between the tent of Avraham (Chessed) and the tent of Yitzchak (Gevurah).)
ויגדלו הנערים, “the lads grew up;” Rashi comments on this statement that they had attained the age of 13 at this point. During the years prior to this they did not show signs of developing radically different from one another. Until that age they had both been tutored by their father and been trained in how to become wholesome personalities, as pointed out in Bereshit Rabbah 63,10. It is pointed out there that as of that age the father may thank the Lord that he has been relieved of the burden of raising his children. [Every father nowadays recites this blessing at his son’s bar mitzvah. Ed.] The deeper meaning of this is that from that day on a father is no longer held accountable for sins committed by his children. You might object by arguing that at the time of the sale of the birthright the children must have been at least 15 years old, seeing that our sages interpret the dish of lentils that Yaakov had cooked as having been the meal offered on the occasion of their grandfather Avraham being buried at the age of one hundred and seventy five, and they added that the reason that Avraham did not live to be one hundred and eighty, was to spare him the anguish of seeing his grandson Esau going astray spiritually. We know from the Torah that Avraham had been one hundred years of age when Yitzchok was born, so that at his death the children of Yitzchok must have been 15 years of age. The answer given by the midrash to this argument is that Esau had succeeded in keeping his wicked deeds secret or misrepresenting them as good deeds for two years.
איש יודע ציד, “his vocation was to use trickery to achieve his ends.” Trapping and hunting wild beasts cannot be done successfully without first deceiving those beasts[, as man is physically weaker than they are]. The expression is also used by the Torah as Yitzchok, in due course, would ask Esau: הביאה לי ציד, “bring me some venison.” The Torah therefore had to tell us first that Esau had become a hunter of venison by profession.
יושב אהלים, “according to the plain meaning this means that Yaakov tended sheep i.e. slept in tents as the sheep graze where they find meadows. Compare Genesis 4,20, אבי יושב אוהל ומקנה, “the founder of nomads tending sheep and cattle.” Another reason for describing Yaakov in such terms is that he was going to make his livelihood as a shepherd while at Lavan for 20 years.
ויגדלו הנערים, “the lads grew up;” according to Rashi and the Midrash, as long as the twins had not attained the age of 13 one could not tell their characters apart. As soon as they reached that age it became evident that they pursued totally different objectives in life. The matter can be compared to thorn bushes growing up next to myrtles. Until they have developed, they look alike and neither emits any fragrance. After a while, the fragrance emitted from the myrtle distinguishes it drastically from the thorns of the thorn bushes. You might question that according to Rashi, Esau was only thirteen years old when he already chose to worship idols, while the same Rashi claims that when Esau sold his birthright he was `15 years old on the day of Avraham’s burial, and he claims that Avraham died five years earlier than originally decreed by G–d to spare him watching his grandson become an idolater; how can these two statements be reconciled, if Esau became an idolater already at the age of thirteen? This question has actually been raised in the Jerusalem Talmud! The answer given there is that Esau hid his idolatry for two years so that during the last two years of his life, Avraham had not become aware and grieved by it. As soon as Avraham died, Esau no longer hid the fact that he had become a heretic.
A CUNNING HUNTER. Esau was constantly practicing deception, for most animals are trapped through trickery. (Scripture’s purpose in telling us at this point that Esau was a hunter is to inform us that Esau was a cunning and deceptive individual (Weiser).) Jacob was his antithesis, because he was a man of integrity. (The Hebrew ish tam is translated by J.P.S. as a quiet man. However, according to I.E., as Jacob was the antithesis of Esau, the deceiver, the term tam should be rendered as honest, sound, as in that man was whole-hearted (tam) and upright, and one that feared God (Job 1:1).) They also differed in that Esau was a man of the field and Jacob a man dwelling in tents. It is possible that the meaning of dwelling in tents is like dwell in tents and have cattle (Gen. 4:20). (It does not meant that Jacob was a homebody, but that he was a keeper of herds and flocks. Jacob set up tents in order to be close to the flocks (Weiser).)
ויגדלו הנערים, “the lads grew up.” According to Bereshit Rabbah 63,10 after Esau attained the age of 13 he frequented houses of idolatry while Yaakov frequented Torah academies. Our sages in the same Midrash also said that Rivkah had experienced similar experiences during her pregnancy. Whenever she passed either one of the aforementioned institutions one of the fetuses within her seemed anxious to emerge. There is a verse in Jeremiah 1,5 בטרם אצרך בבטן ידעתיך, “even before I formed you in the womb I already appointed you (as a prophet).” From this verse we see that distinct prenatal tendencies are not mere figments of our sages’ imagination. Psalms 58,4 זרו רשעים מרחם, “the wicked are defiant even while in the womb,” confirms this piece of psychological insight.
ויהי עשו יודע ציד איש שדה, ויעקב איש תם יושב אהלים, “Esau became a hunter, a man of the field, whereas Yaakov was a simple man a dweller in tents.” This verse conveys the fact that though the brothers were twins they had totally different interests in life. Esau pursued the material pleasures available in life whereas Yaakov was of a philosophical bent. This is why the Torah characterises the difference in the two phrases that Esau was a man of the field, i.e. a man dedicated to the earth, the physical. This is why later on he is called אדום, a word closely reminiscent of אדמה, earth. It is a well known fact that if man dedicates himself to the pursuit of the pleasures which life has to offer, this estranges him to G’d and makes it difficult for him to serve the Lord at the same time as he is busy pursuing his major concerns. Making earthiness a priority must result in making godliness a secondary concern. We see this best reflected when Esau sold the birthright and the Torah (25,34) describes this in a few words: ויאכל וישת ויקם וילך, ויבז עשו את הבכורה, “he ate, he drank, he arose and went of his way; thus Esau demonstrated his disdain for the birthright.” Anyone who is characterised by this negative virtue will eventually find himself deceived. [I believe the author means that sooner or later such people will be disappointed in what they had expected out of life. Ed.] In the case of Esau we find him describing himself as deceived twice when he said to his father (27, 36) “and he (Yaakov) has tricked me twice, he took my birthright and now he has taken my blessing.” Whatever pleasures and satisfactions such people do experience are only temporary and the time will come when they rue their former lifestyle and they cry out bitterly when they realize that “life” has deceived them. This is what Solomon had in mind when he said in Proverbs 5,3-4: “for the lips of an immoral woman drip honey; her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.” This is precisely the lifestyle of Esau and all those who support him. The philosophy and lifestyle of Yaakov are diametrically opposed to this, for someone characterized as איש תם and as יושב אהלים is the antithesis of someone described as יודע ציד, איש שדה. Not only this, whatever Esau was willing to give up, i.e. to sell, Yaakov was anxious to buy. When the Torah speaks about the dish of lentils, something round, always returning to its beginning, this merely illustrates the concept of the pursuit of the pleasures of this world. This physical universe and all the phenomena in it are constantly being recycled, as Solomon said already at the beginning of Kohelet: “there is nothing new under the sun.” What is perceived as progress, eventually is seen to be merely a retread of something old. Yaakov who had perceived this was therefore anxious to sell such “merchandise,” in return for something which promised enduring progress. The instrument of securing this spiritual progress is the birthright, as it represents the privilege of performing service for the Lord in sacred precincts. Know that seeing the Torah had described both Esau and Yaakov already as איש, i.e. adult, mature in years, it is clear that they must have been at least 13 years of age at the time Yaakov bought the birthright from his twin brother. If, as the Midrash told us, Avraham died five years early in order not to experience how Esau displayed his disdain for spiritual values, this means that the brothers were 15 years old at the time the sale of the birthright took place. Avraham was 160 years old at the time Yaakov and Esau were born. He died at the age of 175, i.e. at a time when his grandchildren were 15 years of age. There is also an allusion in our verse that people such as Esau are slated for Gehinom whereas people such as Yaakov are destined for Gan Eden. We read in Bereshit Rabbah 65,22 that when Yaakov entered Yitzchak’s room in order to receive the blessing, Gan Eden entered with him. On the other hand, when Esau entered the same room a little later, Gehinom entered with him. We have a Midrash Tanchuma Parshat Tzav, 2 which expresses a similar sentiment when the author writes that the words היא העולה, ”it is the burnt-offering” (Leviticus 6,2), are a reference to a nation which is totally אדומית, wrapped up in earthly concerns, and which elevates itself as is written in Ovadiah 4, “even if you rise as high as the eagle I will bring you down, על מוקדה, on the site of the altar where the fire is burning.” The word is a reference to the fires of Gehinom in the hereafter. The words of Daniel 7,11 apply to such people ויהבת ליקדת אשא, “and consigned to the fire’s burning.”
ויעקב איש תם, “and Yaakov was a straightforward man.” Actually, the Torah should have written: ויעקב היה איש תם. This would have corresponded to the line ויהי עשו איש יודע ציד, or ויהי הבל רועה צאן (Genesis 4,2). On the other hand, there too Kayin’s vocation is described in the terms וקין היה עובד אדמה, “Kayin had become a tiller of the soil.” Why these changes in describing the development of the respective people and their vocations? The expression היה, “he was,” or “he had become,” is used in connection with Esau as he had been called “Esau” already at birth and he remained Esau until the day he died. Just as Esau’s name did not change so his character did not undergo any change either. Not so Yaakov, who eventually qualified for the name Israel (Genesis 35,10). This is why the word היה, or ויהי would not have been appropriate in connection with describing his vocation. When G’d changed his name, He emphasised the permanence of that change by using the very word יהיה, (a form of הויה) which the Torah had avoided using earlier. Furthermore, actually the Torah should have written: ויעקב איש אמת, “and Yaakov was a man of truth.” His principal characteristic was אמת, “truth.” This is what Michah was at pains to point out when he said (Michah 7,20) תתן אמת ליעקב, “Grant truth to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham, etc.” Instead the Torah added the word תם to describing Yaakov as a יושב אהלים, “a dweller in tents,” a student of Torah, in order to already hint at that quality אמת by attributing to him two of the three letters in that word. The letters תם also allude to the quality of being מכריע, reconciling apparent contradictions and deciding on a certain path. The quality is known as תיומת. We encounter the word in connection with the adhesion between two leaves in the Lulav. The quality is one which reconciles opposites and pursues a middle of the way between the two extremes. In this instance Yaakov combined the major characteristics of his grandfather Avraham, i.e. חסד, love, and the major characteristic of his father i.e. פחד or גבורה, and he moulded them into a viable combination. This is why he succeeded in raising 13 children all of whom remained true to his heritage. You are aware that the numerical value of the letters in the name Yaakov (182) when combined with 4 letters of the Ineffable Name (each counted as 1) amount to 186. At the same time, the numerical value of the letters in that Ineffable Name when squared also amount to 186. This may be the reason why Rabbi Akivah said that קוף=the name of G’d.
יושב אהלים, “a dweller in tents.” The plain meaning of the text is that Yaakov spent his time in the tents of Shem and Ever, i.e. in their academies. A kabbalistic approach to the words: The reason the Torah speaks about the word “tents” in the plural, i.e. אהלים, seeing hat most people dwell in only one tent at a time, is that Yaakov demonstrated that one could live in the tent of the “higher” regions and in the tent of the “lower” regions of the universe simultaneously; We have been taught already (Bereshit Rabbah 68,12) that the countenance of Yaakov is engraved on the throne of G’d. In view of this, the expression יושב אהלים (404) is equivalent to the numerical value of the words יושב הכסא, “The One who sits on the Throne.”
ויגדלו הנערים, as soon as they grew up their activities diverged completely from one another, one concentrating on mundane activities, activities which showed immediate profitable results, the other concentrating on the acquisition of knowledge, wisdom, i.e. abstract matters. One was an extrovert, at home in the fields, mountains, etc, whereas the other was an introvert as reflected in the term יושב אהלים.
אהלים, the reason why the Torah wrote this word in the plural mode is because Yaakov studied with any wise man he came across. He was indiscriminating in this regard, being totally devoid of deceit or evil, wanting only to amass knowledge.
יודע ציד, hunting venison and retrieving the animal to serve as food.
יושב אהלים, tending his father’s flocks as we explained already in connection with 4,20 יושב אהל ומקנה.
ויגדלו… ויהי עשו AND THEY GREW … AND ESAU WAS — So long as they were young they could not be distinguished by what they did and no one paid much attention to their characters, but when they reached the age of thirteen, one went his way to the houses of learning and the other went his way to the idolatrous temples (Genesis Rabbah 63:10).
יודע ציד A CUNNING HUNTER literally, understanding hunting — understanding how to entrap and deceive his father with his mouth. He would ask him, “Father how should salt and straw be tithed”? (Genesis Rabbah 63:10) (although he knew full well that these are not subject to the law of tithe). Consequently his father believed him to be very punctilious in observing the divine ordinances.
איש שדה A MAN OF THE FIELD — Explain it literally (i.e., not in a Midrashic manner): a man without regular occupation, hunting beasts and birds with his bow.
תם A PLAIN MAN — not expert in all these things: as his heart was his mouth (his thoughts and his words tallied). One who is not ingenious in deceiving people is called תם plain, simple.
יושב אהלים DWELLING IN TENTS — the tent of Shem and the tent of Eber (Genesis Rabbah 63:10).
ויגדלו וגו׳. Unsere Weisen, die nirgends Anstand nehmen, auf die kleinen und großen Irrtümer und Schwächen in der Geschichte unserer großen Väter aufmerksam und sie dadurch erst recht lehrreich für uns zu machen (siehe das zu Kap.12, 10 Bemerkte), geben auch hier durch eine Bemerkung einen Fingerzeig, wie der schneidende Gegensatz unter den Enkeln Abrahams nicht sowohl in der Anlage, als in der fehlerhaften Erziehung seinen eigentlichen Ursprung genommen haben dürfte. So lange sie klein waren, achtete man nicht auf die in ihnen schlummernde Verschiedenheit (siehe V. 24), ließ beiden eine ganz gleiche lehrende und erziehende Behandlung angedeihen und vergaß die große, große Erziehungslehre: חנוך לנער על פי דרכו וגוי, jedes Kind nach der in ihm schlummernden Anlage und der daraus sich für die Zukunft entwickelnden Eigentümlichkeit für das eine reine Menschliche und Jüdische zu erziehen! Die große jüdische Aufgabe ist eins und einfach nach ihrer Grundbedeutung, aber in ihrer Verwirklichung so reich und mannigfach wie die Verschiedenheit der Menschenanlagen und die dadurch bedingte Mannigfaltigkeit des Lebens.
Als Vater Jakob die Stämme unseres künftigen Volkes in seinen Söhnen um sein Lager erblickte, da umstanden ihn nicht nur künftige Priester und Lehrer, da stand der Levitenstamm, der Königsstamm, der Kaufmannsstamm, der Bauernstamm, der Kriegerstamm, da stand das Volk in allen seinen mannigfaltigsten Eigentümlichkeiten und Lebensentwicklungen vor seinem Geistesblick, und alle segnete er sie, und איש כברכתו ברך אותם, und jeden nach seiner Eigentümlichkeit, mit und in seiner Eigentümlichkeit segnete er sie. Denn der mit Abraham gestiftete Gottesbund will ein ganzes, frisches, volles Volksleben für Gott gewinnen, ein ganzes Volksleben mit allen seinen mannigfaltigen Lebensgestaltungen für die eine große Aufgabe gewinnen: לשמר דרך ד׳ לעשות צדקה ומשפט. Da soll die Kraft und der Mut nicht minder wie der Gedanke und das Gefühl ihre für Gott arbeitenden Träger haben, und alle in den verschiedensten Wegen des Berufs sollen die eine große Gesamtaufgabe lösen.
Eben darum aber muß jeder "על פי דרכו" nach der aus seiner Anlage voraussichtlichen Lebenszukunft auf verschiedenem Wege für das eine große Ziel erzogen werden. Einen Jakob und Esau auf derselben Schulbank, unter denselben Lebensgewöhnungen, in gleicher Weise etwa für ein studierendes, denkendes Leben unterrichten und erziehen zu wollen, hieße: mit Sicherheit den einen verderben. Ein Jakob wird mit immer steigender Lust aus der Quelle der Weisheit und Wahrheit schöpfen lernen, ein Esau aber kaum die Zeit erwarten können, wo er die alten Bücher, zugleich aber auch eine ganze Lebensbestimmung hinter den Rücken wirft, die er nur einseitig und in einer Weise kennen gelernt, für welche er in seinem ganzen Naturell keine Anlage findet.
Hätten Isaak und Rebekka in Esau hineingeschaut und sich früh gefragt, wie kann selbst ein Esau, wie kann die Kraft und der Mut und die Gewandtheit, die in ihm schlummert, zur Betätigung im Dienste Gottes gewonnen, und der künftige גבור nicht ein גבור ציד, sondern in Wahrheit ein ׳גבור לפני ד werden: es hätten Jakob und Esau mit ihren ganz verschiedenen Anlagen doch im Geiste und im Leben Zwillingsbrüder bleiben, es hätte früh schon Esaus Schwert mit Jakobs Geist sich vermählen können, und wer weiß, welch eine andere Gestaltung dann die Gänge der Zeiten genommen hätten. So aber: ויגדלו הנערים, erst als die Knaben Männer wurden, war man überrascht, aus einem Mutterschoße, aus derselben Pflege, Erziehung und Schule so völlige Gegensätze hervorgehen zu sehen. Vergl. Jeschurun Vlll, S. 153 u. ff.
Sowie bei Jakob das אש תם die Gemütsart, und יושב אהלים die Berufsart bedeutet, so ist auch wohl bei Esau das איש יודע ציד: die Bezeichnung der Gemütsart, und איש שדה: der Beruf.
Wir haben schon bei Nimrod, als dessen geistiger Erbe Esau erscheint, den Begriff צוד in seiner Verwandtschaft mit סור betrachtet. Wie סור das in sich Tragen eines verschwiegenen Planes bis zur Zeit der Ausführung bedeutet, so erhält צוד nur noch die Nuance der Schwierigkeiten überwindenden Ausführung. Der צַיָד muß es verstehen, äußerlich ganz unschuldig zu erscheinen und den Gedanken des Verderbens still im Herzen zu tragen. Es ist die vollendete Übung der Tücke, in einem anderen Gebiete: der Diplomatie. Esau verstand die Jagd, die Kunst der Selbstbeherrschung im lauernden Selbstinteresse. Die ganze oben angedeutete, seinem Naturell so widerstrebende Erziehungsweise, die ihm geworden, die sein eigentliches Naturell nur zur Zeit abwartenden Geduld zurückdrängte, konnte einer solchen Richtung nur Nahrung gewähren. Diese Sinnesart führte ihn dazu, איש שדה zu werden. Gerade dadurch, daß man ihn früher an die "Schulbank" geschmiedet hatte, war er nun jetzt aus Widerwillen ganz draußen. Dem gegenüber war Jakob אש תם, ein Mensch, der nur eine Richtung kennt und dieser sich ganz hingibt, in seinem ganzen Wesen nur eins. Er ging auf in das Streben, als Abrahams Enkel, Isaaks Sohn, seine Aufgabe zu erfüllen, und deshalb wurde er ein יושב אהלים, ein Mensch, der die höchste Aufgabe in Lösung der in Menschenkreisen zur Übung und Entfaltung kommenden Erkenntnis und Erfüllung — sowie er als Mann zuerst dort, im Menschenkreise, die höchste Offenbarung des göttlichen Waltens erkannte und lehrte — יעקב קראו בית.
איש שדה, an expert farmer.
יושב אהלים, the plural mode indicates that the Torah speaks of two distinctly different kinds of tents; one is the tent used by shepherds, the other the tent described as בל-יצען described in Isaiah 33,20, (a reference to Jerusalem or the Temple). The function of that “tent” is to help people come closer to G’d and to gain insight into His ways and as a result to become holy, inspired by His glory.
As long as they were little... Rashi is answering the question: [Did not v. 23 teach us] that they were separated already from the womb, one to his wickedness and the other to his wholesomeness? Thus Rashi explains, “As long as they were little...” I.e., even though Eisov was doing evil, people assumed it was due to childishness and did not recognize who he was until he turned thirteen. You might object: Eisov did not fall into bad ways until he was fifteen, which is why Avraham’s life was shortened by five years, as Rashi explains on v. 30. The answer is: During those two years [between thirteen and fifteen], Eisov was secretly wicked. Later, he did so publicly.
Entrap and deceive his father with his mouth... [Rashi knows this] because it says יודע ציד, implying that it requires wisdom. Otherwise it would mean the same as, “A man of the field.” Furthermore, [Rashi knows this] because איש ציד is the opposite of איש תם, just as איש שדה is the opposite of יושב אוהלים. And if איש ציד meant trapping animals, it would not be the opposite of איש תם. A wholesome man could also trap animals!
How is salt tithed... Since these things need not be tithed even Rabbinically, [Eisov’s question implied that] he observed mitzvos meticulously. [You might ask:] Why does Rashi say that Eisov deceived Yitzckok [specifically] in the mitzvah of tithes? The answer is: Since it is written expressly that Avraham observed this mitzvah, as it says (14:20), “[Avram] gave him a tenth of everything,” it is certain that his descendants continued to keep this mitzvah. For it says so about Yitzchok (26:12): “A hundred-fold,” [which was for the purpose of tithing; see Rashi there]. And it says so about Yaakov (28:22): “I will surely give a tenth to You.” (Kitzur Mizrachi)
Who uses his bow to hunt animals and birds. It does not mean he worked in the fields, for then it should say: “Man of the soil,” as it did for Noach (9:20). Or it should say: “Worker of the soil,” as it did for Kayin (4:2).
The lads grew, and the prophecy that they would follow different paths indeed came to pass. Alongside their joint family obligations in housekeeping and agriculture, their diverse natures began to show: Esau was a man who knew hunting, an adventurer who was dissatisfied with domestic tasks and ventured out to hunt animals, a man of the large field, of the open plains. And Jacob was a guileless man, uninterested in the ruses of hunting, in ambushes and setting traps. 5 He led a sedentary lifestyle, living in tents. Alternatively, the verse could mean that he was a shepherd, expert in tending flocks, as can be seen from later events in his life. 6
ויגדלו הנערים, “the lads grew up, etc.” According to Rashi it was not evident until they reached the age of 13 that their actions were noticeably different, one from the other. This was so in spite of the prediction that they would be distinctly different from one another already from birth, i.e.ממעיך יפרדו. To the outsider it was impossible to tell which of the two was the righteous son and which was the sinner. Rashi’s commentary is difficult in that it describes the age of 13 as the one at which it became plain that Esau was the son disloyal to his father’s teachings, as according to our Midrashim the reason that Avraham died at 175 instead of living to the age of 180, was to spare him the anguish of seeing one of his grandchildren rejecting his teachings. If Esau became delinquent at 13, Avraham would only have been 178 years old at that time. There is a Midrash according to which Yitzchok spent 2 years in Gan Eden immediately after the Akeydah, years which are not included when we combine the various periods of his life. According to such a count, Avraham would have been 162 years old at the birth of Yaakov and Esau, and when these boys reached the age of 13, Avraham would have been 175 years old, so that he would have died before becoming aware of Esau, his grandson, rejecting his spiritual heritage If we consider that on occasion, a single day in a year can be equivalent to an entire year, -such as when a King ascends the throne on the last day of the month of Adar, so that the following day is considered as part of the second year of his reign, since in Jewish law the calendar year for kings commences on the first day of Nissan, then by allowing for such an occurrence at the beginning of Yitzchok’s life, and something similar at the beginning of Avraham’s life, we would not have to resort to the Midrash which describes Yitzchok as spending 2 years in Gan Eden in a state of suspended animation from the point of view of calendar calculations.- Even this calculation involves contradictions, seeing that G’d promised the righteous את מספר ימיך אמלא, “I will make the days of your life’s year full,” i. e. no year of the life of a person such as Yitzchok or Avraham could possibly contain only a single day.
“When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter” [25:27]. It cannot be recognized when people are children if they will become pious or evil. However, when they became thirteen years old, Esau went to the house of idols and Jacob went to the house of study. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:27.)
“A skillful hunter” [25:27]. Esau was a deceiver and he deceived people with his mouth. He asked his father how one tithed salt and straw. Isaac thought that Esau was very pious. He even tithed salt and straw. (Ibid.)
“Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp” [25:27]. Jacob was not a scoundrel and he could not deceive. He studied Torah day and night. Isaac loved Esau because he brought him meat from the hunt, and Rebecca loved Jacob. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:27–28.)
After this mighty man (In several places - e.g., Bava Batra 15a and Rosh HaShanah 11a - our Sages referred to Abraham with this expression.) was weaned, (Nedarim 32a states: "Abraham was three when he recognized his Creator." Although the Rambam states that it was not until Abraham was forty that he gained true awareness of God, his process of search began at age three.) he began to explore and think. Though he was a child, he began to think [incessantly] throughout the day and night, wondering: How is it possible for the sphere to continue to revolve without having anyone controlling it? (Note the Midrash HaGadol (Parashat Lech Lecha), which explains that Abraham questioned: Why should we bow down to idols, gods that we ourselves make? We should bow to the earth, for it produces crops that sustain us. Therefore, he began to worship the earth. Then he saw that the earth needs rain, and began to worship the sky. Later, he saw that the most brilliant creation in the sky was the sun, and began to worship it. Afterwards, when the sun set and the moon rose, he began to worship the moon. When the sun rose the next morning, he did not know what to do. He did not see which was stronger: the sun or the moon. So Abraham continued in a quandary, questioning who was the true God.) Who is causing it to revolve? Surely, it does not cause itself to revolve. (Interestingly, in Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1:5, the Rambam uses the same concept as a proof for the existence of God. He had no teacher, nor was there anyone to inform him. -Bereshit Rabbah 61:1 elaborates on the lack of instruction that was available to Abraham. Note the Ra'avad and the Kessef Mishneh, who question why Noach, Shem, and Ever (all of whom were alive at this time) did not try to nullify the worship of idols and why they did not instruct Abraham. They offer two explanations. The first is that they were afraid and hid from the idolaters. (See Midrash Tehillim 118. Note, however, teachings which state that these righteous men also protested the worship of false gods, Tanna Devei Eliyahu Rabba, Chapters 20 and 25.) Alternatively, Shem and Ever lived in the land of Canaan, while Abraham lived in Babylon. The question remains, however, why did Abraham not seek out these righteous men (Kinat Eliyahu).) He had no teacher, nor was there anyone to inform him. Rather, he was mired in Ur Kasdim among the foolish idolaters. His father, mother, and all the people [around him] were idol worshipers, (Indeed, our Sages relate that his father had a shop where idols were sold.) and he would worship with them. (See Bereshit Rabbah 39:8, which states that Abraham was always worried that God would not absolve him from his sin of worshiping idols.) [However,] his heart was exploring and [gaining] understanding. Ultimately, he appreciated the way of truth (an awareness of God) and understood the path of righteousness (an ethical approach to behavior, which reflected his spiritual awareness) through his accurate comprehension. He realized that there was one God who controlled the sphere, that He created everything, and that there is no other God among all the other entities. (These are the fundamental principles of the Jewish faith, as explained in Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1:1-6.) He knew that the entire world was making a mistake. What caused them to err was their service of the stars and images, which made them lose awareness of the truth. (Their worship of idols dulled their sensitivity to spirituality to the point where they lost all awareness of God.) Abraham was forty years old when he became aware of his Creator. (Note Bereshit Rabbah 64:4, which mentions two opinions regarding when Abraham became aware of God: one when he was three and one when he was forty eight. It is possible that the Rambam's text of the Midrash read "forty" instead of "forty eight." As explained above, the opinions are not necessarily contradictory. Abraham's process of inquiry could have begun at age three, while at forty he gained greater understanding, and at forty eight, he achieved an even higher level of awareness. Avot 5:21 states: "At forty, one achieves understanding." By associating Abraham's apreciation of the Creator with this age, the Rambam implies that this awareness can come as a product of our own thought and meditation.) When he recognized and knew Him, (Bereshit Rabbah 39:1 explains Abraham's process of thought with a parable. A person saw a brightly lit palace. He wondered: Could this palace exist without an owner? Immediately, the owner revealed himself to him. Similarly, Abraham wondered: Is it possible for the world to exist without one who controls? Immediately, God revealed himself to him.) he began to formulate replies to the inhabitants of Ur Kasdim and debate with them, telling them that they were not following a proper path. (by serving the stars and idols.) He broke their idols and began to teach the people that it is fitting to serve only the God of the world. (Our Sages relate that after breaking his father's idols, he put a stick in the hands of the largest idol. When his father asked him why he destroyed the idols, he replied that he didn't do it; the idol holding the stick did. His father curtly dismissed his reply: "That idol is only metal. It cannot do anything," he roared at his son. "If so, why do you worship it?" Abraham replied.) To Him [alone] is it fitting to bow down, sacrifice, and offer libations, so that the people of future [generations] would recognize Him. (The Rambam's words imply that the value of offering sacrifices at this time (before the Torah commanded that they be offered) was not as the acts of service of God, but in the educational effect they had on the people and the awareness of God they inspired.) [Conversely,] it is fitting to destroy and break all the images, lest all the people err concerning them, like those people who thought that there are no other gods besides these [images]. When he overcame them through the strength of his arguments, the king (Nimrod (Pesachim 118a) desired to kill him - by tossing him into a burning furnace. He was [saved through] a miracle - Interestingly, when the Rambam lists the ten trials that Abraham endured in his Commentary on the Mishnah, Avot 5:3, he does not mention this episode at all. and left for Charan. - See Genesis 11:31. In his Commentary on the Mishnah (ibid.), the Rambam mentions Abraham's exile from his native land as the first of his ten trials. [There,] - he did not encounter any of the formal opposition he had faced in Babylonia and he began to call in a loud voice to all people and inform them that there is one God in the entire world. He would go out and call to the people, gathering them in city after city and country after country - On the phrase, Genesis 12:5, "the people they had gathered in Charan," Bereshit Rabbah 39:21 comments, "These are the converts they made. Abraham would convert the men and Sarah would convert the women." until he came to the land of Canaan - See Genesis, Chapter 12, which describes Abraham's journeys within the land of Canaan. proclaiming [God's existence the entire time] - as [Genesis 21:33] states: "And He called there in the name of the Lord, the eternal God." - Sotah 10a states: "Do not read 'And he called.' Read 'And he had others call' - i.e., Abraham motivated others to become aware of God and call out to Him. When the people would gather around him and ask him about his statements, he would explain [them] to each one of them according to their understanding, until they turned to the path of truth. Ultimately, thousands and myriads gathered around him. These are the men of the house of Abraham. - The Rabbis question the fate of all these people. We do not find any mention of the perpetuation of their faith in God. Perhaps the cultural influences of the surrounding environment were too powerful. If the children of Israel themselves turned to idol worship after two generations in Egypt, could any more be expected from these individuals? He planted in their hearts this great fundamental principle, composed texts about it - Most commentaries point to Avodah Zarah 14b, which relates that Abraham composed a four-hundred-chapter text against the worship of false gods. Kinat Eliyahu notes that here, the Rambam is not referring to the negation of idol worship, but to the propagation of the faith in one God. Therefore, he suggests that the reference is to the Kabbalistic tradition (Zohar, Vol. II, 275b) that Sefer Yetzirah was composed by Abraham. (See also Kiryat Melech.) and taught it to Isaac, his son. - Note Genesis 18:19: "I have known him that he will command his children and household after him, and they will keep the way of God...." Isaac also taught others and turned [their hearts to God]. He also taught Jacob - Jacob also studied under Shem and Ever (See Rashi, Genesis 25:27, Bereishit Rabbah 25:16). and appointed him as a teacher - i.e., he and not Esau would convey the spiritual heritage of Abraham. [Jacob] taught others and turned [the hearts] of all those who gathered around him [to God]. He also taught all of his children. - In contrast to Abraham and Isaac, all of Jacob's children were righteous. (See Hilchot Kri'at Shema 1:4.) He selected Levi and appointed him as the leader. - The Torah itself does not mention Jacob's selection of Levi as a leader. A number of sources in the oral tradition (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 39; Shemot Rabbah 15:27), however, reveal this concept. He established him [as the head of] the academy - The Midrash Tanchuma (Vayigash) interprets Genesis 46:28: "And Jacob sent Judah before him," to mean that he charged him with founding a yeshiva. Similarly, Yoma 28b states that this Talmudic academy continued throughout the Egyptian exile. to teach them the way of God - Note Hilchot De'ot 1:7, which explains that the expression, "the way of God," refers to ethics, emulating the qualities of spirit which God has revealed. and observe the mitzvot of Abraham. - In this context, note the Rambam's statements in Hilchot Melachim 9:1. After relating the seven universal laws given to Noach and his descendants, the Rambam states: In addition to these, Abraham was commanded regarding circumcision. He instituted the morning prayer. Isaac separated tithes and added another prayer service towards evening. Jacob added the prohibition against eating the gid hanasheh, the "displaced nerve," and instituted the evening prayers. [Jacob] commanded his sons that the leadership should not depart from the descendants of Levi - Thus, the mantle of leadership passed to Kehat and then to Amram, Moses' father. so that the teachings would not be forgotten. This concept proceeded and gathered strength among the descendants of Jacob and those who collected around them, until there became a nation within the world which knew God. - This describes the initial period of the Jews' stay in Egypt, when they prospered both spiritually and materially. When the Jews extended their stay in Egypt - The entire period of the Egyptian exile lasted 210 years. As long as Jacob's sons were living, the Jews preserved the heritage of their fathers and were treated with honor by the Egyptians. The last of Jacob's sons to die was Levi. After his death, the spiritual level of the Jews descended. Levi lived 127 years. He was 44 when he entered Egypt. Thus, this spiritual descent occurred 83 years after the Jews entered Egypt. however, they learned from the [Egyptians'] deeds and began worshiping the stars as they did - When the Jews adopted Egyptian values - as a reflection of their spiritual state - they were enslaved by the Egyptians. with the exception of the tribe of Levi, who clung to the mitzvot of the patriarchs - the tribe of Levi never served false gods. - The tribe of Levi was also the only tribe which perpetuated the mitzvah of circumcision (Sifre, Berachah). As a result of their spiritual fortitude, the tribe of Levi was never enslaved. Within a short time, the fundamental principle that Abraham had planted would have been uprooted and the descendants of Jacob would have returned to the errors of the world and their crookedness. - Our Sages relate that, in the Egyptian exile, the Jews had descended to the forty-ninth degree of impurity. Had they descended another level, it would have been impossible for us ever to be redeemed. Because of God's love for us, and to uphold the oath He made to Abraham, our patriarch - This is a reference to Deuteronomy 7:7-8: "It is not because of your greatness over all the other nations that God desired you and chose you..., but it was because of God's love for you and because He kept the oath He swore to your fathers." He brought forth Moses, our teacher - Rav David Arameah notes that the word עשה, rendered as "brought forth," literally means "made." He explains that from Moses' birth, God granted him the potential to develop unique spiritual awareness. Although the Rambam also accepts this concept (see the Guide for the Perplexed, Vol. II, Chapter 32), it is more likely that he chose this expression as a reference to I Samuel 12:6 (Rav Kapach). the master of all prophets - See Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 7:6, where the Rambam elaborates on the advantages Moses had over all the other prophets. Indeed, in his Commentary on the Mishnah (Introduction to Chapter 10 of Sanhedrin), he includes belief in the supremacy of Moses' prophecy as the seventh of his Thirteen Principles of Faith. and sent him [to redeem the Jews] - after 117 years of idol worship and slavery. After Moses, our teacher, prophesied, and God chose Israel as His inheritance, He crowned them with mitzvot and informed them of the path to serve Him - by [teaching them] - the Torah which reveals the judgement prescribed for idol-worship and all those who stray after it - as will be explained in the subsequent chapters. The Rambam's elaboration on the negative experience of our people in Egypt and the giving of the Torah has the following implication. Although man can appreciate the futile nature of idol worship and the greatness of God with his own intellect, because man is fallable, it is necessary to have these principles institutionalized in an objective, unchanging religious code (Likkutei Sichot, Vol. 20).) desired to kill him. He was [saved through] a miracle and left for Charan. [There,] he began to call in a loud voice to all people and inform them that there is one God in the entire world and it is proper to serve Him. He would go out and call to the people, gathering them in city after city and country after country, until he came to the land of Canaan - proclaiming [God's existence the entire time] - as [Genesis 21:33] states: "And He called there in the name of the Lord, the eternal God." When the people would gather around him and ask him about his statements, he would explain [them] to each one of them according to their understanding, until they turned to the path of truth. Ultimately, thousands and myriads gathered around him. These are the men of the house of Abraham. He planted in their hearts this great fundamental principle, composed texts about it, and taught it to Isaac, his son. Isaac also taught others and turned [their hearts to God]. He also taught Jacob and appointed him as a teacher. [Jacob] taught others and turned [the hearts] of all those who gathered around him [to God]. He also taught all of his children. He selected Levi and appointed him as the leader. He established him [as the head of] the academy to teach them the way of God and observe the mitzvot of Abraham. [Jacob] commanded his sons that the leadership should not depart from the descendants of Levi, so that the teachings would not be forgotten. This concept proceeded and gathered strength among the descendants of Jacob and those who collected around them, until there became a nation within the world which knew God. When the Jews extended their stay in Egypt, however, they learned from the [Egyptians'] deeds and began worshiping the stars as they did, with the exception of the tribe of Levi, who clung to the mitzvot of the patriarchs - the tribe of Levi never served false gods. Within a short time, the fundamental principle that Abraham had planted would have been uprooted, and the descendants of Jacob would have returned to the errors of the world and their crookedness. Because of God's love for us, and to uphold the oath He made to Abraham, our patriarch, He brought forth Moses, our teacher, the master of all prophets, and sent him [to redeem the Jews]. After Moses, our teacher, prophesied, and God chose Israel as His inheritance, He crowned them with mitzvot and informed them of the path to serve Him, [teaching them] the judgement prescribed for idol worshiper and all those who stray after it.
The words of Torah will not be permanently acquired by a person who applies himself feebly [to obtain] them, and not by those who study amid pleasure and [an abundance] of food and drink. (The pursuit of pleasure will prevent him from devoting himself to Torah study. During the time he is enjoying material benefits (how much more so if he has to work to earn the funds to obtain them), he could have been studying Torah.) Rather, one must give up his life for them, (the words of Torah) constantly straining his body to the point of discomfort, (As mentioned in the commentary on Halachah 6, the Rambam is not alluding to ascetic penances, but rather to the dedication of all one's energies to the acquisition of Torah knowledge.) without granting sleep to his eyes or slumber to his eyelids. (Note the following halachah, which describes the advantages of studying at night.) The Sages alluded to this concept, (Berachot 63b; Midrash Tanchumah, No'ach 3) [interpreting Numbers 19:14:] "This is the Torah, a man should he die in a tent..." (Generally, the verse would be translated: "This is the law [when] a man..." However, the literal translation of the words was quoted to demonstrate the connection to our Sages' comments more graphically.) [to mean that] the Torah cannot be permanently acquired except by a person who gives up his life in the tents of wisdom. (Our Sages frequently associated the expression "tents" with houses of study. (See the commentaries on Genesis 25:27 and Deuteronomy 33:18.)) Similarly, Solomon said in his wisdom [Proverbs 24:10]: "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." (When you minimize your involvement in Torah because of difficulties, then "your strength" - your Torah knowledge - will be "small" - will not remain with you (Lechem Mishneh). Others cite Berachot 63a: "Anyone who applies himself feebly to the words of Torah will not have the strength to stand in a day of adversity.") He also said [Ecclesiastes 2:9]: "Also, my wisdom remained with me." [This can be interpreted to mean:] The wisdom which I learned in anger, (The Hebrew word af can have both meanings - "even" and "anger.") this is what remained with me. (The commentaries interpret this as a reference to the anger displayed by the teachers during their instruction. (See Matnat K'hunah, Kohelet Rabbah 2:9.) This continues the theme that the dedication to Torah study beyond one's nature is the key to acquiring Torah as one's own. In his commentary on Avot 5:19, the Rambam quotes this verse and interpretation, and associates it with the advice he gives teachers in Chapter 4, Halachah 5, to cast fear into the hearts of the students.) Our Sages declared: (Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 5:1) A covenant has been established that anyone who wearies himself in Torah study in a house of study (Many manuscripts substitute "in a synagogue," as is the text in the Jerusalem Talmud.) will not forget it quickly. (i.e., the fact that study is carried out in a house of study itself contributes to its retention by the students. Accordingly, our Sages highly recommend that one study in a house of study (or at least in a synagogue) whenever possible. (See Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Hilchot Talmud Torah 4:10.)) Anyone who wearies himself in Torah study in private will become wise, as [Proverbs 11:2] states: "To the modest will come (It must be noted that Berachot 63b severely criticizes those who study Torah alone (when they have the opportunity to study with others). Similarly, in the following chapter, when the Rambam discusses the actual process of study, he continually refers to a teacher studying with many students.) wisdom." Whoever raises his voice during his studies (The Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 5:1, emphasizes that one should not raise one's voice overly loud.) will permanently acquire the subject matter. (II Samuel 23:5 states: "for He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all and preserved." Eruvin 54a interprets the "everlasting covenant" as a reference to the Torah, and states: "If it is ordered in all a person's 248 limbs" - i.e., if his entire body is involved in his study - "it will be preserved." The Tanya, Chapter 38, explains that a person who studies out loud and invests his energy in Torah study elevates his body and natural life force. In contrast, one who reads silently will forget quickly. - It is difficult to ignore the contrast between secular study, which is carried out in a silent library, and the study of Torah carried out in a noisy house of study, each person verbalizing the subject matter which he is studying. Based on Berachot 15b and the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 62:3, Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Hilchot Talmud Torah 2:12) states that the study of Torah is comparable to other mitzvot associated with speech. A person cannot fulfill his obligation through mere thought, and must either vocalize the words himself or hear from someone else who reads out loud.) In contrast, one who reads silently will forget quickly.
There follows the portion "sanctify for me every firstborn," the third portion dealing with the Passover legislation. It stipulates "remember the day you came out of Egypt, in the month of spring; when you come to the land of Israel this will become an annual celebration, seven days of eating matzot, prohibition of chametz etc." The Torah addresses itself to the simplest intellect among the Jewish people, who is satisfied to know "my life was saved," with the proviso that I perform this service annually. You teach such a person simply that exceptional historic events deserve to be commemorated in exceptional ways. Such commemoration consists of the use of materials such as the Passover lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs. This is a ceremony that even such an intellect can understand. The Torah advises, in effect, do not complicate the issue, stick to the material facts. Then comes the fourth passage, addressed to the sincere questioner. That this is so is proven by the fact that this questioner does get to the land of Israel, since the Torah states "it will be after the Lord will bring you to the land...which He has promised to your forefathers.." (13,5) You teach such a son that redemption of the firstborn is the result of the Egyptian firstborn having been slain by G-d, whereas the Jewish firstborn had been saved. This demonstrates the fruits of belief in G-d. On the other hand, it teaches the eventual result of maintaining an obstinate posture vis a vis G-d, such as was maintained by the Egyptians. The tam, is to be viewed as the opposite number of the rasha, wicked son, not as the opposite number of the chacham the wise son. When the tam is told that the Jewish people were redeemed in a miraculous fashion, he is reassured in his belief, since he learned who it is that looks after the Jewish people.
The cause of this, however, is perplexing; for, beyond a doubt, these fetuses were not created so greatly at odds with each other as to begin battling in the stomach! There is no escape, then, from positing a natural cause for this phenomenon, that cause being, in my view, the diametric opposition of the nature of the one to the nature of the other. For Esau was (Genesis 25:25): "reddish, all over like a hairy cloak," indicating boiling humors and an excess of vapors, whereas Jacob was a smooth-skinned man, of quiescent humor and dormant vapors. And this was paralleled in their ways and deeds, Esau being a man of the field, seeking movement, his feet not planted in his home, and Jacob, a dweller of tents, "glorying in dwelling at home." Now these fetuses, being thus disparate in nature, would undoubtedly be naturally oppressive to each other. For those things which are mutually antagonistic attack and forcefully repel each other. For this reason the fetuses wrangled in the womb.
However, although we do not know the natural cause of the grasping of the heel, we do know that their wrangling with each other was dictated by their mutually antagonistic natures. This diametric opposition of their natures, however, was a function of miraculous intervention, the Blessed One desiring that they not be compatible with each other for the reasons mentioned above. And so it was, indeed, the ways and acts of the one being entirely unlike those of the other. For Esau "knew hunting." He was a man of stratagems, hunting requiring much cunning, as explained by R. Abraham [ibn Ezra]. And he was a man of the field, loving movement. And Jacob was the complete opposite in both respects. He was a simple man, not learned in stratagem and subtlety (as explained by Rashi, of blessed memory), and he was a dweller of tents, disdaining movement.
Jacob went out twice: Once from his mother's womb, as it is stated: Then his brother came out, holding on to the heel of Esau (Genesis 25:26). And once from the womb of his city, as it is stated: And Jacob went out from Beersheba (Genesis 28:10). When he came out of his mother's womb, he came back and entered her tents, as it is stated: and Jacob was a plain man, staying among the tents. (Genesis 25:27). Plain as a baby, folded up like a ledger. Until she grabbed him firmly by the hairs and shook him: get up and flee (Genesis 27:43)! He heard the echo of a voice saying, "Flee, my beloved. and you shall be like a gazelle" (alluding to Song of Songs 8:14). And across from it an echo of a voice answers, "Come, my beloved, let us go out to the field, let us lodge in the villages... let us see if the vine has blossomed, if the tender grapes have appeared, if the pomegranates are in bloom; there I will give my love to you" (alluding to Song of Songs 7:12-13). He understood in his bone and his flesh that the time had come for him to go out into the world: And Jacob went out.. and he went to Charan... and he lodged there...
The sages, may their memory be blessed, also said, "The forefathers are the chariot themselves." And they did not say that each one of the forefathers was the chariot, but rather that the forefathers are the chariot themselves. How is that? Our father Abraham took the right side in purity and inherited the right side above which is the trait of Kindness [Chesed]. And about this is it stated: Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the South (Genesis 31:9). And Isaac took the trait of the left side in purity, which is Fear. And about this is it stated: and Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac (Genesis 31:53). And Jacob took the middle line in purity. And about this is it stated: and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents, etc. (Genesis 25:27). It comes out that the three forefathers were the chariot. And the words of a sage are a charm [chen, which is also an abbreviation for hidden wisdom, meaning kabbalah]. And that is even though there is a small difference between our path and the path of [the author]. And now we would like to write one more preface about the subject of appellations.
Now, when the verse states, “For all His ways are justice-Mishpat-משפט,” the word “all-Kol-כל” refers to the fact that this is openly revealed to all who have eyes to see, as it states, “For all His ways are justice-Mishpat-משפט.” As you already know (From the preceding Gates.) justice-Mishpat-משפט includes both judgment-Din and mercy-Rachamim. That is, justice-Mishpat-משפט corresponds to Yaakov, who is the middle column that mediates between the two tents of Avraham and Yitzchak. That is, Avraham corresponds to kindness-Chessed, Yitzchak corresponds to judgment-Din, and Yaakov mediates between them, as the verse states, (Genesis 25:27) “And Yaakov was a pure-Tam-תם man who dwelt in tents,” [that is, between the tent of Avraham and the tent of Yitzchak]. Thus, justice-Mishpat-משפט corresponds to Yaakov, who draws from kindness-Chessed on the side of Avraham, and from judgment-Din on the side of Yitzchak. The verse thus states, (Psalms 99:4) “You made the justice-Mishpat-משפט and righteousness-Tzedakah-צדקה of Yaakov.”
The titles of Elohi”m-אלהי״ם are positioned on the left side. They derive judgments and attest to the liabilities of the creatures and are the titles of judgment-Din, which is the root of Yitzchak, peace be upon him. This quality brings judgment-Din upon the creatures. We therefore must inform you of this important principle. We have already informed you that the quality of Avraham argues for merit on behalf of the creatures, and that the quality of Yitzchak argues for liability. You will thus find that about Yitzchak the verse states, (Genesis 25:28) “Yitzchak loved Esav because the hunted-ציד was in his mouth.” Now, is it truly so, that such a perfectly righteous Tzaddik as our forefather Yitzchak, peace be upon him, from whom the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה (Shechinah) never departed for even a moment, would love such a completely wicked person as Esav? How was this possible?
Nevertheless, HaShem’s-יהו״ה Indwelling Presence (Shechinah) blessed is He, said that even in exile, the difficult yoke of Esav must be lightened for the Jewish people. This is the secret of the verse, (Genesis 25:27) “But Rivkah loved Yaakov.” For, in the time of our forefather Avraham, peace be upon him, the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה (Shechinah) was called Sarah, and in the time of our forefather Yitzchak, peace be upon him, she was called Rivkah, and in the time of our forefather Yaakov, peace be upon him, she was called Rachel. This is because Leah is the secret of the Jubilee-Yovel-יובל, (The letters of the understanding-Binah as mentioned before, and as will be further discussed in the Eighth Gate.) and the two maidservants [Bilhah and Zilpah] are the handmaidens of the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה (Shechinah). Thus, everything was repaired from there.
However, the quality of the Name HaShem-יהו״ה, which is the middle column at the center of all the names, as we have informed you, in that to its right is kindness-Chessed and to its left is judgment-Din, therefore without a doubt, it includes both judgment-Din and mercy-Rachamim from one side or the other. This is why it specifically is this quality that issues the final verdict, whether for life or death, whether for pleasure-Oneg-ענג or affliction-Nega-נגע. You therefore will find that in reference to the Name HaShem-יהו״ה, which is the middle column in the center, and is the quality of our forefather Yaakov, peace be upon him, it states, (Genesis 25:27) “And Yaakov was a pure-Tam-תם man who dwelt in tents-Ohalim-אהלים [between the tent of Avraham (Chessed) and the tent of Yitzchak (Din)].” That is, Yaakov is the secret of the median quality, and is like the “twin leaf-Tiyomet-תיומת of the Lulav,” (See Talmud Bavli, Sukkah 32a and elsewhere.) which is the central spine of the Lulav that aligns-Metayem-מתיים the two sides to the center. In the same way, Yaakov aligns-Metayem-מתיים the two “tents-Ohalim-אהלים,” these being the tent of Avraham, which is kindness-Chessed, and the tent of Yitzchak, which is judgment-Din. This is the secret of the verse, “And Yaakov was a pure-Tam-תם man who dwelt in tents-Ohalim-אהלים.” That is, at first glance, the verse did not need to say “who dwelt in tents-Ohalim-אהלים [in the plural]” but should have said, “who dwelt in a tent-Ohel-אהל [in the singular].” However, this comes to inform us that the quality of Yaakov is positioned between the two “tents-Ohalim-אהלים,” and aligns and takes hold of both the right and left, with the median quality, to the point that we find that both Avraham and Yitzchak adhere to Yaakov, Avraham to the right of Yaakov and Yitzchak is to his left. This is the secret of “the third verse decides between them,” (Introduction to Sifra; The principles of exegesis of Rabbi Yishmael.) meaning, between the quality of E”l-א״ל, which is the quality of kindness-Chessed, and the quality of Elohi”m-אלהי״ם, which is the quality of judgment-Din.
Know that since HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, is perfect, crowned, and bears all qualities, in that all the Sefirot are unified, perfected and completed in Him, along with all creatures, as we have informed you, therefore during the act of creation (Ma’aseh Bereishit) itself, there was no need for Torah to mention HaShem-יהו"ה. This is because at that point, the world and its creatures had not yet been perfected, nor had the act of creation been completed, in that the world was not yet whole. Rather, all things were still in the process of being made and coming forth. However, once the creation of the world was complete, in that everything was included and in a state of perfection, the Torah mentions HaShem God-HaShem Elohi”m-יהו״ה אלהי״ם, these being two names that unify one with the other. This is because oftentimes, His name God-Elohi”m-אלהי״ם manifests in His name of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ״י, and then His name of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ״י is also called God-Elohi”m-אלהי״ם, as you already know. (From the First Gate.) Then, when HaShem Lord-HaShem Adona”y-יהו״ה אדנ״י [pronounced Elohi”m Adona”y-אלהי"ם אדנ"י] is unified, this being the matter of HaShem God-HaShem Elohi”m-יהו״ה אלהי״ם, all things come to a state of total perfection. (When reading scripture, if HaShem-יהו"ה and Lord-Adona”y-אדנ"י are juxtaposed, HaShem-יהו"ה is pronounced as Elohi”m-אלהי"ם.)
About this our sages, of blessed memory, stated, (Midrash Bereshith Rabbah 47:6) “The forefathers are the chariot.” They did not state, “Each of the forefathers is the chariot,” but rather, “The forefathers are the chariot.” How so? Our forefather Avraham, peace be upon him, took the right side in purity and acquired the Supernal right side, which is the quality of Chesed-kindness. About this it states, (Genesis 12:9) “And Avram traveled onward toward the south.” (That is, the south (Negev) corresponds to the quality of kindness (Chessed), whereas the north (Tzafon) corresponds to the quality of judgment (Gevurah). This will be discussed at greater length later, in the appropriate Gates. (Also see Pardes Rimonim, Shaar 23 (Erchei HaKinuyim), Ch. 14.)) Yitzchak took the left side in purity, which is fear. About this it states, (Genesis 31:53) “And Yaakov swore by the fear of his father Yitzchak.” Yaakov took the middle line in purity. About this it states, (Genesis 25:27) “And Yaakov was a pure man who dwelt in tents,” that is, between the tent of Avraham and the tent of Yitzchak. (That is, the quality of beauty-Tiferet. This will be discussed at greater length later, in the appropriate Gates.) We thus find that altogether, the three forefathers are the seat of the chariot (Merkavah). It is in this manner that the matter becomes clearly explained, and “the Creator is affixed upon His base.” (Sefer Yetzirah 1:4)
And now my son, listen to my voice, let your ears be attentive to my counsel. My son, if sinners seduce you, do not be enticed. (Proverbs 1:10) If they tell you, “Come with us and we will give into your hands names and pronunciations that you can use,” my son, do not walk on the way with them. Restrain your legs from their path. (Proverbs 1:15) For all those names and usages are kinds of nets and traps with which to hunt souls and lead them to destruction.
This quality is sometimes called (Genesis 49:24) “The Mighty One of Yaakov-Abeer Yaakov-אביר יעקב.” The reason is because it is from Understanding-Binah that the hawk of wisdom-Chochmah grows pinions-Ya’aver Neitz-יאב״ר נץ. (See Job 39:26; The word Mighty-Abeer-אביר shares the same letters as Ya’aver-יאבר.) This is the matter of the lower Shabbat and the upper Shabbat. (As explained before, the lower Shabbat is the quality of Foundation-Yesod, whereas the upper Shabbat is the quality of understanding-Binah.) The reason it is called “The Mighty One of Yaakov-Abeer Yaakov-אביר יעקב” and not “The Mighty One of Avraham” or “The Mighty One of Yitzchak” is because this quality depends on the quality of Yaakov, (This is as indicated by the verse (Genesis 37:2), “These are the progeny of Yaakov, Yosef.” That is, Yosef, who is the quality of foundation-Yesod, is the progeny of Yaakov, who is the quality of beauty-Tiferet.) for Yaakov is the middle line who mediates and corresponds to the letter Vav-ו of the Name HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He. Now, the matter of the letter Vav-ו of the Name HaShem-יהו"ה is unique to Yaakov, and is the matter of the quality of splendor-Tiferet. (The quality of beauty-Tiferet is between kindness-Gedulah, which is the quality of Avraham, and might-Gevurah, which is the quality of Yitzchak.) The qualities of Avraham and Yitzchak take hold of this quality, Avraham to its right, Yitzchak to its left, with Yaakov in the middle line. The sign by which to remember this is the verse, (Genesis 25:27) “Yaakov was a perfect-Tam-תם man, dwelling in tents-Ohalim-אהלים.” The matter of a “perfect-Tam-תם man” is the same as the matter of the “Twin leaf-Tiyomet-תיומת of the Lulav,” (See Talmud Bavli, Sukkah 32a and elsewhere.) which is the middle spine of the Lulav. The words, “dwelling in tents-Ohalim-אהלים” [in the plural] refers to the tent of Avraham and the tent of Yitzchak, which are the two sides of the Lulav. Thus, since the matter of Yaakov is that he is the middle line and is the matter of the letter Vav-ו of the Name HaShem-יהו״ה, we therefore say, “The God of Avraham, the God of Yitzchak, and the God of Yaakov-V’Elohei Yaakov-ואלה״י יעקב,” (In the Amidah prayer. Also see Exodus 3:6) with the addition of the letter Vav-ו in reference to Yaakov. The same is so of the words, (In the Amidah prayer. Also see Deuteronomy 10:17) “The Great-HaGadol-הגדול, the Mighty-HaGibor-הגבור, and the Awesome-V’HaNora-והנורא God.” The great matter is the verse, (Leviticus 26:42) “I will remember My covenant with Yaakov-יעקוב,” in which the word Yaakov-יעקוב is spelled with the Vav-ו, and the “covenant of Yaakov-Brit Yaakov-ברית יעקב” is the same as the matter of “The Mighty One of Yaakov-Abeer Yaakov-אביר יעקב.”
I now will enlighten your eyes to a hidden and concealed secret. Yaakov is the middle line-Kav HaEmtza’ee-קו האמצעי, and is the “Twin leaf-Tiyomet-תיומת of the Lulav,” (See Talmud Bavli, Sukkah 32a and elsewhere.) that is, the central spine of the Lulav, in that he adhered to both qualities and entered between them. He took kindness-Chessed and the positive mitzvot, which are the quality of Avraham, and he took the Fear of Yitzchak-Pachad Yitzchak-פחד יצחק and the negative mitzvot, which are the quality of Yitzchak. Moreover, he adhered to both qualities equally, neither veering to the right nor to the left. This is why he is called the man of Truth-Emet-אמת, because he conducted himself with the qualities of both his fathers in a way of truth-Emet-אמת. This is the meaning of the verse, (Genesis 25:27) “Yaakov was a perfect-Tam-תם man, dwelling in tents-Ohalim-אהלים.” The verse does not say dwelling in a “tent-Ohel-אהל” [in the singular], but specifies dwelling in “tents-Ohalim-אהלים” [in the plural], referring to the tent of Avraham, which is kindness-Chessed, and the tent of Yitzchak, which is fear-Pachad. About this the verse states, (Genesis 31:42) “Had not the God of my father – the God of Avraham and the Dread of Yitzchak-Pachad Yitzchak-פחד יצחק – been with me.” That is, he adhered to both qualities equally, without veering to the right or to the left. He therefore was given the quality of Truth-Emet-אמת. That is, just as the fulcrum stands between both sides of the scale equally, neither tipping it to the right nor to the left, so likewise, Yaakov adhered equally to both the quality of fear-Pachad and the quality of lovingkindness-Chessed, and conducted himself with both in truth-Emet-אמת.
Thus, the secret of these two names is that E”l-א״ל and Elohi”m-אלהי״ם [Kindness-Chessed and Might-Gevurah] are called “the heavens-Shamayim-שמים” and His Name HaShem-יהו״ה is in the center between them. Thus, through these three names; E”l-א״ל, Elohi”m-אלהי״ם, HaShem-יהו״ה, He is called, (Psalms 123:1) “You Who dwells in the heavens-Shamayim-שמים.” Similarly, another verse states, (Deuteronomy 33:26) “He rides upon the heavens-Shamayim-שמים to come to your aide,” and, (Psalms 115:16) “As for the heavens-Shamayim-שמים, the heavens-Shamayim-שמים are HaShem’s-יהו״ה.” About this the verse states, (Kings I 8:43) “May You hear from the heavens-Shamayim-שמים, the foundation of Your abode.” It likewise states, (Genesis 25:27) “Yaakov was a pure man who dwelt in tents,” [between the tent of Avraham and the tent of Yitzchak] and similarly, (Genesis 1:6) “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate between water and water.”
And because he Israel is holy, the fruit the drop requires preservation for his true female partner, which is the letter Hei (ה) . And because of this, the ‘first’ tevu-at (produce-of) and the letter ה (Hei) , it Israel has no defect. It is this that is written: (Gen. 25:27) And Jacob was a perfect (tam) man... – meaning he had no refuse. [It is required to be preserved for:] This ‘fruit’ is fit for a King, and therefore: (Jer. 2:3) ... all who eat of it will be rendered guilty, evil shall come upon them, says Y”Y.
... that which has no blemish... (Num. 19:2) from the aspect of Jacob, in whom there was no refuse, (BT Shabbat 146a) of whom it is stated: (Gen. 25:27) ... and Jacob was a perfect (tam) man... Jacob above, and in his likeness, Jacob below. ... upon which no yoke has been placed... (Num. 19:2) of the servitude of the exile, because She is called Higher Shekhinah.
The Satan is Samael, his dominion is in the liver, about which it is stated: (Gen. 36:1) ... Esau is Edom. The veins of the liver are its hosts and camps, and the liver takes all the defilements and sins of the veins. It is this that is written: (Lev. 16:22) And the goat will carry upon it, all ‘their sins’ (’avonotam) , to an uninhabited land... ‘their sins’ is composed of ’avonot tam (sins-of the-perfect-one) , of that: (Gen. 25:27) perfect (tam) man Jacob – to an uninhabited (ge-zeirah) land (Lev. 16:22) – that place of: (Dan. 4:14) the decree (ge-zeirah) of the watchful-ones.
And therefore, a person should take the etrog (citron) in the left hand. And it needs to be an etrog that is like the heart, complete, with its ‘tyomet’ because of him of whom is stated: (Gen. 25:27) ... and Jacob was a complete (tam) man – to be perfect with Him. And just as there is no defect in Jacob above, so there must be no defect in the etrog, to fulfill the verse: (Song. 4:7) You are completely beautiful my beloved, there is no blemish in you.
He responded, Now you deserve a whipping, because you believed Esau and lied about Ya'akov's words. The scripture bears witness that "Jacob was a plain man" (Gen. 25:27), (i.e. he was unable to cheat). Also, it is written, "You will show truth to Jacob" (Michah 7:20). This was the situation concerning Jacob and Esau. Even before, Esau detested his birthright, and he asked Jacob to take the birthright without payment! Thus, it is as written, "and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way, thus Esau despised the birthright" (Gen. 25:34).
He opened the discussion with the verse, "and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents" (Beresheet 25:27). The phrase "a plain man" means a whole man, according to the Aramaic translation, (for he was) "dwelling in tents." He was plain because he dwelt in tents, he held fast the two sides, Abraham and Isaac. Because Jacob came to Esau from the side of Isaac. As we learned from the verse, "With the merciful you will show yourself merciful...and with the perverse you will show yourself subtle" (Tehilim 18:26-27). When he came to receive the blessings, he came with support of Abraham and Isaac from above, and so all was done wisely.
one towards faith, and the other towards idolatry.
So it was. While still in Rivkah's womb, each went toward his own side. When she was performing good deeds or passing near a place that is favorable to the precepts of Torah, Jacob was glad and struggled to come out. And when she walked past a place of idolatry, the wicked one struggled to come out. This has already been explained. For that reason, when they were born into the world, each was drawn to the place he deserved. Therefore it is written, "And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter...".
And the Shelamim sacrifice is completeness, and peace for all. And a person that offers a shelamim spreads peace in the world. Yaakov is the one who makes peace, as we said, since he is the one for this [side] and this [side]. And the shelamim unifies the positive mitzvot and negative mitzvot, from this side and from this side. And because of this it is called shelamim [completeness]. And the secret of the word is that it is written 'And Yaakov was a TAM person' (Genesis 25:27): a complete person. Complete above and complete below. Another explanation [for Job 25:2]: "dominion" this is Michael. "Dread" this is Gavriel. This [angel, Michael] has its basis of water, this [angel, Gavriel] has the basis of fire. And the Holy One of Blessing makes peace between them, as it is written "He makes peace on His heights / among the high ones" (Job 25:2).
Rabbi Abba said, It is written that Jacob was "a plain man, dwelling in tents" (Beresheet 25:27). He was called "a plain man," because his abode was in two supernal temples, Binah and Malchut, the secret of the tent of Rachel and the tent of Leah. He reconciles both sides, which meant that he balanced and perfected the Right and Left Columns. Do not conclude from the verse, "I have sojourned with Laban," that he was contaminated by the divination of Laban. But in light of Rabbi Yehuda's observation that one seeks out one's own kind, according to the question of Rabbi Yitzchak, the explanation for, "I have sojourned with Laban," is that he was wholeheartedly thankful for the grace and truth shown him by the Holy One, blessed be He. For everybody knows that although no one can be saved from Laban's accusations, the Holy One, blessed be He, rescued me from his hands when Laban wanted to destroy me. This is what he meant by the verse, "I have sojourned with Laban." Furthermore, he said all this so that Esau would not envy him his blessings, but rather think that they were not fulfilled in him. Thus, Esau would not harbor any hate for him as Rabbi Yosi explained. Of this, the scripture says, "for the ways of Hashem are right" (Hoshea 14:10), and, "You shall be perfect with Hashem your Elohim"(Devarim 18:13).
and in the merit of the perfect one [Yaakov], (See Bereishis 25:27.)
and in the merit of the perfect one [Yaakov], (See Bereishis 25:27.)
It will yet be remembered on our behalf,— the love of Avraham,— (See Tehillim 89:1. Avraham is referred to in the psalm as אֵיתָן הָאֶזְרָחִי.) by our Master; and for the sake of the son [Yitzchak] who let himself be bound on the altar, He will put an end to our struggle; and in the merit of the perfect one [Yaakov], (See Bereishis 25:27.) the Revered One will bring forth our judgment to a righteous conclusion; for this day is holy to our Master.
It will yet be remembered in our behalf,— the love of Avraham,— (See Tehillim 89:1. Avraham is referred to in the psalm as אֵיתָן הָאֶזְרָחִי.) by our Master; and for the sake of the son [Yitzchak] who let himself be bound on the altar, he will put an end to our struggle; and in the merit of the perfect one [Yaakov], (See Bereishis 25:27.) the Revered One will bring forth our judgment to a righteous conclusion; for this day is holy to our Master.
he who was without blemish. (In Bereishis 25:27, Yaakov is called תָּם “Tam” which Rashi interprets as denoting “equal in tongue and heart.”)
Source of all energy and power! Who could possibly duplicate Your mighty works? You constructed chambers above the cold waters, (See Tehillim 104:3, Bereishis Rabbah 4:1. The construction of the heavens is described by the commentators to Tehillim 104:3, and in Bereishis Rabbah. On the second day of creation, Hashem established the sky within the waters which subsequently separated the upper waters from the lower waters. Above the upper waters, a “ceiling” or “roof” was placed. This is the meaning of the verse. (See Metsudah, Radak, ibid.).) and placed the globe in space. (Job 27:7; the original word, as it appears in Job, is the verb “תּוֹלֶה” meaning “to suspend.”) When the world was filled with total darkness (The three words חשֶׁךְ-צַלְמָוֶת-עֵיפָה are found in Job 10:21—22 and are all expressions for darkness (See Malbim ibid.).) You wrapped yourself in Your garment, (Tehillim 18:29. The creation of light is so described in Bereishis Rabbah 3:4.) radiating with morning light. You divided the impetuous waters with an awesome, crystal-like sky; (Yechezkel 1:22.) and gathered them into the depths so they would not cover the dry land. (Tehillim 104:9.) You uncovered the surface of the earth, (Bereishis 1:11—12. The phraseology is based upon Tehillim 88:13, Shir Hashirim 6:11.) and brought forth vegetation. You planted a garden in the East for those who praise you. (Bereishis 2:8. This refers to the righteous who will occupy Gan Eden in the World to Come.) Great luminaries You placed in the sky (This refers to the sun and the moon. The phraseology is based upon Tehillim 150:1.) along with host of stars and constellations; which You commanded [to illuminate the world]. An abundance of swimming creatures [fish] (Yeshaya 25:11.) and flying creatures [birds etc.] (Devorim 28:49.) You created from the palm of Your hand (Yeshaya 40:12.) ; and the Leviathan which You reserved for the feast of Torah scholars. (This feast will be in the World to Come. The Livyoson is discussed in detail in Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer 9.) The congealed ground brought forth insects and animals; the wild-ox dwelling in swamps and reeds You reserved for the meal of the righteous. (Vayikra Rabbah 24:10. The Midrash relates that this wild ox will be served to the righteous in the World to Come.) You prepared food and drink even before there was anyone to feast. (Since Adam was not created until the sixth day, everything in the world was already prepared for him.) You then formed man from clay in the likeness of Your image and breathed into him a pure soul from your “Zevul.” (The Talmud, Maseches Chagigah (12a) describes זְבוּל (Zevul) as being one of the seven heavens.) You caused him to sleep, and from his side You fashioned a helpmate for him. (Bereishis 2:20—22. This refers to the creation of Chavah, Eve, the first woman, who was created from Adam’s side.) You commanded him not to eat from the tree of knowledge. He foolishly violated Your command, because he was enticed by the snake. He was punished that only by the sweat of his brow would he gain his sustenance. Woman [was punished] with painful childbirth and the cunning [snake] would forever eat dirt. You congealed his [Adam's] seed in the womb of she [Eve] who desired him. She became pregnant and gave birth to a farmer and a shepherd. (This refers to Kayin and Hevel, see Bereishis 4:2.) They brought You a sacrifice and a gift. (The verse seems to imply that both Kayin and Hevel brought gifts and sacrifices, but in Bereishis 4:3,4 it is clear that Kayin brought vegetables and Hevel brought sheep as sacrifices.) You were angered with that of the oldest, but pleased with the offering of the youngest. (Bereishis 4:45.) Without mercy, he [Cain] killed Abel (Bereishis 4:8. The phraseology is adapted from Amos 1:11.) He pleaded for Your forgiveness, and You set a saving mark upon him. (Bereishis 4:15. Hashem inscribed a letter from His Name upon Kayin’s forehead. (Rashi)) At the third generation of man, (This refers to the generation of Chanoch. See Bereishis 4:26.) people began to worship You through idols. (See Sifri Devorim 43; the use of the expression “worshipped You through idols” is elaborated upon in detail in the Rambam’s Mishnah Torah at the beginning of the Laws of Idolatry (Avodah Zarah).) The dreaded flood waters, You summoned, and they were drowned and destroyed. An arrogant generation erred and dared tell You to go away. (This refers to the generation of the flood. Midrash Tanchumah (Bereishis 12) says that during this generation there lived a race of giants who worshipped the sun and the moon, and subsequently told Hashem to “go away.”) They were tossed about by the boiling water; they were burned and scalded. (The Talmud, Maseches Rosh Hashanah (12a) says that the generation of the flood was destroyed by a flood of boiling water. The Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 7:6 states that this punishment corresponded to their sin of pride and arrogance.) Noah, who was commanded to build an ark, an ark of gopher-wood, was delivered when You enclosed him within. (Bereishis 6:14, Bereishis 7:16. The Torah says that Hashem closed the door of the ark after Noach entered.) His sons, You made fruitful and they filled the face of the earth. A united people conspired to build a tower unto the heavens. (This refers to the Dor Hahaphlaga the “generation of division” which built the Migdal Bavel, the “Tower of Bavel.” Being of one language, they were united in speech and hence, subsequently, in conspiracy (Bereishis 11:1).) They were entrapped by their evil action, and were scattered about the earth (Bereishis 11:8.) as if by a violent wind. Your loved one [Avraham] (Yeshaya 41:8.) who came “across the river,” (The word עִבְרִי “Ivri” refers to the fact that Avraham came from the other side of the river.) made famous Your Name in the world. (See Bereishis 12:8 and the commentary of Ibn Ezra (ibid).) The son of his old age, [Yitzchak] he offered to You in sacrifice. Like a perfect, unblemished lamb Yaakov was chosen; he who was without blemish. (In Bereishis 25:27, Yaakov is called תָּם “Tam” which Rashi interprets as denoting “equal in tongue and heart.”) He desired to sit in tents (This refers to the period when Yaakov studied in the Yeshivos of Shem and Aver (See Rashi ibid.).) and followed you. Righteous children You brought forth from him, all of whom stayed true to their heritage, none ever deviating. To serve You, You desired Levi, Your pious one. (Devorim 33:8. After the sin of the golden calf, Hashem chose the tribe of Levi to serve inthe Tabernacle because they did not participate in the sin.) From his tribe, You chose one [Aharon] to be Your holiest; (This refers to Aharon and his sons who came from the tribe of Levi and were chosen to become the priests.) to wear the holy mitre and the Urim VeTumim, (Vayikra 8:8—9. These were worn by the High Priest during his service.) and to dwell inside the Tabernacle for seven days. (Before the final consecration of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, the priests were confined to the Tabernacle for seven days during which time they offered sacrifices each day to become initiated into the priesthood.) Upholders of the Jewish faith, [The Sanhedrin], a week before the tenth day [of Tishrei], secluded the High Priest as was done in the seven days after the completion of the Mishkan. (Maseches Yoma, Mishnah 1:1; This law is derived from the seven days of consecration of the Mishkan during which time Aharon and his sons stayed inside of the Mishkan, see Talmud 2:9,b. The High Priest was confined to a special chamber called ‘lishkas phalhedrin’ (ibid. 2a).) They sprinkled upon him water mixed with the ashes of red heifers (Maseches Yoma, 4a, 8a. According to the Mishnah (in Para ch. 3:11), from each red heifer which was burnt, from the time of Moshe, one third of its ashes were stored away, and some of the ashes from each were used to sprinkle over the High Priest. The Rambam (1:4) states that the sprinkling took place on the third and seventh day of confinement as a precaution lest the priest had been made impure upon contact with a dead body.) in order to purify him. [Each of the seven days] he sprinkled the blood of the daily sacrifices, burned the incense (Maseches Yoma Mishnah 14a. The incense was burned twice daily, in the morning and in the afternoon. According to the Rambam the order was: sprinkling, cleaning out five wicks, burning the morning incense, then cleaning out the remaining two wicks.) [upon the golden altar in the Sanctuary,] and cleaned away the ashes, [from the wicks of the Menorah], [he did these things] to acquaint himself with the daily service. (This was because the entire service on Yom Kippur was performed exclusively by the High Priest. See Rambam (Ch. 1:2,5).) As it was written in Your Torah: As it was done on this day, Adonoy commanded that it be done to atone for you.
[3] Another interpretation: "And the Lord saw that Leah was hated. And it shall be that the man [Jacob] will have two wives (Deuteronomy 21:15). Rabbi Berechiah said: This man is Jacob, as it is stated, 'And Jacob was a simple man' (Genesis 25:27). There were two wives, Rachel and Leah. The one [Leah] was beloved, as it is written, 'this is Leah' (Deuteronomy 21:15), and the other was unloved, as it is written, 'And the Lord saw that Leah was unloved' (Genesis 29:31). Both of them bore children for him [Jacob]. What Leah accomplished, Rachel did not accomplish, and what Rachel accomplished, Leah did not accomplish. Leah gave birth to kings, and Rachel gave birth to kings. Leah gave birth to prophets, and Rachel gave birth to prophets. Leah gave birth to judges, and Rachel gave birth to judges. And the firstborn son was to the unloved [Leah], this is Reuben, as it is stated, 'And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben' (Genesis 29:32). And on the day that he [Jacob] bestowed his blessing, at the time when Jacob sought to depart from the world, he called his sons [to him]... 'he shall not give the son of the beloved [Rachel] precedence over the son of the unloved [Leah],' to Joseph [he gave this blessing], 'why should he [Reuben] be granted the rights of the firstborn?' (Deuteronomy 21:17) ["This is Reuben, as it is said, 'Reuben, you are my firstborn' (Genesis 49:3)]. Although I said that his impulsiveness was like water, do not withhold [praise] from him, for 'his bed is on high' (Genesis 49:4). What is 'on high'? When Moses comes, about whom it is written, 'And Moses went up' (Exodus 19:3), he will redeem you. Since Moses stood up and pleaded for him, as it is said, 'May Reuben live and not die' (Deuteronomy 33:6),. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'He shall live and not die,' [and thus] you [Reuben] are able to take two portions, as it is stated, 'For he [Reuben] should receive a double portion' (Deuteronomy 21:17). 'May Reuben live' - in this world; 'and not die' - in the World to Come. "For he is the beginning of my strength and so on. And it is written, 'my strength and the beginning of my might' (Genesis 49:3). Therefore, the Lord saw that Leah was hated."
“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: So you shall bless the children of Israel; say to them:” (Numbers 6:23). “So you shall bless the children of Israel…” – that is what is written: “Do not envy a man of villainy, and do not choose any of his ways” (Proverbs 3:31). “A man of villainy” – this is the wicked Esau; “man” – just as it says: “Esau was a man who knew hunting” (Genesis 25:27); “villainy” – just as it says: “For the villainy to your brother Jacob” (Obadiah 1:10). What is it that it said: “Do not envy”? It is because it was revealed before the Holy One blessed be He that Israel is destined to be subjugated to Edom (Edom is considered the nation of Esau.) and would be hard pressed and overburdened in their midst, and Israel is destined to protest this, just as Malachi said: “You said: It is vain to worship God and what is the profit in our having kept His commission.… Now we praise the wicked; the evildoers, too, prosper; they also test God and escape” (Malachi 3:14–15). That is why the Divine Presence said by means of Solomon: “Do not envy a man of villainy” – do not envy the tranquility of the wicked Esau; “and do not choose any of his ways” – you shall not perform any of his actions. Why? Look to the end of the matter, as, behold, the day will come when God will despise everyone who would impugn [maliz] the mitzvot. That is what is written: “For the devious person [naloz] is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 3:32). Likewise it says: “The Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and deceit” (Psalms 5:7). However, one whose path is upright before Him will be among His confidants; that is what is written: “And His secret is with the upright” (Proverbs 3:32). Likewise, it says: “Now, it will be said to Jacob [and to Israel what God has wrought]” (Numbers 23:23). And it says: “The secret of the Lord is to those who fear Him…” (Psalms 25:14). And it says: “You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:18). “The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked” (Proverbs 3:33) – this is Esau the wicked, just as it says: “[If Edom will say:] We are ruined, but we will return and build the ruins, so said the Lord of hosts: They will build, and I will destroy; [they will be called the boundary of wickedness]” (Malachi 1:4). “And He blesses the abode of the righteous” (Proverbs 3:33) – this is Israel, in whose regard it is written: “Your people, they are all righteous, they will inherit the land forever” (Isaiah 60:21). “Your eyes will see, and you will say: May the Lord be exalted [beyond the boundary of Israel]” (Malachi 1:5). “If it is to scoffers, He will scoff” (Proverbs 3:34) – these are the Edomites, who are called scoffers, as it is stated: “A wicked and arrogant man, scoffer is his name” (Proverbs 21:24). And they are called wicked, just as it says: “Now we praise the wicked” (Malachi 3:15). From where is it derived that the verse is speaking of the Edomites? As it is written: “The evildoers [osei risha], too, prosper” (Malachi 3:15) – these are the Edomites, just as it says: “They will be called the boundary of wickedness [risha]” (Malachi 1:4). And they scoff at Israel every day, about the troubles that befall them, just as it says: “You were haughty against Me with your mouths, and you increased your words against Me; I heard” (Ezekiel 35:13). “He will scoff” – the Holy One blessed be He is destined to mete out to them according to their measure, just as it says: “As you have done, so will be done to you; your retribution will return upon your head” (Obadiah 1:15). “But to the humble He gives favor” (Proverbs 3:34) – this is Israel, who are poor among them (This is a reference to the Edomites mentioned above, and refers in general to all of the oppressors of Israel.) and walk humbly in their midst and bear their yoke upon them in order to sanctify the name of the Holy One blessed be He. That the Holy One blessed be He is destined to be gracious to these and punish those, just as it says: “Therefore, the Lord will wait to be gracious to you […for the Lord is a God of justice]” (Isaiah 30:18). And it says: “The humble will increase their joy in the Lord” (Isaiah 29:19). And it says: “For a people will live in Zion, in Jerusalem; you will not weep” (Isaiah 30:19). “The wise will inherit honor” (Proverbs 3:35) – this is Israel, who are called wise when they perform the Torah and the mitzvot, as it is stated: “You shall observe and you shall perform, as this is your wisdom and your understanding…” (Deuteronomy 4:6). Because Israel observes the Torah in their midst, the Holy One blessed be He is destined to bequeath to them a throne of glory, just as it says: “He will bequeath to them a throne of glory” (I Samuel 2:8), as the Holy One blessed be He is destined to restore the monarchy to Israel, just as it says: “The kingdom, the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the entire heavens [will be given to the holy people of the Most High]” (Daniel 7:27). “And fools carry away disgrace” (Proverbs 3:35) – these are the Edomites, just as it says: “I will eliminate the wise from Edom, and wisdom from the mountain of Esau” (Obadiah 1:8). And it says: “[Concerning Edom, so said the Lord of hosts:] Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Is counsel lost from the children? Has their wisdom spoiled” (Jeremiah 49:7)? What is “carry away disgrace [kalon]”? It means that they will carry away disgrace in their portion, as their end will be that they will go into fire. Kalon is nothing other than fire, just as it says: “Whom the king of Babylon roasted [kalam] in the fire” (Jeremiah 29:22). And it says: “Just ripened, roasted [kalui] in fire” (Leviticus 2:14). Likewise it says: “[The house of Jacob will be fire,] and the house of Joseph a flame, [and the house of Esau for straw, and they will ignite them and consume them]” (Obadiah 1:18). And it says: “I was seeing until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and it was relegated to the burning of fire” (Daniel 7:11). That is, “and fools carry away disgrace.” Another matter: “Do not envy a man [of villainy]” (Proverbs 3:31) – it is speaking of an adulterer, who, when he consorts with the wife of another and she is impregnated by him, he robs money from the children of the woman’s husband and gives it to the mamzer, as the husband thinks that he is his son, but he is not his son, and he bequeaths him the inheritance with his sons. It is regarding this matter that the adulterer is called “a man of villainy.” (Villainy is a translation of ḥamas, which also refers to theft.) What is “do not envy”? It is that anyone who sees the adulterer, who realizes the lust in his heart with the wife of another and she feeds him and gives him to drink, should not envy his tranquility and should not choose any of his ways. Why? It is because the adulterer is called an abomination: “They are six that the Lord hates, and seven that are an abomination to His soul” (Proverbs 6:16). “One who incites discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:19) is one of the abominations. This is the adulterer, who incites discord between a man and his wife, just as it says: “And a spirit of jealousy overcame him, [and he warned his wife]” (Numbers 5:14). That is why it is stated: “For the devious [naloz] person is an abomination to the Lord” – this is the adulterer, in whose regard it is written: “And are devious [unlozim] in their tracks” (Proverbs 2:15–16). “And His secret is with the upright” (Proverbs 3:32) – this is one who sees his actions and abstains from wine in order to render his paths upright, just as it says: “Who render their paths upright” (Proverbs 9:15). What is His secret? It is that the Holy One blessed be He teaches him how to save himself from her, just as it says: “I have guided you on the path of wisdom” (Proverbs 4:11). The numerical value of wine [yayin] is seventy (Yod – 10; yod – 10; nun – 50; the sum is 70.) and of secret [sod] is seventy. (Samekh – 60; vav – 6; dalet – 4; the sum is 70.) He abstains from wine that totals seventy, and he merits the secret of wisdom that totals seventy. Wine enters, a secret emerges, wine remains out, a secret enters. That is, “and His secret is with the upright.” “The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked” (Proverbs 3:33) – this is the adulterer. What is the curse [hame’era]? It is that the water that causes curse [hame’arerim] will examine him just as they examine her. That is, “the curse of the Lord,” just as it says: “May the Lord render you as a curse…” (Numbers 5:21). “And He blesses the abode of the righteous” (Proverbs 3:33) – this is the male nazirite and the female nazirite, who, if they abstained from wine to protect themselves from sin, merit a blessing. That is why it juxtaposed the portion of the Priestly Benediction after the portion of the nazirite, because he merits receiving the blessings of the Priestly Benediction. That is, “and He blesses the abode of the righteous,” just as it says: “May the Lord bless you and protect you” (Numbers 6:24). “If it is to scoffers,” (Proverbs 3:34) – this is the adulterer, who errs due to wine, who is called a scoffer, just as it says: “Wine is a scoffer, intoxicating drink is tumultuous…” (Proverbs 20:1). “He will scoff” (Proverbs 3:34) – as everyone scoffs at the adulterer, as he is a curse and an oath for My chosen ones. “But to the humble, He is gracious” (Proverbs 3:34) – these are the nazirites, who adopt humility for themselves, who abstain from wine and grow their hair in order to torment themselves and protect themselves from transgression. The Holy One blessed be He is gracious with them, just as it is written: “And be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25). “The wise will inherit honor” (Proverbs 3:35) – because the nazirites feared sin they were called wise men, just as it says: “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalms 111:10). And it says: “Behold, fear of the Lord is wisdom” (Job 28:28). They inherit honor, as the Holy One blessed be He lifts His countenance to them and grants them peace, as when a person sits peacefully in his home, that is his honor. Likewise, it says: “Preserve your honor and stay at home” (II Kings 14:10), as after the portion of the nazirite, the Priestly Benediction is written, in which it is written: “And grant you peace” (Numbers 6:26). “And fools carry away disgrace” (Proverbs 3:35) – these are the adulterer and the adulteress, and they are called fools. The adulterer, from where is it derived? “Whoever is a simpleton let him turn here” (Proverbs (9:16). The adulteress, as it is written: “The woman of folly is loud” (Proverbs 9:13). “Carry away disgrace” – “he shall expose the head of the woman” (Numbers 5:18), and it says: “Her belly will distend…” (Numbers 5:27); do you have any disgrace greater than that? That is, “carry away disgrace.” This is why the portion of the Priestly Benediction is stated after the portion of the nazirite, as anyone who abstains from wine for the sake of Heaven merits all the blessings stated in the Priestly Benediction. From where is it derived? It is just as it says: “So you shall bless [the children of Israel]” (Numbers 6:23).
Another matter, “vekorbano…” – what did the princes see that led them to present offerings in this manner? The Rabbis say: Even though each of them presented an identical offering, they offered it regarding significant matters, and each and every one presented according to his perspective. Naḥshon began and presented regarding the protocol of the monarchy, just as his father crowned him over his brothers, just as it says: “Judah, you, your brothers will acknowledge you…[your father's sons will prostrate themselves to you]. Judah is a lion cub…” (Genesis 49:8–9). Likewise it says: “For Judah prevailed over his brothers, as the prince would come from him” (I Chronicles 5:2). There was a tradition in the hand of the tribe of Judah, their Sages, and their prominent leaders, from Jacob our patriarch, regarding everything that is destined to befall each tribe until the messianic era. Likewise, there was a tradition in the hand of each and every tribe regarding what would befall it until the messianic era, from Jacob their father. “Vekorbano…” – he presented the dish and the basin corresponding to the kings of the house of David, who are destined to emerge from him, who ruled over the entire world, over the sea and over the land, e.g., Solomon and the messianic king. Solomon, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “For he ruled over the entire region beyond the river, from Tifsaḥ to Gaza” (I Kings 5:4). Rav and Shmuel, one said Tifsaḥ is at one end of the world and Gaza is at the other end of the world. One said: They stand adjacent to one another; just as he ruled over Tifsaḥ and over Gaza, so he ruled over the entire world. And it says: “All the world sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom…. Each would bring his tribute…” (I Kings 10:24–25). From where is it derived that he ruled over the sea? It is as it is written: “Also the fleet of Hiram, which had carried gold from Ophir…” (I Kings 10:11). “For the king had a fleet of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years…” (I Kings 10:22). And it says: “I will set his hand upon the seas, his right on the rivers” (Psalms 89:26). The messianic king, from where is it derived? It is, as it is written: "He will rule from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the land" (Psalms 72:8). Over the land, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “And all the kings, all the nations will bow to him, will serve him” (Psalms 72:11). And it says: “And behold, among the clouds of the heavens…. To him was given dominion, [honor, and kingship, and all the peoples, nations, and languages would serve him]” (Daniel 7:13–14). “The stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the entire earth” (Daniel 2:35). This is why he presented a dish, corresponding to the sea that surrounds the entire world and resembles a dish. Why was “its weight one hundred and thirty”? (Numbers 7:13). It is because when the Holy One blessed be He gathered all the waters to one place on the third day of the formation of the world, he called them seas, as it is stated: “And to the gathering of the waters, He called seas [yamim]” (Genesis 1:10). The numerical value of yamim is one hundred; yod, yod are twenty, mem, mem are eighty, that is one hundred. Solomon came and added a sea to the construction of the Temple in which the priests could immerse themselves, just as it says: “He crafted the sea, of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, [circular around, and its height was five cubits; a thirty-cubit line would wrap around it]” (I Kings 7:23). Corresponding to those thirty cubits that was the circumference of the sea that Solomon crafted, he added thirty shekels to the weight of the dish corresponding to the sea of Solomon. That is one hundred and thirty shekels, the weight of the dish, corresponding to the seas and to the sea of Solomon. “One silver basin” (Numbers 7:13), it is corresponding to the world, that is shaped like an orb that is tossed from hand to hand. Why was its weight “seventy shekels”? (Numbers 7:13). It is because both of them (Solomon and the Messianic king.) ruled over seventy nations, which exist from one end of the world to the other end. From where is it derived that the sea is shaped in the form of a dish and the world is shaped like an orb? It is like that which we learned: The Rabbis say: Only one that has in its hand a staff, a bird, an orb, a dish, a sword, a crown, or a ring is forbidden. (A statue of a person in whose hands one of these objects appears is considered an idol, and it is forbidden to benefit from it in any way.) A staff, as it rules the entire world with it. A bird: “My hand has grasped the riches of the peoples like a nest” (Isaiah 10:14). An orb, as the world is shaped like an orb. Rabbi Yona said: Alexander of Macedonia, when he sought to ascend heavenward, he would rise and rise until he would see the world as an orb and the sea as a dish. That is why, when they draw him, it is with an orb in his hand. Should they draw him with a dish in his hand? He does not have dominion over the sea. But the Holy One blessed be He has dominion over the sea and has dominion over the land, recues at sea and rescues on land; that is why they brought a dish corresponding to the sea and a basin corresponding to the land. “Both of them full [of high quality flour]" (Numbers 7:13), as the nation brought tributes [menaḥot] (The word menahot can also refer to meal offerings, which typically consist of high quality flour.) to Solomon; likewise they are destined to bring it to the messianic king, just as it says: “[The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute [minḥa]]; the kings of Sheba and Seva will offer gifts” (Psalms 72:10). “Full [mele’im]” means nothing other than gifts, just as it says: “And gave them all [vaymalum] to the king” (I Samuel 18:27). “High quality flour [solet]" (Numbers 7:13), just as it says: "valued [hamesulaim] like gold" (Lamentations 4:2). "Mixed with oil” (Numbers 7:13), just as it says: “A good name is better than fragrant oil” (Ecclesiastes 7:1), and it says: “Your name is like poured oil” (Song of Songs 1:3), as their good name would go forth throughout the world. Why were they of silver? It is just as it says: “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver” (Proverbs 10:20). “One gold ladle, ten shekels, [full of incense]” (Numbers 7:14), corresponding to the ten generations from Peretz to David, as it is stated: “These are the generations of Peretz: [Peretz begot Hetzron]; and Hetzron begot [Ram, and Ram begot Aminadav;] Aminadav begot Naḥshon, [and Naḥshon begot Salmon; Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Oved]; and Oved begot [Yishai], and Yishai begot David” (Ruth 4:18–22). “One…ladle,” as they were all like one hand, all full-fledged righteous men. That is, “full of incense” (Numbers 7:14), as their actions were pleasant like the fragrance of the incense. “One young bull” (Numbers 7:15), corresponding to Abraham, who was the primary progenitor, and who, in his regard, it is stated: “Abraham ran to the cattle [and took a young bull]” (Genesis 18:7). “One ram” (Numbers 7:15), this is Isaac, as, in his regard it is stated: “He took the ram and he offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). “One sheep” (Numbers 7:15), corresponding to Jacob, in whose regard it is stated: “Jacob separated the sheep” (Genesis 30:40). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:16), corresponding to Judah, who brought Joseph’s fine tunic that he had immersed in the blood of the goat, as it is stated: “They slaughtered a goat [and they dipped the tunic in the blood]" (Genesis 37:31). Judah brought it to his father and said: “Identify this, please, is it your son’s tunic?” (Genesis 37:32). That is why it was meted to him with the same measure, as Tamar said to him: “Identify, please, whose signet, belt, [and staff are these?]” (Genesis 38:25). That is why sin offering is stated in this regard, as they brought it as atonement for him, because he brought anguish to his father. “And for the peace offering [hashelamim], two cattle” (Numbers 7:17) – these are David and Solomon, as they initiated the monarchy, as cattle [bakar] is nothing other than an expression of monarchy, just as it says: “Butter of cattle [bakar] and milk of sheep…” (Deuteronomy 32:14), and we translate it: Give them the plunder of their kings. (Targum Onkelos on the verse. Shelamim) , because they were full-fledged righteous men, (Shelamim is expounded as though it is written shelemim, complete.) and in their days, Israel were flawless [mushlamim], and in the days of Solomon, the kingdom was complete [shelema], as it is stated: “Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord” (I Chronicles 29:23). The two of them built the Temple; David made the foundation, and Solomon built it. “Five rams, five goats, five sheep in their first year” (Numbers 7:17) – these are fifteen corresponding to the fifteen kings who were from Reḥavam until Zedekiah, king son of a king. Some were full-fledged righteous men, some were middling, and some were full-fledged wicked men. “This was the offering of Naḥshon son of Aminadav” (Numbers 7:17). When the Holy One blessed be He saw that he presented his offering corresponding to the order of the patriarchs and the royal dynasty, He began lauding his offering: “This was the offering of Naḥshon son of Aminadav.”
“On the second day, Netanel son of Tzuar, prince of Issachar, presented his offering” (Numbers 7:18). “He presented his offering: One silver dish, its weight one hundred and thirty; one silver basin of seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel; both of them full of high quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:19). Why does it say in his regard: “Presented his offering [hikriv]”? (Numbers 7:18). It is because Reuben came and appealed. He said: ‘It is enough that Judah preceded me, just as he did on the journeys. I will present the [next] offering, in accordance with birth order.’ Moses reprimanded him and said to him: 'From the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He, it was stated to me: ‘Present the offerings [hakrev] in accordance with the journeys.’ (Since the camp of Judah went first in the journeys, the tribes in that camp sacrificed first. Within each camp, the Torah orders the tribes. Thus, in the camp of Judah, the order is Judah, Issachar, Zevulun (Numbers 2:1–9.)) Alternatively, hikriv, Moses brought him near [hikrivo], against Reuben’s will. Another matter, “presented [his offering] – it is as though he presented his offering first. Why was it so? Because he was privileged to counsel the princes, the verse ascribes to him as though he presented his offering first. Abba Ḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: Because he was privileged to counsel, he merited that understanding was granted to his tribe, as it is stated: “From the children of Issachar, possessors of understanding of the times” (I Chronicles 12:33), and it is stated: “Princes of Issachar were with Deborah” (Judges 5:15). Likewise, the verse speaks his praise as he sat on the tribunals in Egypt, as it is stated: “[Descendants of Issachar…] of Yashuv, the Yashuvite family” (Numbers 26:23–24), and yashuv is nothing other than courts, (Since Yashuv was in Egypt, and it is a term which refers to tribunals, we learn that there were tribunals in Egypt.) as it is stated: “They will come to you as a people comes, and…will sit [veyeshvu] before you” (Ezekiel 33:31). “Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in tents” (Genesis 25:27), (“Tents” is expounded as a reference to the study halls of Shem and Ever.) and it says: “And Issachar in your tents” (Deuteronomy 33:18). (This teaches that the tribe of Issachar studied a lot of Torah.) “He presented [hikriv] his offering…” (Numbers 7:19), Rabbi Pinḥas ben Yair said: Why did it add hikriv, (In the sacrifices of the other tribes, the word hikriv is not used.) and it is lacking a yod? Rather, it was corresponding to the red heifer that they prepared on that day; that is why he added hikriv lacking a yod, establishing the word with four letters, corresponding to the four matters that the heifer required: Red, complete, unblemished, without having borne a yoke, just as it says: “They shall take to you a completely red heifer [in which there is no blemish, and upon which a yoke was not placed]” (Numbers 19:2).
“On the sixth day, prince of the children of Gad, Elyasaf son of Deuel” (Numbers 7:42). “On the sixth day, prince of the children of Gad, Elyasaf son of Deuel” – because Simeon took his sword and went and waged war with the people of Shekhem on behalf of his sister, and the descendants of Gad crossed the Jordan to help their brethren take possession of the Land, just as it says: “He performed the righteousness of the Lord, and His ordinances with Israel” (Deuteronomy 33:21); therefore, he was privileged to present his offering after Simeon. “His offering was one silver dish, its weight one hundred and thirty; one silver basin of seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel; both of them full of high quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:43). “His offering was one silver dish…” – Rabbi Berekhya said: The prince of Gad presented his offering corresponding to the exodus from Egypt. Why did he do so? It is because his father blessed him with regiments, as it is stated: “Gad will recruit a regiment and it will return intact” (Genesis 49:19). Jacob said that statement regarding the fact that he was destined to cross the Jordan as a vanguard into battle, just as it says: “And your servants will cross, all the vanguard [ḥalutz] of the host, before the Lord into battle…” (Numbers 32:27). Regarding the exodus from Egypt, host is written, just as it says: “All the hosts of the Lord departed [from the land of Egypt]” (Exodus 12:41), and it is stated: “The children of Israel ascended armed [ḥamushim] [from the land of Egypt]” (Exodus 13:18); ḥamushim is the same as ḥalutzim. The Land was distributed to those who departed from Egypt, just as it says: “I will give it to you as a heritage, I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:8), and the descendants of Gad aided them until the land was conquered and distributed to all of them, that is why their prince presented his offering regarding the exodus from Egypt. Rabbi Berekhya said: He began presenting his offering corresponding to what befell them from the day that Jacob and his sons descended to Egypt, until they departed. That is what is written: “His offering was one silver dish,” corresponding to Yokheved, Moses’s mother, in whose regard it is stated: “A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1); it teaches that Amram divorced her and then took her back. That is why he presented a dish. Do not read it as ke’arat, but rather, as keraat, because she was severed [nikraat] from him. The letters of this are the letters of that. “One silver [kesef],” as Amram longed to take her back as a wife on account of Miriam, Aaron’s sister. That is why it is called kesef, because of the longing, just as it says: “My soul longs [nikhsefa], and also yearns, [for the courtyards of the Lord]” (Psalms 84:3). And it says: “Because you longed [nikhsof nikhsafta] for your father’s house…” (Genesis 31:30). “One [aḥat],” do not read it as aḥat, but rather, as aḥot, sister, as when she was Aaron’s sister, she prophesied and said to her father that he should take back his wife, who was destined to bear a son who would redeem Israel. In that regard it is stated: “Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron…” (Exodus 15:20). Was she Aaron’s sister and not Moses’s sister? It is because Moses had not yet been born, and that is why, when Moses was cast into the Nile, she went and saw what would befall Moses and what would be the fate of her prophecy, just as it says: “His sister stationed herself at a distance [to ascertain what would be done to him]” (Exodus 2:4). That is, “one silver.” “Its weight one hundred and thirty” (Numbers 7:43), it is because she [Yokheved] was one hundred and thirty years old when Moses was born. How so? It is because Yokheved was born between the walls (Namely, on the border of Egypt.) when Israel descended to Egypt. That is why she entered into the tally of those who descended to Egypt, as it is stated: “All the people, his sons and his daughters, thirty-three” (Genesis 46:15). In the generalization, you find thirty-three, but in the details, you find only thirty-two. Why? It is because Yokheved was born between the walls, and was among those who arrived in Egypt. Do we not know that she was born in Egypt; after all, her name was not mentioned with the names of those who arrived? It is, rather, to say to you that she was born in Egypt between the walls when they entered Egypt, but her conception was not in Egypt. Go out and reckon: From the day that our ancestors descended to Egypt until the day that Moses was born, there were one hundred and thirty years, as Israel was in Egypt for two hundred and ten years. From where is it derived? “Descend [redu] (The numerical value of redu is reish – 200 + dalet – 4 + vav – 6 = 210.) there” (Genesis 42:2). Subtract from them eighty years, that was Moses’s age when Israel departed from Egypt; one hundred and thirty remain. We learn that Yokheved was one hundred and thirty years old when Moses was born. “One silver [kesef] basin [mizrak]” (Numbers 7:43), this is Moses, who was cast into the Nile. (The word kesef is an allusion to the fact that his mother longed [nikhsefa] for him.) Alternatively, that he was banished [nizrak] from Egypt, as it is stated: “Moses fled…” (Exodus 2:15). “Seventy shekel, in the sacred shekel,” these are the seventy elders whom Moses appointed, all of them prophets, from those that the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “You shall come, you and the elders of Israel to the king…” (Exodus 3:18). Likewise, it says: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel…” (Numbers 11:16). “Both of them full of high quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering,” as he and they, all of them were filled with the Divine Spirit, and they were filled with the Divine Spirit from the spirit of Moses, but Moses lacked nothing, like a person who lights one candle from another, the candle is kindled but the other lacks nothing; like a person who smells a citron, he enjoys it, but the citron lacks nothing. “As a meal offering [leminḥa],” just as it says: “It was, as the spirit rested [keno’aḥ] upon them, they prophesied…” (Numbers 11:25). Another matter, “both of them full,” corresponding to Eldad and Meidad, just as it says: “Two men remained in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, [and the name of the second was Meidad]” (Numbers 11:26). “As a meal offering,” just as it says: “The spirit rested upon them…and they prophesied…” (Numbers 11:26). “One gold ladle, ten shekels, full of incense” (Numbers 7:44). “One…ladle [kaf],” as it was at the hand of Moses that the Egyptians were stricken with ten plagues; that is: “gold…ten shekels.” Why were some of the vessels of silver and some of gold? It is to say to you that the latter, that were of gold, correspond to the plunder at the sea, as just as gold is more beautiful and valuable than silver, so, the plunder at the sea was greater than the one in Egypt. Regarding these and those, it is stated: “We will craft you golden earrings” (Song of Songs 1:11); this is the plunder at the sea,“with studs of silver” (Song of Songs 1:11); this is the plunder in Egypt. Likewise, it says: “You came to great beauty [baadi adayim]” (Ezekiel 16:7), (Another meaning of adi is gem or jewel. baadi) , this is the plunder in Egypt, adayim, this is the plunder at the sea. That is “full of incense,” as all Israel were filled with silver, gold, and all sorts of spices. Likewise, it says: “Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates…. Lavender and saffron, lemongrass and cinnamon” (Song of Songs 4:13–14); that is “full of incense.” Another matter, one hundred and thirty of the dish, seventy of the basin, and ten of the ladle total two hundred and ten, corresponding to the two hundred and ten years that Israel spent in Egypt from the day that Jacob descended to Egypt until they departed from there. “One young bull, one ram, one lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering” (Numbers 7:45). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:46). “And for the peace offering, two cattle, five rams, five goats, five sheep in their first year. This was the offering of Elyasaf son of Deuel” (Numbers 7:47). “One young bull” (Numbers 7:45), it mentioned three species for a burnt offering, corresponding to the three good leaders that the Holy One blessed be He granted Israel, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as it is stated: “I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam” (Micah 6:4). He gave them manna due to the merit of Moses, clouds of glory due to the merit of Aaron, and a spring due to the merit of Miriam. Another matter, why are three species of burnt offering stated? It is corresponding to the three good attributes that Israel possessed in Egypt, by whose merit they were redeemed: that they did not change their names, they did not change their language, and they separated themselves from licentiousness. “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:46), corresponding to the paschal offering that the Holy One blessed be He commanded, to perform it with a goat to connote their withdrawal from idol worship. This is because Israel were idol worshippers in Egypt, and the attribute of justice would not have allowed them to be redeemed until they withdrew from it. For the withdrawal from idol worship that they performed, they were redeemed, just as it says: “I will see the blood and I will pass over you…” (Exodus 12:13). That is why they sacrificed a goat as a sin offering corresponding to it, as, for the iniquity of idol worship, they would sacrifice a goat as a sin offering. (See Numbers 15:27.) “And for the peace offering, two cattle” (Numbers 7:47), corresponding to Jacob and Joseph, by whose merit Israel was redeemed from Egypt, as it is stated: “With Your arm, You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah” (Psalms 77:16). Alternatively, corresponding to Moses and Aaron, as they performed all the wonders, and it is at their hand that they departed, as it is stated: “Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders…” (Exodus 11:10). “Five rams” (Numbers 7:47), why three species? It is corresponding to the patriarchs, as the Holy One blessed be He remembered the covenant that He made with them, and redeemed them, as it is stated: “God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob” (Exodus 2:24). Why five of each? It is because their tally equals fifteen, corresponding to the patriarchs and the tribes who are fifteen, as, just as the Holy One blessed be He took an oath to the patriarchs, so He took an oath to the tribes, as it is stated: “The oaths said to the tribes, Selah” (Habakkuk 3:9). Alternatively, why fifteen? It is because they were redeemed on the fifteenth of Nisan, as it is stated: “On the day after the paschal offering, [the children of Israel departed]” (Numbers 33:3). And it says: “I acquired her for Me for fifteen silver pieces” (Hosea 3:2). (This verse is expounded to mean that the Holy One blessed be He acquired the children of Israel on the fifteenth of Nisan.) “This was the offering of Elyasaf” (Numbers 7:47), when the Holy One blessed be He saw that he presented his offering corresponding to the order of the redemption from Egypt, He began lauding his offering: “This was the offering of Elyasaf son of Deuel.”
Another matter: “Bring the tribe of Levi near…” (Numbers 3:6) – that is what is written: “Happy is one You choose and bring near” (Psalms 65:5). Happy is the man whom the Holy One blessed be He has chosen even if He did not bring him near, and happy is the man whom the Holy One blessed be He brought near, even if He did not choose him. Who is the one whom He chose? It is Abraham, as it is stated: “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram” (Nehemiah 9:7); but you did not bring him near, but rather, he brought himself near. Jacob, the Holy One blessed be He chose him, as it is stated: “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself” (Psalms 135:4), and likewise it says: “Jacob whom I have chosen” (Isaiah 41:8); but you did not bring him near, but rather, he brought himself near, as it is stated: “Jacob was a wholesome man who resided in tents.” (Genesis 25:27). (Bereshit Rabba 63:10 states that the word “tents” is referring to the study halls of Shem and Ever, in which Jacob studied Torah.) Moses, He chose him, as it is stated: “Were it not for Moses, His chosen” (Psalms 106:23), but He did not bring him near. Happy are those whom the Holy One blessed be He chose even though He did not bring them near. Come and see Yitro; (Shemot Rabba 27:2.) the Holy One blessed be He brought him near but did not choose him. Raḥav (Ruth Rabba 2:1.) the prostitute, He brought her near but did not choose her. Happy are those whom He brought near even though He did not choose them. A noblewoman asked Rabbi Yosei; she said to him: Does Your God bring near anyone He wants? He brought a basket of figs before her, and she was selecting carefully and selecting and eating. He said to her: Do you know how to select and the Holy One blessed be He does not know how to select? One whom He sees that his deeds are good, He chooses him and brings him near. Rabbi Neḥemya in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak: Not everyone who is near remains near, and neither does everyone who is distant remain distant. There are those who are chosen, rejected, and brought near. There are those who are chosen, rejected, and not brought near. Aaron was chosen: “And chose it from all the tribes of Israel to be priests for Me” (I Samuel 2:28). He was rejected: “The Lord was incensed with Aaron” (Deuteronomy 9:20). And it is written: “And you, bring Aaron your brother near to you” (Exodus 28:1). Saul was chosen: “Have you seen that the Lord has chosen him” (I Samuel 10:24). He was rejected: “I have regretted that I crowned Saul…” (I Samuel 15:11). But he was not brought near: “I have spurned him from reigning over Israel” (I Samuel 16:1). David was chosen: “He chose David His servant” (Psalms 78:70). He was rejected: “The king set out with his entire household in his wake.… [The king set out,] and all the people in his wake, and they stopped at a remote house” (II Samuel 15:16–17). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: They ostracized him; nevertheless, he accepted his ostracization; that is what is written: “David ascended the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he ascended, and his head was covered [and he walked barefoot]” (II Samuel 15:30). And he was brought near; Rabbi Yudan said: Ira the Ya’irite, David’s teacher, brought him near. That is what David says: “May those who fear You and who know [yodei] Your precepts turn to me.” (Psalms 119:79). It is written: Who know him [yodo]; (Although the verse is read in the plural – those who know – the word know is written in the singular, thus implying that it is referring to a single individual who can be described as the one who knows Your precepts.) Ira the Ya’irite was his teacher and brought him near. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: They are six who were chosen: Priesthood, Levites, Israel, the royal house of David, Jerusalem, the Temple. Priesthood, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “And chose it from all the tribes of Israel to be priests for Me” (I Samuel 2:28). Levites, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “For the Lord your God has chosen him from all your tribes” (Deuteronomy 18:5). Israel, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The Lord your God has chosen you” (Deuteronomy 7:6). The royal house of David, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “He chose David His servant.” (Psalms 78:70). Jerusalem, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “[Jerusalem,] the city that I have chosen” (I Kings 11:32). The Temple, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “I have chosen and sanctified this House” (II Chronicles 7:16). David said: Happy is one whom the Holy One blessed be He has chosen and happy is one whom He brought near. Who is doubly happy? It is one whom the Holy One blessed be He has chosen and brought near. Who is that? It is Aaron and Levi. Aaron, from where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “And chose it from all the tribes of Israel to be priests for Me” (I Samuel 2:28). From where is it derived that He brought him near? It is as it is stated: “And you, bring Aaron your brother near to you” (Exodus 28:1). Levi, the Holy One blessed be He chose him, as it is stated: “For the Lord your God has chosen him” (Deuteronomy 18:5). From where is it derived that He brought him near? It is as it is stated: “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and stand it.” In their regard, the verse says: “Happy is the one You choose to bring near to You to dwell in Your courtyards” (Psalms 65:5), just as it says: “They shall keep his commission, and the commission of the entire congregation…[to perform the service of the Tabernacle]” (Numbers 3:7). “May we be sated by the bounty of Your House, [the holiness of Your Temple]” (Psalms 65:5) – as they would eat all the tithes that were brought to the House, just as it says: “To the children of Levi, I have hereby given all tithe in Israel as an inheritance…” (Numbers 18:21).
“The lads grew; Esau was a man who knows hunting, a man of the field; Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). “The lads grew” – Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to a myrtle and a thorn bush that grew adjacent to one another. When they grew and blossomed, this one produced its fragrance and that one produced its thorns. So, all thirteen years, both of them would go to school and both of them would come from school. After thirteen years, this one would go to study halls, and that one would go to houses of idol worship. Rabbi Elazar said: A person must be responsible for his son until age thirteen. From there on, he must say: ‘Blessed that He has absolved me from the punishment of this one.’ “Esau was a man who knows hunting [tzayid]” – he would ensnare [tzad] people with his mouth. You [say you] did not steal; who stole with you? You [say you] did not kill, who killed with you? (The Romans, the descendants of Esau, would ignore the denials of the accused.) Rabbi Abahu said: He was a field person, a hunting person. (The verse does not say he worked the field or engaged in hunting, but rather, he was “a man of the field.”) He hunted in the house and hunted in the field. In the house, [he said]: ‘How does one prepare salt?’ (He asked about separating teruma and tithes from salt and straw, in an effort to create a devout impression, although he knew that there is no such obligation.) In the field, [he said:] ‘How does one prepare straw?’ Rabbi Ḥiyya said: He abandoned himself like a field. (Engaging in homosexual relations.) Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, is it not enough that you subjugated us to seventy nations, but even to this one, that engages in relations like a woman?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘I, too, will exact retribution against him with that expression.’ That is what is written: “The heart of the valiant of Edom will be on that day like the heart of a woman in anguish” (Jeremiah 49:22). “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” – two tents; the study hall of Shem, and the study hall of Ever. “Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth, and Rebecca loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:28). “Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth” – good meat for his mouth and a good cup for his mouth. “And Rebecca loved Jacob” – the more she would hear his voice, the more she would add love onto her love for him.
“Jacob cooked a stew, and Esau came from the field and he was weary” (Genesis 25:29). “Jacob cooked a stew” – he [Esau] said to him: ‘What is the nature of this stew?’ He said to him: ‘It is because that elder (Abraham.) died.’ He said: ‘Did the attribute of justice strike that elder?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘If so, there is no granting of reward and no revival of the dead.’ (Esau was claiming that if the righteous Abraham died at a young age relative to Adam and Noah, that proved that there was no reward for righteousness. (Etz Yosef)) The Divine Spirit screams: “Do not weep for the dead, and do not be moved for him” (Jeremiah 22:10) – this is Abraham; “Weep for one who is leaving” (Jeremiah 22:10) – this is Esau.
“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement. But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this. (The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse.) Rather, (The same conclusion can be reached from a different source.) “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.” “All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh], (Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh.) and an idolater. (Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).) “I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end, (See Genesis 28:4.) he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17). You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’ (It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all.) “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.
“If you are pure and upright…He will restore the abode of your righteousness” (Job 8:6). “If you are pure and upright” – “if you were” is not written here, but rather, “you are.” But in the past, he was not a righteous man. “He will rouse Himself for you” (Job 8:6) – the Holy One blessed be He is destined to be roused in your regard, and reward you for all the acts of righteousness that you performed. Because it is written: “But Jacob was a simple man, abiding in tents” (Genesis 25:27); therefore: “Jacob arrived intact.” Rabbi Berekhya began: “You will decree, and He will fulfill it for you, and light will shine upon your ways” (Job 22:28). “You will decree, and He will fulfill it for you” – this is Jacob. “And light will shine upon your ways” – light will shine upon your two journeys. (The journey to Haran, and the journey back.) Because it is written: “If God will be with me…” (Genesis 28:20); “and behold I am with you, and will keep you” (Genesis 28:15): “and I return to my father’s house in peace” (Genesis 28:21), and it is written: “Jacob arrived intact.”
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
(Deut. 14:22:) YOU SHALL SURELY TITHE . Tithe ('SR) so that you may become rich ('ShR), (In Hebrew letters the roots translated “tithe” and “become rich” are identical.) before you are in want. (Tanh., Deut. 4:18; PRK 10:10.) a hint (remez) for those who sail the seas to take out one tenth for those who labor in Torah. (This interpretation understands the ALL in the commandment as expressing the universality of the YOU rather than modifying the predicate of the sentence. See the commentary of Enoch Zundel, ‘Ets Yosef, on the parallel in Tanh., Deut. 4:18, who cites the Tosafot to Ta’an 9a (top); cf. Sifre, Deut. 14:22 (105).) (Ibid., cont.:) THE PRODUCE OF YOUR SEED THAT COMES FROM THE FIELD. If you are virtuous , you shall going out to sow a field. If not, the one who goes out to the field shall in the end engage in combat with you. This refers to Esau, of whom it is said {(in Gen. 25:29): THEN ESAU CAME FROM THE FIELD. [(in Gen. 25:27): A CUNNING HUNTER, A MAN OF THE FIELD.]
(Gen. 25:19:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM. (Except for most of the last section (# 24), Toledot is not found in Buber’s Oxford MS. Buber has filled in the gap mostly from Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34.) This text is related (to Prov. 17:6): GRANDCHILDREN ARE A CROWN FOR ELDERS, AND THE GLORY OF CHILDREN IS THEIR PARENTS. (Cf. Gen. R. 63:2; Tanh., Gen. 6:4.) Who caused Abraham to be magnified? Jacob, as stated (in Is. 29:22): THUS SAYS THE LORD UNTO THE HOUSE OF JACOB, WHICH REDEEMED ABRAHAM. Why? Because, if one is meritorious as a Torah scholar together with his son and his grandson, it will never again be cut off from him. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 4:9f.): AND MAKE THEM (the statutes and ordinances) KNOWN TO YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN AS ON THE DAY THAT YOU STOOD < BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD AT HOREB >. Just as the gift of < the > Torah did not become cease on the day it was given; so for one who teaches his son and his grandson Torah, it shall never again depart from him. And so it was when the Holy One saw Abraham was busy with the Torah. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE < AND KEPT MY CHARGE: MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY LAWS >. It is also written (above, in 18:19): FOR I HAVE KNOWN HIM. Then Jacob arose up and did not move from the Torah, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN WHO SAT IN THE TENTS (i.e., in the academies). (For this interpretation, see Gen. R. 63:10; Targum Onqelos, Gen. 25:27; PRK 5:7.) What stipulation did the Holy One make with them? (According to Josh. 1:8:) < THIS > BOOK OF THE LAW SHALL NOT DEPART < FROM YOUR MOUTH >…. It is also written (in Prov. 10:1): A WISE SON SHALL MAKE A FATHER GLAD. This is Isaac, since it is stated (in Gen. 21:12): FOR IN ISAAC SHALL YOUR SEED BE NAMED. (Prov. 10:1, cont.:) BUT A FOOLISH SON. This is Ishmael. Thus it is written (in Gen. 25:12): NOW THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISHMAEL BEN ABRAHAM. There are children who suffer disgrace through their parents. Josiah suffered disgrace through his father, as stated (in II Chron. 33:23): FOR AMON INCURRED A LOT OF GUILT. Hezekiah suffered disgrace through < his father > Ahaz, as stated (in Is. 8:16): BIND UP THE TESTIMONY. (According to Gen. R. 42:3; Lev. R. 11:7; Ruth R., proem 7; and Esther R., proem 11, this verse alludes to Ahaz, who had seized (ahaz) the synagogues and the academies.) There are also parents who suffer disgrace through their children. Eli suffered disgrace through his sons, [as stated (in I Sam. 2:12): NOW ELI'S SONS WERE SCOUNDRELS. And Samuel also suffered disgrace through his sons], as stated (in I Sam. 8:3): BUT HIS SONS DID NOT WALK IN HIS WAYS. It did not, however, turn out in this way for Abraham. Instead he was magnified through Isaac, as stated (in Gen. 25:19, cont.): ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC. Did he sire no one but Isaac? Now look, it is written {(in Gen. 25:19): THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISHMAEL.} [(in Gen. 16:15): SO HAGAR BORE A SON TO ABRAM.] And in addition < there are > the sons of Keturah: Zimran and Jokshan, < etc. > (cf. Gen. 25:2). But it does not say that Abraham sired anyone but Isaac, simply because Isaac was righteous. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 25:19): ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC.
[(Gen. 27:33, cont.:) AND SAID: WHO THEN (mi 'efo')?] What is the meaning of MY 'EFO' (rt.: 'P')? Mi 'efoh (rt.: 'PH)? (Gen. R. 67:2; Cant. R. 4:11:2.) Isaac said: Sovereign of the Universe: Who is being baked (mi ne'efah, rt.: 'PH) in this oven (i.e., of Gehinnom), I or my son Jacob? The Holy One said to him: Neither you nor your son Jacob. But who? (Ibid., cont.:) HE THAT HAS HUNTED GAME. This is Esau, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): ESAU BECAME A CUNNING HUNTER.
(Gen. 25:27:) WHEN THE BOYS GREW UP, ESAU BECAME A CUNNING HUNTER, < A MAN OF THE FIELD; BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN WHO SAT IN THE TENTS >. R. Berekhyah the Priest said: R. Levi said: (See Gen. R. 63:10.) Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. (‘TsMWNYT. Gen. R. 63:10 reads ‘TsBWNYT (“wild rose bush”) here.) As long as they are small, no one < can > distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one awakens (in bloom), AND (in the words of Gen. 1:12) IT WAS GOOD; but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up, they were distinguishable. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 25:27): WHEN THE BOYS GREW UP…. JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN WHO SAT IN THE TENTS (of learning). (See above, 6:1.) < But what about Esau? (According to ibid.:) ESAU BECAME > A CUNNING HUNTER, < A MAN OF THE FIELD (SDH) >. R. Abbahu said: What is the meaning of CUNNING HUNTER? That his hunting was by entrapment (SWDN'). (In accordance with a suggestion from Midrash Tanhuma (Jerusalem: Eshkol, n.d.), vol. I, appendix, p. 38, n. 1, the text here is slightly emended from SWRN’. So emended the midrash is interpreting FIELD (SDH) of the biblical text as “entrapment” (SWDN‘). For a similar interpretation, see Gen. R. 63:10. See Buber’s note, ad loc.) He hunted at home [and he hunted] in the field. BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN WHO SAT IN THE TENTS. The Holy One said to him: You are the first to sit in the tents (of learning). By your life, when I return to Jerusalem, I will return through your virtue. Thus it is stated (in Jer. 30:18): THUS SAYS THE LORD: BEHOLD, I AM RESTORING JACOB'S TENTS FROM CAPTIVITY. "Abraham's tents from captivity" is not stated < here >, but JACOB'S TENTS FROM CAPTIVITY.
(Gen. 25:29:) NOW JACOB HAD BOILED < A STEW >. Esau came in from the field and saw that Jacob's face was blackened. He said to him: What are you doing? He said to him: Do you not know that our grandfather Abraham is dead, and I am cooking food? (See Gen. R. 63:11 ; BB 16b; (bar.); Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 25:27; PRE 35.) Now he was going to prepare the mourner's meal on his behalf. Esau said to him: My friend and my enemy, < both > alike have died. Abraham has died, and Nimrod has died. SO (according to Gen. 25:32) WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS BIRTHRIGHT TO ME? What was he cooking? Lentils, because from ancient times they had brought lentils (on account of) [unto] the mourner and lentils to the house with a wedding. (Gen. 25:29:) THEN ESAU CAME. (See Gen. R. 63:12; PRK 3:1; cf. BB 16b; PR 12:5.) They have said: This wicked man committed three transgressions on that day. He robbed, since it is written (of Edom in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU, PLUNDERERS (rt.: ShDD) (The midrash may also see an allusion here to Gen. 25:27: A MAN OF THE FIELD (SDH).) OF THE NIGHT. He also seduced a maiden who was betrothed, as stated (in Gen. 25:7): < EDOM BECAME A MAN > OF THE FIELD. A field is nothing but a maiden, since it is stated (in Deut. 22:25): IF IN THE FIELD [THE MAN FINDS A MAIDEN] < WHO IS BETROTHED, AND THE MAN SEIZES HER AND LIES WITH HER >…. And he took a life, since it is stated (in Gen. 25:29): AND HE WAS EXHAUSTED. EXHAUSTED can only < imply > "killing." Thus it is stated (in Jer. 4:31): WOE UNTO ME, NOW! FOR MY LIFE IS EXHAUSTED BEFORE THOSE WHO KILL.
(Lev. 8:1–2:) THEN THE LORD SPOKE < UNTO MOSES >…: TAKE AARON AND HIS SONS ALONG WITH HIM, THE VESTMENTS < …. > This text is related (to Ps. 65:5 [4]): BLESSED IS THE ONE YOU CHOOSE AND BRING NEAR TO DWELL IN YOUR COURTS. Blessed is the one whom the Holy One has chosen, even though he has not brought him near. (Tanh., Lev. 2:8.) And Blessed is the one whom he has brought near, even though he did not choose him. Now which was this one whom he chose? This was Abraham. {However he did not bring him near; instead he brought himself near to him.} It is so stated (in Neh. 9:7): YOU ARE THE LORD, THE GOD WHO CHOSE ABRAM…. [However he did not bring him near. Instead he brought himself near.] In the case of Jacob, the Holy One chose him, as stated (in Is. 41:8): JACOB, WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN. It also says (in Ps. 135:4): FOR THE LORD HAS CHOSEN JACOB FOR HIMSELF. But he did not bring him near. Instead he brought himself near. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 25:27): BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN DWELLING IN TENTS. Moses he chose but did not bring near, as stated (in Ps. 106:23): < …, > HAD NOT MOSES HIS CHOSEN ONE < STOOD IN THE BREACH >,…. David he chose but did not bring near, as stated (in Ps. 78:70): HE CHOSE DAVID, HIS SERVANT. He also brought himself near, as stated (in Ps. 119:63): I AM A COMPANION TO ALL WHO FEAR YOU. Blessed are those whom the Holy One chose, even though he did not bring them near. Come and see Jethro. The Holy One brought him near, but he did not choose him. In the case of Rahab the harlot, he brought her near but did not choose her. Aaron was doubly blessed because < the Holy One > chose him and brought him near. Where is it shown that he chose him? Where it is stated (in I Sam. 2:28): AND I CHOSE HIM [FROM ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL TO BE MY PRIEST]. And where is it shown that he brought him near? Where it is stated (in Exod. 28:1): AND YOU SHALL BRING NEAR UNTO YOURSELF YOUR BROTHER AARON < AND HIS SONS ALONG WITH HIM,… TO SERVE ME AS PRIESTS >. Therefore, David praised him (in Ps. 65:5 [4]): BLESSED IS THE ONE YOU CHOOSE AND BRING NEAR < TO DWELL IN YOUR COURTS >.
[Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED.] This text is related (to Deut. 21:15-17): WHEN A MAN HAS TWO WIVES, < THE ONE BELOVED AND THE OTHER HATED, AND WHEN BOTH THE BELOVED AND THE HATED HAVE BORNE HIM SONS WITH THE FIRST-BORN BELONGING TO THE HATED WOMAN; THEN, ON THE DAY THAT HE WILLS HIS PROPERTY TO HIS SONS AS AN INHERITANCE, HE MAY NOT TREAT THE SON OF THE BELOVED AS THE FIRST-BORN IN PREFERENCE TO THE SON OF THE HATED WHEN HE IS THE FIRST-BORN. INSTEAD, HE SHALL RECOGNIZE THE FIRST-BORN SON OF THE HATED WOMAN BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION SINCE HE IS THE FIRST FRUIT OF HIS STRENGTH >. < (Deut. 21:15:) WHEN A MAN HAS >: This is Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN. (Deut. 21:15, cont.:) TWO WIVES: Leah and Rachel. (Ibid., cont.:) THE ONE BELOVED, i.e., Rachel, as stated (in Gen. 29:30): AND HE ALSO LOVED RACHEL. (Deut. 21:15, cont.:) AND THE OTHER HATED: i.e., Leah, as stated (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. (Deut. 21:15, cont.:) AND WHEN BOTH THE BELOVED AND THE HATED HAVE BORNE HIM SONS, i.e., both of them bore for him. (The passage may interpret banot (“daughters”) as bonot (“builders”) who would build up a worthy lineages.) Moreover, what Leah produced Rachel produced. (Similarly Gen. R. 70:15.) Leah produced kings, and so did Rachel [produce kings. Leah produced prophets, and so did Rachel produce prophets]. Leah produced judges, and so did Rachel. It is therefore stated (in Deut. 21:15): AND WHEN < BOTH THE BELOVED AND THE HATED > HAVE BORNE HIM SONS. (Deut. 21:16:) THEN, ON THE DAY THAT HE WILLS < HIS PROPERTY > TO HIS SONS AS AN INHERITANCE. When the time had come for him to depart from the world, (according to Gen. 49:1): THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS. (Deut. 21:16, cont.:) HE MAY NOT TREAT THE SON OF THE BELOVED, < i.e., > Joseph, AS THE FIRST-BORN. Why? (Vs. 17:) INSTEAD, HE SHALL RECOGNIZE THE FIRST-BORN SON OF THE HATED WOMAN < BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION >. This was Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:3): REUBEN, YOU ARE MY FIRST-BORN, < MY MIGHT AND THE FIRST FRUIT OF MY STRENGTH, EXCELLING IN ELEVATION AND EXCELLING IN POWER >. < Jacob gave this blessing >, even though he said to his shame (in vs. 4): UNSTABLE AS WATER, YOU SHALL NO LONGER EXCEL; < FOR YOU WENT UP TO YOUR FATHER'S BED, THEN DEFILED IT >. What is the meaning of (ibid., cont.) HE WENT UP TO MY COUCH. When Moses would come, about whom it is written (in Exod. 19:3): THEN MOSES WENT UP TO GOD, he would redeem him. As Moses stood < there >, he sought mercy for him. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:6): LET REUBEN LIVE. The Holy One said (ibid., cont.): AND LET HIM NOT DIE. It turns out that he gets {compensation in proportion to both of them} [a pardon (Gk.: demos (“common people”). This meaning of demos may be suggested by demotikos agon, a public festival with games in connection with which amnesties might be given. Cf. Lat.: dimissus.) from the mouth of both of them] (i.e., God and Moses). Thus it is stated (in Deut. 21:17): INSTEAD, HE SHALL RECOGNIZE THE FIRST-BORN [SON OF THE HATED WOMAN] BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION. (Deut. 33:6:) LET REUBEN LIVE, AND LET HIM NOT DIE; < i.e., > LET REUBEN LIVE in this world, AND LET HIM NOT DIE in the world to come. Why? (Deut. 21:17:) SINCE HE IS THE FIRST FRUIT OF HIS STRENGTH. [It is also written (in Gen. 49:3): MY MIGHT AND THE FIRST FRUIT OF MY STRENGTH.]
(Gen. 33:18:) NOW JACOB CAME WHOLE < TO THE CITY OF SHECHEM >. Let our master instruct us: What is meant by "saying something (DBR) superfluous on the Sabbath"? Thus have our masters taught (in Shab. 24:5): VOWS MAY BE QUESTIONED (with a view to annulment) WHEN NECESSARY FOR THE SABBATH. (Note that the wording differs somewhat from modern editions of the Mishnah.) Ergo: Something (DBR) which is not necessary for the Sabbath is not < to be > questioned. (See Shab. 157a.) And needless to say, it is forbidden to multiply < superfluous > things (DBR) on the Sabbath. R. Huna said: If someone is corrupted by a transgression, angels of destruction immediately denounce him. It is so stated (in Job 33:22): HIS SOUL DRAWS NEAR TO THE GRAVE. What should one do? Let him be engaged in < the study of > the Torah and be preserved. And, if he does not know how to recite < oral tradition >, let him read < Scripture >. And if he does not know how to read < Scripture >, let him take hold of the Torah and live, as stated (in Prov. 3:18): < WISDOM > IS A TREE OF LIFE TO THOSE WHO TAKE HOLD OF IT. Thus, if one is not a Torah scholar, let him be one who takes hold of a Bible teacher and a Mishnah teacher so that they may instruct him in Torah. Then he will merit living, as stated (ibid.): < WISDOM > IS A TREE OF LIFE TO THOSE WHO TAKE HOLD OF IT. But, if he is a Torah scholar, the Torah will heal him from every evil and from all suffering. Thus it is stated (in Prov. 15:4): A HEALING TONGUE IS A TREE OF LIFE…. This is the Torah. There is no one who would labor at the Torah as our ancestor Jacob < did >. It is just as you say (in Gen. 25:27): BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN DWELLING IN TENTS. "Dwelling in a tent" is not written here but DWELLING IN TENTS. He would go out from the academy (bet midrash) of Shem and enter the academy of Eber. Then < he would go > from the academy of Eber to the academy of Abraham. Therefore, when he had wrestled with the angel < and when > he was limping on his thigh, as stated (in Gen. 32:32 [31]): THE SUN ROSE UPON HIM … AND HE WAS LIMPING ON HIS THIGH, the Holy One immediately appeared to him, healed him, and brought him whole to the city of Shechem. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 33:18): NOW JACOB CAME WHOLE < TO THE CITY OF SHECHEM >.
(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.” This verse is related (to Ps.109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord […].” Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered?” [The verse is] simply [referring to] a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham only lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Why so? So he would not see Esau’s shame. Abraham had [Isaac] when he was a hundred years [old]. (Gen. 25:26-27:) “And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. And the lads grew.” Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. R. Levi said, “To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. As long as they are small, no one [can] distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one gives off its pleasant smell, but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small, no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up (in Gen. 25:26, cont.), ’Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.’” And Esau would go out and rob and extort, and people would maledict him. And during the five years [that were withheld from Abraham's life], Esau committed two serious transgressions: He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29), “then Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.” Now field can only be a reference to a betrothed maiden [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25), “If in the field the man finds [a maiden who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her…].” Moreover, exhausted can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31), “woe to me, now; for my life is exhausted before those who kill.” Rabbi Zakkay said, “He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 1:5), ‘If thieves have come to you.’” (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15), ‘And you shall go unto your ancestors in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age].’ But now he would see his grandson go to bad culture and hear what people say about his grandson; [that he was] transgressing sexual prohibitions and shedding blood. He would [then] wonder and say, ‘Are these the stipulations that the Holy One, blessed be He, being fulfilled with me?’ And he would voice a complaint, ‘And this is not “a good old age.”’ What should I do for him?” [So] He gathered him from the world. It is better for the righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4), “For Your steadfast love is better than life.” Behold, he [thus] sinned against his grandfather. He sinned against his father, as he caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said, “Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his [own] eyes to grow dim during his lifetime.” From where [in Scripture] do you learn [this]? A wicked son, from Isaac, as stated (in (Gen. 27:1), “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old [and his eyes were too dim to see].” [In regard to] a wicked disciple, [we learn] from Ahijah, as it is written (in I Kings 14:4), “now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.” Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.”] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and [our] masters [differ]. R. Judah says, “When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus, (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) with the result that she would not bear [any more children]. This is what is written (in Amos 1:11), ‘because he (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his pity (rachamiv),’ as it is written, ‘his uterus (rechemo).’” (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says, “You should not say [this] in reference to when he had left [his mother's uterus]. (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) [i.e., fist] was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob).” What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4:) “The wicked go astray (zoru) from the womb.” R. Nehemiah says, “He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes.” As Rav Huna has said, “Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23), ‘And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are [in your womb].” (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) “and two peoples.” Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) “And one people shall be stronger than the other.” Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the elder shall serve the younger.”’ Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) ‘And behold there were twins in her womb.’ Here are ten. (Vs. 25:) ‘The first came out ruddy.’ That is eleven. (Vs. 26:) ‘And afterward his brother came out.’ Here are twelve.” And there are some who bring this [idea] from here (vs. 22); “and she said, ‘If so, why am I here (zh)?’” By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) z (=7) + h (=5) [for a total of] twelve. But [our] masters have said, “He caused her bier to not go forth publicly [to her funeral]. You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying, ‘Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-Aram. Should Esau the wicked go before her? Then people would say [in Aramaic], (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) “Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man.”’ What did they do? They brought out her bier at night, so that Esau not go out in front of her, and all say, ‘Cursed are the breasts suckled this evil man.’” R. Jose bar R. Hanina said, “Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8), ‘Then Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died [and she was buried under the oak below Bethel] and its name was called Weeping Oak (Allon-Bacuth)],’ as they wept two weepings (bekhiot).” (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance [of mourning] for her nurse, the news about his mother came to him, as stated (to Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again […,] and blessed him.” With what blessing did He bless him? He blessed him with the blessing of [consolation given to] mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grandfather pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? I shall pay him back with evil, as his children destroyed My house. You and I shall rise against him, as stated (Obad. 1:1), “Rise, and we shall rise up against her for war.” Israel said to him, “Master of the world, we cannot [overcome] him.” [So] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, “You mention his name below, and I shall blot out his name above, as stated (Ps. 109:15) ‘Let them (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) always be before (neged) the Lord.’ Whatever he has done, he has done against (neged) Me.” [Therefore] (ibid., cont.), “and may He have their memory cut off from the earth.” Ergo (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.”
This you find to be so in the case of Jacob, of whom it is written: Jacob was a perfect man, dwelling in tents (Gen. 25:27). A perfect man in the performance of good deeds; dwelling in tents devoting himself to the Torah; and full of precepts—camps of angels were assigned to watch over him, as it is said: And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them: “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim (Gen. 32:2–3). It says also: And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood beside him and said: “… And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee” (ibid. 28:13–15).
He was righteous (Gen. 6:9). This suggests that he was one of the seven men born circumcised. (Tradition differs as to the number of men born circumcised. Buber Tanhuma, Noah 6 mentions ten, Midrash on Psalms 9:7 lists thirteen.) Adam and his son Seth were born circumcised, as it is written: He begot a son in his own likeness after his image, and he called him Seth (Gen. 5:3). Noah was born circumcised, as it is written: He was righteous (lit. “perfect”) in his generations (ibid. 7:1); Jacob was born circumcised, for it is said: And Jacob was a quiet (lit. “perfect”) man (ibid. 25:27); Joseph was born circumcised, for it is written: These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph (ibid. 37:2) because he resembled his father; Moses was born circumcised, as it is said: And she saw that he was a goodly child (Exod. 2:2); and Job was born circumcised, as it is written: A wholehearted (lit. “just”) and upright (“perfect”) man (Job 1:1).
Similarly, the verse And he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes alludes to Jacob. His father, Isaac, taught him the law and reprimanded him (as he studied) in the schoolroom, as it is said: And Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents (ibid., v. 27). After he had absorbed everything his father could teach him, he left his father’s home to live in Eber’s home, where he continued to study the law. (Cf. Megillah 17a. He remained there fourteen years.) Therefore, he deserved to inherit the land of Israel, as it is written: And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojourning (ibid. 37:1). Our patriarch Jacob also punished and rebuked his sons, and taught them his customs and practices lest blemishes should appear in their character. Whence do we know this? From the fact that Scripture states: And these are the names of the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, etc. (ibid. 25:13). Scripture equates them all. (All of them are mentioned in the same verse.) Hence, he that loveth his son chasteneth him betimes.
(Lev. 8:1-2:) “Then the Lord spoke [unto Moses]…, ‘Take Aaron and his sons along with him, the vestments […].’” This text is related (to Ps. 65:5), “Fortunate is the one You choose and bring near, to dwell in Your courts.” Fortunate is the one whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen, even though He has not brought him near. And fortunate is the one whom He has brought near, even though He did not choose him. Now which was this one whom He chose? This was Abraham. It is so stated (in Neh. 9:7), “You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram….” However He did not bring him near. Instead he brought himself near. In the case of Jacob, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose him, as stated (in Is. 41:8), “Jacob, whom I have chosen.” It also says (in Ps. 135:4), “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself.” But He did not bring him near. Instead he brought himself near. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 25:27), “but Jacob was a perfect man dwelling in tents.” Moses He chose but did not bring near, as stated (in Ps. 106:23), “[…] had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach.” David He chose but did not bring near, as stated (in Ps. 78:70), “He chose David, His servant.” [But] he brought himself near, as stated (in Ps. 119:63), “I am a companion to all who fear You.” Fortunate are those whom the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, even though He did not bring them near. Come and see [concerning] Jethro. The Holy One, blessed be He, brought him near, but He did not choose him. In the case of Rahab the Harlot, He brought her near but did not choose her. Aaron was doubly fortunate because the Holy One, blessed be He, chose him and brought him near. Where is it shown that He chose him? Where it is stated (in I Sam. 2:28), “And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be My priest.” And where is it shown that He brought him near? Where it is stated (in Exod. 28:1), “And you shall bring near unto yourself your brother Aaron.” Therefore, David praised him (in Ps. 65:5), “Fortunate is the one You choose and bring near, to dwell in Your courts.”
R. Simeon the son of Yohai declared: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Honor the commandments, for they are My emissaries, and a man’s emissary must be honored no less than the man himself. If you honor them, it is as though you honor Me, and if you are disrespectful toward them, it is as though you are disrespectful toward Me. No man revered the commandments and fulfilled the law as meticulously as Jacob, as it is said: And Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents (Gen. 25:27), yet he was visited with trials through his son. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Be assured, you will lose one son, but you will acquire three: Joseph, Manasseh, Ephraim. When they brought him the news (that) “Joseph liveth,” he sent Judah before him as his emissary.
Sons of men. These are Doeg and Ahithophel. Sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were called men. Abraham, as it is said, "Now therefore restore the man his wife" (Genesis 20:7). Isaac was called a man as it is said, "Who is this man that came?" (Genesis 24:65). Jacob was called a man as it is said, "And Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in tents" (Genesis 25:27). ["(Yoshev)" means "dwelling" or "sitting." It is used in this context to describe Jacob as "Yoshev tam," meaning "a simple man, dwelling in tents," in Genesis 25:27.]
"You rebuked nations. This refers to Amalek, as it is said (Numbers 24:20), 'Amalek was the first of the nations.' You destroyed the wicked. This refers to Esau, the wicked one, as it is said (Malachi 1:4), 'They will call them the border of wickedness.' He committed five sins in one day: he had relations with a betrothed woman, committed murder, denied the resurrection of the dead, denied God's sovereignty, and showed contempt for the birthright. Their name shall be blotted out, as it is said (Exodus 17:14), 'I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek.' Rabbi Levi said: It is written (Genesis 25:23), 'Two nations are in your womb.' What did [God] say to her [Rebecca]? 'Two governments are in your womb.' I reveal to you what is hidden: 'The first of the nations shall emerge from you,' as it is said (Jeremiah 2:3), 'Israel is the holy first fruits of his harvest.' Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: God never needed to rely on an intimate relationship with a woman, except for that righteous woman [Rebecca], and even she was only through the medium of an angel. Rabbi said in the name of Rabbi Yose: It was through the name of Noah's son that [Rebecca] was blessed. 'Two nations are in your womb' - I [God] made seventy nations from [Noah's three sons], as it is said (Genesis 10:19), 'These are the three sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.' How? Japheth had fourteen descendants, Gog and Magog had thirty, and Ham had thirty. That makes seventy. (Genesis 10:5) 'From these the isles of the nations were separated.' 'And two nations are in your womb' - I will make from one [nation], seventy souls, and they will be fruitful and multiply. Another interpretation of 'two nations' is that one is proud of his wealth, and the other is proud of his royalty: Edom among the nations and Solomon among Israel." Another matter, two nations whose hatred is embedded in your womb, all hate Esau and all hate Jacob. Another matter, two nations that hate each other. They will separate from your womb. From this, we learn that Jacob was born circumcised and uncircumcised. He is one of the thirteen who were born circumcised. Adam, the first man, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Terah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah were all born circumcised. Adam was at the beginning of the creation of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated, "And he begot in his likeness, after his image" (Genesis 5:3). Enoch, as it is stated, "And Enoch walked with God" (Genesis 5:24). And it is stated, "Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). Noah, as it is stated, "Noah was a righteous man" (Genesis 6:9). Shem, as it is stated, "These are the generations of Shem" (Genesis 11:10). Whoever had his name repeated was born circumcised, such as Shem, Shem, Noah, Noah, Terah, Terah. Jacob, as it is stated, "And Jacob was a straightforward man" (Genesis 25:27). And it states, "Jacob, Jacob" (Genesis 46:2). Joseph, as it is stated, "These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph" (Genesis 37:2). This teaches us that he was born circumcised like him [Jacob]. Moses, as it is stated, "Moses, Moses" (Exodus 3:4). And it is stated, "And she saw that he was good" (Exodus 2:2). He was born circumcised. (Samuel I 3:10) (meaning Samuel IV, as it is written) Samuel, Samuel. Isaiah, as it is stated, "The Lord called me from the womb" (Isaiah 49:1). Jeremiah, as it is stated, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5). David, as it is stated, "A golden Psalm of David" (Psalms 16:1). And much will the young servant serve. Rav Huna said, "If he merited, he will serve, and if not, he will not serve." And when David saw how Esau made Israel slaves, he said before the Holy One, blessed be He, "Rebuke the nations who seek to destroy me" (Psalms 44:6).
Rabbi Meir said: Esau, the brother of Jacob, saw the coats of Nimrod, and in his heart he coveted them, and he slew him, and took them from him. Whence (do we know) that they were desirable in his sight? Because it is said, "And Rebecca took the precious raiment of Esau, her elder son" (Gen. 27:15). When he put them on he also became, by means of them, a mighty hero, as it is said, "And Esau was a cunning hunter" (Gen. 25:27). And when Jacob went forth from the presence of Isaac, his father, he said: Esau, the wicked one, is not worthy to wear these coats. What did he do? He dug in the earth and hid them there, as it is said, "A noose is hid for him in the earth" (Job 18:10).
Rabbi Tanchuma said: The two lads grew up; the one went by the way of life, and the other went by the way of death, as it is said, "And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter" (Gen. 25:27). Jacob went on the way of life, for he was dwelling in tents, and he studied the Torah all his days. Esau went on the way of death, because he slew Nimrod and his son Chavir, and he almost sought to kill Jacob his brother, as it is said, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand, and I will slay my brother Jacob" (Gen. 27:41).
“It was during the days when the judges judged, there was a famine.” “The path of a man is erratic [hafakhpakh] and strange, [but as for the pure, his conduct is upright]” (Proverbs 21:8) – this is the wicked Esau [Rome] who would erratically [mithapekh] assail Israel with [evil] decrees. ‘Did you steal?’ ‘We did not steal.’ ‘Did you kill?’ ‘We did not kill.’ ‘You did not steal, who stole with you?’ ‘You did not kill, who killed with you?’ They would confiscate from them and impose monetary penalties upon them: Bring your property tax, bring your head tax, bring your state tax. “Man” – this is the wicked Esau, as it is stated: “Esau was a man who knew hunting” (Genesis 25:27). “And strange” – as he made himself estranged from circumcision and estranged from mitzvot. “Pure” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, who treats him in upright ways and gives him his reward in this world, like a laborer who performs labor in good faith with his employer. Another interpretation: “The path of a man [ish] is erratic [hafakhpakh] and strange” (Proverbs 21:8) – these are the nations of the world who constantly [mehapekhin] assail Israel with [evil] decrees. “A man” – they who descend from Noah, who was called “a man” (Genesis 6:9); “and strange” – as they worship idols. “But as for the pure, his conduct is upright [yashar]” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, who treats them in an upright manner. Rabbi Aḥa said: “The path…is erratic” – this is Israel, as it is stated: “As they are an erratic generation” (Deuteronomy 32:20). “A man [ish]” – “The men [ish] of Israel took an oath” (Judges 21:1). (It is difficult to ascertain what is meant by this reference. Perhaps the midrash seeks to connect “the path of a man is erratic” to the tragic events surrounding the concubine of Giva recounted in Judges, chaps. 19–21.) “And strange [vazar]” – because they estranged themselves from the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “They betrayed the Lord, as they begot foreign [zarim] children” (Hosea 5:7). “But as for the pure” – that is the Holy One blessed be He, who conducts Himself with uprightness in this world and gives them a complete reward in the future, like a craftsman who performs his labor in good faith with his employer. At that time, the Holy One blessed be He said: My children are recalcitrant; to eliminate them is impossible, to return them to Egypt is impossible, to exchange them with another nation, I am unable. What shall I do to them? I will afflict them with suffering and will refine them with famine during the days when the judges judged. That is what is written: “It was during the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land.”
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
(Bamidbar 7:18) "On the second day, Nethanel ben Tzuar, the chief of Yissachar, presented": (Ibid. 19) "He presented (hikriv) his offering": What is the intent of this (i.e., why the redundancy?) Because Reuven came and protested, saying: It is enough that Judah preceded me; let me (now) present according to the order of (precedence) in birth, Moses rebuked him, saying: The Holy One told me to present according to (precedence) in (the order of) journeying — it being written "hakrev" (imperative - "Present"). "He (Nethanel) presented his offering." Because Nethanel merited in counsel (i.e., to counsel the presentation of these offerings), Scripture accounts it to him as if he had presented first and he merited the bequest of binah (understanding) as his (Yissachar's) portion, viz. (I Chronicles 12:33) "And of the sons of Yissachar, knowers of understanding for the times," and (Judges 5:15) "And the leaders of Yissachar (the Sanhedrin) were with Devorah, and as Yissachar, so, Barak, in the valley, etc." And thus does Scripture praise him (Yissachar) in the batei-din in Egypt, viz. (of Yissachar) "Yashuv, the family of the Yashuvi, "yishuv" connoting beth-din, as in (Ezekiel 33:31) "and they will come to you as a people comes, and My people will sit (in judgment) before you," and (Devarim 33:18) "Rejoice Zevulun on your going forth (to trade), and Yissachar in your tents (of Torah)," and (Bereshit 25:27) "… and Yaakov was a "whole" man, sitting in the tents (of learning)."
(Devarim 32:9) "For the portion of the L-rd is His people": An analogy: A king had a field and gave it to tenant-farmers, who began to steal from it — upon which he gave it to their sons — who began to be worse than the first. When a son was born to him, he said to them: Get out of what is mine. You cannot remain there. Give me my portion so that I can recognize it. Similarly, when our father Abraham came to the world, there issued from him base matter — Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. When our father Isaac came to the world, there issued from him base matter — Esav and the chiefs of Edom, who became worse than the first. When Jacob came, no base matter issued from him, but all of his sons were born kasher, as he was, as it is written (Bereshith 21:27) "And Jacob was a whole (i.e., "unalloyed") man, a dweller of tents" (the tents of Torah). From where does the L-rd recognize His portion? From Yaakov, as it is written (Psalms 135:4) "For Yaakov did G-d choose; Israel, as His select ones," and (Devarim, Ibid.) "For the portion of the L-rd is His people, Jacob the cord of His inheritance." And we still do not know whether the L-rd chose Israel as His inheritance, or Israel chose the L-rd, (both readings being possible). It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 7:6) "You (Israel) has the L-rd your G-d chosen to be unto Him a select people." And whence do we derive that Jacob, likewise, chose the Holy One Blessed be He? From (Jeremiah 10:16) "Not as those is the portion of Jacob, for He is the Former of all, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the L-rd of hosts is His name."
(Devarim 32:47) "For it is not an empty thing for you; for it is your life, and by this thing you shall prolong days": There is nothing empty in the Torah, for which, if you fulfill it, you will not be rewarded in this world, with the principal remaining for the world to come. Know this to be so, for they said: Why is it written (Bereshith 36:22) "And the sister of Lotan was Timna," and (Ibid. 36:12) "And Timna was a concubine to Elifaz (the son of Esav)"? Because she said: "I am not worthy of being his wife; (at least) let me be his concubine." Why all this? To apprise us of the greatness of our father Abraham, kings and sultans [(Timna was a daughter of royalty)] desiring to marry into his family. Now does this not follow a fortiori? If Esav, who kept only one mitzvah, that of honoring his father — kings and sultans desired to marry into his family, how much more so would they run to do so with Jacob the tzaddik, who fulfilled all of the mitzvoth, viz. (Ibid. 25:27) "And Jacob was a whole man!"
Variantly: "And he said: The L-rd came from Sinai.": When the L-rd is destined to exact payment of Seir, He is destined to "thunder" all of the world on its inhabitants, as He did at the giving of the Torah, viz. (Judges 5:14) "O L-rd, when You went out of Seir, when You strode from the field of Edom, the earth thundered; the heavens, too, trickled; the heights, too, dripped water."
Variantly: To what may this be compared? To one who desired to give a gift to one of his sons, but feared his brothers, his lovers, and his kinsmen. What did that son do? He arose and exposed himself and shore his hair, whereupon the king said to him: To you shall I give the gift. Similarly, when our father Abraham came to the world, a blemish issued from him — Yishmael and the sons of Keturah reverted to wickedness, more than their predecessors. When Isaac came, a blemish issued from him — Esav and all the chiefs of Edom. But in Jacob no blemish was found, as it is written (Bereshith 25:27) "And Jacob was an upright man, a dweller of tents" — whereupon the L-rd said to him: To you shall I give the Torah — wherefore it is written "And he said: The L-rd came from Sinai, etc."
This is what God said to Israel: My children what do I seek from you? I seek no more than that you love one another, and honor one another, and that you have awe for one another
Until when does the merit of the patriarchs endure? Rabbi Tanḥuma said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Menaḥama, and some say Rabbi Berekhya bar Ḥelbo [said it] in the name of Rava bar Zavda: Until Yehoaḥaz. That is what is written: “But the Lord showed them favor and had mercy on them…until now” (II Kings 13:23) – until now the merit of the patriarchs endured. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Until Elijah. That is what is written: “It was at the time of offering up the afternoon offering that Elijah the prophet approached, [and he said: Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today it will be known that You are God in Israel]” (I Kings 18:36). Shmuel said: Until Hosea. That is what is written: “Now I will reveal her repulsiveness in the eyes of her paramours, and no man will deliver her from My hand” (Hosea 2:12). The man stated here is no one other than Abraham, just as it says: “Now, restore the man’s wife” (Genesis 20:7). And “man” is non other than Isaac, as it is stated: “Who is that man?” (Genesis 24:65). And “man” is none other than Jacob, as it is stated: “Jacob was a complete man” (Genesis 25:27). Rabbi Yudan said: Until Hezekiah, just as it said: “For abundant authority and for unending peace…[from now, forever; the zealotry of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this]” (Isaiah 9:6). (From that point forward, the zealotry of the Lord would prevail, because the merit of the patriarchs had run out.) Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Berekhya: If you see that the merit of the patriarchs has failed and the merit of the matriarchs has faltered, go and cleave to acts of kindness. That is what is written: “For the mountains will move, and the hills will collapse” (Isaiah 54:10); the mountains are the patriarchs and the hills are the matriarchs, and then: “My kindness will not be moved from you, [My covenant of peace shall not collapse]” (Isaiah 54:10). (The verse is understood to mean, if My attribute of kindness is not moved from you, in that you perform acts of kindness for others, My covenant of peace with you will not falter. ) Rabbi Aḥa said: The merit of the patriarchs endures forever. Forever, we mention and say: “For the Lord your God is a merciful God, He will neither forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your patriarchs” (Deuteronomy 4:31).
“Be wholehearted with Hashem your God” (Devarim 18:13). You must know that the trait of wholeheartedness is the loftiest of all the praiseworthy qualities and traits that a person must acquire. Therefore it states regarding our forefather Yaakov, “And Yaakov was a wholehearted man, dwelling in tents” (Bereishis 25:27). Surely Yaakov possessed numerous holy qualities and traits, such as piety, awe, humility, holiness and purity. Nevertheless, Scripture does not identify him with any of these traits but only with that of wholeheartedness, as it is stated, “And Yaakov was a wholehearted man.” Clearly, then, wholeheartedness must encompass all the other praiseworthy and holy characteristics. And indeed this is so. For if a person is humble but has the flaw of pursuing wealth or if he yearns for a certain sin, he is not whole in his deeds. Such a person is likened to a beautiful vessel with many chips and cracks. But if a person is wholehearted and complete in every praiseworthy trait, and is God- fearing, beloved, charitable, dwelling in the earthly tents of Torah and toiling in Torah by night — then, when his soul expires, he will merit dwelling in the Heavenly “tent.”
We have been handed over to the dominion of a force which after all originated in the regions of sanctity and purity, i.e. we have been subjected to their ראש, which is metaphor for their origin in Holy Spheres. These pagans are not allowed, however, to have sin-offerings presented on their behalf on the altar of the Holy Temple because their sin-offerings are impurity personified. All of this is the mystical dimension of the 70 bulls the Jewish people offered on behalf of the Gentile nations during the course of the holiday of Tabernacles as described in Numbers 29,14-34. It will be explained there in greater detail. While we have said that Esau was first-born from the physical aspect, i.e. that he was born first, we nonetheless look forward to the time of the redemption when it is he who will become the עקב, heel, not Jacob. When the Torah describes Jacob as holding on to the heel of Esau in Genesis 25,27, this is an allusion to Esau being the last of the שרים to have dominion over Israel at any time.
When Jacob is described as יושב אהלים, "a dweller of tents," this refers to his being the link between two tents, i.e. the tent of Abraham who personified the attribute of חסד, and the tent of Isaac who personified the attribute of דין, Justice, as we have explained repeatedly. Jacob achieved a perfect blend between these two attributes. We have previously described that G–d, when He created the universe, decided to co-opt the attribute of Mercy to the attribute of Justice. Jacob reflected G–d's decision. When our sages always speak of the "love" of Abraham, the "fear" of Isaac, and the "truth" of Jacob this is the combination of Mercy and Justice. Jacob represented the emanation תפארת.
I have already hinted that Jacob, who referred to himself as possessing כל, "all," in Genesis 33,11, is similarly described by that term in our grace prayer. What is meant is his remaining totally alive, seeing all his children continued to live according to their father's tenets. Jacob was also called איש, and our sages relate that whereas Jacob did not die, Esau did die (Taanit 8). Esau had said of himself in Genesis 25,32 that he was headed for death. Jacob's ability to remain "alive," חי, began with Sarah, who was not attached to the קליפה, and through whose son, ביצחק, one side of such pollutants was already removed, i.e. מיצחק, hence the description of his blessing as מכל. The terms בכל-מכל-כל, refer to elimination of the pollutants in ever-increasing measure. Abraham therefore is at the bottom of such a chain whereas Jacob is at the top, and thus was called חי.
This is the meaning of ובשר בשדה טרפה, "in the field," which is outside the confines of קדושה holiness, like the "field" of Esau who is described in the Torah as a man of the "field," as distinct from his brother, the איש תם (Genesis 25,27). We know of seventy categories of impurities corresponding to the seventy spiritual counterparts or "princes" of the seventy Gentile nations. This is why we must not consume any of these animals infested with "impurity," in order to maintain our destiny of אנשי קודש תהיון לי.
Esau ridiculed this, saying that Adam had been able to reproduce other human beings of whom the Torah testifies that they were "in His image and form," i.e. of equal or greater worth. Thereby he had restored the damage Cain had wrought (Genesis 5,3). This occurred when Shet was born, who provided the strain of mankind that survived the deluge. Esau vowed not to repeat Cain's mistake, but to ensure that no one could be sired by Isaac to replace Jacob. He particularly wanted to destroy one of the pillars supporting the universe, i.e. the Torah, which was represented by Jacob, the יושב אוהלים, the dweller in tents (a euphemism for Torah academies). On Genesis 25, 27, Rashi explains the plural as comprising the academies of Shem and Ever respectively. Esau reasoned that during the days of mourning for their father Isaac Jacob would have to interrupt his Torah study and the angel of death, Esau's guardian angel, would be able to claim him at such a time. We know from king David that the angel of death could not touch David while he was immersed in Torah study. He had to be distracted so that the angel of death could claim his soul. The Talmud relates a similar occasion when the angel of death tried to claim the soul of Rabbah. The latter had to be distracted through some tremendous noise (Baba Metzia 86).
To sum up: Man's sins leave an imprint not only on his own face but also tarnish the "image" of G–d. This is why the Torah phrases its request that we be "perfect, whole" with Him by using the word תמים in the plural, [when it could just as well have described this attitude as תם (sing.) similarly to the Torah's description of Jacob's character in Genesis 25,27. Ed.]
ויעקב איש תם. The fact that this trait plus the fact that he was a dweller of tents, are the only ones of Jacob's many marvelous character traits that are especially mentioned in the text teaches us to what extent a person has to endeavor not to be devious and not to engage in deceit and trickery.
When they said: "The brother of the master was a swindler," they deliberately referred to him as "brother" instead of saying "Jacob the swindler." Their intent was to make Jacob's trickery appear to have been greater than it was. They referred, for instance, to the time Jacob introduced himself to Rachel as the brother of her father, (the swindler), something which Rashi justifies as Jacob telling Rachel not to worry, that he, Jacob, would be able to cope with devious Laban (Genesis 29,12). Whereas the Romans could see Jacob's trickery as justified in the case of Laban, since Laban had been the first one to use trickery, this could not be said in the case of their Master Esau, who had never tried to cheat Jacob. Jacob cheated Esau out of his birthright as well as out of his blessing; because of this they emphasized that Jacob was both a swindler and a forger.
Rabbi Ashi used their exact wording to indicate that the Romans tripped themselves up by admitting that Esau had actually begun the whole cycle of trickery: he was the product of the serpent's pollution, he had inherited the slyness of the serpent; he even had a birthmark on his thigh showing the contours of a snake (as I have already stated). Esau had indulged in tricking his own father already long before Jacob bought the birthright. Our sages report him as having asked Isaac how one tithes salt, straw, etc., all in order to make his father believe that he was extremely pious (cf. Midrash Tanchuma on Genesis 25 27)
The second introduction needed to understand the whole issue is the fact that Esau and Jacob were twins inside Rebeccah's womb, and that she was the mother of both of them. This means that she was like the crucible within which Jacob was refined, whereas Esau at the same time absorbed all the residual polluted material of the original serpent that had still cleaved to Rebeccah in her capacity as Laban's sister. Esau inherited all the falseness of Laban. This left Jacob like pure, refined silver. That is what our sages had in mind when they referred to Jacob's beauty as equaling that of Adam (before his sin). The fact that Esau had absorbed all the negative residual elements within Rebeccah had enabled Jacob to become the pious person he was. Rebeccah loved Jacob; Isaac loved Esau more. The deeper reason for this is, as we have already explained, that there was some affinity between Isaac, whose root was the emanation of דין, the same emanation as the one the serpent=Satan=Esau was rooted in. Rebeccah, on the other hand, loved Jacob, seeing that her appearance was just like that of her mother-in-law Sarah, as we have explained. When Sarah is described in Genesis 20,3 as בעולת בעל, the Talmud Ketuvot 61 describes this as meaning that her husband was in a state of ascension at the time. The Torah compliments Sarah by testifying that together with her husband she ascended to higher spiritual regions. Rebeccah experienced something similar. We know that Isaac was described as עולה תמימה, an unblemished total offering [ עולה in the sense of something that ascends Ed.], at the time he was bound on the altar at Moriah. Our Rabbis say that nonetheless Isaac was like a קרבן עולה ויורד, in the matter of the עקדה, meaning that at different times he was at different spiritual levels. While he was bound on the altar, for instance, he was on a higher spiritual level than when he descended from the altar, aware that he was not to be sacrificed after all, seeing that G–d had appointed an alternative offering in his stead, namely the ram that was caught in the thicket by its horns (Genesis 22,13). Jacob was called an איש תם, the word תם referring to his spiritual ascension. Esau, on the other hand, though from a holy source as we explained when we described his head as being cradled by Isaac , was of the caliber that was liable to descend rather than to ascend spiritually.
I have already mentioned that just as G–d is unique, so is Israel unique, and that this is a reason why there is such a close relationship between G–d and Israel. It is the reason why כי לא יטוש ה' את עמו בעבור שמו הגדול, "that G–d will not abandon His people for the sake of His great Name" (Samuel I 12,22). The numerical value of G–d's Ineffable Name amounts to 26, twice the numerical value of אחד, "one", or 13. Israel's uniqueness added to G–d's uniqueness makes 26. If G–d were to abandon Israel, He would impair His "great Name." The means of the close relationship between G–d and Israel is the holy Torah, all of which is composed of letters in the name of G–d. Torah may be viewed as the revelation of G–d. By its observance of Torah, Israel "awakens" the spiritual dimensions of Torah, i.e. the mystique surrounding the various names of G–d. The result produced is that Israel literally "cleaves" to G–d. When we view the uniqueness of Jacob and the uniqueness of Joseph, we may also view each of them as בעלה של תורה, the master of Torah. Jacob is the proverbial איש תם יושב אהלים, whereas Joseph is the בן זקונים. Whatever Jacob had learned in the academy of Shem and Ever (after he left home and before he arrived at Laban's), he transmitted to his son Joseph.
My merit has been depleted by all the favors and the fulfillment of Your promises." According to Rabbi Aba in Bereshit Rabbah 76,5 the word קטונתי, means that Jacob felt unworthy of all the favors he had experienced at the hands of G–d. Rabbi Levi, however, feels that Jacob had felt entitled to receive favors, but had exhausted his merits by so doing. Both Rabbis are quite correct. Jacob's remarks expressed both his feelings vis-a-vis Esau and his feelings vis-a-vis Samael. Concerning his standing vis-a-vis Esau, Jacob expressed concern that the very favors he had experienced up to now might place him in a disadvantageous position, for Esau had not been recompensed for his merits. We know from Shabbat 32a that a miracle performed for someone draws on his accumulated merits. The Talmud derives this principle from our verse. Rashi understands the verse in the latter sense. We must conclude that Jacob appealed to G–d at this point to perform a miracle for him now too, in order to save him from Esau. When he invoked the four-lettered Name of G–d, we see a similarity to Psalms 20, 8: ’אלה ברכב ואלה בסוסים ואחנו בשם ה' אלוקינו נזכיר, "They (call) on chariots, they (call) on horses, but we call on the name of the LORD our G–d," for true salvation is G–d's domain. Not feeling morally entitled, Jacob pleaded with G–d to perform the miracle for the sake of His Name. Regarding his imminent confrontation with Samael, however, he said: קטונתי מכל האמת, he invoked his own specific attribute of “אמת,” as we have explained repeatedly in connection with Michah 7,20: תתן אמת ליעקב, "You will keep faith with Jacob." This attribute is a reference to the Torah which is known as תורת אמת, in other words the Torah was given to the people of Israel through this attribute of Jacob. According to the Kabbalists the Torah originates in the upper regions of Heaven, a region where the attribute of Jacob is at home. Jacob is described in the Torah as being איש תם, "a perfect individual residing in the 'tents' of Torah” (Genesis 25,27). The expression קטונתי, "I am too insignificant, too unworthy," may be understood better when we compare it to the last Mishnah in tractate Sotah 49, where we are told that after the death of Rabbi Yossi the “קטנותא,” there were no longer any men deserving the title "the pious one." If Rabbi Yossi was so pious, why does the Mishnah refer to him as "the little one?" According to Rashi the meaning is that Rabbi Yossi was the least pious of all the pious men preceding him. According to Maimonides it means that Rabbi Yossi was the "root" of all the pious men, and the root is by nature something that has small beginnings. Jacob then alluded to the process of attaining significance as being one that commences by one's being small, קטן. This is also why Jacob is popularly known as יעקב הקטן, "little Jacob." In his entreaty to G–d to save him from Samael, Jacob referred to this when he said: קטונתי. When Rabbi Levi said in the Midrash that Jacob meant: "I was deserving, he meant "but now I have become 'small' seeing that my merits may have been used up."
מה טובו אוהליך יעקב, “how goodly are your tents o Yaakov.” The reason that Bileam complimented the Jewish people in these terms is that Yaakov had been described by the Torah as: איש תם יושב אהלים, “a quiet man, a dweller in tents.” (Genesis 25,27)
'ומה אזעום לא זעם ה, “how could I successfully curse someone whom Hashem has not cursed?” Bileam, who specialised in timing G–d’s “moods,” knew that at that time G–d had not had any reason to be angry at His people. If you were to quote the prophet Micah in Micah 6,5, who refers to Bileam having detected that G–d did display anger at Israel at the time, (as interpreted by the Talmud, tractate B’rachot 7,) that anger lasted but a moment and did not enable Bileam to pinpoint accurately. At least Bileam did not have time enough to curse all the Israelites before the curse was turned into a blessing as we know from what Moses said in Deuteronomy 23,6 where he describes G–d as interfering in Bileam’s attempt immediately He had become aware of it. If Bileam had cursed them with the single word: כלם, “make an end of them” he would have had time enough. According to the Talmud the words ותרועת מלך בו, “and the King’s shofar blast is active on their behalf,” (in verse 21 of our chapter) hints at how G–d annuls Bileam’s attempt at cursing the Jewish people. The word מלך, “King,” consisting of the same letters as the word כלם,” destroy them,” shows how G–d interfered with Bileam’s curse. Our author raises an objection to this methodology of turning curses into blessings by quoting the Talmud on the same folio where it reports Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi being harassed by a member of the Tz’doki sect, raising what he considered contradictory verses in the Torah. One day the Rabbi took a cockerel, positioned him at the bottom of his bed, and looked at that bird intently, intending that as soon as the time when G–d is briefly angry would arrive, he would curse that Tz’doki. By the time that hour arrived, the Rabbi had fallen asleep, (and missed his chance). When he awoke, he realised that he had been saved from committing a sin by having fallen asleep at the crucial time, and he interpreted Proverbs 17,26: גם ענוש לצדיק לא טוב, “it is also not good to punish the righteous,” to mean that one must not deliberately become the instrument by which G–d punishes the wicked. Our author questions how Rabbi Joshua ben Levi could have succeeded to successfully curse that Tz’doki at the precise moment of G–d’s anger, as it would have taken too long, according to what we just learned? He therefore comes to the conclusion that what is critical is only if the beginning of one’s curse coincides with the precise moment at which G–d is angry. He supports his theory by pointing to the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin folio 105 where Rabbi Yochanan is quoted as having said that the very wording of Bileam’s blessings hinted already at the fact that they had been meant to be curses which G–d had reversed. When he had meant to say that he wished that the Israelites would lack synagogues and Torah academies he commenced with the words: ”how goodly are your tents, etc?” [The word אהל for “tent” in which to study G–d’ Torah occurs frequently, commencing with Yaakov in Genesis 25,27. Ed.] He quotes some other “blessings” of Bileam there as similarly revealing what his curse would have sounded like had he been permitted to pronounce it. Clearly, he would not have had time enough to pronounce all these curses in the minute time span G–d remains angry. This proves that the very beginning of uttering what was in his mind is what is critical.
אלה הדברים, These are the words, etc. The word אלה is restrictive, especially in regard to what has been written previously. Seeing Moses recorded in this Book only words which he had spoken on his own initiative, the Torah wishes to emphasise that only the words of admonition recorded in this Book were spoken by Moses on his own initiative. We are told in Megillah 31 that Moses personally composed the curses recorded in this Book, and that even legislation which Moses repeated in this Book he had not been commanded to repeat but did so of his own volition. The Torah was concerned that we might conclude that just as Moses had felt free to say things of his own volition in this Book he might have done so in the previous four Books. This is why this Book commences with the words אלה הדברים, "only these are the words Moses spoke of his own volition, none other."
8) The ideal personality is engaged in Torah study on a permanent basis like our Patriarch Jacob whom the Torah (Genesis 25,27) describes as a ישב אהלים, a dweller of tents. The word ישב refers to a permanent presence. Moses alluded to this quality when he said וחצרות, and referred to the courtyards of the Lord as the study halls.
The definition of being תמים, perfect, includes the requirement that a person’s external appearance mirrors his internal but invisible virtues, and that what he says reflects what he truly feels. It is a fact that our patriarch Avraham was the root of faith in G’d and of those who believe in the exclusivity and uniquness of G’d. When it comes to matters of faith it is indispensable that what one professes to believe and what one does in fact believe must coincide. Anyone who says one thing while believing another belongs to the group of individuals of whom the psalmist (Psalms 78, 36-37) has said: ויפתוהו בפיהם ובלשונם יכזבו-לו, ולבם לא-נכון עמו ולא נאמנו בבריתו, “Yet they deceived Him with their speech, lied to Him with their words; their hearts were inconstant toward Him; they were untrue to His covenant.” This is why the Torah has formulated the requirement to be “perfect” as a positive commandment in Deut 18,13 by writing תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך, “be wholehearted with the Lord your G’d.” Being “wholehearted” is one of the highest virtues, and the Torah refers approvingly to such people as Noach, Yitzchak, and Yaakov as having practiced this virtue (compare Genesis 6,9; 25,27; Bereshit Rabbah 64,3). We read in Psalms 15,2 הולך תמים ופועל צדק, “he who lives without blame and does what is right and acknowledges the truth in his heart;” these words refer to Avraham. Psalm 101,2 “אשכילה בדרך תמים, “I direct my reason in the path of moral integrity,” extols the virtue of תמימות as one that David tries to attain. In Psalm 41,13 David credits G’d’s support of him by attributing it to his integrity; ואני בתומי תמכת בי ותציבני לפניך לעולם, “You will support me because of my integrity and let me abide in Your presence forever.” Solomon also was keenly aware of the importance of this virtue and this is why he referred to it both in Proverbs 10,9הולך בתומים ילך בטח , He who walks in integrity walks securely,” and in Proverbs 11,20 where he writes ורצונו תמימי דרך, “but G’d delights in those who are blameless in their ways.”
והנה ה’ נצב עליו “and here the Lord was standing above it, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word עליו refers to the ladder. A kabbalistic approach: the word עליו refers to Yaakov, i.e. G’d appeared to Yaakov as if He were standing above him.” What the Kabbalists are trying to tell us is that Yaakov viewed himself in this dream as the carrier of the שכינה, the Divine Presence, and its entourage. The Torah would thereby have compared Yaakov to one of the cherubs of whom it has been said וירכב על כרוב ויעוף, (Samuel II 22,11) “He mounted a cherub and flew.” The patriarchs are the true מרכבה, the “chariots” supporting the שכינה, the benevolent Presence of G’d. They performed a task on earth which the angels perform in the celestial spheres. Kabbalists (True scholars, i.e. the sages of the Talmud) have expressed this thus when speaking about the כרובים, cherubs: The face of a human being is considered the major “face,” whereas the face of the cherub is considered as the “minor” face. (compare Rashi, Sukkah 5B where the cherubs on the lid of the Holy Ark are discussed). According to Kabbalists it was this idea David referred to in Psalms 104,25 where he referred to חיות קטנות עם גדולות, “small and large חיות.” Let me enlighten you on this subject. We already mentioned that Yaakov’s facial features are engraved on G’d’s throne (Bereshit Rabbah 68,12 and that the angels descended to compare Yaakov’s sleeping countenance with that engraved on G’d’s throne). This was the reason the Torah describes him as יושב אהלים, “dweller in tents,” (25,27) i.e. he was “at home” both in a celestial residence as well as in a terrestrial one. This idea is expressed even more forcefully in connection with the revelation at Mount Sinai where the “nobles” of Israel (Exodus 24,10) are described as having a vision of אל-הי ישראל ותחת רגליו, “of G’d, and Israel who is at His feet.” This is also what Yaakov had in mind when he said to Rachel who had demanded that he make children for her (30,2) התחת אל-הים אנכי. This statement was not a rhetorical question but he explained to Rachel that he was not G’d-like, but his image was inscribed below, i.e. beneath the throne of G’d who has the power to bestow children.
According to a Midrashic approach as found both in Tanchuma and Bereshit Rabbah, Joseph was selected as Yaakov’s prime issue as he was so like his father. This is what the Torah meant when writing כי בן זקונים הוא לו, that his features resembled those of his father. He also resembled his father in that many experiences which Yaakov endured were more or less duplicated in the life of Joseph. Whereas Yaakov had been pursued by his brother Esau, Joseph was persecuted by his brothers. Just as Yaakov’s mother had been barren for many years, so Joseph’s mother had been barren for many years. Just as Yaakov was born without a foreskin, so Joseph was born without a foreskin. We derive this from the fact that Yaakov was described by the Torah as איש תם, a perfectly formed human being, i.e. one that did not need to be circumcised in order to make him whole. The term תם is only used in connection with circumcised people as G’d told Avraham that in order to become תמים, perfect, whole, he had to circumcise himself (Genesis 17,1). The reason the sages believe that Joseph too was born without a foreskin is because the Torah equates Yaakov and Joseph in writing יעקב יוסף, as if to say that what applied to Yaakov applied to Joseph also. These similarities also showed up in that just as Yaakov’s mother experienced a difficult pregnancy and birth, so did Joseph’s mother experience difficulty when giving birth to Binyamin. Just as Yaakov’s mother gave birth to only two sons so did Joseph’s mother give birth to only two sons. Yaakov and Joseph both married while outside the land of Canaan. The children of both Yaakov and Joseph were born outside the land of Canaan. Both Yaakov and Joseph experienced the company of angels protecting them. Rabbi Yannai (compare Bereshit Rabbah 84,14) claims that Joseph was met by three angels while he searched for his brothers. He bases himself on the word איש, “man,” appearing three separate times in verses 15-16 in our chapter. Just as Yaakov emerged from a dream containing a vision spiritually uplifted, so Joseph emerged similarly uplifted after having certain dreams. Just as the environment of Yaakov (the house of Lavan, and, according to some sources the entire region) experienced G’d’s blessing, as well as the famine coming to an end when he descended to Egypt, so Joseph’s presence both in the house of Potiphar and in Egypt generally proved a blessing for all those around him. Just as Yaakov died in Egypt and his remains were embalmed there only to be buried in the land of Israel eventually, so Joseph died in Egypt, was embalmed there and eventually was reburied in the land of Israel.
Some commentators understand the word אברך as being composed of the two words אב ואדון, (a translation from the Aramaic) This is based on Baba Batra 4 in which King Herod is described as לא ריכא ולא בר ריכא, “neither a king nor the son of a king.” This was because Herod was born a slave rising to the position of king. The translation of Genesis 25,27 יודע ציד by Onkelos as “a shrewd man,” נחשירכן, i.e. נחש רכן is an example of two words being combined into one. Most hunters are relying on shrewdness to lure their prey. While the more accurate versions of the Targum have the word נחשידכן, based on Baba Batra 139 (compare ערוך), in this instance we are dealing with גברא שדכא, a person who is inactive, without regular occupation. We encounter the word having such a meaning in Joshua 11,23 והארץ שקטה ממלחמה, “the land had rest from war,” which is rendered as וארעא שדוכת מלמעבד קרבא by the Targum.
יפת אלוקים ליפת, “may the Lord grant beauty to Yaphet.” Noach blessed Yaphet by promising him that G’d would increase the area of the earth he would dwell in. Onkelos translates the word כי ירחיב, “when He will expand,” in Deut 12,20 as ארי יפת. We see that to this very day the descendants of Yaphet occupy a major part of the surface of the earth. Noach blessed his son Shem by promising that the presence of the Lord would be manifest within his dwellings. There is no other nation which has experienced the presence of G’d in its midst except the people of Israel. This is partly due to the fact that they are descended from Shem. The expression וישכון באהלי שם is most prominently repeated when Yaakov, Yitzchok’s pious son is described as יושב אהלים, “a dweller in tents.” This expression in Genesis 25,27 is a reference to “the tents of Torah,” the most wide-spread manifestation of the presence of G’d. There is an allusion here that the presence of G’d, i.e. its becoming manifest, is usually found where Torah is being studied. In this manner Shem actually received two blessings from his father.
מכל העם אנשי חיל, “from amongst all the people men of accomplishment.” The term אנשי חיל is a collective term and presupposes that these people possessed all the individual qualities Yitro had enumerated such as being “G’d-fearing, men of truth, people despising money.” The title אנשי חיל is applied to people who can lead the nation by judging fairly. It is impossible for fair judgment to be dispensed unless those dispensing it possess reverence for G’d and His Torah, despise ill gotten gain such as bribes, and are truthful. Our sages (Sanhedrin 7) have stated that a true judge is someone who in his mind’s eye constantly sees a sword at his neck above, and gehinom opening before him below, he being in the middle. If he merits it he will be saved from both, if not he will be afflicted by both. Judges must also be “men of truth,” meaning they must love truth as a value by itself choosing to side only with truth, refusing to accept arguments based on lies. They must personify the principle expressed in Exodus 23,7 applying to judges (according to Ibn Ezra) “keep your distance from anything deceitful.” They must also be שונאי בצע, i.e. display a disdain for money. This applies to a disdain for their own money, money acquired honestly (Sifri on Deut. 1,17). It goes without saying that they must hate money that was taken from others illegally. (compare Genesis 37,26). The author quotes Scripture to show that the word בצע may mean simply ”money.” An alternative meaning of the word בצע may be “robbery.” The requirement of the psychological makeup of the personality of a judge would have to be a hatred against anything acquired by means of violence direct or indirect, i.e. the threat of violence. In order to appreciate how highly these virtues were esteemed by the Torah we need only look at instances of the Torah complimenting outstanding individuals. Noach (Genesis 6,9) was praised for being righteous and perfect (תמים), a contrast to the violence which permeated mankind at the time and resulted in the decree of the deluge. Avraham was praised and instructed to be תמים, (Genesis 17,1). Yaakov was described as תם, (Genesis 25,27) Moses was described as extremely ענו, humble, the opposite of arrogant, demanding. All of this goes to show that the principal quality of a judge is not his intellect but his personal virtue. Just as the trunk of a tree is not its most important component but the fruit it yields, our sages taught us that the meaning of Psalm 111,10 שכל טוב לכל עושיהם, is that not the לומדיהם, the intelligence itself, is the principal value of a clever brain but the use to which he puts such intelligence., i.e. עושיהם (Berachot 17).
The word סמאל, Samael, Satan, also has a connotation of שמאל, “left,” as it places itself to the “left” side of a person, its potential victim. In addition the letters in סמאל remind one of something “hidden,” סמיות, and are reminiscent of the Torah writing that “bribes blind the eyes of even the intelligent and normally discriminating” (compare Deut. 16,19). In Bereshit Rabbah 65,10 the word עונותם in verse 22 is read as עונות איש תם, a veiled reference to Yaakov who is described in the Torah as איש תם, (Genesis 25,27).
It is incumbent upon man to learn from this legislation concerning who is chosen as fit to be a sacrifice. It is interesting that whereas Yitzchak sent Esau to hunt game, Rivkah sent Yaakov to the sheep to select a domesticated animal as food for her husband. These animals share the characteristic of תמימות, being flawless in character, with Yaakov whom the Torah described as תמים, flawless. This characteristic is described by Onkelos as שלים, “peaceful, harmonious,” in Genesis 25,28 where the Torah describes the difference between Esau and Yaakov. This תמימות, flawlessness, is the hallmark of Torah which is described as תורת ה' תמימה, “the Torah of the Lord is flawless,” and its paths are described as harmonious, שלום, (Proverbs 3,17).” The word שלום as a proper name for the Jewish people occurs in Song of Songs 7,1 where Solomon calls on Israel saying שובה שובה השולמית, “turn back, turn back O Shulamit!” The reason Israel has been accorded this title is that the eventual everlasting peace will be ushered in in the land of Israel. For the above-mentioned reasons G’d selected the domesticated pure mammals as suitable for His altar whereas He rejected the free-roaming beasts, even the ones which are permissible for us to eat such as deer, etc. Esau was considered as far removed from the sun (the horoscope of the sun) being a hairy man, a man who made his home in the desert, as already characterized by his father Yitzchak who described him as יודע ציד איש שדה, “familiar with hunting, a man of the field” (Genesis 25,27). He showed a preference for the free-roaming animals that live in uncivilized areas, signifying destruction and desolation. Such an environment is the opposite of the environment which bespeaks peace and harmony. This is also the reason the Torah forbade that stones which had been treated with iron (metal) tools should form part of the altar as such tools are reminiscent of the sword, of causing death instead of ushering in peace, the purpose of the altar. (compare author’s comments on Exodus 20,22). The sword became the inheritance of Esau and his descendants. This is the mystical dimension of Exodus 20,22: “for you have swung your sword over it and desecrated it.” [The author has a different count for the number of verses in the Ten Commandments due to the tone-signs which are used when reading the text, so that in his commentary Exodus 20,22 is referred to as 20,25. Ed.] Seeing that it is the function of the altar to help man live longer whereas the function of the sword is to shorten the life span of those who come in contact with it, it is only logical that such an instrument or one which symbolises it should not be used in constructing the altar. Our sages also derive from the words מן הבהמה, מן הבקר, ומן הצאן, “from the domesticated animals such as cattle or flocks,” that the word בהמה excludes any animal which has been mated with a human being; the word מן הבקר is meant to exclude any cow or ox which has been used in idolatrous rites; the words מן הצאן exclude even animals which have been designated for idolatrous service though none such has as yet been performed with them. The extra letter ו in the words ומן הצאן, excludes animals which have gored a human being to death but against which there is not enough evidence to carry out the penalty of stoning prescribed by the Torah (compare Sifra 2).
‘ISH’ (A MAN) OF THE GROUND. Rashi explained it as “the master [owner or lord] of the ground. This is similar to the expression, ‘ish’ (the man) of Naomi,” (Ruth 1:3.) [which means the master of Naomi]. But this is not so. ‘Ish’ Naomi is an expression of the marital state, just as: ‘ish ve’ishto’ (a man and his wife). (Above, 7:2.) Others (Found in R’dak’s Book of Roots.) have said that it means “the outstanding one of the earth, and its leader,” and they brought proof from similar verses: Gideon the son of Joash, ‘ish’ (a man) of Israel, (Judges 7:14.) [meaning a chief of Israel]; Both ye sons of ‘adam’ and ye son of ‘ish;’ (Psalms 49:3. Translated: both low and high.) Art thou not ‘ish’ (a man)? And who is like to thee in Israel? (I Samuel 26:15.) And there are many other similar verses according to their opinion. In my opinion, Gideon the son of Joash ‘ish’ of Israel, (Judges 7:14.) refers to his genealogy, i.e., that he was an Israelite. Art thou not a man? (I Samuel 26:15.) means that “there is no one like you in Israel.” Similarly, strengthen yourselves, and be men, (Ibid., 4:9.) means that they should not be weak like women. Both ye sons of ‘adam’ and ye sons of ‘ish,’ (Psalms 49:3. Translated: both low and high.) [means “both ye low-born and] ye men of higher station.” However, a man of the ground is like the men of the city, (Genesis 19:4.) since Noah lived all over the earth and never built a city or country to which he should relate himself. Similarly, a man of the field (Ibid., 25:27.) means one who constantly stayed there. In the Mishnah we find: (Aboth, I, 4.) “Yosei ben Yoezer a man of Tzreidah, and Yosei ben Yochanan a man of Jerusalem.” [It may be that a man of the ground means] that he was determined to work the ground, to sow and to plant, because he found the earth had been laid waste, for whoever dedicates himself to a certain purpose is so called, [i.e., ish of that purpose]. The men of the city (Genesis 19:4.) means those that dwell in it. The men of David (I Samuel 23:3.) are his servants, and a man of G-d (Deuteronomy 33:1.) is one who is dedicated to His service. And so the Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah: (36:6.) “A man of the ground [is so called just] as the castle guard is called by the name of the castle.” And the Rabbis also said (Ibid., 36:5.) that Noah had a passion for agriculture. Thus [the word ish is here used to signify] a relationship. The meaning of the word vayachel (and he began) is that he commenced the planting of vineyards. The preceding men had planted single vines, but Noah began to plant many rows of vines, which together comprise a vineyard. On account of his desire for wine, he did not plant the vine singly as other trees; rather, he made a vineyard.
לך נא אל הצאן, take time out from your usual pursuits [in the tents] and go to the pens where the sheep and goats are kept.
Part of the suspicion surrounding Esav’s continued hatred of Ya’akov, however, comes not from the issue of unfinished business as much as from the personality traits the rabbis saw in Esav. Some readers miss why rabbinic tradition seems so stacked against Esav, especially in view of his being taken advantage of by his younger brother. But while the difficulties Esav faced may partially excuse his problematic behavior, Yitzchak’s blessing that he should live by the sword did not come out of the blue. He was already known as the hunter of the family (Bereshit 25:27). This in itself need not be a bad thing. Violence against animals and even people has its place in the context of human survival and prosperity. That being said, it is also easily misused.
From this point of view, we can perhaps better appreciate Esav’s involvement with his father’s food. (This is the simple meaning of Bereshit 25:27. See also Ha’amek Davar ad loc.) Esav’s passion for physical pleasure stands in marked contrast to his father’s lack of concern with such matters. The special relationship between Esav and Yitzchak is characterized by Esav offering his father what he feels Yitzchak was lacking. While Yitzchak himself likely does not care much about what he eats, asking Esav to prepare food for him shows that he appreciates the show of concern by Esav in the only way that this son knows how to show it. In this way, Esav is able to offer something to Yitzchak which the young Yaakov, whose lifestyle and values most mirrored those of his father, could not.
!מה טובו אהליך יעקב; a reference to the Torah academies. [the word אהל in that sense dates back to Genesis 25,27 where Yaakov is described as יושב אהלים a dweller in tents.” It was also used in this sense by Noach when he blessed his son Shem (Genesis 9,27) We find it even more prominently as possessing this meaning in Exodus 33,7 “anyone desirous of finding the presence of G’d would go out to the Tent of Testimony.”
איש האדמה, “a man of the soil.” According to Rashi the word איש in front of the word האדמה has to be understood like the word איש in Ruth 1,3 איש נעמי, where it means: “Naomi’s husband.” Noach became a “master farmer.” Nachmanides, on the other hand, writes that the expression איש נעמי, describes only a marital status as in איש ואשתו, “man and wife,” and that the meaning of the expression איש האדמה is comparable to אנשי העיר, “the townspeople,” i.e. the people who lived in the town. Noach, instead of becoming an urbanite, building towns as had Kayin, became a dweller on the land, a rurally oriented person. Similarly, when the Torah describes Esau as an איש שדה, the meaning is that he was at home in the outdoors, spent most of his time there, as opposed to his brother Yaakov. (Genesis 25,27) Yet another meaning of the expression איש האדמה would interpret the word איש in the sense of “master of,” “in charge of.” The word is used in that sense with Gideon, who is described by the prophet Samuel as גדעון בן יואש איש ישראל, “Gideon, son of Yoash, a leader, head, of the people of Israel.” (Judges 7,14).
Having stated that the Torah is divinely given, the Maggid suggests that it teaches people of all backgrounds and abilities: whether the person is a “wise person with eyes in his head,” (Eccl.2:14), a wicked person, “the net that he hid shall catch him,” (Ps. 35:8), or simple, “One who dwells in tents,” (Jacob is described in Genesis as “a simple man (tam) who dwelled in tents.”) (Gen. 25:27), or one who doesn’t know how to ask (like the vast majority of people.) We praise God who watches over all human beings and gives knowledge to all beings. That is why the Maggid begins, “Praised is the one who gave the Torah to Israel, praised is God.” God’s teachings are geared to all types of people, answering them “according to each person’s needs.” (Esther 1:8) In this way, God is praiseworthy to all people. This is similar to the statement of King David, Israel’s great poet, “Praised are You Adonai, who teaches me Your statutes.” (Ps. 119:12) David praised God for teaching him His laws.
Thus far I have addressed the aspect of proper behavior, [contending] that man ought to distance himself from this. Now I say that it is even forbidden, for anyone who engages in this must enter the forests and place themselves in great danger, in places of packs of wild animals. And the Merciful One said: “Take great care of yourselves” (Deut. 4:15). And who was a greater and more expert hunter than Esau, about who Scripture attests: “Esau was a skillful hunter…” (Genesis 25:27). Yet look at what he said about himself: “I am about to die…” (ibid. 32). And no Scripture departs from its plain meaning, which is that he endangers himself each day among packs of wild beasts. So explains Nachmanides. So then how can a Jewish man insert himself into a place of packs of wild and vicious beasts? Yet even here, if one who poor and does so for sustenance, the Torah permitted it, like any maritime trader crosses the sea—for with regard to anything that is for the needs of one’s sustenance and livelihood, there is no choice. The Torah has said [about the wages of a day laborer]: “His life depends on it” (Deuteronomy 24:15). And the sages said (Bava Metzia 112a): “Why did this person ascend a ramp, dangle from a tree, and place himself at risk of death? Is it not for his wages?” But one whose main intention is not for sustenance, rather, he does to the place of packs of wild animals due to his heart’s appetite, and endangers himself, violates “Take great care of yourselves.”
[2] The prophet, moreover, finds proof that the bad man is without city or dwelling-house, in the account of Esau, the hairy man, crafty in wickedness, when he says, “Esau was skilled in hunting, a countryman” (Gen. 25:27); for vice, that hunts after the passions, is by nature unfit to dwell in the city of virtue. Rather, in utter senselessness, it follows after rustic grossness, the life of the untrained. Jacob, the man full of wisdom, belongs to a city, and as a dwelling-house he occupies virtue. The prophet says of him: “But Jacob was a simple man dwelling in a house” (ibid.).
[44] It is with deliberate care that the lawgiver says not of the man made after God’s image, but of the man fashioned out of earth, that he was introduced into the garden. For the man stamped with the spirit which is after the image of God differs not a whit, as it appears to me, from the tree that bears the fruit of immortal life: for both are imperishable and have been accounted worthy of the most central and most princely portion: for we are told that the tree of Life is in the midst of the Garden (Gen. 2:9). Nor is there any difference between the man fashioned out of the earth and the earthly composite body. He has no part in a nature simple and uncompounded, whose house and courts only the self-trainer knows how to occupy, even Jacob who is put before us as “a plain man dwelling in a house” (Gen. 25:27). The earthy man has a disposition of versatile subtlety, fashioned and concocted of elements of all sorts.
[62] To this Moses testifies when he says, “Jacob was a plain or unfashioned man, living in a house” (Gen. 25:27). And therefore Esau his opposite must be houseless, and the friend of fiction and makeup and legendary follies, or rather himself the actor’s stage and the playwright’s legend.
What was the fence that Job made around his words? It says (Job 1:5), “A pure and righteous man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” This teaches us that Job distanced himself from anything that would bring him to sin, from any ugliness, and from anything even resembling ugliness. If that is so, then why do we have to also learn that he was “a pure and righteous man”? But instead, this is here to teach us that Job emerged [from the womb] already circumcised. Adam also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 1:24), “And God created the person in His image.” Seth also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 5:2), “He had a child in his likeness and image.” Noah also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 6:9), “A just and pure man in his generation.” Shem also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 14:18), “Malkitzedek, king of Shalem.” (Malkitzedek is understood in rabbinic tradition to be Shem. The Hebrew word shalem means “complete.”) Jacob also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 25:27), “Jacob was a pure man, who sat in tents.” Joseph also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Genesis 37:2), “This is the progeny of Jacob: Joseph.” But shouldn’t it say [instead]: This is the progeny of Jacob: Reuben? What do we learn from [the fact that it says] Joseph? [We learn] that just as Jacob emerged already circumcised, (so, too,) Joseph emerged already circumcised. Moses also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Exodus 2:2), “She saw that he was good.” And what did his mother see in him that was lovelier and more praiseworthy than any other person? That he emerged circumcised. Bil’am the wicked also came out circumcised, as it says (Numbers 24:4), “The word of him who hears God’s speech.” (Samuel also emerged circumcised, as it says [I Samuel 2:26], “Young Samuel continued to grow and was good.”) David also emerged circumcised – as it says (Psalms 16:1), “A mikhtam (A ketem (which has the same Hebrew letters as mikhtam) can mean a type of spot or marking.) of David. (Protect me, for I seek refuge in You).” Jeremiah also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Jeremiah 1:5), “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you; and before you came out of the womb I consecrated you.” Zerubbabel also emerged already circumcised, as it says (Haggai 2:23), “On that day (I will take,) [declares the Eternal of Hosts, I will take] Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the Eternal.” And it says (Job 31:1), “I have made a covenant with my eyes, so how can I gaze at a maiden [i.e., an unmarried woman]?” This teaches that Job was strict with himself and would not even look at a maiden. And if with a maiden – whom he could marry if he wished (to his son, to his daughter, or to [another] family member) – he was strict with himself and would not look at her, then all the more so [would he never look at] a married woman! And why was he so strict with himself not to look even at a maiden? Because Job said to himself: Perhaps I will look today, and tomorrow another man will come along and marry her, and then I will have looked at a married woman.
Rav continues: And she would sit at the crossroads and ask: What are the deeds of the older son? The passersby would answer: He is an evil man, and he robs people. She would ask: What are the deeds of the younger son? They would answer: He is “a quiet man, dwelling in tents” (Genesis 25:27). And because she was so distraught at the prospect of marrying the evil brother, she would cry and pray for mercy until her eyelashes fell out. Since the weakness of her eyes was due to this cause, characterizing her eyes as weak constitutes praise. This is Leah’s prayer for mercy to which Rabbi Yonatan referred.
The Gemara comments: And her desire not to marry Esau is the basis of that which is written: “And the Lord saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb” (Genesis 29:31). What is the meaning of “hated”? If we say that she was literally hated, is it possible? The verse there did not speak to the disparagement of even a non-kosher animal, so did the verse here speak to the disparagement of the righteous? Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, saw that the behavior of Esau was hated by her, and therefore: “And He opened her womb.”
(Lev. rabba 36(5).) How far did the merit of the forefathers extend? Rebbi Tanḥuma said in the name of the Elder Rebbi Ḥiyya, (Bar) [Rebbi] Naḥman said it in the name of Rebbi Berekhiah, Rebbi Ḥelbo in the name of Rebbi Abba bar Zavda, up to Joaḥaz. The Eternal was compassionate about them and had mercy for them etc., up to now (2K. 13:23.) . Up to that moment, the merit of the forefathers existed. Samuel said, up to Hosea’s [time]. But now, I shall uncover her scandalous behavior before the eyes of her lovers, and no man may save her from My hand (Hos. 2:12.) . Man can only mean Abraham, as you say, but now return theman’s wife, for he is a prophet (Gen. 20:7.) . Man can only mean Isaac, as you say, who is this man coming in the field towards us (Gen. 24:65.) ? Man can only mean Jacob, as you say, but Jacob was a simple man (Gen. 25:27.) . Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, up to Elijah: It was when the time of the afternoon service came that Elijah the prophet approached and said, O Eternal, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, today it shall be proclaimed that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant (1K. 18:36. Since Elijah’s prayer was granted, this gives a terminus post quem.) etc. Rebbi Yudan said, up to Hezekias, to increase dominion and peace without end (Is. 9:6.) . (Sifra Behuqqotai Pereq 7(11), Ex. rabba 44(3). The argument really is not about the patriarchs’ merits but about the validity of the Covenant.) Rebbi Aḥa said, the merit of the forefathers extends forever: For the Eternal is a Merciful Power, etc., up to and He shall not forget your forefather’s covenant (Deut. 4:31.) . This teaches that the covenant was sealed with the tribes. Rebbi Yudan bar Ḥanan in the name of Rebbi Berekhiah: The Holy One, praise to Him, said to Israel: If you see that the merit of the fathers reels, and the merit of the mothers trembles, go and cling to grace. (Is. 54:10.) For mountains may reel, and hills tremble; for mountains may reel, this is the fathers’ merit, and hills tremble, this is the mothers’ merit. After that, but My Grace will not leave you and My Covenant of Peace will not reel, says the One Who has mercy on you, the Eternal.
There were seven patriarchs with whom a divine covenant was made, viz.: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Phinehas and David. In connection with Abraham it is written, In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying. (Gen. 15, 18.) In connection with Isaac it is written, But My covenant will I establish with Isaac. (ibid. XVII, 21.) In connection with Jacob it is written, Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob. (Lev. 26, 42.) In connection with Moses it is written, For after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. (Ex. 34, 27.) In connection with Aaron it is written, It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord. (Num. 18, 19.) In connection with Phinehas it is written, And it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. (ibid. XXV, 13.) In connection with David it is written, I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant. (Ps. 89, 4. Perhaps this passage is quoted here to teach men to emulate their special characteristics. Abraham stands as the example of hospitality, Isaac of self-sacrifice, Jacob of scholarship (cf. Gen. 25, 27, where according to Rabbinic interpretation tents means schools), Moses of meekness, Aaron of peace-making, Phinehas of zeal on behalf of God, and David of singing His praise.)
The lads grew up. Eisov became a skilled trapper [an idle man], a man of the field [a man going out to the field]. Yaakov was a wholesome man, living in tents [serving in the house of study].
And the lads grew; and Esau was a man of idleness to catch birds and beasts, a man going forth into the field to kill lives, as Nimrod had killed, and Hanok his son. But Jakob was a man peaceful in his words, a minister of the instruction-house of Eber, seeking instruction before the Lord.
| וַיֶּאֱהַ֥ב יִצְחָ֛ק אֶת־עֵשָׂ֖ו כִּי־צַ֣יִד בְּפִ֑יו וְרִבְקָ֖ה אֹהֶ֥בֶת אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹֽב׃ | 28 J | Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; (he had a taste for game Lit. “game was in his mouth.”) but Rebekah favored Jacob. |
Genesis 25,28. “Yitzchok loved Esau for he had a taste for game;” (normal translation). Our author, following a kabbalistic approach demonstrated ever since his approach to Genesis 3,1 (page 22) where he referred to certain sparks that fell off the Shechinah and landed somewhere in our world, has considered it the task and intense desire of the tzaddik to snare (hunt and capture) some of these 88 sparks of the Divine and make them his own in order to restore them to their origin. Accordingly, Yitzchok views Esau as in pursuit of this valuable “game,” hoping that his son Esau, the hunter, could help him in his quest. Although he was aware that Esau’s “hunting” was concerned with physical bounty, he hoped to sublimate his skills to pursuing something more spiritual by teaching him Torah, thus elevating him spiritually. After all, according to our tradition, the souls of famous converts to Judaism such as Shemayah and Avtalyon as well as the great scholar Rabbi Meir, are all reported to be descendants of Esau’s soul. There are more such “sparks” to be found on this planet until the messiah will come. (Sanhedrin 96)
And then: and the opening of the ark put b’ tzidah (in its side)—“TZiDah” is from the connotation of (Genesis 25:28), “[Esav] was a TZayiD (trapper) with his mouth.” This alludes to the evil inclination and the Other Side.
And then, “… and put the opening of the teivah (ark) b ’TZiDah (in its side).” That is, [“the teivah” corresponds to] the teivah (word) that emerges in truth. This [true word] will put an opening for you in the darkness in which you are trapped. And this is “b’TZiDah”—i.e., the kelipah which is TZaD TZayiD (traps prey), as is written [of Esav], “he was a trapper with his mouth” (Genesis 25:28).
“And Yitzchak loved Eisav because of the taste of the meat he would trap [or, he would trap with his mouth].” (Bereshit, 25:28) The Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 63:10) tells us, “that he would deceive his father into thinking that he was a scholar with fancy dilemmas in Torah, like how can one tithe salt and straw.” You cannot understand this literally, for surely Yitzchak Avinu was not mistaken in thinking he was actually genuine, when he was clearly cheating him. Yet from the beginning, Yaakov and Eisav were two men equal in their greatness. However, it was Eisav’s mind to make himself more appealing in his father’s eyes, so he would find favor in his father’s sight, and then accordingly pray to God to give his son Eisav more wisdom. Yaakov, however, went in the way of simplicity and said, “what need have I of this? If I am worthy in the sight of God, He will cause the heart of my father Yitzchak to pray for me.” Eisav’s way was not honest in Yaakov’s view, for this way needs birrur (birrur), for who can say if this way will be accepted, and perhaps he is only doing it to deceive. Since Yaakov Avinu had separated himself from all uncertainty, his heart trusted only in God. And truly, everywhere that one enters himself into uncertainties in the service of God and into matters that need birrur, if the matter is clarified for the good then he is greater than one who just removed himself from all doubts. Yet this is only for the seed of Yaakov, since they have found a stronghold in God, that He will clarify all for the good, so it is permitted for him to enter into uncertainties. Yet whoever does not have this stronghold, it is forbidden for him to enter into uncertainty in the way that Eisav did with matters that were later clarified as being evil. For the Holy One, blessed be He, only clarifies Israel for the good, as is explained in the verse, “it will be tsedaka for us” (Parshat Vaetchanan). For all who are not from the seed of Yaakov, God would rather they limit themselves with all kinds of constrictions, as is explained concerning converts, for whom it is forbidden for them to enter into uncertainties. So therefore, when Yitzchak saw that Eisav was entering himself into these matters, he said that if they are clarified for the good, then Eisav would become greater than Yaakov, yet God then showed him that Eisav’s intentions were not for the sake of Heaven. Also within Israel, we find that there are some souls who may permit themselves to enter into uncertainty more than others, even though they both come from the seed of Yaakov. Take, for instance, Shimon and Dinah. Levi did not want to take her because he feared that maybe his intentions were not completely for the sake of Heaven, as the fear of God is always before the tribe of Levi and they are careful to remove themselves from all doubts. This as it is said (Malachi, 2:5), “and I gave them to him for the fear,” etc. Because of this He brought out of them Cohanim who would enter “before Me and inside [the Holy of Holies],” and therefore their life was clarified immediately as explained in Parshat Korach (with the tribes, on the verse “and God said”). Shimon, however, entered himself into uncertainty, saying, “God forbid I would consider myself licentious,” and marrying Dinah. Thus he created a situation that needed birrur, saying he trusts that God will make it clear that it was good, that his intention was not only to take her out from Shchem and all his intentions were for the sake of Heaven. Therefore the tribe of Shimon needed all these kinds of birrurim, such as Zimri who also said that his intention was good, as explained in its place (Parshat Balak). And in the future, when the tribe of Shimon will be clarified, its level will be greater than that of Levi.
"And Yitzchak loved Eisav for hunting was in his mouth" (Bereishit 25:28). The verse teaches that Yitzchak's love for Eisav was conditional, as love dependent on something is fleeting (Avot 5:16). Therefore, when Yaakov surpassed Eisav by bringing food from the hunt, Yitzchak's love for Eisav diminished. In contrast, Rivkah's love for Yaakov was unconditional and enduring. The Midrash supports this, noting that the more Rivkah heard Yaakov's voice, the more her love for him grew, independent of any conditions. This enduring love mirrors Hashem's love for Bnei Yisrael, which is not dependent on our actions. It is an intrinsic love, with Hashem choosing us as His portion. This is evident in the verse, "I love you, says Hashem, and you said back, 'Why do you love us? Behold, Eisav is the brother of Yaakov, yet I have chosen Yaakov'" (Malachi 1:2), emphasizing that the love is inherent, reflecting the deep connection between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem at their very core.
ויאהב יצחק את עשו, “Yitzchok loved Esau;” in connection with Esau the Torah uses the past tense, i.e. ויאהב, to show that Yitzchok did not love Esau all the time, butonly at times when he provided him with venison. When describing Rivkah’s feelings for Yaakov, the Torah uses the present tense, אוהבת, as her feelings for him were constant. Furthermore, it is the nature of women to love those who look after her domestic animals.
BECAUSE HE DID EAT OF HIS VENISON. He brought him game to eat. (The Hebrew reads: ki tzayid be-fiv, literally, because game in his mouth. I.E. points out that the word me-vi (brought) has to be inserted into the text. The verse should be read as if written: he brought game into his mouth; i.e., he brought him game to eat.)
Lit. “game was in his mouth.”
ויאהב יצחק את עשו, And Isaac loved Esau. According to the Midrash Tanchuma Esau snared the love of his father by misrepresenting his true character such as enquiring about the correct manner of tithing salt. He did not bother to engage in such trickery except when dealing with his father. This was because he was not concerned about the performance of good deeds but only wanted to ensure his father would have no reason to curse him. He also hoped to obtain blessings. His mother could not dispense either, therefore he made no effort to camouflage his true self when in his mother's presence. This is why we find later on (27,41) that Esau waited for the death of his father before killing Jacob, whereas he did not wait for his mother to die before committing murder. The reason Rebeccah did not inform Isaac of Esau's wickedness may have been that Esau was careful never to put on such a charade in her presence so as not to give his mother an excuse to challenge Isaac's love for him. According to Onkelos who renders the words כי ציד בפיו as ארי מצידה הוי אכיל, "that Isaac ate from the game Esau hunted," we must ask why this reason did not also cause Rebeccah to love Esau, for surely they took most of their meals together or at least Esau did not discriminate against her? Perhaps the reason is that in accordance with the commentary of the Maharik on Even Ha-ezer 70,1 Isaac was under an obligation to feed his wife a meat diet. When a wife comes from a family who is used to such a diet the husband must keep her in the style she was accustomed to. Bethuel was a wealthy and influential man in his town, and no doubt Rebeccah had been used to a high standard of living prior to her marriage. She would not therefore be particularly grateful for the venison, considering it merely as her due.
ויאהב יצחק את עשו כי ציד בפיו, “Yitzchak loved Esau for he had a taste for game.” The Torah conveys to us here that the reason Yitzchak loved (preferred) Esau was not because he was the firstborn, but because he used to enjoy the venison Esau brought home from the field. This teaches us that the wicked Esau hunted on two tracks. He used to hunt the animals in the field and the desert, true to the Torah’s description of him as an איש שדה. At the same time, he also used to “hunt” his father’s mind, i.e. to mislead him as a hunter does his prey, making Yitzchak believe that he was pious. This is the double entendre of the words כי ציד בפיו, for “the art of hunting was with his mouth.” Our sages in Tanchuma Toldot 8 have said that Esau used to ask his father such questions as “does salt have to be tithed?” This would impress Yitzchak favourably and he would wonder how careful Esau was with the performance of all the commandments. When he used to ask Esau: “my son where have you been today?” Esau would reply that he had been in the house of study. He would proceed to tell his father what he had learned on that day. The Holy Spirit, when hearing such lies, would proclaim: “When he speaks graciously, do not believe him; for there are seven abominations in his heart.“ (Proverbs 24,25) Furthermore, the sages in the same Midrash derived from this wording that the reason Esau went hunting and was feeding the venison he hunted to his father was only in order to secure the blessing for himself. This is the mystical dimension of the Torah writing in Deut. 16,19 “for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise.” In connection with Yitzchak, the Torah had written “his eyes had become weak from seeing” (Genesis 27,1). Just as Esau was a man paying bribes, so his descendants were willing to receive bribes. The Torah (25,30) reports Esau as saying to Yaakov הלעיטני נא, “please feed me, etc.” Concerning this David said in Psalms 68,31 מתרפס ברצי כסף , “till they come cringing with pieces of silver.” They (Esau’s descendants) derive their power from their celestial counterpart (the scapegoat mentioned in Leviticus 16 offered to Azzazel) who accepts this offering as a bribe by the Jewish people on the Day of Atonement. (compare commentary on Leviticus 16,7). In a similar manner every single nation derives whatever power sustains it from its celestial representative at the court of the angels. It is the same source from which the original serpent had derived its power and ability to seduce Eve. Once it was able to seduce, it was capable of spilling the blood of its victims. Such seducers became the cause of all those who choose to eat blood. Such forces are diametrically opposed to the Israelites who are circumcised (i.e. had given up their blood for G’d instead of consuming it), and who therefore abstain from eating any kind of blood. When an accuser of the Jewish people wants to seduce us, one of the first laws he wants us to break is that of circumcising our male children. Once this law has been broken the consumption of blood is only a small step. [It appears that the author refers to philosophical attempts at converting Jews to Christianity seeing that the Moslems abide by circumcision. Ed.] Adhering to these two laws (circumcision and the prohibition to eat blood), is therefore cardinal in our effort to stave off conversion and this is why the prophet said of the descendants of Esau (Ezekiel 15,6) אם לא דם שנאת, ודם ירדפך, “surely you have hated blood (the prohibition of it) and blood will pursue you.” The prophet predicted Esau’s (Edom) eventual destruction because as descendants of Avraham they rejected the commandment of circumcision as they hated to lose blood (instead of consuming it) This is also the mystical dimension of Jeremiah 48,10 וארור מונע חרבו מדם,”cursed be he who withholds his sword from blood.” (The prophet speaks of the blood of circumcision).
ויאהב, there was no need to mention that Yitzchok loved Yaakov; clearly his love for Yaakov was constantly on the increase seeing that Yaakov was righteous, etc. Esau’s claim to his father’s love was due only to the venison he brought his father from his hunting expeditions.
בפיו. This meat was especially tasty. Moreover Yitzchok was already aged, being more than seventy years old, Clearly, unless Esau had been at least 12 years old at the time he would not have known how to hunt with bow and arrow.
ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב, exclusively; the reason was that Yaakov pursued a lifestyle that would lead to eternal life, whereas Esau did the opposite. Not only did he not lead a life leading to eternal life after death, but he actively forfeited even life on earth, exposing himself to needless dangers. Seeing that Yitzchok was aging and sitting at home most of the time, he was not aware of Esau’s doings and was easily led to believe that Esau led a virtuous life, basing his belief on the daily supply of venison his son provided for him. The story unfolds at a time when Yitzchok was already incapable of seeing well with his physical eyes. The story of the sale of the birthright is told primarily to illustrate the disdain with which Esau looked upon spiritual values as a valuable acquisition, something guaranteeing a person life beyond death.
BECAUSE THERE WAS VENISON IN HIS MOUTH. The commentators (Ibn Ezra and R’dak.) explained it as meaning either that he [Esau] gave venison into Isaac’s mouth, or that he brought Isaac venison. The act of giving or bringing is thus missing from the verse. Similarly: The set time which Samuel; (I Samuel 13:5. Here the word “appointed” is missing, the meaning of the verse being “at the set time which Samuel had appointed.”) But the Lord — presented or made — me as a mighty warrior. (Jeremiah 20:11.) It is possible to explain that Isaac loved Esau because there was always venison in the mouth of Isaac. All day he would desire to eat the venison, and it was always in his mouth. He would not eat anything else, and Esau was the one who brought it to him, as Scripture said, A cunning hunter. (Above, Verse 27.) In my opinion the correct interpretation is that it is a metaphor which tells us that Esau, in the mouth of his father, was a hunter, (Instead of calling him by his name, Isaac would call him “hunter.”) as a person is surnamed by his constant occupation. Similarly, Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; (Jeremiah 9:5. Meaning “in the midst of people of deceit.” But the verse refers to the people by their constant practice.) likewise, But I am all prayer. (Psalms 109:40. Meaning, “But I am a man of constant prayer.”) And so they said in Bereshith Rabbah, (Bereshith Rabbah 63:15.) “Good meat for his mouth, good drink for his mouth.” (If he would find good meat or drink, he would bring it to his father. This Midrash thus indicates that Esau was constantly engaged in bringing food and drink to his father. Hence Isaac came to call him “hunter” because of his steady preoccupation with bringing him food.)
כי ציד בפיו, the plain meaning corresponds to Onkelos, i.e. because he brought him venison to eat.
אוהבת את יעקב, for she was aware of his perfection, also because the prediction to her of the prophet had been that the senior son would be subservient to the junior one. The Torah had to mention first that Yitzchok loved Esau in order for us to understand what had motivated to bless Esau, and what had motivated Rivkah to deceive him into blessing Yaakov.
בפיו [THERE WAS HUNTING] IN HIS MOUTH — Understand this as the Targum renders it: in Isaac’s mouth (i. e. Isaac ate the venison he brought home). But its Midrashic explanation is: there was hunting in Esau’s mouth, meaning that he used to entrap and deceive him by his words (Genesis Rabbah 63:10).
Ein zweites Moment, das nur verderblich wirken konnte, war die Geteiltheit der Gefühle der Eltern hinsichtlich ihrer Kinder. Einheit der Eltern in der Erziehung und gleiche Gesinnung und Liebe zu allen ihren Kindern, — selbst zu dem weniger gut gearteten, das ja, mehr noch als das körperlich kranke, am meisten der liebenden Hingebung bedarf — das ist die erste Grundbedingung und der Eckstein einer jeden Erziehung. — Daß Isaaks Sympathien sich dem Esau und Rebekkas dem Jakob zuwendeten, lässt sich übrigens aus der Anziehungskraft der Kontraste leicht erklären. Isaak, den vom Opfertode wieder auferstandenen, sehen wir dem Geräusche der Welt gerne entzogen, lieber in der Nähe stiller Ode, am Brunnen des "mich- schauendenLebendige", als in der Nähe des bewegten Menschenverkehrs wohnen. Daß ihm Esaus kräftiges, tatkeckes Wesen gefiel und er in ihm vielleicht eine Kraft zur Stütze des Hauses erblickte, die ihm abging, wäre nicht unmöglich; Rebekka hingegen sah in Jakobs ganzem Wesen ein Lebensbild aufblühen, von dem sie im Hause ihres Vaters keine Ahnung hatte — die Sympathien sind erklärlich, allein Eltern sollten sich nicht von solchen dunklen Gefühlen in Beziehung zu ihren Kindern leiten und bestimmen lassen.—
ציד בפיו. Entweder: er führte die Jagd im Munde, wusste den Vater durch Erzählung seiner Jagdabenteuer und Heldentaten zu fesseln, oder, was wahrscheinlicher: es war auch Jagd in seinem Munde, er übte auch Jagd, war auch ein Jäger mit dem Munde. Dieselbe berechnende und fangende Kunst wusste er auch gegen das Gemüt des Vaters zu üben. Rebekkas Liebe zu Jakob kam aber von selbst, war von ihm nicht "erjagt"; sein Wesen gewann ihre Liebe: אהבת את יעקב.
ויאהב יצחק את עשו, also Esau, not only Yaakov, even though he must have been aware that Esau was far less perfect than Yaakov.
ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב, she only loved Yaakov, recognising the wickedness of Esau.
And Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth, and Rebecca loved Jacob. It is possible that Rebecca’s preference for Jacob was due to the fact that he lived at home, in close proximity to her.
כי ציד בפיו, “for he would provide venison to eat.” Onkelos explains that Yitzchok would eat from the proceeds of Esau’s hunting expeditions. Accordingly, our verse is slightly abbreviated and should have read: כי יתן ציד בפיו, “for he would feed him venison.” Alternately, the expression בפיו refers to Yitzchok’s mouth, and informs us that Yitzchok was in the habit of dining on venison. He loved Esau, seeing Esau was an expert in providing choice venison. Nachmanides holds that the statement is a euphemism describing Esau as deceiving his father into thinking he was loyal to his teachings by flattering him. The use of euphemisms by the Torah is nothing unusual.
Man's actions can be the result of three distinct causes. They can be the result of free choice made intellectually; they can be the result of man liking the activity he performs, or they can be the result of the immediate benefit he expects to derive fom his action. A further cause prompting man to act, is an inner urge, which does not bother to rationalise the purpose and sense of one's actions, as long as the action serves to gratify the urge that has prompted it. When a sailor, whose ship is about to founder, throws the cargo overboard in order to lighten the weight of the ship, and in order to avoid sinking the whole ship, he acts from a choice made intellectually, despite the fact that he resents either of the two options that had been open to him. This is similar to the halachic dilemma faced by people who need to violate a commandment in order to survive. Some such decisions must be based on the principle of yehareg ve-al ya-avor, rather be killed than become guilty of that violation; others will be based on the principle ya-avor ve-al yehareg, better to sin and survive than forego the chance of performing other mitzvot through having permitted himself to be killed. These options are discussed in Sanhedrin 76. If Isaac loved Esau because the latter would bring him venison, then an activity which would result in Isaac receiving such venison can be said to have originated in a feeling of love. Such an activity involves more of one's desire plus planning, than the one described previously. When a person is in the grip of lust or similar emotion however, he becomes so irrational that he will pay any price to satisfy his lust or greed. Chamor and Shechem are examples of people who made unreasonable concessions on behalf of their townspeople in order to satisfy the lust to possess Dinah, Jacob's daughter. (Genesis 34,11-19) In order to better comprehend the last example, picture a driver, a carriage and horses. Although the driver is in charge of the carriage, should the horses become unmanageable, the carriage will be drawn in the direction the horses want, and the driver will be powerless to prevent this, as long as carriage and horses are coupled together. In this parable, the horse represents the will, the lust, the urge; the carriage represents the person; the driver represents the choice made intellectually, the ability to discriminate, the gift man has been equipped with. The relationship of G'd to Zion is not based only on bechirah, choice between relative evils, but as the Psalmist 132, 13, terms it "for G'd has chosen Zion because He wanted it as His residence." The choice of the Jewish people as the chosen people, was dictated by intellectual considerations, but it was re-inforced by the Divine equivalent of ta-avah, an almost overpowering urge. This is underlined in the verse that follows "This is My rest forever, here I will dwell for I have desired it." In Deut. 10,15, Moses describes it as follows: "G'd took a strong liking to your forefathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, more than all other nations, as of this day." This shows that the love sprang from a strong liking G'd had developed towards them, based on their conduct. However, the love for the descendants is due to His choosing them (bachar) in comparison with other nations who were on a lower level, morally. That this is so, is confirmed in Song of Songs, where we read that Israel is "like a lily among thorns, so is My partner among the daughters." (Song of Songs 2,2) The terms chashak, love, choice, are used in descending order of preference. The first one is natural, unreasoning; the second one is deliberate, planned, but based on sound reason for the attraction. The third one is something forced upon one, in which one makes the best of a given situation. Of the many expressions of G'ds love for the Jewish people which are recorded in the Torah, some stem from relatively mild forms of love. None express a stronger bond of love than the setting aside of the mo-adim, the holydays that enable us to commune with G'd, and be in the presence of the shechinah, like children in the company of their father in joy and happiness.
Some philosophers thought that true love can exist only between opposites. Dry earth requires and longs for water, moisture. Water laden skies, clouds, need to empty themselves on earth. On the other hand, all craftsmen are jealous of one another. Aristotle on the other hand holds that likes are attracted to each other. Starlings keep company with ravens as they are of a kind (Chullin 65). Since G-d is neither similar to man nor totally his opposite, some hold that a love relationship with G-d is impossible. But the prophet Maleachi 1,2 says, "G-d says I have loved you Israel, and I have hated Esau... How can you question this?" (based on the premise that I am neither like you nor your exact opposite. More about this in chapter 90). The fact that two brothers (Jacob and Esau), who by nature should be similar, are treated so differently, proves that character traits rather than genetic affinity, i.e. outwardly similar human beings, determine between whom love occurs. Love has positive and negative aspects. Inasmuch as even trees have been compared to humans, especially fruit-bearing trees, their destruction has been prohibited (Deut. 20,19). Animals which share even more with human beings than trees, seeing that they are living creatures, must not be destroyed needlessly and must not be made to suffer even when their destruction is in order and serves a higher purpose (Baba Metzia 32). Examples are consumption by humans, which is restricted in the case of the mother animal and its young, which are not to be slaughtered on the same day. Mother birds must be dispatched before the newly hatched chicks may be taken. An animal needs to be at least eight days old before it may be slaughtered as a sacrifice to G-d, etc. Such considerations apply in even greater measure when dealing with fellow human beings, regardless of any formal agreements to that effect. Torah legislation, when dealing with the status of gentile slaves, is most specific in detailing the degree of concern that must be shown for the physical well being of such a slave. This mutual love for fellow human beings is observed in increasing measure when these humans are part of the same race or environment. The Torah emphasizes the positive aspects of love by commanding "Love your fellowman like yourself," i.e. when that fellowman is similar to yourself (Leviticus 19, 18). Love is not demanded for those utterly unlike you, such as animals etc. In fact, the feelings which we reserve for things or creatures unlike us is not love, but goodwill, pity etc. (see Psalms 102). We relate to the stones of Zion as something that we "want," not as something that we "love." The latter term would be a complete misnomer for phenomena not on our level. When Isaac asks Esau for "delicious dishes the way I "love" them" (Genesis 27,4), the term "love" does not describe the dishes, but the people whom he loves. He is saying to Esau, "When you do what I like....l will love you." Proof of this is found in the verse (Genesis 25,28) "Isaac loved Esau because he carried venison in his mouth." The term "love" cannot rightfully be applied even to parts of the body. Such parts become "nirtzah," appreciated, and may become the instrument through which their owner becomes "beloved." The term " ratzon," goodwill, appreciation, refers also to the parts of whole things which qualify for "love." For instance, Psalms 19, 15, "May the words of your mouth engender goodwill." The term "love" is reserved for the whole person. "Love the Lord your G-d;" "Love your fellowman like yourself,” i.e. identification with the other party is love. Such an identification is based on a complete appreciation of the other's qualities. This is what G-d describes when He said to Abraham, "Take your son, your only one, the one whom you love." (Genesis 22,2) Love cannot survive when one of the parties undergoes a drastic change either in moral or physical stature. Jonathan volunteered to become David's deputy, to enable his love for David to survive (Samuel I 23,17). For the appreciation of the foregoing, G-d required a covenant from the Jewish people, in order to maintain the love relationship that existed and to warn Israel that unless a mutuality of interests and the deeds arising from that mutuality of interests was maintained, the love relationship would disintegrate. The factors which were mutual, i.e. the common denominator between G-d and Israel, were Torah, Sanctuary (temple), and Priesthood. These factors were needed to ensure that by concentrating on them, both G-d and Israel would maintain their identity of purpose. When people try to upset this love relationship others have with G-d, it is like craftsmen who are jealous in their hearts of fellow craftsmen, seeing that we are all children of one father.
The answer: Scripture makes it clear that Isaac loved Esau, undoubtedly not knowing of his evil deeds, as our sages have apprised us (Tanchuma, Toldoth 8). And if there had come to him a prophecy that he put aside his eldest son, whom he loved, and bless Jacob instead, there is no doubt that this would have saddened him; and this sadness would have prevented the spirit of the L-rd from coming to rest upon him in perfection. For this reason the Blessed One desired him to think that he was blessing his beloved son, Esau, so that his heart expand in joy and he attain the godly spirit to the full extent of his powers. And this is, likewise, the reason for Isaac's saying to Esau (Genesis 27:4): "And make me savory food, as I love, and bring it to me and I will eat it, so that my soul bless you." That is, so that his soul expand and rejoice and the spirit of prophecy come to rest upon it. And it is because of this factor that the Blessed One desired that Jacob think he was blessing Esau when he was, in reality, blessing Jacob.
It should be explained, however, why a prophet must be wealthy and tall. As far as his being strong, we can understand that one who is sent out to chastise a great multitude must be extremely courageous and turn back for nothing, as the Blessed One exhorts Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17): "Therefore, gird your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; do not be afraid of them, lest I make you afraid of them." But why must a prophet be wealthy and tall?
The titles of Elohi”m-אלהי״ם are positioned on the left side. They derive judgments and attest to the liabilities of the creatures and are the titles of judgment-Din, which is the root of Yitzchak, peace be upon him. This quality brings judgment-Din upon the creatures. We therefore must inform you of this important principle. We have already informed you that the quality of Avraham argues for merit on behalf of the creatures, and that the quality of Yitzchak argues for liability. You will thus find that about Yitzchak the verse states, (Genesis 25:28) “Yitzchak loved Esav because the hunted-ציד was in his mouth.” Now, is it truly so, that such a perfectly righteous Tzaddik as our forefather Yitzchak, peace be upon him, from whom the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה (Shechinah) never departed for even a moment, would love such a completely wicked person as Esav? How was this possible?
Be aware that this is one of the great secrets of Torah. Know, that our forefather Yitzchak, peace be upon him, gazed [in prophetic vision] and beheld all that was destined to be. He saw that the children of Yaakov would sin, causing anger before HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, and would reap the judgments of purgatory (Gehinom). However, when he saw the Jewish people in the exile of Esav, he rejoiced and said, “Exile atones for sin.” (Talmud Bavli, Brachot 56a; Sanhedrin 37b) He thus said, “Yes, I very much love the sufferings caused by Esav, and that they judge the Jewish people for guilt, for by doing so, they fulfill the judgments against the Jewish people through being exiled in this world.” This is why it states, (Genesis 25:28) “Yitzchak loved Esav because the hunted-ציד was in his mouth.”
Rabbi Yosi said, come and behold, If, heaven forbid, Esau would have been blessed at that time, Jacob would not have ruled over the world. But it was decreed by the Holy One, blessed be He, and everything happened as it should. Come and behold, It is written, "but Rivkah loved Jacob" (Beresheet 25:28), as has been explained. Therefore, she sent for Jacob and said to him "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother" (Beresheet 27:6).
Come and behold, Esau was born all red, as it is written, "And the first came out red all over" (Gen. 25:25). Thus, he is the same as Isaac, who is of Harsh Judgment above, (in Holiness) and Esau, who issued from him, is the Harsh Judgment below. He resembled Isaac. And because each is drawn to his own kind, Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob, as it is written, "And Isaac loved Esau, he relished his venison" (Ibid. 28). Here it is written, "For he relished his venison," which is similar to, "wherefore it is said, 'like Nimrod the mighty hunter before Hashem'" (Gen. 10:9). [In both places, hunting refers to Harsh Judgment, and the scriptures tell us that he loved him because they were both of Severe Judgment.]
"And the first came out red" (Gen. 25:21). Rav Kahana explained that the liver is the first and is red. Why is it red? Because it is first to swallow the blood. Rabbi Eliezer asks, Why is it called 'first'? Because it is the first to swallow the blood from all the food; the first in blood but not in creation. And why is it that "the great shall serve the younger?" Because despite its being greater and bigger in size than the heart, it serves the heart. Rabbi Abba then asks, What is the purpose of this text if not to teach the people in the world that though there will be perfection upon earth, the path and nature of the world will not change? Rabbi Yisa said, Come and behold. The liver hunts and has venison in its mouth, while the heart contemplates and is "dwelling in tents" (Ibid. 27). As it is written, "And Jacob cooked pottage" (Ibid. 29), while thinking deep thoughts and occupying himself with the Torah.
"And Isaac loved Esau, for he relished his venison" (Gen. 24:28). This verse has been explained. Here, it is written, "a cunning hunter, a man of the field," while elsewhere it is written, "he was a mighty hunter" (Gen. 10:9). "A man of the field" is one who robbed and murdered people. And Esau said (he went to the field) to pray. He hunted (and cheated Isaac) through his mouth, as it is written, "He relished his venison (lit. there was venison in his mouth)." He was called "a man of the field," because his lot was not in a populated place, but in a desolate place, in the open wilderness, in the field. Thus, he was called "a man of the field."
[3] Another interpretation: "Listen to me, Jacob." Those who are killed and called by his name, as it is said "For thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter" (Psalms 44:23). And Job says, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him" (Job 13:15). Those who call upon me every year, as it is said, "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord" (Psalms 116:13), "I find trouble and sorrow" (Psalms 116:3). These generations said to him, "Lord of the Universe, the earlier generations had the patriarchs as their fathers, and they have the merit of their fathers; we are orphans and have no father to stand up for us." But you wrote and said, "In you the fatherless find mercy" (Hosea 14:4), "You have seen it, for You have taken note of trouble and grief, to requite it with Your own hand" (Psalms 10:14). You gave many commandments in the Torah to look after the orphans: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor, and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 23:22). "When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow" (Deuteronomy 24:20). And we are orphans, have mercy upon us, as it is written, "In you the fatherless find mercy" (Hosea 14:4). Obadiah was blessed in his household when his sons became orphans. When was Isaac blessed? After Abraham's death, as it is said, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac" (Genesis 25:11). The tribes said, "And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation" (Exodus 1:6). And "the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly" (Exodus 1:7). "Your eyes are on the orphans, who will have compassion on you? God said to them, "Repent and I will heal your backslidings." He said, "Until they repent, I have stopped healing them." As it is said, "Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings" (Jeremiah 3:22). And it is also written, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely" (Hosea 14:4). Love that never ceases, I love you. Isaac called Esau his firstborn, and I call Jacob my firstborn (Exodus 4:22). The birthright of Isaac was voided and fulfilled in Jacob. Isaac loved Esau, as it is said, "And Isaac loved Esau" (Genesis 25:28), and I love Jacob. His love for Esau was voided and fulfilled in his love for Jacob. How much difficulty have they caused to try to instill hatred between us, and they cannot nullify it, as it is said, "Many waters cannot quench love" (Song of Songs 8:7). These nations are compared to water, as it is said, "Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the noise of the sea" (Isaiah 17:12) Moreover, how many times were the Israelites killed for the sake of returning them to God, and the Assembly of Israel says to them "I cannot remain silent about Him. My soul became aroused in His presence." (Song of Songs 5:6) "My soul went forth [when he spoke]." (ibid. 5:16) "When He spoke on Sinai, my soul heard [His voice]." (ibid. 6:2) "But my heart is sick with love for Him." (ibid. 5:8) They said to her, "What is your beloved more than another beloved?" (ibid. 5:9) She said to them, "I will extol His praises and relate His greatness to you. And you will know that I do not pursue Him in vain." (ibid. 5:16) "My beloved is pure and ruddy." (ibid. 5:10) "Pure for Israel, ruddy for Esau." (Rashi on Song of Songs 5:10) "Why are your clothes red?" (Isaiah 63:2) "Dignified from among the myriads" (Song of Songs 5:10), for there are none among the exalted multitudes like Him. "His head is as fine gold" (ibid. 5:11), which is the Torah, as it is written "More desirable than gold, than much fine gold" (Psalms 19:11). "His locks are bushy, and black as a raven" (Song of Songs 5:11), this is the script. Alternatively, "black" refers to the Assembly of Israel, as it is written "I am black" (Song of Songs 1:5), "His eyes are like doves" (Song of Songs 5:12), this is the sun and moon. "His hands are like rods of gold" (ibid.), this is the rainbow. "His body is like polished ivory, inlaid with sapphires" (ibid. 5:14), this is the air. "His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold" (ibid.), these are the mountains, founded on the adonai of fine gold, these are the foundations of the Temple. "His appearance is like Lebanon" (ibid. 5:15), this is the Temple. "Choice as the cedars" (ibid.), which refers to walking with the righteous, as it is written "And I will walk among you" (Leviticus 26:12). "Awaiting the delight [of his beloved]," this refers to the time of the giving of the Torah, and "altogether desirable," when He receives the penitent. The nations of the world said to them, "Since He receives penitents, where is your beautiful Beloved?" (Song of Songs 5:17) Said the Holy One, blessed be He, "The nations hate Me because of My children, and My children love Me despite all these nations. I give them one hundred worlds filled with the love that I have for My children, as it is said, 'If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, they would utterly despise him' (Song of Songs 8:7)." This is from the Midrash Aggadah on Genesis.
“And the sons of Ḥam: Kush, and Mitzrayim, and Put, and Canaan” (Genesis 10:6). “And the sons of Ḥam: Kush, and Mitzrayim, and Put, and Canaan” –Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: We might have been under the impression that the family of Put was assimilated [into other nations]. (Since, unlike all his brothers, he is never mentioned again in the Torah.) But Ezekiel came and stated explicitly [otherwise]: “Kush, Put and Lud and all the intermingled people, Cub and the children of the land of the covenant, will fall with them by the sword” (Ezekiel 30:5). (Put is mentioned as an extant nation in the times of Ezekiel.) “And Kush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth” (Genesis 10:8). “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said: Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis 10:9). “And Kush begot Nimrod” – that is what is written: “A meditation by David, a song that he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Kush Ben Yemini” (Psalms 7:1). Rabbi Yehoshua bar Neḥemya in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Yitzḥak: He said it corresponding to the [harsh] justice administered by that wicked one. (Esau/Edom, and his descendants, the Romans.) But was Esau a Kushite? (Of course not; he was a descendant of Abraham.) The meaning [of this description] is, rather, that he performed deeds like the deeds of [Kush’s son] Nimrod. That is what is written: “Therefore it is said:…Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord” is not written here, but rather, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter” (Genesis 10:9) (Implying that there is someone else who is “like Nimrod.”) – just as that one hunted [ensnared] people through their words, so, too, this one hunts [ensnares] people with their words. (Of Esau it is said “he had [meat from] hunted animals in his mouth” (Genesis 25:28).) [They say:] ‘You [claim you] did not steal? Who stole with you? (The judge would thus seek to incriminate the defendant despite his protestations of innocence.) You [claim you] did not kill? Who killed with you?’
“The lads grew; Esau was a man who knows hunting, a man of the field; Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). “The lads grew” – Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to a myrtle and a thorn bush that grew adjacent to one another. When they grew and blossomed, this one produced its fragrance and that one produced its thorns. So, all thirteen years, both of them would go to school and both of them would come from school. After thirteen years, this one would go to study halls, and that one would go to houses of idol worship. Rabbi Elazar said: A person must be responsible for his son until age thirteen. From there on, he must say: ‘Blessed that He has absolved me from the punishment of this one.’ “Esau was a man who knows hunting [tzayid]” – he would ensnare [tzad] people with his mouth. You [say you] did not steal; who stole with you? You [say you] did not kill, who killed with you? (The Romans, the descendants of Esau, would ignore the denials of the accused.) Rabbi Abahu said: He was a field person, a hunting person. (The verse does not say he worked the field or engaged in hunting, but rather, he was “a man of the field.”) He hunted in the house and hunted in the field. In the house, [he said]: ‘How does one prepare salt?’ (He asked about separating teruma and tithes from salt and straw, in an effort to create a devout impression, although he knew that there is no such obligation.) In the field, [he said:] ‘How does one prepare straw?’ Rabbi Ḥiyya said: He abandoned himself like a field. (Engaging in homosexual relations.) Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, is it not enough that you subjugated us to seventy nations, but even to this one, that engages in relations like a woman?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘I, too, will exact retribution against him with that expression.’ That is what is written: “The heart of the valiant of Edom will be on that day like the heart of a woman in anguish” (Jeremiah 49:22). “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” – two tents; the study hall of Shem, and the study hall of Ever. “Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth, and Rebecca loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:28). “Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth” – good meat for his mouth and a good cup for his mouth. “And Rebecca loved Jacob” – the more she would hear his voice, the more she would add love onto her love for him.
“Jacob cooked a stew, and Esau came from the field and he was weary” (Genesis 25:29). “Jacob cooked a stew” – he [Esau] said to him: ‘What is the nature of this stew?’ He said to him: ‘It is because that elder (Abraham.) died.’ He said: ‘Did the attribute of justice strike that elder?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘If so, there is no granting of reward and no revival of the dead.’ (Esau was claiming that if the righteous Abraham died at a young age relative to Adam and Noah, that proved that there was no reward for righteousness. (Etz Yosef)) The Divine Spirit screams: “Do not weep for the dead, and do not be moved for him” (Jeremiah 22:10) – this is Abraham; “Weep for one who is leaving” (Jeremiah 22:10) – this is Esau.
“He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of his father Isaac” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: I circulated among all of the aggada experts in the south so that they would explain this verse to me, (His question was why Jacob invoked the God of Isaac and did not mention Abraham. ) but they could not tell me [the explanation] until I stood with Yehuda ben Pedaya, the son of ben Kappar’s sister. He said to me: ‘If a teacher and disciple are walking on the way, one first inquires after the wellbeing of the disciple, and then one inquires after the wellbeing of the teacher.’ (The disciples would walk before the teacher. That is why Jacob invoked the name of the God of Isaac and not the God of Abraham.) Rav Huna said: When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Tiberias, he asked Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: ‘A person is obligated in the honor of his father more than the honor of his grandfather.’ Reish Lakish said: He sacrificed offerings for the covenant of the tribes. (This is the covenant that God made with Abraham that would be fulfilled through Isaac and not Ishmael (see Genesis 17:21).) Bar Kappara and Rabbi Yosef bar Patros, one said: [Jacob said:] ‘Just as Father was eager to satisfy his throat, I, too, am eager to satisfy my throat.’ (Isaac had loved Esau because of the food he brought him (see Genesis 25:28), and Jacob was descending to Egypt to be sustained by Joseph (see Etz Yosef). ) The other said: [Jacob said:] ‘Just as Father distinguished one son from his other son, so, too, I distinguished one son from my other sons. (Jacob had shown preferential treatment toward Joseph, which had led to the events that brought Jacob to travel to Egypt, and he now brought offerings in order to achieve atonement (Etz Yosef). Alternatively, in Egypt, Joseph would rule over and provide for the entire family, which would give him an elevated status (Yefeh To’ar). Therefore, Jacob said he was going to Egypt despite this danger only because of the needs of the many people who required sustenance. ) Then I said: Father had only the burden of one life, but I have the burden of seventy lives upon me.’ (Jacob said he was descending to Egypt.) Rabbi Yudan said: [Jacob said:] ‘Father blessed me with five blessings. Corresponding to them, the Holy One blessed be He appeared to me five times and blessed me.’ Rabbi Yudan said another [explanation], Rabbi Yudan said: [Jacob said:] ‘I was under the impression that He would give me a taste of those blessings.’ What were those blessings? “Peoples will serve you and nations will prostrate themselves to you” (Genesis 27:29) – this is Joseph. (Jacob saw that one of the blessings granted to him by Isaac was being fulfilled through Joseph, so he brought offerings of thanksgiving, and particularly mentioned “the God of his father Isaac.” ) Rabbi Berekhya said two [statements], Rabbi Berekhya said: The Holy One blessed be He associates His name with a living person only for those who undergo suffering. That is why it is not written here: “He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of Jacob,” but rather, “to the God of his father Isaac,” who was already dead. Rabbi Berekhya said another [explanation]: It is because he had undergone suffering. The Rabbis say: Isaac’s ashes are viewed as though they are accumulated upon the altar. That is why he mentioned Isaac.
Another matter, “you have circled…enough” – that is what the verse said: “Be silent before the Lord, vehitḥolel for Him…” (Psalms 37:7). What is “vehitḥolel for Him”? Place your hope in the Holy One blessed be He, like the matter that is stated: “Why, my soul, are you stooped over? …[Have hope [hoḥili] in God]” (Psalms 42:6). Another matter, “vehitḥolel for Him” – Rabbi Taḥlifa of Caesarea said: What is “vehitḥolel for Him”? If suffering has befallen you, accept it with fear [beḥila]. “Do not contend with one who prospers” (Psalms 37:7) – this is Esau, in whose regard it is written: “Why is the way of the wicked successful?” (Jeremiah 12:1). “The man who is busy with intrigue” (Psalms 37:7) – this is Esau, (The reference is to Rome, who were identified by the Romans as descendants of Edom, and therefore of Esau. ) who judges people deceitfully. How so? The judge of the empire would judge the murderer and say: ‘Why did you kill?’ [The accused] would say: ‘I did not kill him.’ [The judge] would ask him: ‘With what did you kill him, with a sword, a spear, or a dagger?’ (The judge would not accept the claims of the defendant, and would continue to cross examine him as though he were guilty, and the defendant would be confused and say something incriminating even if he was innocent. ) Another matter, “be silent before the Lord, vehitḥolel for Him” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When the enemies came to destroy Jerusalem, there were sixty myriads of angels of destruction, and they were standing at the entrance of the Sanctuary in order to strike them. They saw the Divine Presence looking and being silent – from where is this derived? As it is written: “He withdrew His right hand from being before the enemy” (Lamentations 2:3) – so they [the angels] also gave them [the enemies] space [allowing them to destroy Jerusalem]. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: He saw [Esau] destroying His home and was silent, and you wish to confront him? Even now, the reward for honoring his parents is owed him. “You have circled…enough” – what is “circled the mountain [hahar]”? Rabbi Ḥanina said: Esau circulated around this parent of his [horo], namely his father, who needed him to feed him. From where is this derived? “Isaac loved Esau because of the game in his mouth” (Genesis 25:28). Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Gedalya said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I will pay his reward.’ When Jacob gave a gift to Esau, what did Esau say to him? “I have plenty [rav]” (Genesis 33:9); do not exert yourself. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘With this expression, he honored [Jacob], with this expression, I will say to [the Israelites]: Turn away from him, “you have circled enough [rav].”’
“Better than both of them is one who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil actions that are done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 4:3). “Better than both of them is one who has not yet been” – these are the one thousand generations that were in God’s mind to have created. How many of them were eliminated? Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili: Nine hundred and seventy-four generations, as it is stated: “He commanded the matter for one thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8). (God intended to give the Torah after one thousand generations, but He actually gave the Torah after just twenty-six generations.) Rabbi Yehoshua interpreted the verse regarding the Israelites at the time that they stood before Mount Sinai. Once they performed that act, (The sin of the Golden Calf) Moses did not leave any corner of the ground on the mountain upon which he did not prostrate himself in prayer asking for mercy upon Israel, but he was not answered. Five angels of destruction harassed him: Anger, Destruction, Annihilation, Wrath, and Fury. Moses was fearful of them. What did he do? He relied on the actions of the patriarchs, and immediately mentioned them and said: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel Your servants” (Exodus 32:13). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Moses, what claims do the patriarchs of the world have against Me? If I come to be exacting with them, I have claims against them. I have a claim against Abraham, who said: “How will I know that I will inherit it” (Genesis 15:8)? I have a claim against Isaac, as it is stated: “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28), but I hated him, as it is stated: “And Esau I hated” (Malachi 1:3). I have a claim against Jacob, who said: “My way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27).’ Once [Moses] said: “To whom You took an oath by Yourself” (Exodus 32:13), for the sake of Your name, at that moment, the Holy One blessed be He was filled with mercy, as it is stated: “The Lord reconsidered…” (Exodus 32:14). Immediately, three of the angels of destruction, Anger, Destruction, and Annihilation, departed, and two remained: Wrath and Fury. That is what is written: “For I was in dread due to the Wrath and the Fury” (Deuteronomy 9:19). He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, am I able to withstand the two of them? You bear one and I will bear one.’ That is what is written: “Arise, Lord, in Your wrath [be’appekha]…” (Psalms 7:7). (This is expounded to mean that God will arise against His angel, Wrath [af].) From where is it derived that Moses withstood one, the angel of Fury [Ḥema]? It is as it is stated: “He said He would destroy them, were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach to turn back His fury” (Psalms 106:23). (This is expounded to mean that Moses stood in the breach against the angel of destruction, Fury [Ḥema].) It is regarding that moment that he said: “I praise the dead […more than the living]” (Ecclesiastes 4:2), like me and my associates. (Solomon thus states from the perspective of Moses: The dead, namely Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were able to have a greater effect than the living, namely my associates and me.) Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman interpreted the verse regarding David. When Solomon built the Temple, he requested that fire descend from the heavens, but it did not descend. He sacrificed one thousand burnt offerings, but it did not descend. He prayed twenty-four prayers, but it did not descend, until he said: “Remember the good deeds of David your servant” (II Chronicles 6:42), [and then] it descended immediately, as it is stated: “When Solomon concluded praying, the fire descended” (II Chronicles 7:1). Rabbi Yuda ben Rabbi Le’ai and the Rabbis: Rabbi Yuda ben Rabbi Le’ai said: David came to life at that time. The Rabbis say: He brought his coffin. They do not disagree; (They do not disagree based on their own reasoning but based on verses (Etz Yosef, citing Yefe To’ar).) the one who said David came to life at that time, that is what David himself said: “Lord, You have raised my soul from the grave…” (Psalms 30:4), and another verse says: “Lord God, do not reject the face of Your anointed” (II Chronicles 6:42), as he is alive before You. The one who said: He brought his coffin, that is what is written: “Remember the good deeds of David Your servant” (II Chronicles 6:42). It is regarding that moment that he said: “I praise the dead […more than the living]” (Ecclesiastes 4:2), like me and my associates. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon interpreted the verse regarding Ezekiel. When he stood in the valley and said: “Dry bones, heed the word of the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:4), immediately, “the bones came together, each bone to its bone…” (Ezekiel 37:7). He said to them: ‘Initially I said to you: “Heed the word of the Lord, house of Jacob” (Jeremiah 2:4), but you did not heed; and now you are heeding. During your lifetimes you did not heed; after your deaths you heeded.’ Regarding that moment it is stated: “I praise the dead […more than the living]” (Ecclesiastes 4:2), like me and my associates. (The generation of Ezekiel did not heed the word of God, but those who had already died were heeding His word after death.)
Another interpretation (of Lev. 19:2:) YOU SHALL BE HOLY. The Holy One said to Israel: Before I created my world, the ministering angels praised my name through you and sanctified me through you by saying (in I Chron. 16:36): BLESSED IS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. (Tanh., Lev. 7:2.) When the first Adam was created, the angels said: Sovereign of the World, is this the one in whose name we are praising you? He told them, [No]. This person is a thief, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 3:17): < BECAUSE YOU OBEYED YOUR WIFE AND > ATE OF THE TREE ABOUT WHICH I COMMANDED YOU, < SAYING: DO NOT EAT OF IT. CURSED IS THE LAND BECAUSE OF YOU >. < When > Noah came, they said to him (i.e., to the Holy One): Is this the one? He told them, [No]. This person is a drunkard, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 9:21): THEN HE DRANK OF THE WINE AND BECAME DRUNK…. < When > Abraham came, they said to him: Is this the one? He told them: This is a stranger (ger). < When > Isaac came, they said to him: Is this the one? He told them: This one loves my enemy, as stated (in Gen. 25:28): NOW ISAAC LOVED ESAU. When Jacob came, they said to him: Is this the one? He told them, Yes, for so it says (in Gen. 35:10): GOD SAID TO HIM: YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE JACOB, BUT YOUR NAME SHALL BE ISRAEL…. So all Israel was called by his name. At that time the Holy One, Blessed be He, sanctified them because of his name, as stated (in Is. 49:3): ISRAEL, IN WHOM I WILL BE GLORIFIED. The Holy One said to him: Since you were sanctified for my name before I created my world, Be holy as I am holy. It is so stated (in Lev. 19:2:) YOU SHALL BE HOLY, BECAUSE I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, AM HOLY. To what is the matter comparable? To a king who betrothed a wife. He said to her because you have been betrothed (literally: sanctified) to my name, I am a king and you, a queen. Just as it (i.e., my name) is an honor for me, so it is an honor for you. Why? Because you are my wife. Thus the Holy One said to Moses. Go and sanctify (i.e., go and betroth) Israel, as stated (in Exod. 19:10): GO UNTO THE PEOPLE AND SANCTIFY (rt.: QDSh) THEM TODAY AND TOMORROW. {The Holy One sanctified them} [He sanctified them. The Holy One came] and said to them (in Exod. 19:6): BUT YOU SHALL BE FOR ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, A HOLY (rt.: QDSh) NATION. Why? (Lev. 19:2:) BECAUSE… I AM HOLY. And you also shall be sanctified (rt.: QDSh) just as you have sanctified me, as stated (in Lev. 19:2) SPEAK UNTO THE WHOLE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND SAY UNTO THEM: YOU SHALL BE HOLY (rt.: QDSh)…. The Holy One said unto them: If you are worthy, you shall be called a congregation of saints (rt.: QDSh); < if > you are unworthy, you shall be called an evil congregation. (Numb. 14:27:) HOW LONG SHALL THIS EVIL CONGREGATION…?
(Lev. 19:2:) “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “Before I created My world, the ministering angels praised My name through you and sanctified Me through you by saying (in I Chron. 16:36), ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.’” When the first Adam was created, the angels said, “Master of the world, is this the one in whose name we are praising You?” He told them, “No. This person is a thief, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 3:17), ‘and you ate of the tree.’” [When] Noah came, they said to Him (i.e., to the Holy One, blessed be He), “Is this the one?” He told them, “[No]. This person is a drunkard, since it is stated (of him in Gen. 9:21), ‘Then he drank of the wine [and became drunk].’” [When] Abraham came, they said to Him, “Is this the one?” He told them, “This is a stranger (ger), from which Yishmael came out.” [When] Isaac came, they said to Him, “Is this the one?” He told them, “This one loves My enemy, as stated (in Gen. 25:28), ‘Now Isaac loved Esau.’” When Jacob came, they said to Him, “Is this the one?” He told them, “Yes, for so it says (in Gen. 35:10), ‘God said to him, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but your name shall be Israel.”’ So all Israel was called by his name.” At that time the Holy One, blessed be he, sanctified them because of His name, as stated (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Since you were sanctified for My name before I created My world, be holy as I am holy.” It is so stated (in Lev. 19:2), “[You shall be holy,] because I am holy.” To what is the matter comparable? To a king who betrothed a wife. He said to her, “Because you have been betrothed (literally, sanctified) to my name, I am a king and you, a queen. Just as it (i.e., my name) is an honor for me, so it is an honor for you. Why? Because you are my wife.” Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Go and sanctify (i.e., go and betroth) Israel,” as stated (in Exod. 19:10), “and sanctify (rt.: qdsh) them today and tomorrow.” The Holy One, blessed be He, sanctified them and said to them (in Exod. 19:6), “But you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests, a holy (rt.: qdsh) nation.” Why? (Lev. 19:2:) “Because I the Lord am holy.” And you also shall be sanctified (rt.: qdsh) just as you have sanctified Me, as stated (in Lev. 19:2) “Speak unto the whole congregation of the Children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘You shall be holy (rt.: qdsh).’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said unto them, “If you are worthy, you shall be called a congregation of holy ones (rt.: qdsh); [but if] you are unworthy, you shall be called an evil congregation, as stated (Numb. 14:27) ‘How long shall this evil congregation?’”
Another example of this is stated in Scripture: Now Isaac loved Esau (ibid. 25:28). Apparently, Esau went astray because his father failed to chastise him. As we have learned, the wicked Esau committed five transgressions in one day: he slept with a betrothed maiden, killed a man, denied the concept of resurrection, rejected the essential principle of religion (i.e., became an atheist), and despised the birthright. All of these transgressions are indicated either specifically in verses in Scripture or by analogy with other verses in Scripture (gezerah shavah). Furthermore, he longed for his father’s death, so that he might slay his brother, as it is said: Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand, then will I slay my brother, Jacob (Gen. 27:41). He compelled Jacob to flee from his father’s house, while he went to Ishmael’s home to learn evil ways from him, and to add to the number of his wives, as it is said: So Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son (ibid. 28:9).
And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere: A gift (bribe) is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it; whithersoever he turneth, he prospereth (Prov. 17:8). What may the gift (mentioned in this verse) be compared to? To a precious stone which shatters whenever it falls. (The gift becomes a bribe and ultimately brings harm to the recipient.) This verse aptly refers to Isaac, for it is said: Now Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison (lit. the game was in his mouth) (Gen. 25:28). What is the meaning of the game was in his mouth? It means that Esau ensnared (A play on words: tzayid (venison) and tzud (trap)) the righteous Isaac with the words he spoke. You find that Esau committed every sin which the Holy One, blessed be He, detests; There are six things which the Lord hateth, yea, seven which are an abomination unto Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that deviseth wicked thoughts, feet that are swift in running to evil; a false witness that breatheth out lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren (Prov. 6:16–19). Whenever Esau entered the house, he would ask his father: “My father, is one obliged to tithe for salt?” Isaac would exclaim in amazement: “Observe, how scrupulous this son of mine is concerning the commandments!” And when his father would ask him: “Where were you today, my son?” “At the house of study,” the youth would reply and he would add: “Is this not the law under certain circumstances; are not these things prohibited and these permitted?” By such remarks, he entraped his father with his mouth. That is why he loved him. Thereupon, the Holy Spirit exclaimed: When he speaketh fair believe him not; for there are seven abominations in his heart (ibid. 26:25). Why did Isaac’s eyes become weak? They became weak because he beheld the countenance of the wicked Esau; also because he ate the venison he brought him, as it is said: For the gift blinded them that hath sight (Exod. 23:8).
And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn over, Sarah, and to weep over her, and he stood up from before his dead and spoke unto the sons of Heth, the in habitants of the land, saying: I am a stranger and so journey with you; give me a possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him: Behold the land is before thee, in the choice of the land bury thy dead, for verily, no man will pre vent thee from burying thy dead. And Abraham said unto them: If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is in the end of his field, and I will purchase it of him for whatsoever he may desire for it. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth, and they went and called him, and he came into the presence of Abraham; and Ephron said unto Abraham: Whatsoever thou wishest thy servant will do. And Abraham said: Nay, but I will buy the cave and thy field for its full value, as a possession for a burial place forever. And Ephron answered, saying: Behold the field and cave are before thee, give me whatsoever pleaseth thee. But Abraham said: Nay, only for its full value shall I purchase it from thy hands and from the hands of all those that go in at the gate of thy city, and from thy seed forever. And Ephron and all his kinsmen heard this, and Abraham weighed unto Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, into the hands of Ephron and his brethren; and Abraham wrote down these proceedings and had it testified by four witnesses, and these are their names: Ami gal, son of Abishna, the Hittite; Adihoron, son of Ashu nash, the Hivite; Abdon, son of Ahirom, the Gomrite, and Bakdil, son of Abidos, the Zidonite; and Abraham took the book of the sale and placed it in his treasury, and these are the words that Abraham wrote into the book saying: That Abraham bought the cave and the field from Ephron, the Hittite, and from his seed, and from all those that went in at the gate of his city and from their seed forever, to be the purchased possession of Abraham and his seed, and of all those that go forth from his loins for a possession of a burying place forever. And he put a seal thereto and had it testified by witnesses. Thus the field and the cave therein and the entire ground were secured for Abraham and his seed after him, from the children of Heth; and behold it is before Mamre, even in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan. And after this Abraham buried there Sarah his wife, and that place with all its boundaries became the possession of Abraham and his seed for a burying place. And Abraham buried Sarah in great display, as it is customary with the burials of kings, and she was interred in very beautiful and costly garments. And her bier was attended by Shem and his sons Eber and Abimelech, also by Auer, Eshcol, and Mamre, and all the dignitaries of the land followed her bier. And the days of Sarah were a hundred and seven and twenty years when she died, and Abraham made a great and heavy mourning, and he observed that mourning for seven days. And all the inhabitants of the land consoled Abraham and Isaac his son concerning Sarah. . And when their days of mourning were over Abraham sent away his son Isaac to go unto the house of Shem and Eber to learn the ways and instructions of the Lord. And Isaac remained there for three years. At that time Abraham arose with all his servants and they started to return home, towards Beer-sheba. And when the year was around, Abimelech king of the Philistines, died in that year. He was one hundred and ninety-three years old when he died. And Abraham went with all his people into the land of the Philistines to comfort the household of Abimelech, and all his household, and then he returned to his home. And after the death of Abimelech the people of Gerar took his son Benmelech, who was then only twelve years of age, and they made him king in his father's place; and they called his name Abimelech after his father, for such was their way of doing in Gerar. And Abimelech ruled in the place of his father and he sat upon his throne. And Lot the son of Haran died also in these days, in the thirty-ninth year of Isaac's life; and all the days that Lot lived were one hundred and forty years when he died. And these are the sons of Lot, born unto him by his daughters. The name of the first-born was Moab and the name of the second was Benamy. And the two sons of Lot took unto themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they bare unto them children. And these were the children of Moab: Ed, and Majon, and Tarsus, and Canvil, four sons, and they are the fathers of the children of Moab even unto this day. And all the families of the children of Lot went forth to dwell wherever they should find a suitable place, for they were very fruitful and they increased greatly. And they went out and built cities unto themselves in the land of their habitation, calling the names of the cities which they built after their own names. And Nahor son of Terah, Abraham's brother, died in those days, in the fortieth year of the life of Isaac; and all the days of Nahor were one hundred and seventy-two years, and when he died he was buried in Haran. And when Abraham heard of his brother's death he was full of grief and sorrow and he mourned over him many days. And Abraham called Eliezer, his head-servant, to give him orders concerning his house, and he came and stood before him, and Abraham said unto him: Behold I am old, I do not know the day I may die, for verily I am advanced in years. And now arise and go forth and do not take a wife for my son from this place, nor from this land, from the midst of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom we are dwelling. But go thou to my land and to my native place and take from there a wife for my son. And the Lord God of heaven and earth who hath taken me from the house of my father and brought me to this place; and who hath said unto me: To thy seed I will give this land for an inheritance forever, he will send his angel before thee and give thee success on thy way that thou mayest procure a wife for my son from my family and from the house of my father. And the servant answered unto Abraham his master saying: Behold I will go to thy birth-place and to thy father's house to take a wife for thy son from there. But per adventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land; must I need bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him: Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord before whom I have walked will send his angel before thee to make thy way a success. And Eliezer did according to Abraham's orders and Eliezer swore unto Abraham, his master, concerning this matter. And Eliezer arose and took ten camels of the camels of his father, and ten men from the servants of his master he took likewise, and they departed for Haran, the city of Abraham and Nahor, to bring thence a wife for Isaac the son of Abraham. And while they were gone Abraham sent to the house of Shem and Eber, and they brought thence his son Isaac. And Isaac came back to his father's house in Beer-sheba at the same time that Eliezer and his men arrived in Haran. And they stopped in the city near the watering place, and Eliezer made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of wa ter, and they remained there; and Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, prayed, saying: O, Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham, and appoint this day a wife for the son of my master from his own family. And the Lord hearkened to Eliezer's voice for the sake of his servant Abraham, and he happened to meet the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and Eliezer came into her house. And Eliezer related unto them all his affairs, and that he was the servant of Abraham, and they were greatly rejoiced with him; and all of them blessed the Lord for bringing about this event, and they gave him Rebekah, Bethuel's daughter, to be the wife of Isaac, and the young maiden was very comely of appearance; she was a virgin and ten years old at that time. And Bethuel, and Laban and his children, made a great feast that night, and Eliezer and his men came and ate and drank and were exceedingly rejoiced that night; and in the morning Eliezer and his men arose and he called the whole household together, saying: Let me depart now that I go to my master. And they arose and sent away Rebekah, and her nurse Deborah, daughter of Uz, with her. And they gave her silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and they blessed her. Thus they sent away Eliezer with his men and the servants that took Rebekah, and he went and returned unto his master into the land of Canaan. And Isaac took Rebekah and she was unto him a wife, and he brought her into the tent, and Isaac was forty years of age when he took Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, his uncle, for a wife. And at that time Abraham again took a wife in his old age, from the land of Canaan, and her name was Keturah; and she bare unto him: Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah—six sons. And the sons of Zimran were: Abihen, and Molech, and Marim. And the sons of Jokshan were: Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Medan were: Amido, and Joab, and Gochi, and Elisha, and Notach. And the sons of Midian were: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abi da, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ishbak were: Makiro, and Bejodua, and Tator. And the sons of Shuah were: Bildad, and Mamdad, and Meman, and Mehan. All these are the families of the children of Keturah, the Canaanitish woman, which she bare unto Abraham, the Hebrew. And Abraham sent all of them away, giving them gifts, and they went away from Isaac his son, to locate wheresoever they should find a suitable place; and they went all unto the mountains eastward and they built unto themselves six cities and they dwelt therein even unto this day. And the children of Shebah and Dedan, the sons of Jokshan, did not dwell with their brethren in their cities, and they journeyed about camping in the countries and in the deserts even unto this day; and the children of Midian, son of Abraham, went eastward of the land of Cush, where they discovered a large valley in the country of the east, and they located there and built a city, and they dwelt in it. That is the land of Midian unto this day. And Midian dwelt in the city which he built, with his five sons and all belonging unto him; and these are the names of Midian's sons, according to their names and their cities: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ephah were: Methach, and Meshar, and Avi, and Tzanua. And the sons of Epher were: Ephron, and Zur, and Alirun, and Medin. And the sons of Chanoch were: Reuel, and Rekem, and Azi, and Alyoshub, and Alad. And the sons of Abida were: Chur, and Melud, and Keruy, and Molchi. And the sons of Eldah were: Miker, and Reba, and Malchiyah, and Gabol. These are the names of the Midianites according to their families; and afterwards the families of Midian spread throughout the land of Midian. And these are the families of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. - - And Ishmael took a wife from the land of Egypt, and her name was Ribah, the same is Meribah. And Ribah bare unto Ishmael: Nebayoth, and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and their sister Bosmath. And Ishmael disowned his wife Ribah, and she went from him and returned to Egypt to the house of her father, and she dwelt there, for she had been very wicked in the sight of Ishmael, and in the sight of his father Abraham. And Ishmael afterward took a wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she bare unto him: Nishma, and Dumah, and Masa, and Chadad, and Tema, and Yetur, and Naphish, and Kedma. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, twelve princes according to their nations; and the families of Ishmael spread forth, and Ishmael took his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to locate where they should find a suitable place, And they went and dwelt near the wilderness of Paran and their dwelling was from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt as thou comest toward Assyria; and Ishmael and his sons dwelt in the land, and they had chidren born unto them, and they were fruitful and increased greatly. And these are the names of the sons of Nebayoth, the first born of Ishmael: Mend, and Send, and Mayon; and the sons of Kedar were: Alyon, and Kezem, and Chamad, and Eli. And the sons of Adbeel were: Cha mad, and Jabin; and the sons of Mibsam were: Obadiah, and Ebedmelech, and Yeush—these are the families of the children of Ribah, the wife of Ishmael; and the sons of Mishma, the son of Ishmael, were: Shamua, and Zecaryon, and Obed; and the sons of Dumah were: Kezed, and Eli, and Machmad, and Amed; and the sons of Masa were: Melon, and Mula, and Ebidadon; and the sons of Chadad were: Azur, and Minzar, and Ebed melech; and the sons of Tema were: Seir, and Sadon, and Yakol; and the sons of Yetur were: Merith, and Yaish, and Alyo, and Pachoth; and the sons of Naphish were: Ebed, and Tamed, and Abiyasaph, and Mir; and the sons of Kedma were: Calip, and Tachti, and Omir—these were the children of Malchuth, the wife of Ishmael, according to their families. All these are the families of Ishmael according to their generations, and they dwelt in those lands wherein they had built themselves cities unto this day. And Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s son, was barren in those days, she had no offspring. And Isaac dwelt with his father in the land of Canaan, and the Lord was with Isaac; and Arpachshad, son of Shem, the son of Noah, died at that time, in forty-eighth year of Isaac’s life; and all the days of Arpachshad’s life were four hundred and thirty years when he died.
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
“I administer an oath to you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, that you will not awaken, and you will not rouse love, until it pleases” (Song of Songs 2:7). “I administer an oath to you, daughters of Jerusalem.” By what did He administer the oath? Rabbi Eliezer says: He administered the oath by the heavens and the earth; (Just as heaven and earth constantly act in the manner prescribed for them from God, so too Israel should not violate its oath (Etz Yosef).) “by the gazelles [bitzvaot],” by the host [tzava] of the heavens and by the host of the earth, with two hosts [tzevaot]; that is bitzvaot. “And by the hinds of the field,” these are the beasts of the field, just as it says: “For your covenant will be with the rocks of the field, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you” (Job 5:23). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa and Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon, Rabbi Ḥanina said: He administered an oath to them by the patriarchs and the matriarchs. Bitzvaot, these are the patriarchs [avot], who established My stature [tzivyoni], and I imbued My stature in them. “And by the hinds of the field,” these are the tribes, just as it says: “Naphtali is a hind let loose” (Genesis 49:21). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: He administered an oath by circumcision; bitzvaot, by a mitzva that has a sign [ot]; “and by the hinds of the field,” who shed their blood like the blood of the gazelle and the hind. (See, for example, Leviticus 17:13; Deuteronomy 15:22–23.) The Rabbis say: He administered an oath by the generation of persecution. (Like the generation of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues.) Bitzvaot, as they established My stature [tzivyoni] in the world, and I imbued My stature in them. “And by the hinds of the field,” who shed their blood for the sanctification of My name, like the blood of the gazelle and the hind. That is what is written: “For we are killed all day over You” (Psalms 44:23). Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: If a person would say to me: Give your life for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One blessed be He, I will give it, provided that they kill me immediately. However, in the generation of persecution, I would not be able to withstand [the persecution]. What would they do in the generation of persecution? They would bring iron balls and heat them until they were white hot and place them under their [victims’] armpits and would take their lives. Or they would bring stalks of reeds (Thin, sharp shards, similar to needles.) and place them under their fingernail and would take their lives. (In both examples cited, the victims would suffer a slow, torturous death.) That is what David said: “To You, Lord, I lift [esa] my soul” (Psalms 25:1), I will give up [asi] is written, (In fact, the word is written esa in the verse, not asi. The midrash means to say that the word esa should be interpreted as though it read asi, as David would not take his own life, as implied by the word esa, but might give up his life by maintaining his allegiance to God in the fact of enemies who would seek to prevent him from doing so.) for they would give their lives for sanctification of the name of the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Oshaya said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘Wait for Me (Until the end of days.) and I will render you like the host of the heavens.’ Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Meir: The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘If you fulfill My oath I will render you like the heavenly host, and if not, I will render you like the earthly host.’ Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: There are two oaths here, one for Israel and one for the nations of the world. He administered an oath to Israel that they would not rebel against the kingdoms, and He administered an oath to the nations that they would not impose a harsh yoke upon Israel, for if they impose a harsh yoke upon Israel, they will cause the end of days to come before its time. Rabbi Levi said: It is written: “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness” (Isaiah 32:1). The Holy One blessed be He enthrones a wicked king over His nation only until He collects its debt and liquidates it. (God grants wicked kings power over Israel only in order to punish Israel for its sins.) Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Tanḥum: What did the foremen of Israel say to Pharaoh? That is what is written: “Straw is not given to your servants… [your servants are beaten] and it the fault of your people” (Exodus 5:16). You are sinning against your people, (Israel, the people who have come under your dominion (Matnot Kehuna).) you are sinning against your nation, (The Egyptians, who will be held accountable for Israel’s suffering.) and you are causing your kingdom to be taken from you and to be given to another nation. Rabbi Ḥelbo says: There are four oaths here. (This is based on the fact that the expression “I administer an oath to you” appears four times in Song of Songs: 2:7, 3:5, 5:8, and 8:4 (Etz Yosef).) He administered an oath to Israel that they would not rebel against the kingdoms; would not accelerate [the advent of] the end of days; (They should not over-engage in prayer that the end of days should arrive (Matnot Kehuna).) would not reveal their secrets to the nations of the world; and they would not ascend as a wall from the Diaspora. (They should not forcefully stage a mass immigration to Israel.) If they did, why would the messianic king come to gather the exiles of Israel? Rabbi Onya said: He administered to them four oaths corresponding to the four generations that sought to accelerate [the advent of] the end of days, and failed, and they are: One during the days of Amram; one during the days of Deinai; (He was one of the Jerusalem zealots during the period leading to the destruction of the Second Temple. See Sota 47a.) one during the days of ben Kozeva; (Shimon bar Kokhva.) and one during the days of Shutelaḥ ben Ephraim, as it is stated: “The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows [yet they turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God]” (Psalms 78:9–10). Some say: One during the days of Amram; one in the generation of persecution; one during the days of ben Kozeva; and one during the days of Shutelaḥ ben Ephraim, as it is stated: “The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows.” They had calculated the decree was issued when the Holy One blessed be He spoke with Abraham our patriarch between the pieces, but it began when Isaac was born. (God told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land for four hundred years, and they would be enslaved (Genesis 15:13). Members of the tribe of Ephraim assumed that the four hundred years began from when God spoke to Abraham, but in fact they began thirty years later, when Isaac was born.) What did they do? They gathered and went to war and they suffered many casualties. Why? It is because they did not believe in the Lord and did not trust His salvation. They violated the end of days and they violated the oath. (They attempted to forcefully bring about redemption before the proper time.) “That you will not awaken, and you will not rouse [love, until it pleases],” Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Yudan said: The love that Isaac had for Esau, as it is stated: “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28). What is “until it pleases”? Until it becomes the wish of the elder. (From the fact that the verse does not say “you will not rouse the end of days,” or “you will not rouse redemption,” the midrash derives the idea that the love referred to in the verse is a factor that prevents the redemption of Israel. Thus, the midrash states that Isaac’s love for Esau, which was due to the honor he accorded Isaac, is a source of merit for Esau’s descendants, and prevents Israel from being redeemed from their dominion. This will be the case “until it becomes the wish of the elder,” i.e. Isaac, meaning until the merit of Esau has been used up (Midrash HaMevoar).) Rabbi Berekhya said: The love that the Holy One blessed be He had for Israel, as it is stated: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2). (The midrash is now interpreting the love mentioned in the verse as a cause of redemption for Israel.) What is “until it pleases”? [Until it pleases] the heavenly kingdom: When the attribute of justice will so desire in and of itself, I will bring it with loud voice and will not delay. Therefore, it says: “Until it pleases.”
“For love is as intense as death” – the love that the Holy One blessed be He has for you is as intense as death. That is what is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord…” (Malachi 1:2). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – when they infuriate the Holy One blessed be He with their idol worship, as it is stated: “They would infuriate Him with strange gods” (Deuteronomy 32:16). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that Isaac had for Esau; that is what is written: “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy Esau had for Jacob, as it is stated: “Esau hated Jacob [because of the blessing with which his father blessed him]” (Genesis 27:41). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that Jacob had for Joseph, as it is stated: “Israel loved Joseph more than his sons” (Genesis 37:3). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy that his brothers had for him, as it is stated: “His brothers were jealous of him” (Genesis 37:11). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that Jonathan had for David, as it is stated: “Jonathan loved him as himself” (I Samuel 18:1). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy that Saul had for David, as it is stated: “Saul eyed David with suspicion” (I Samuel 18:9). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that a man has for his wife, as it is stated: “Enjoy life with a woman whom you love” (Ecclesiastes 9:9). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy that he has regarding her when he says to her: Do not speak with so-and-so, and she goes and speaks with him, and immediately, “a spirit of jealousy passes over him and he is jealous of his wife” (Numbers 5:14). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that the generation of persecution had for the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “For we are killed all day long for You” (Psalms 44:23). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – as the Holy One blessed be He is destined to have great zealotry on behalf of Zion. That is what is written: “So said the Lord [of hosts]: I became zealous for Zion with great zealotry” (Zechariah 8:2). “Its sparks are the sparks of fire, a great conflagration” – Rabbi Berekhya said: Like the supernal fire; the fire does not quench water and the water does not extinguish fire.
Jacob was the descendant of Isaac and Rebeccah. In the case of Abraham's son Isaac, G–d had promised Abraham only כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, that part of Isaac would be his worthy seed, not all of Isaac. The Torah reports that Rebeccah loved Jacob (25,28). We have said that then the world was filled with Jacob's "beauty," which was of the kind once possessed by Adam, מטתו שלמה, Jacob's bed was perfect, i.e. all his children were loyal to his teachings which enabled him to become known as ישראל. Since only ישראל is called אדם, the connection between Jacob and Adam is clear.
ויאהב יצחק את עשו כי ציד בפיו ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב. We have an allusion here to the well-known statement in Avot 5,19 that any love which is based on something material will not endure once the object upon which it is based disappears, whereas love which is not based on something transient will endure. Isaac's love for Esau was founded on the material things Esau provided, and therefore it could not endure. This may well be the reason the Torah describes Isaac's love for Esau in the past tense, i.e. ויאהב, whereas Rebeccah's love for Jacob is described in the present tense, i.e. אוהבת, an ongoing love.
The second introduction needed to understand the whole issue is the fact that Esau and Jacob were twins inside Rebeccah's womb, and that she was the mother of both of them. This means that she was like the crucible within which Jacob was refined, whereas Esau at the same time absorbed all the residual polluted material of the original serpent that had still cleaved to Rebeccah in her capacity as Laban's sister. Esau inherited all the falseness of Laban. This left Jacob like pure, refined silver. That is what our sages had in mind when they referred to Jacob's beauty as equaling that of Adam (before his sin). The fact that Esau had absorbed all the negative residual elements within Rebeccah had enabled Jacob to become the pious person he was. Rebeccah loved Jacob; Isaac loved Esau more. The deeper reason for this is, as we have already explained, that there was some affinity between Isaac, whose root was the emanation of דין, the same emanation as the one the serpent=Satan=Esau was rooted in. Rebeccah, on the other hand, loved Jacob, seeing that her appearance was just like that of her mother-in-law Sarah, as we have explained. When Sarah is described in Genesis 20,3 as בעולת בעל, the Talmud Ketuvot 61 describes this as meaning that her husband was in a state of ascension at the time. The Torah compliments Sarah by testifying that together with her husband she ascended to higher spiritual regions. Rebeccah experienced something similar. We know that Isaac was described as עולה תמימה, an unblemished total offering [ עולה in the sense of something that ascends Ed.], at the time he was bound on the altar at Moriah. Our Rabbis say that nonetheless Isaac was like a קרבן עולה ויורד, in the matter of the עקדה, meaning that at different times he was at different spiritual levels. While he was bound on the altar, for instance, he was on a higher spiritual level than when he descended from the altar, aware that he was not to be sacrificed after all, seeing that G–d had appointed an alternative offering in his stead, namely the ram that was caught in the thicket by its horns (Genesis 22,13). Jacob was called an איש תם, the word תם referring to his spiritual ascension. Esau, on the other hand, though from a holy source as we explained when we described his head as being cradled by Isaac , was of the caliber that was liable to descend rather than to ascend spiritually.
It’s a haunting question. Why did Isaac love Esau? The verse says so explicitly: “Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob” (Gen. 25:28). Whichever way we read this verse, it is perplexing. If we read it literally, it suggests that Isaac’s affections were governed by no more than a taste for a particular kind of food. Surely that is not the way love is earned or given in the Torah.
Why? Because Esau was the elder. Because Esau was strong, physically mature, a hunter. Above all, because Esau was his father’s favourite: “Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob” (Gen. 25:28). Jacob is the paradigm of what the French literary theorist and anthropologist Rene Girard called mimetic desire, meaning, we want what someone else wants, because we want to be that someone else. (Rene Girard, Violence and the Sacred (London: Athlone Press, 1988).) The result is tension between Jacob and Esau. This tension rises to an unbearable intensity when Esau discovers that Jacob has taken the blessing Isaac had reserved for him, and vows to kill Jacob when Isaac is no longer alive.
According to the plain meaning of the text we must interpret this line as a complimentary comment on Yaakov who was prepared to follow a parental command and marry a girl who was the daughter of two generations of wicked people, i.e. Bethuel and Lavan. The Torah wanted to justify Yaakov by pointing out that though Lavan was a wicked person, his sister Rivkah was a fine woman, righteous in her own right. He could therefore assume that Lavan’s daughters, much like Bethuel’s daughter Rivkah, might be just like their aunt. The Torah continues complimenting Rivkah who became the mother of both “Yaakov and Esau.” The Torah wanted to emphasise that Rivkah, as opposed to her husband, had always loved Yaakov best (25,28), although she could have preferred her elder son as is customary.
It is incumbent upon man to learn from this legislation concerning who is chosen as fit to be a sacrifice. It is interesting that whereas Yitzchak sent Esau to hunt game, Rivkah sent Yaakov to the sheep to select a domesticated animal as food for her husband. These animals share the characteristic of תמימות, being flawless in character, with Yaakov whom the Torah described as תמים, flawless. This characteristic is described by Onkelos as שלים, “peaceful, harmonious,” in Genesis 25,28 where the Torah describes the difference between Esau and Yaakov. This תמימות, flawlessness, is the hallmark of Torah which is described as תורת ה' תמימה, “the Torah of the Lord is flawless,” and its paths are described as harmonious, שלום, (Proverbs 3,17).” The word שלום as a proper name for the Jewish people occurs in Song of Songs 7,1 where Solomon calls on Israel saying שובה שובה השולמית, “turn back, turn back O Shulamit!” The reason Israel has been accorded this title is that the eventual everlasting peace will be ushered in in the land of Israel. For the above-mentioned reasons G’d selected the domesticated pure mammals as suitable for His altar whereas He rejected the free-roaming beasts, even the ones which are permissible for us to eat such as deer, etc. Esau was considered as far removed from the sun (the horoscope of the sun) being a hairy man, a man who made his home in the desert, as already characterized by his father Yitzchak who described him as יודע ציד איש שדה, “familiar with hunting, a man of the field” (Genesis 25,27). He showed a preference for the free-roaming animals that live in uncivilized areas, signifying destruction and desolation. Such an environment is the opposite of the environment which bespeaks peace and harmony. This is also the reason the Torah forbade that stones which had been treated with iron (metal) tools should form part of the altar as such tools are reminiscent of the sword, of causing death instead of ushering in peace, the purpose of the altar. (compare author’s comments on Exodus 20,22). The sword became the inheritance of Esau and his descendants. This is the mystical dimension of Exodus 20,22: “for you have swung your sword over it and desecrated it.” [The author has a different count for the number of verses in the Ten Commandments due to the tone-signs which are used when reading the text, so that in his commentary Exodus 20,22 is referred to as 20,25. Ed.] Seeing that it is the function of the altar to help man live longer whereas the function of the sword is to shorten the life span of those who come in contact with it, it is only logical that such an instrument or one which symbolises it should not be used in constructing the altar. Our sages also derive from the words מן הבהמה, מן הבקר, ומן הצאן, “from the domesticated animals such as cattle or flocks,” that the word בהמה excludes any animal which has been mated with a human being; the word מן הבקר is meant to exclude any cow or ox which has been used in idolatrous rites; the words מן הצאן exclude even animals which have been designated for idolatrous service though none such has as yet been performed with them. The extra letter ו in the words ומן הצאן, excludes animals which have gored a human being to death but against which there is not enough evidence to carry out the penalty of stoning prescribed by the Torah (compare Sifra 2).
The boys grew up. Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. (Gen. 25:27–28)
I. Yitzḥak and Esav THE CORE IDEA Why did Yitzḥak love Esav? The verse says explicitly, “Yitzḥak, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esav, but Rivka loved Yaakov” (Bereshit 25:28). Whichever way we read this verse, it is confusing. If we read it literally, it suggests that Yitzḥak’s love for Esav came from a taste for a particular kind of food. Surely that is not the way love is earned or given in the Torah.
Yitzchok loved Eisov because he ate of his trappings, but Rivkah loved Yaakov.
And Izhak loved Esau, for words of deceit were in his mouth; but Rivekah loved Jakob.
| וַיָּ֥זֶד יַעֲקֹ֖ב נָזִ֑יד וַיָּבֹ֥א עֵשָׂ֛ו מִן־הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה וְה֥וּא עָיֵֽף׃ | 29 J | Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. |
והוא עיף, “and he was worn out;” it is usual for hunters to be worn out after chasing their prey. Moreover, sometimes they lose sight of their prey in the forest and get lost and it takes them a long time to find their way home. They may remain lost for a day or two, and when they finally get home they are totally worn out, hungry and thirsty.
AND HE WAS FAINT. Ayef (The word ayef (faint) may imply faint from exertion or faint from lack of food or water. Here it means the latter (Krinsky). However, Weiser maintains that I.E. holds that ayef applies only to faintness due to lack of food and water.) (faint) means hungry and thirsty, as in be-eretz ayefah (in a weary land) (Is. 32:2). (A weary land is a land lacking in food and water.)
ויזד יעקב נזיד. Jacob cooked food. Perhaps the reason Jacob did this was that he had observed how effective Esau's providing his father with delicious meals had been in cementing Isaac's love for him. He therefore tried to emulate his brother.
ויזד יעקב נזיד, “Yaakov cooked a dish.” We would have expected the Torah to write that Yitzchak cooked such a dish seeing it was on account of mourning for his father Avraham. Seeing that the mourner must not eat what he has cooked himself, this dish had to be prepared by a third party, i.e. Yaakov. It was a dish of lentils as it was the custom to eat such a dish in the house of mourners. The lentil is round and closed like a wheel, and it thereby symbolizes the recurring nature of physical life on earth which ends where it began, i.e. “dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return.” As the lentil has no “mouth,” opening, so the mourner is not to open conversations (or speak at all). Avraham had died on this day. He had been fortunate to have been spared seeing one of his grandchildren despise the birthright and to forsake his teachings. According to Baba Batra 16 Esau committed five different sins on that very day. 1) He slept with a girl who was betrothed to another man. 2) He killed a human being. 3) He scoffed at the idea of resurrection. 4) He denied the existence of G’d, and reward and punishment. 5) He despised the birthright. The Talmud finds allusions in Scripture to support all these allegations: The Torah describes Esau here as ויבא עשו מן השדה, and in connection with the prohibition of sleeping with a girl who is betrothed to another, the Torah worded this in Deut. 22,27 כי בשדה מצאה “for he found her in the field.” The choice of the words: “in the field” is not arbitrary but an allusion to what happened here. The allusion to Esau committing murder is based on the words here כי עיף אנכי, “for I am exhausted,” and the verse in Jeremiah 4,31 כי עיפה נפשי להורגים, “for my soul is exhausted from killing.” The allusion to Esau denying resurrection of the dead is based on Esau saying here הנה אנכי הולך למות, “here I am going towards death,” and Job 7,9 כלה ענן וילך כן יורד שאול לא יעלה, “as a cloud fades away, so whoever goes down to Sheol does not come up.” As to Esau denying the existence of G’d and the system of reward and punishment, the sages point at the expression in our paragraph where Esau said למה זה לי, “what good is all this for me,” and the words זה אלי ואנוהו, “this is my G’d and I will glorify him;” this was the affirmation of G’d sung by the Jewish people after they had emerged from the sea and the Egyptians had been drowned in it (Exodus 15,2). The fact that Esau despised the birthright needs no allusion as it is spelled out right here.
ויזד, the formulation of vayazed which normally should have been vayizad with a dagesh in the letter ז, the middle letter of the root, is not as unusual as it appears, [the author discussing this in detail in his grammar known as shoroshim. Ed] The meaning of the expression is that “he cooked a dish ויבשל נזיד;” the Torah reports that on a certain day when Yaakov had cooked a dish Esau returned from the hunt tired and found the dish Yaakov had cooked ready for eating. He requested to be given some of it so that he could eat it. The purpose of this story being recorded in the Torah is in order to contrast Yaakov’s virtues with Esau’s irresponsible way of looking at life. Not only that, but Esau considered the gobbling up of food as an end in itself, he was what our sages call a גרגרן, glutton. Yaakov, on the other hand, was so little concerned with the physical gratifications available on earth that when cooking for himself, he cooked a dish of lentils, the simplest undistinguished vegetable. If, in spite of his general outlook, Yaakov refused to share this dish with Esau unless the latter sold him his birthright, even though Essau was his brother, this demonstrates Yaakov’s intelligence and his moral principles which made it difficult for him to give something for which he had toiled to someone who was self-centered and who did not make any contribution to civilisation at all, assuming that whenever he felt ravenous he could demand to be gratified by what belonged to others. It is concerning people like Esau that Solomon said in Proverbs 22,16:נותן לעשיר אך למחסור, “(He who oppresses the poor) is like giving gifts to the rich. The end result is loss.”
ויזד means boiling, as the Targum renders it.
והוא עיף AND HE WAS FAINT through murdering people, just as you mention faintness in connection with murder, (Jeremiah 4:31) ‘‘For my soul fainteth before the murderers” (Genesis Rabbah 63:12).
וַיָזֶד Hiphil von זוד (der Grundwurzel von סוד und צוד): etwas lange zubereiten und ganz reif werden lassen. Daher ja auch Ausdruck der absichtlichen vorbedachten Tat im Gegensatz zu der unvorsätzlichen. Dem Hiphil nach hat er es nicht selbst bereitet, sondern durch andere. נזיד: wie מול und זול ,נמל und זור ,נזל und נזר, scheint auch זוד und נוד zusammen zu hängen, und נזיר das Weichgesottene zu bedeuten.
As a result of committing murder... Otherwise, it should say he was hungry.
One day Jacob, who was home much of the time, stewed a stew. Esau came from the field, probably after an unsuccessful hunting expedition, and he was weary, exhausted and thirsty. 7
ויבא עשו מן השדה והוא עיף, “Esau came home from the field, very tired;” he was so tired that he was overcome by a dizzy spell, fainting, so that he concluded that he was about to die soon. He meant that unless he would get something to eat immediately, his condition would deteriorate and result in his death. This being so, what good would the birthright be to him? One of the allegorical explanations of the Midrash claims that his condition was due to his having lost his bearings in the field and the forest, areas that do not abound with markers showing the way; instead of finding deer to kill, he exhausted himself finding the way home. When he found his brother Yaakov tending his father’s flocks in the field, he remarked that he would die soon as there was no one who had the power to restore him except his saintly father. [in the ספר הישר, Esau’s exhaustion is even described as fatigue after having successfully battled two of Nimrod’s soldiers, and his fearing for his life as a result. Ed.] The expression הלעיטני נא, “spoon-feed me,” indicates that this commentary may be close to the truth, as otherwise Esau would have said something like “תן לי,” “give to me!” He was so weak that he could not even lift his hand to his mouth.
“Jacob was cooking a stew” [25:29]. Jacob was cooking lentils and Esau was very tired. He had committed many murders that day. Esau said to Jacob: feed me the red lentils since I am very hungry. That is why he was called Edom. He was cooking lentils because they were mourning. Abraham had died on that day, in the hope that Abraham should not see that his grandson Esau had committed many sins and worshipped idols. Therefore, the Holy One let him die five years before his time. That was why lentils were being cooked. When someone dies, just like a lentil is round, so too death goes around and wanders from one person to the other person. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:29–30.) Esau committed five sins on that day. He slept with a bride who was married to her groom. He killed a person. He denied the resurrection of the dead. He denied the Holy One, and he shamed the birthright. (Bahya, Genesis, 25:29.)
Of the verse, "And Jacob cooked a pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint," Rabbi Elazar explained that, "And Jacob cooked," refers to the mourning for Abraham. But should not it have been written, 'And Isaac cooked a pottage,'? "Jacob cooked a pottage," because Jacob knew the origin of Esau and the side he cleaved to. Therefore, he cooked red dishes, namely, red lentils, for this dish breaks the power and might of the red blood, and can break the power and might of Esau, who is the secret of the red blood, as it is written, "And the first came out red" (Gen. 25:25).
"And Rivkah took the best clothes of her eldest son Esau" (Beresheet 27:15). These are the garments Esau took from Nimrod. They are the precious garments from Adam, which came to the hands of Nimrod, who used them when he hunted, as it is written, "He was a mighty hunter before Hashem" (Beresheet 10:9). And Esau went into the field, where he fought with and killed Nimrod, removing the garments from him. This is the meaning of "and Esau came from the field, and he was faint" (Beresheet 25:29). It has already been explained why it is here written, "And he was faint," and elsewhere, "for my soul faints before the slayers" (Yirmeyah 4:31). These are analogous. There it is written "faint" to refer to killing. Here too, there is killing, because Esau murdered Nimrod.
“This is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac” (Genesis 25:19). “This is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son.” “The father of the righteous will exult with happiness [gil yagil], and the begetter of the wise will rejoice in him” (Proverbs 23:24) – happiness [gila] after happiness when the righteous one is born. “It was in the days of Aḥaz…” (Isaiah 7:1) – Rabbi Hoshaya said: The ministering angels said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, woe that Aḥaz reigned.’ (Ahaz was a wicked king. See II Kings 16:1–4.) He said to them: ‘He is Yotam’s son. His father was righteous, and I cannot extend my hand against him.’ “And the begetter of the wise will rejoice in him” – Rabbi Levi said: From where do you say that anyone who has a son who diligently engages in Torah, that he becomes filled with mercy upon him? The verse states: “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will rejoice” (Proverbs 23:15). Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: I have derived only the heart of his flesh and blood father, from where is it derived that even the Holy One blessed be He becomes filled with mercy upon him when he diligently engages in Torah? The verse states: “My heart too (The midrash is explaining that the verse says "too" as a reference to God, who rejoices with him.) will rejoice.” Happiness after happiness – when he is a righteous one, son of a righteous one; “this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son.”
“Jacob cooked a stew, and Esau came from the field and he was weary” (Genesis 25:29). “Jacob cooked a stew” – he [Esau] said to him: ‘What is the nature of this stew?’ He said to him: ‘It is because that elder (Abraham.) died.’ He said: ‘Did the attribute of justice strike that elder?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘If so, there is no granting of reward and no revival of the dead.’ (Esau was claiming that if the righteous Abraham died at a young age relative to Adam and Noah, that proved that there was no reward for righteousness. (Etz Yosef)) The Divine Spirit screams: “Do not weep for the dead, and do not be moved for him” (Jeremiah 22:10) – this is Abraham; “Weep for one who is leaving” (Jeremiah 22:10) – this is Esau.
“Esau came from the field” – Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Aivu, Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Levi, and the Rabbis in the name of Rabbi Simon: You find that Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and Isaac one hundred and eighty. Those five years that the Holy One blessed be He withheld from his life, it is because Esau violated two transgressions: He consorted with a betrothed young woman, as it is stated: “For he found her in the field” (This verse refers to a betrothed woman who was raped.) (Deuteronomy 22:27); “and he was weary” – he killed a person, just as it says: “For my soul is wearied by the killers” (Jeremiah 4:31). Rabbi said: He stole as well, just as it says: “If thieves came for you, if plunderers of the night…” (Obadiah 1:5). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This is what I promised to Abraham, and said to him: “You shall go to your fathers in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age]” (Genesis 15:15) – is this “a good old age,” that he sees his grandson engaging in idol worship, engaging in forbidden sexual relations, and shedding blood? It is preferable that he leave the world [without seeing it].’ That is what is written: “For Your kindness is better than life” (Psalms 63:4). “Esau said to Jacob: Feed me now from that red, red [haadom haadom] dish, as I am weary. Therefore, his name is called Edom” (Genesis 25:30). “Esau said to Jacob: Feed me [haliteni] now from that red” – Rabbi Ze’eira said: That wicked one opened his mouth wide like a camel. He said to him: ‘I will open my mouth and you continuously pour,’ like what we learned: One may not forcibly overfeed a camel and one may not force feed it. However, one may place food into its mouth [malitin]. (Shabbat 155b.) “From that red, red [ha’adom ha’adom]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From him and from his Patron. (God is the Patron of Jacob. Esau sought to consume the stew, and the Temples of Jacob’s God.) Reish Lakish said: From him, and from those like him [hadomin lo]. (His righteous descendants, who are similar to him.) He is red, his cooked food is red, his land is red, his warriors are red, his garments are red, One who is red exacts retribution against him, in red garments. (See Isaiah 63:1–2.) He is red – “the first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25). His cooked food is red – “feed me now from [that] red.” His land is red – “to the land of Se’ir, to the field of Edom" (Genesis 32:4). His mighty ones are red –“his warriors’ shields are reddened” (Nahum 2:4). His garments are red – “his soldiers are colored scarlet” (Nahum 2:4). One who is red exacts retribution against him – “my beloved is clear and ruddy” (Song of Songs 5:10). In red attire – “why is there red in Your attire?” (Isaiah 63:2).
(Fol. 53a) Rab and Samuel give different explanations for the cave of Machpelah. One said: "It was called so because it was built as two houses, one within the other"; the other said: "It is built like a house and an upper story." It is quite right according to the one who said it was built like a house and an upper story, that it should be called Machpelah [which means double] but as to the other who says that it was built of a, house within a house, why then should it he called Machpelah? Because our couples are lying there, viz., Adam and Eve; Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob and Leah. [Therefore it is called Machpelah '] . Unto Mamrei the city of Arba (Gen. 25, 29.) R. Isaac said: "The city of four couples."
(Ex. 1, 8) Now there rose up a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. Rab and Samuel differ in the explanation of the meaning of this passage. One contends that it means a real new king, while the other says "his decrees were new." According to the one who says that it means a real new king, he infers it because it is written a new. The other one who contends that his decrees were new infers because it is not mentioned that the previous king had died and a new one had become king. But how will the latter explain who knew not Joseph? This means that he pretended not to know Joseph. (Ib., ib. 9) And he said unto his people, behold the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than we. We are taught that the king himself started to find ways of destroying Israel as it is said and he said unto his people; therefore was he also smitten first, as it is said (Ib. 7, 29) And upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants shall all the frogs come up. (Ib. 1, 10) Come on, let us deal wisely with him. It should have been with them, [plural]. Said Chama b. R. Chanina: "This means that he said to them: 'Come on, let us deal wisely with the Redeemer of Israel. With what shall we punish them [so that He shall not be able to take retaliation]? Shall we punish them by fire. He will retaliate upon as it is said (Is. 66, 16) For by fire will the Lord judge. Shall we judge them with a sword? Upon this He will also retaliate as it is written (Ib.) And by His sword against all flesh. Let us therefore come and execute judgment through water; for long since He had already sworn not to bring a flood upon the world, as it is said (Ib. 54, 9) For as the waters of Noah is this unto He; as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more pass over the earth [hence there is no retaliation]. They [Pharaoh and his advisors] did not know, however, that this means only that He will not bring a flood upon the entire world but upon one Nation He may bring a flood, or He will not bring a flood upon the people, but that the people might go into the flood and thus be drowned. He could indeed act, and so also does the passage say (Gen. 14, 27) While the Egyptians were fleeing against it [the sea]: And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea." This is also meant by R. Elazar, who said: "What is the meaning of the passage (Ib. 18, 11) For by the very thing wherein they sinned presumptuously was punishment brought upon them. This means that with the very pot which they prepared to cook others therein, they themselves were cooked." Whence do we know that the word Zadu [used in the above text] refers to a pot? It is written (Gen. 25, 29) And Jacob sad [yazed] pottage. R. Chiya b. Aba said in the name of R. Jochanan: "The following three Bil'am, Job and Jethro — were the advisers of Pharaoh, concerning his decree to throw in the river the children of Israel. Bil'am, who gave this advice, was killed; Job, who kept silence, was punished with chastisement; and Jethro, who ran away, was rewarded by having his decendants placed among the Sanhedrin, in the chamber of Temple, as it is said (I Chr. 2, 55) And the families of scribes who dwelt at Jabetz. the Tiratite, etc… . these are, the Kenites that come from Chamoth, the father of the house of Rechah. And again it is written (Jud. 1, 16) And the children of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses. (Ib., ib., 11) And they thereupon did set over him task-masters, it should have been over them and not over him. We are taught in a Baraitha in the name of R. Elazar, son of R. Simon: "From this it might be inferred that the Egyptians took a brick-mould, hung it upon the neck of Pharaoh, and if any Israelite said that he was delicate and could not work, the Egyptians said to him: 'Art thou more delicate than Pharaoh, the King?'" (Ib.) Task-masters, i.e., a person that forced Israel to make bricks (Ib., ib., ib.) To afflict him with their burdensome labors, it should have been them instead of him. This means to afflict Pharaoh himself through their burdensome-work [because of the brick he had to wear on his neck], (Ib.) And he built store cities for Pharaoh. Rab and Samuel differ in the explanation of the above passage. One contends, cities which caused danger to its owners, and the other explains it to mean, cities which caused poverty to its owners; for the Master said elsewhere: "Whoever occupies himself with buildings will at last become poor." (Ib) Pithom and Ra'amses. Rab and Samuel differ in the explanation of this passage, one contends that its real name was Pithom, and the reason it was called Ra'amses, was because one building after the other was crushed (fell in); and the other said that its real name was Ra'amses, and the reason it was called Pithom, was because one building after the other was swallowed in the depth. (Ib., ib. 12) But the more they afflicted him, the more he multiplied and the more he spread abroad. It should have been so they multiplied and so they spread abroad? Said R. Simon b. Lakish: "The Holy Spirit predicted to them, saying: "Thus [as it keeps on now] will they multiply and spread abroad." (Ib., ib., ib.) And they felt abhorance because of the children of Israel. From this it may be inferred that the Israelites were like thorns in the eyes of the Egyptians. (Ib., ib. 13) And the Egyptians caused the children of Israel to labor with (Ib. b) rigor. R. Elazar said: "The word b'fa-rech (rigor) means with soft words." R. Samuel b. Nachmeni said: This means rigorously." (Ib., ib. 14) And they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and in bricks and in all manner of labor in the field. Said Raba: "This passage informs us that in the very beginning they started with mortar and in bricks but afterwards with all manner of labor in the field." Besides all their other service, they made them labor with rigor. Said R. Samuel b. Nachmeni in the name of R. Jonathan: "This means that they changed the work of men for women and the work of women for men, and even he who explained the foregoing b'fa-rech differently, will admit that the same word here means rigorously."
(Deut. 25:17:) REMEMBER WHAT AMALEK (Esau's grandson) DID TO YOU. This verse is related (to Ps. 109:14): MAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED BEFORE THE LORD…. Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (Tanh., Deut. 6:4; PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14): MAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED! simply a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how did he sin against his fathers? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham (The “only” is found in the parallel account of Tanh., Deut. 6:4.) lived a hundred and seventy-five years. (The Tanh. parallel adds here: “Why so? Because he did not foresee Esau’s shame.”) Rabbi Levi said: During the five years that were withheld from Abraham's life, Esau committed two serious transgressions. He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29): THEN ESAU CAME FROM THE FIELD, AND HE WAS EXHAUSTED. Now FIELD can only be a reference to a BETROTHED MAIDEN [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25): IF IN THE FIELD THE MAN FINDS A MAIDEN WHO IS BETROTHED, ] Moreover, EXHAUSTED can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31): WOE TO ME, NOW! FOR MY LIFE IS EXHAUSTED BEFORE THOSE WHO KILL. Rabbi Zakkay [the Elder] said: He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU. (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One said: I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15): YOU SHALL GO UNTO YOUR ANCESTORS IN PEACE; YOU SHALL BE BURIED . But now he would see his grandson, when he was robbing with violence, practicing seduction, and shedding blood. At that time he was a good grandfather; it was better for him as a righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4 [3]): FOR STEADFAST LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE. And what sin did he commit against his father? He caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said: Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his eyes to grow dim during his lifetime. A wicked son came from Isaac, as written (in (Gen. 27:1): AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE. [Why? Because he produced Esau the Wicked.] In regard to a wicked disciple, from Ahijah the Shilonite, as stated (in I Kings 14:4): NOW AHIJAH {THE SHILONITE} COULD NOT SEE, BECAUSE HIS EYES WERE DIM FROM OLD AGE. Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) AND LET NOT THE SIN OF HIS MOTHER BE BLOTTED OUT.] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and masters . R. Judah says: When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) {i.e., placenta}, with the result that she would not bear . This is what is written (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED ALL PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says: You should not say in reference to when he had left . (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) {i.e., fist} was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob). What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4 [3]:) THE WICKED GO ASTRAY (zoru) FROM THE WOMB. R. Nehemiah says: He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes, since Rav Huna has said: Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23): AND THE LORD SAID TO HER: TWO NATIONS ARE [IN YOUR WOMB. (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here] are two. (Ibid., cont.:) AND TWO PEOPLES. Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ONE PEOPLE SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER. Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. Here are eight. (vs. 24:) AND BEHOLD THERE WERE TWINS IN HER WOMB. Here are ten. (vs. 25:) THE FIRST CAME OUT RUDDY. [Here are eleven.] (vs. 26:) AND AFTERWARD HIS BROTHER CAME OUT. Here are twelve. There are also some who apply a passage to her (from vs. 22): AND SHE SAID: IF SO, WHY AM I HERE (ZH)? By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) Z (=7) + H (=5) twelve. But masters have said: He was the cause of her bier not going forth publicly . You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying: Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-aram. Should Esau the Wicked go before her? Then people would say : (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man {i.e., : cursed be the breasts that have suckled one like this man}. What did they do? They brought out her bier at night. R. Jose bar Hanina said: Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8): THEN REBEKAH'S NURSE, DEBORAH, DIED [AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon-bacuth)]. What is the meaning of Allon-bacuth? Two weepings. (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance of mourning for {his} [her] nurse, the news about his mother came to him. This is related (to Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN […,] AND BLESSED HIM. With what blessing did he bless him? He blessed him with the blessing mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One said: Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grand[father] pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? So should I pay him back with evil? When you mention his name below, I shall blot out his name above. (Ps. 109:15:) LET THEM (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) ALWAYS BE BEFORE THE LORD. Whatever he has done, he has done against me. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): AND MAY HE HAVE THEIR MEMORY CUT OFF FROM THE EARTH. [Ergo] (in Deut. 25:17): REMEMBER WHAT AMALEK (Esau's grandson) DID TO YOU.
(Deut. 14:22:) YOU SHALL SURELY TITHE . Tithe ('SR) so that you may become rich ('ShR), (In Hebrew letters the roots translated “tithe” and “become rich” are identical.) before you are in want. (Tanh., Deut. 4:18; PRK 10:10.) a hint (remez) for those who sail the seas to take out one tenth for those who labor in Torah. (This interpretation understands the ALL in the commandment as expressing the universality of the YOU rather than modifying the predicate of the sentence. See the commentary of Enoch Zundel, ‘Ets Yosef, on the parallel in Tanh., Deut. 4:18, who cites the Tosafot to Ta’an 9a (top); cf. Sifre, Deut. 14:22 (105).) (Ibid., cont.:) THE PRODUCE OF YOUR SEED THAT COMES FROM THE FIELD. If you are virtuous , you shall going out to sow a field. If not, the one who goes out to the field shall in the end engage in combat with you. This refers to Esau, of whom it is said {(in Gen. 25:29): THEN ESAU CAME FROM THE FIELD. [(in Gen. 25:27): A CUNNING HUNTER, A MAN OF THE FIELD.]
(Gen. 25:29:) NOW JACOB HAD BOILED < A STEW >. Esau came in from the field and saw that Jacob's face was blackened. He said to him: What are you doing? He said to him: Do you not know that our grandfather Abraham is dead, and I am cooking food? (See Gen. R. 63:11 ; BB 16b; (bar.); Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 25:27; PRE 35.) Now he was going to prepare the mourner's meal on his behalf. Esau said to him: My friend and my enemy, < both > alike have died. Abraham has died, and Nimrod has died. SO (according to Gen. 25:32) WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS BIRTHRIGHT TO ME? What was he cooking? Lentils, because from ancient times they had brought lentils (on account of) [unto] the mourner and lentils to the house with a wedding. (Gen. 25:29:) THEN ESAU CAME. (See Gen. R. 63:12; PRK 3:1; cf. BB 16b; PR 12:5.) They have said: This wicked man committed three transgressions on that day. He robbed, since it is written (of Edom in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU, PLUNDERERS (rt.: ShDD) (The midrash may also see an allusion here to Gen. 25:27: A MAN OF THE FIELD (SDH).) OF THE NIGHT. He also seduced a maiden who was betrothed, as stated (in Gen. 25:7): < EDOM BECAME A MAN > OF THE FIELD. A field is nothing but a maiden, since it is stated (in Deut. 22:25): IF IN THE FIELD [THE MAN FINDS A MAIDEN] < WHO IS BETROTHED, AND THE MAN SEIZES HER AND LIES WITH HER >…. And he took a life, since it is stated (in Gen. 25:29): AND HE WAS EXHAUSTED. EXHAUSTED can only < imply > "killing." Thus it is stated (in Jer. 4:31): WOE UNTO ME, NOW! FOR MY LIFE IS EXHAUSTED BEFORE THOSE WHO KILL.
(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.” This verse is related (to Ps.109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord […].” Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered?” [The verse is] simply [referring to] a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham only lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Why so? So he would not see Esau’s shame. Abraham had [Isaac] when he was a hundred years [old]. (Gen. 25:26-27:) “And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. And the lads grew.” Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. R. Levi said, “To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. As long as they are small, no one [can] distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one gives off its pleasant smell, but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small, no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up (in Gen. 25:26, cont.), ’Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.’” And Esau would go out and rob and extort, and people would maledict him. And during the five years [that were withheld from Abraham's life], Esau committed two serious transgressions: He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29), “then Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.” Now field can only be a reference to a betrothed maiden [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25), “If in the field the man finds [a maiden who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her…].” Moreover, exhausted can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31), “woe to me, now; for my life is exhausted before those who kill.” Rabbi Zakkay said, “He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 1:5), ‘If thieves have come to you.’” (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15), ‘And you shall go unto your ancestors in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age].’ But now he would see his grandson go to bad culture and hear what people say about his grandson; [that he was] transgressing sexual prohibitions and shedding blood. He would [then] wonder and say, ‘Are these the stipulations that the Holy One, blessed be He, being fulfilled with me?’ And he would voice a complaint, ‘And this is not “a good old age.”’ What should I do for him?” [So] He gathered him from the world. It is better for the righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4), “For Your steadfast love is better than life.” Behold, he [thus] sinned against his grandfather. He sinned against his father, as he caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said, “Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his [own] eyes to grow dim during his lifetime.” From where [in Scripture] do you learn [this]? A wicked son, from Isaac, as stated (in (Gen. 27:1), “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old [and his eyes were too dim to see].” [In regard to] a wicked disciple, [we learn] from Ahijah, as it is written (in I Kings 14:4), “now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.” Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.”] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and [our] masters [differ]. R. Judah says, “When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus, (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) with the result that she would not bear [any more children]. This is what is written (in Amos 1:11), ‘because he (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his pity (rachamiv),’ as it is written, ‘his uterus (rechemo).’” (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says, “You should not say [this] in reference to when he had left [his mother's uterus]. (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) [i.e., fist] was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob).” What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4:) “The wicked go astray (zoru) from the womb.” R. Nehemiah says, “He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes.” As Rav Huna has said, “Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23), ‘And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are [in your womb].” (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) “and two peoples.” Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) “And one people shall be stronger than the other.” Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the elder shall serve the younger.”’ Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) ‘And behold there were twins in her womb.’ Here are ten. (Vs. 25:) ‘The first came out ruddy.’ That is eleven. (Vs. 26:) ‘And afterward his brother came out.’ Here are twelve.” And there are some who bring this [idea] from here (vs. 22); “and she said, ‘If so, why am I here (zh)?’” By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) z (=7) + h (=5) [for a total of] twelve. But [our] masters have said, “He caused her bier to not go forth publicly [to her funeral]. You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying, ‘Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-Aram. Should Esau the wicked go before her? Then people would say [in Aramaic], (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) “Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man.”’ What did they do? They brought out her bier at night, so that Esau not go out in front of her, and all say, ‘Cursed are the breasts suckled this evil man.’” R. Jose bar R. Hanina said, “Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8), ‘Then Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died [and she was buried under the oak below Bethel] and its name was called Weeping Oak (Allon-Bacuth)],’ as they wept two weepings (bekhiot).” (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance [of mourning] for her nurse, the news about his mother came to him, as stated (to Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again […,] and blessed him.” With what blessing did He bless him? He blessed him with the blessing of [consolation given to] mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grandfather pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? I shall pay him back with evil, as his children destroyed My house. You and I shall rise against him, as stated (Obad. 1:1), “Rise, and we shall rise up against her for war.” Israel said to him, “Master of the world, we cannot [overcome] him.” [So] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, “You mention his name below, and I shall blot out his name above, as stated (Ps. 109:15) ‘Let them (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) always be before (neged) the Lord.’ Whatever he has done, he has done against (neged) Me.” [Therefore] (ibid., cont.), “and may He have their memory cut off from the earth.” Ergo (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.”
בית השלחין (a field which needs irrigation) – the rain water is not enough for it and one must water it. The Aramaic Targum/translation of (Genesis 25:29): “[Esau came in from the open,] famished (i.e., tired), he is tired (in Aramaic).
künstlich bewässerten Feldern. בית השלחין sind von Natur dürre und durstige Äcker, die durch Kunst bewässert werden (Drainage). In Genesis 25, 29 übersetzt Onkelos והוא משלהי = והוא עיף »Er war müde und durstig«. Die Verwechslung des ה mit ח wegen der Gutturale אחה״ע ist häufig. Vgl. Aruch.
Thus it is altogether necessary to establish a firm belief in the benefits of blessings and the harmful effects of curses, in the imagination of the masses. (They are to believe this) especially in those instances where distinctive configurations are used, such as those that we utilize today that involve excommunication, and even more so the bed and horns. (5. Rabad, in his strictures to Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Hil. Shevuot 11:13, similarly refers to the Geonic practice of excommunication accompanied by horns, extinguished candles, and overturned beds, all intended to overwhelm those present. These and similar practices, as carried out by the Geonim, are documented in S. Assaf, Ha-‘Onshin Aḥar Ḥatimat Ha-Talmud (Jerusalem, 1922), pp. 32 ff. On the use of such customs as an aid in Kaspi’s exegesis, see above Chapter 2 and chap. VI, n. 6. The present instance is consistent with Kaspi’s insistence (cf. ’Adnei Kesef AK 152) that prophetic actions were designed so as to have maximum impact on the masses.) It was particularly for this reason that Moses instituted “these shall stand … to bless … and these shall stand … to curse …” (6. Deut. 27:12.) And therefore Moses preceded (that ceremony by stating) in Genesis—which related past events—that God Himself blessed some of His creatures and cursed others. (7. Gen. 1:3 et al.) After that (Moses relates that) Noah cursed Canaan and blessed his other sons. (8. Gen. 9:25.) Moses similarly spoke at length of the rivalry of Jacob and Esau to receive the blessing of their zealous father, Isaac. (9. Gen. 25:29 ff.) (In regard to that incident (10. Here Kaspi appears to direct these parenthetic remarks to contemporary allegorists (see Chapter 2) who attempted to explain certain patriarchal narratives as more symbolic than real. The narrative of the blessing of Jacob at the expense of Esau, with its moral problems and issues, would have been a likely candidate for such allegorical interpretation.) ) if the truth be that Esau and Jacob never existed, then neither did Moses and Aaron, and if Rebecca (likewise did not exist), then neither did Miriam exist. (11. Regarding Job, Kaspi makes a similar assertion when he says (AS I 137): “The verse says, ‘there was a man in the land of Uz …’; accordingly, how could the early and late commentators doubt that he existed,” for one would then have to doubt the existence of all the personalities in the Bible.)
היוצא השדה, “which the field produces.” Tanchuma Re'ey 18 comments that “if you merit it you will go out and sow your field. If not היוצא השדה, the one known as “going out into the field,” (the Torah’s description of Esau) will harass you (compare Genesis 25,29).
ויאמר ה' לא ידון רוחי באדם לעולם, G’d either said this to Himself, or to Noach. My father of blessed memory (Joseph Kimchi) explained the line לא ידון in the same sense as the word מדון in Proverbs 15,18 as referring to a struggle, strife. The soul G’d had blown into Adam’s nostrils was meant as an antidote to the pull of the raw material man was made of. The body, basically is in tow of the animalistic urges of the animals, something natural, seeing that man’s own body is made of the same raw material as are the animals. G’d now decided to grant man an extension of 120 years to do תשובה, repentance, failing which He would wipe out mankind from the earth. Other commentators, including Ibn Ezra, explain the word ידון as related to נדנה in Chronicles I 21,27 וישב חרבו אל נדנה, “he returned his sword to its sheath.” Actually, if correct, the word ידון should have been spelled with a dagesh in the letterד, replacing the missing letter נ, however, in this instance, instead of such a dagesh, the Torah simply omitted the letter נ at the beginning, as it did in Genesis 25,29 ויזד יעקב נזיד where the letter נ in front of the letter ז has also been omitted. At any rate, the meaning of the expression is that G’d would not let His spirit rest until both man’s body and spirit would be wiped out. Rabbi Yishmael son of Yossi, (Bereshit Rabbah 26,6) understood this verse as G’d saying that when the time would come to share out reward to the righteous, these people would not participate in it. He was speaking of ידון in the sense of “passing judgment.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish as well as his colleague Rabbi Yannai, said that there is no such thing as the popular concept of a hell, gehinnom, lasting a long time, but that at the time when G’d passes out judgment the wicked will be burned by the fiery heat of a flame. They based themselves on Maleachi 3,19 הנה יום בא בוער כתנור, “here a day will come when the fire will burn as in a furnace.” The other sages said that there most certainly is such a thing as gehinnom, as we have a verse in Isaiah 31,9 נאום ה' אשר אור לו בציון ותנור לו בירושלים, “says the Lord Who has a fire in Zion and an oven in Jerusalem.” Rabbi Yehudah bar Ila-i claims there is neither a specific day, nor a specific place such as gehinnom, but fire will come forth from the very bodies of the wicked and will consume them with its heat. He based himself on Isaiah 33,11 תהרו חשש תלדו קש רוחכם אש תאכלתם, “you shall conceive hay, give birth to straw; My breath will devour you like fire.” We have also written what the sages of the Midrash wrote concerning the matter of gehinnom in connection with Genesis 1,31 וירא אלוקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד, “G’d saw all that He had made and here it was very good;” the point made there was that the word טוב refers to Gan Eden, whereas the expression טוב מאד, refers to gehinnom. [refer to page 72 in my translation. Ed.] Rabbi Yehudah in the name of Rabbi Ila-i (also in Bereshit Rabbah 26,6) interprets the words לא ידון רוחי עוד, that “these wicked spirits of man will never be allowed to come to rest before Me.” Various sages concur that the generation destroyed during the deluge will neither be judged for an afterlife during the time that the world awaits its own rejuvenation, nor will it be judged (if any are fit) to be resurrected in the world following the interval between our present world being turned into chaos and the subsequent resurrection of the deserving from the former world. (Sanhedrin 107)
It comes in the received tradition that on the Intermediate Days of the Festival/Hol HaMoed it is prohibited to do work (see Tractate Hagigah 18a). And the Mishnah calls the Intermediate Days of the Festivals: "מועד"/the Holiday in every place. And similarly it will be explained in the received tradition the definition of labor that is permitted to perform during the intermediate weekdays [of the Festivals of Passover and Sukkot] and the definition of labors that are prohibited to perform.. And this is the subject matter of this Tractate. And it follows from these things that what it is permitted to do is anything that if he didn’t engage in it, there would a great [financial] loss, as for example, a parched/thirsty ground, and this is [what the Mishnah calls] "בית השלחין"/a field which needs irrigation, it is the Aramaic translation of (Genesis 25:29): “[Esau came in from the open,] famished”/tired, weary, because on account of its thirst, if it would be left without water, it would loss all of is trees, and with the condition that it would not be with this a great trouble, but if it was a great trouble with this, it is prohibited to do it on the Intermediate Days [of the Festival], and therefore, it is prohibited to water the parched/thirsty ground during the Intermediate Days [of the Festival] from gathered water, and other similar things because of the need to transfer it with a vessel, and there is trouble/pain-staking preparations (see Tractate Moed Katan 4a), and this is the matter of "מי קילון"/water drawn with the swipe [and bucket], and similarly "מי גשמים"/rain water because pools/ponds gather from them and when the rain stops and the overflow of water is gone, it would be necessary to transfer the water from them in a vessel.
אשר זדו means in which they had shown themselves wicked. Our Rabbis, however, explained it in the same sense as the root which we find in (Genesis 25:29) “And Jacob was boiling (ויזד) pottage (נזיד) (lit., something boiled)” — in the pot wherein they had boiled, therein were they themselves boiled (Sotah 11a).
In the pot in which they cooked, they were cooked. . . [Rashi knows this] because it is not written אשר הרשיעו , [the more usual term. An alternative approach:] It seems to me that Rashi is answering the question: Why did our Sages (Sotah 11a) use cooking in a pot for their analogy? They could have said, “They fell into the pit that they themselves dug,” using Scripture’s own analogy in Koheles 10:8! Perforce, it is because they understood זדו as in ויזד יעקב נזיד (Bereishis 25:29).
[81] Behold the Practiser Jacob “seething” these impulses, and then the next moment we find Esau “fainting” (Gen. 25:29). For the bad man is based on vice and passion and, when he sees the props on which he rests conquered and robbed of strength by the reason which convicts them, he must in natural consequence find the bonds loosened which knit his strength together.
Alternatively, what is the blessing of bakkol? That Esau did not rebel in Abraham’s lifetime, that is to say, as long as Abraham lived Esau did not sin. Alternatively, the blessing of bakkol is that Ishmael repented in Abraham’s lifetime. The Gemara explains: From where do we derive that Esau did not rebel in Abraham’s lifetime? As it is written: “And Jacob was cooking a stew and Esau came in from the field and he was faint” (Genesis 25:29), and a baraita taught: On that day Abraham our forefather passed away, and Jacob our forefather prepared a lentil stew to comfort Isaac, his father, as it was customary to serve mourners lentil stew.
The Gemara cites proofs to support these charges. He engaged in sexual intercourse with a betrothed maiden, as it is written here: “And Esau came in from the field”; and it is written there with regard to rape of a betrothed maiden: “For he found her in a field” (Deuteronomy 22:27). He killed a person, as it is written here: “And he was faint”; and it is written there: “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the slayers” (Jeremiah 4:31). And he denied the principle of God’s existence, as it is written here: “What profit is this to me” (Genesis 25:32); and it is written there: “This is my God and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2). When he questioned the profit of “this,” he was challenging the assertion that “this is my God.” And he denied resurrection of the dead, as it is written: “Behold, I am at the point of death” (Genesis 25:32), indicating that he did not believe in resurrection after death. And he despised the birthright, as it is written: “And Esau despised the birthright” (Genesis 25:34).
Ravina asked: But isn’t there Ishmael, about whom gevia and asifa are written, as it is stated: “And these are the years of the life of Yishmael…and he expired and died [vayyigva vayyamot]; and was gathered to his people” (Genesis 25:17)? Meanwhile Rava, who had heard the discussion in his dozed state, fully awoke and said to them: Children [dardekei], this is what Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Ishmael repented in the lifetime of his father, as it is stated: “And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him” (Genesis 25:9). The fact that Ishmael allowed Isaac to precede him demonstrates that he had repented and accepted his authority.
A Sage of the school of Ḥizkiyya taught: The verse states: “But if a man comes intentionally [yazid] against his neighbor, to slay him with guile, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die” (Exodus 21:14). The use of the term yazid in this context and its juxtaposition to the word “man” teaches that a man can heat [mezid] himself up and produce viable sperm, but a minor cannot heat himself up and produce viable sperm. Therefore, even though a minor can engage in full intercourse with a woman, he cannot father a child. Rav Mordekhai said to Rav Ashi: From where may it be inferred that this word mezid is a term meaning heating up? As it is written in a different verse: “And Jacob cooked [vayyazed] pottage” (Genesis 25:29).
Alternatively, there is an additional way to punish the Egyptians with water: He does not bring a flood upon them, but they may come and fall into water, and so it says: “And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled toward it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:27), indicating that the Egyptians fell into the water. And this is what Rabbi Elazar says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in that which they conspired [zadu] against them” (Exodus 18:11)? The phrase means: In the pot in which they cooked, they themselves were cooked, as they were punished through drowning, measure for measure, for drowning the Jewish babies. The Gemara asks: From where may it be inferred that this word “zadu” is a term meaning a pot? The Gemara answers: As it is written: “And Jacob simmered a pot [vayyazed Ya’akov nazid]” (Genesis 25:29).
Yaakov was simmering a pottage when Eisov came in from the field, exhausted.
On the day that Abraham died, Jakob dressed pottage of lentiles, and was going to comfort his father. And Esau came from the wilderness, exhausted; for in that day he had committed five transgressions: he had worshipped with strange worship, he had shed innocent blood, he had gone in unto a betrothed damsel, he had denied the life of the world to come, and had despised the birthright.
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר עֵשָׂ֜ו אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֗ב הַלְעִיטֵ֤נִי נָא֙ מִן־הָאָדֹ֤ם הָאָדֹם֙ הַזֶּ֔ה כִּ֥י עָיֵ֖ף אָנֹ֑כִי עַל־כֵּ֥ן קָרָֽא־שְׁמ֖וֹ אֱדֽוֹם׃ | 30 J | And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. (Edom Play on Heb. ’adom “red.”) |
Be careful not to gulp your food down hurriedly like a glutton. It was Esau who said, “Let me swallow some of this red pottage” (Genesis 25:30). Get into the habit of eating at a moderate pace, calmly and with the same table manners you would show if an important guest were present. You should always eat like this, even when you are eating alone. Happy is the one who achieves this! (Chayey Moharan, Avodat Hashem, 69).
This stands in direct contrast to the so-called kelipah and sitra achara, wherefrom are derived the souls of the gentiles who work for themselves alone, demanding, “Give, give!” ( Proverbs 30:15.) and “Feed me!” ( Genesis 25:30.) in order to become independent beings and entities, as mentioned above, in direct contrast to the category of chochmah. Therefore they are called “dead,” ( Berachot 18b.) for “Wisdom (chochmah) gives life,” ( Ecclesiastes 7:12.) and it is also written, “They die, without wisdom.” ( Job 4:21.) So are the wicked and transgressors of Israel before they face the test to sanctify G–d’s name. For the faculty of chochmah which is in the divine soul, with the spark of G–dliness from the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, that is clothed in it, is, as it were, in exile in their body, within the animal soul coming from the kelipah, in the left part of the heart, which reigns and holds sway over their body, in accordance with the esoteric doctrine of the exile of the Shechinah, as mentioned earlier. ( Ch. 17.)
מן האדום האדום “from this reddish looking stuff.” Every time we encounter the adjective “red,” it always appears to be repeated. The author quotes as examples: אדמדם, ירקרק in Leviticus 13,19 and 49 .(Rash’bam). When someone requests something urgently, he is always in the habit of repeating the key words in such a request. Esau, on that occasion, was extremely in need of food and drink.
הלעיטני נא....על כן קרא שמו אדום, “please let me swallow some of this red stuff.... this is why henceforth he is called Edom.” According to the plain meaning of the verse,-i.e. when read superficially,- his name now became associated with his having referred to the stew Yaakov was cooking as “red stuff.” He was referring to a few lentils. We are told this, as from now on Esau called himself “the red one,” whereas at birth only other people called him thus on account of the colour of his skin.
כי עיף אנכי, “for I am tired, worn out;” according to tradition, on that day Esau had killed Nimrod the foremost hunter in the world up to that time, and its ruler. Nimrod had challenged him to a duel as he had not asked him for permission to use his hunting grounds. He had consulted with his brother what to do about this. Yaakov had told him that as long as Nimrod was wearing the garments which had once belonged to Adam he was invincible. As soon as he would take off those garments he could easily be overcome. Esau engineered to find him without those garments and killed him. On that day he was exhausted from that effort. Our author quotes Jeremiah 4,31: כי עיפה נפשי, “for my soul is worn out,” as an allusion to that incident.
LET ME SWALLOW. This is the only place in Scripture where the word, haliteni (let me swallow) is encountered. (Krinsky.) Its meaning is feed me.
Nazid (pottage) means a cooked dish. However, va-yazed (sod) is an ayin vav. They are two roots with one meaning. (The root of nazid is nun, zayin, dalet. The root of va-yazid is zayin, vav, dalet. Both relate to cooking. The meaning of va-yazed ya’akov nazid is: And Jacob cooked a cooked dish.) Yadon (shall abide) in My spirit shall not abide (yadon) (Gen. 6:3) and nedanah (the sheath thereof) (I Chron. 21:27) (See I.E.’s comments on Gen. 6:3.) are similar.
Play on Heb. ’adom “red.”
על כן קרא שמו אדום, this is why he named him Edom (the red one). Esau called the dish "Edom" not because he called something that was already of a reddish colour "red," but inasmuch as his lifestyle flirted with death and this food was bound to give him an additional lease on life, he called it by his own name. Esau was quite well versed in the significance of names as he himself said in 27,36: "has he (Jacob) not rightly been called יעקב, i.e. "crooked?"
הלעיטני נא, “please let me gulp down, etc.” he spoke foolishly by using such an expression which is normally applied to the manner in which camels eat their food (compare Shabbat 155). This prompted our sages in Tanchuma Pinchas 13 to say that “the righteous eat their food in order to sate their biological needs, i.e. לשובע, whereas the belly of the wicked always feels unfulfilled.” You may contrast the conduct of an Eliezer, Avraham’s servant, with that of Esau. The former said הגמיאיני נא מעט מים, “please let me sip a little water(24,17),” whereas Esau said: “let me gulp down!” When the sages spoke of the righteous they referred to Eliezer, whereas when they spoke about the belly of the wicked, they referred to Esau.
מן האדום האדום הזה, “from this reddish looking stuff;” the lentils were red, or they were spiced in red looking spice-dishes so that they reflected the colour of the container they were in. Seeing that Esau could not identify the exact nature of the dish he referred to it only by colour, calling it “this red stuff.” Subsequently people who heard about this called him אדום, “the red one,” making fun of his boorishness. They referred to someone who traded a valuable birthright for a mess of some reddish-looking stuff with sarcasm. Another way of looking at our verse: the fact that Esau repeated the word אדום, red, had to do with the discipline of astrology. The planet Mars is (looks) red and as such is a symbol of war and bloodshed. According to the scientists the red-coloured fruit also derives some of its power from that planet. The same applies to certain red-coloured gemstones such as rubies. In other words, the planet Mars extends influence over some of all three categories of phenomena in our world, the living creatures, the plants, as well as the inert. This planet (horoscope) was Esau’s especially, and that is why later on Yitzchak blessed him with a power he already possessed, i.e. the power of the sword. When he asked Yaakov to give him from the “red” dish he meant that this dish more than any other was germane to his character. He expected to renew his flagging spirits from a red dish faster than from any dish of another colour. Esau came by his inclination to shed blood naturally as he had been born under that horoscope. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, in Bereshit Rabbah 63,12 expanding on that theme, said that just as Esau himself was red, so his food was red, his country was red, his clothing was red and when the time comes that he has to give an accounting for his crimes the payment demanded from him will be red, i.e. blood. Mount Seir, which was the land allocated to Esau was also known as ארץ אדום, “the red land” (Genesis 32,4). The Midrash quotes verses documenting Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish’s statement.
ויאמר...הלעיטני נא, the word הלעיטני is equivalent to האכילני, “feed me!” Our sages in Shabbat 155 in dealing with methods permissible to feed one’s livestock on the Sabbath, say אין ממארים את העגלים אבל מלעיטים אותן, “whereas it is forbidden to use mechanical devices to feed one’s animals one may do so by hand.” In other words, הלעטה describes the crudest form of introducing food into one’s mouth.
מן האדם האדם הזה, a reference to the lentils, which when peeled, look reddish. The reason why he repeated the word האדם unnecessarily was that it reflects his intense desire for them. This is why he called his name Edom, to reflect the fact that he was always attracted, nay, fascinated by anything red.
OF THIS RED, RED POTTAGE. The dish was either reddened by the lentils which were red, or it had been compounded with some red substance, and Esau, not knowing what it was, called it edom (red). Therefore was his name called Edom since they mocked at him for having sold an honorable birthright for a small dish. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. (Proverbs 23:21. Esau was thus mocked that because of his gluttony he would be reduced to poverty.)
מן האדום האדום הזה, it is common for a person who is in a hurry and who demands something from his fellow to repeat his request. In this instance, seeing that Esau was both tired and hungry, his choice of words is equivalent to asking to get something to eat in a hurry.
על כן קרא שמו אדום, a reference to his reddish appearance at birth, described in verse 25. It foreshadowed that he had a craving for red-looking food. He sold his birthright in order to gratify his carving for something red to eat. The nickname אדום is an insulting, derogatory term.
הלעיטני LET ME SWALLOW — I will open my mouth and you pour a lot in. The word is really used of feeding animals as we find the word in the Mishna, (Shabbat 155b) “One may not fatten up a camel on the Sabbath but one may put food (מלעיטין) into its mouth. ”
מן האדם האדם הזה FROM THIS RED, EVEN THIS RED THING —red lentils. On that day Abraham had died in order that he might not see his grandson Esau falling into degenerate ways. This would not have been the “good old age” (cf. 25:8) which God had promised him; therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, cut his life short by five years — for Isaac lived 180 years and he only one hundred and seventy five. Jacob was boiling lentils to provide the customary first meal for the immediate mourners. Why should lentils be the mourner’s food? Because they are round like a wheel and mourning (sorrow) is a wheel that revolves in the world (it touches everyone sooner or later as a revolving wheel touches every spot in turn) (Bava Batra 16b). And a further reason is: just as lentils have no mouth — (the word mouth פה is used in Hebrew of a serrated edge) — so, too, mourners have no mouth (appear dumb), for speech (greeting others) is forbidden to them. For this reason, also, it is customary to give eggs to a mourner as his first meal, because they are round and have no mouth (serrated edge) and similarly a mourner has no mouth (may not greet others), just as we say in Moed Katan 21b. “A mourner during the first three days (of the week of mourning) may not respond to the greeting of any person — it follows, of course, that he may not be the first to greet anyone — and from the third to the seventh day he may respond to a greeting but may not be the first to offer a greeting etc.” From “And a further reason” is to be found in an old Rashi text.
לעט ,הלעיטני (verwandt mit להט, glühen) gierig hinunterschlucken. Es ist nicht sowohl das Gericht, als die Farbe, die ihn reizt. Sie vergegenwärtigt ihm das Blut des röchelnden Tieres, die Augenweide, nach welcher er im Felde jagt. "Gib mir rasch von dem so prächtig Roten!" Und er rühmte sich noch später dieses charakteristischen Ausdrucks und nannte sich: Edom (das Rot-Sein).
על כן קרא שמו אדום. When he saw that Esau was so totally absorbed in his futile occupation, an occupation which does not represent the task of man on earth, that he could not even identify the lentils by their name but referred to them only by their colour, he called him by that name himself, i.e. אדום, in the imperative, meaning “paint yourself red by swallowing the red dish!”
Red lentils... [Rashi knows this] because it is written here ויזד יעקב נזיד, and in v. 34 it is written נזיד עדשים. Just as there it is lentils, so too here it is lentils. And just as here they are red, as it is written, “Please give me a swallow of this red,” so too there they are red.
For this reason God shortened his life by five years... You might ask: Perhaps his time to die had arrived? The answer is: About Avraham it is written זקן ושבע (25:8), omitting the word ימים. Whereas about Yitzchok it says (35:29): זקן ושבע ימים, [connoting fullness of days,] and so is it said about other righteous men.
Esau said to Jacob: Feed me please from that red, red [ adom ha’adom ] dish. Esau did not know what red food was in the pot. He said: Please feed me, as I am so weary that it is too hard for me to bring a spoon to my own mouth. In this connection the verse notes: Therefore his name is called Edom. This incident, in which Esau connected himself to a red [ adom ] dish, stuck to him for the rest of his life and to his descendants for many later generations, to the point that Edom became his alternate designation.
מן האדום האדום הזה, “from this reddish looking dish.” Some commentators understand the second word אדום as a reference to Esau himself who was known as אדום, “the red one.” It was a play on words, the “red one” saying that the reddish looking dish is fit for the reddish looking man, meaning himself.
"Hal'itehu (This verb occurs but once in Scripture in Genesis 25:30: “Hal’iteni min ha-adom ha-adom ha-zeh -- Pour into me, I pray thee, some of this red, red [pottage].” Ibn Ezra comments that the term “hal’iteni” connotes “eating.” The various English translations render the phrase “Let me swallow” or “Let me gulp.” Neither of those translations captures the hif’il, or causative, voice of the verb. The Soncino translation of the talmudic dictum is “Stuff the wicked.” The Bet Yehudah Yiddish-language translation of the passage renders the phrase as “Pour into me.” See also Bereshit Rabbah 63:30. That translation was originally preferred by this writer as most accurately capturing the nuanced meaning of the text. However, felicity of English style prompts translation as “Gorge the wicked.”) la-rasha ve-yamot (R. Judah Shaviv, Teḥumin, X (5748), p. 157, note 3, suggests that the phrase “until he dies” is a reference to Esau’s exclamation “Behold I am about to die” (Genesis 25:32) in conjunction with his demand “Pour into me.”) – Gorge the wicked and let him die" is formulated as a principle of comportment by the Gemara, Bava Kamma 69a, with regard to thieves who steal fruit yielded by a sapling within the first four years after it has been planted. The fruit of the first three years is entirely forbidden as orlah; the fruit that grows during the fourth year, known as neta reva'i, or, in the case of grapes, as kerem reva'i, must either be transported to Jerusalem and consumed within the walls of the city or redeemed by exchanging the fruit for coins which must then be expended for the same purpose.
The straight path: (This expression is also used in Avot 2:1. In his commentary on that Mishnah, the Rambam cites his explanation of the middle path in the fourth chapter of Shemonah Perakim.) This [involves discovering] the midpoint temperament of each and every trait that man possesses [within his personality.] (i.e., a path develops out of a series of midpoints.) This refers to the trait which is equidistant from either of the extremes, without being close to either of them. (These statements echo the opening remarks of the fourth chapter of Shemonah Perakim: The good acts are those balanced ones midway between two extremes. Both of the extremes are bad - one reflects excess and the other, want. The virtues [good traits] are temperaments and habits which are midway between these two bad tendencies. These actions [good actions] are produced as a result of these [the good] traits. Despite the similarity between the Rambam's statements here and those quoted, there is a slight difference. Here, the Rambam focuses on good traits, while in Shemonah Perakim, he emphasizes good actions.) Therefore, the early Sages instructed a man to evaluate his traits, (The Rambam appears to be referring to Sotah 5b: "Whoever evaluates his paths in this world will merit and witness God's salvation.") to calculate them and to direct them along the middle path, (At the conclusion of Chapter 4 of Shemonah Perakim, the Rambam writes: When a man weighs his actions constantly and directs them towards their midpoints, he will be on the most elevated human plane possible. He will thereby approach God and grasp His will. This is the most perfect path in the service of God. Constant introspection is a necessary element in any program of personal and spiritual growth. Even when a person has the highest goals, unless he frequently looks himself squarely in the mirror and examines his behavior, he may make gross errors.) so that he will be sound {of body}. (We have enclosed the words "of body" with brackets because they are not found in authoritative manuscripts of the Mishneh Torah and are problematic. Though a properly balanced temperament may also lead to physical health, this does not appear to be the Rambam's intent. If the Hebrew bigufo is omitted as suggested, the meaning of shaleim would be altered from "sound" to "complete" or "perfect.") For example: he should not be wrathful, easily angered; nor be like the dead, without feeling, rather he should [adopt] an intermediate course; i.e., he should display anger (Our translation is based on Chapter 2, Halachah 3. (Note also the commentary of the Knesset HaGedolah.)) only when the matter is serious enough to warrant it, (The Rambam appears to be referring to matters which evoke personal feelings. Nevertheless, the Misrat Moshe interprets this passage as referring to an instance in which Torah law would require a display of anger - e.g., a colleague's transgression of Torah law.) in order to prevent the matter from recurring. Similarly, he should not desire (This refers to physical desire.) anything other than that which the body needs and cannot exist without, as [Proverbs 13:25] states: (The Rambam quotes supporting verses for only two of the "intermediate traits;" perhaps, because his description of the middle-of-the-road position for these traits might appear to veer toward one extreme. We might expect the intermediate point between gluttony and its opposite extreme to be eating to one's satisfaction. However, here we are told that we should desire only what is sufficient in order to exist. However, the Rambam is not telling us to deny ourselves satisfaction. Deuteronomy 8:10 teaches: "You shall eat and be satisfied, and bless God, your Lord." Based on that verse, Berachot 48b explains that we are obligated to recite grace only when we feel physically satisfied. (The Rambam quotes this concept in Hilchot Berachot 1:1.) In Chapter 3, Halachah 1, and in Shemonah Perakim, Chapter 4, he elaborates on the negative aspects of asceticism. Thus, his intent cannot be that we deny our desires, but rather that we school ourselves to desire and feel satisfied with what we need, without excess. This is a dominant theme in the sections on diet in Chapter 4, and those describing the conduct of a Torah sage in Chapter 5.) "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul." (The verse continues: "But the belly of the wicked will want." The commentaries note that the contrast between the two does not center on the quantity of food they eat, but on the attitude with which they eat it. Because the righteous are not given over to pursuit of gratification, they can be satisfied. Conversely, it is the gluttony of the wicked which actually causes their want. Note also the Midrashic interpretations of this verse: "The righteous..." This refers to Eliezer, who said to Rebecca: "Let me sip a little water" (Genesis 24:17) - a single sip. "And the belly of the wicked will want." This refers to Esau, who said to Jacob: "Stuff me..." (Genesis 25:30). Rabbi Yitzchak ben Zeira said: he opened his mouth agape like a camel and said: "I will open my mouth and you put it in" (Tanchumah; Pinchas 13; BaMidbar Rabbah 21:18).) Also, he shall not labor in his business except to gain what he needs for immediate use, as [Psalms 37:16] states: (Here again, the Rambam quotes a Biblical verse, because his definition of an intermediate path may seem extreme. The verse also clarifies that the Rambam is not denigrating the idea of work, but excessive preoccupation with one's profession as a means of acquiring possessions. It is highly unlikely that the Rambam would criticize work per se. Note Proverbs 6:6: "Sluggard, go to the ant, see its ways and become wise;" and Berachot 8a: He who enjoys the toil of his hands is greater than one who fears God..., as it is stated: "If you eat of the work of you hands, you are fortunate and will possess the good" (Psalms 128:2). "You are fortunate" - in this life, and "will possess the good" - in the world to come. The Rambam, himself, quotes the latter passage in Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:11. Thus, the Rambam is not criticizing a person for working hard, but rather teaching us that work and its profits should not be our greatest priorities.) "A little is good for the righteous man." (The verse in its entirety expresses a contrast: "A little is better for the righteous man than the great wealth that many [of the] wicked possess." Note the commentary of ibn Ezra: "The righteous man will be happier with his small lot than the wicked with their great wealth.") He should not be overly stingy (The printed editions of the Mishneh Torah have yikfotz (close his hand). However, most manuscripts use the term: yikabetz (gather). Yikfotz recalls Deuteronomy 15:7: "Do not close your hand from your needy brother." Thus, the contrasting extreme would be freehandedness. Yikabetz, like vikubatz in Halachah 1, reflects miserly behavior, the opposite of which is being a spendthrift. The variant texts might reflect a difference of opinion as to which opposing extremes the Rambam had in mind.) nor spread his money about, but he should give charity according to his capacity (See Hilchot Arachin 8:12-13, which places restrictions on the extent of one's generosity.) and lend to the needy as is fitting. (Lending is also a form of charity. In Hilchot Matnot Ani'im 10:7, the Rambam lists eight degrees of charity. The highest is the support of a fellow Jew who has become poor by giving him loans or the like.) He should not be overly elated and laugh [excessively], (Such expressive "happiness" is often a sign of inner discontent and suffering.) nor be sad and depressed in spirit. Rather, he should be quietly happy at all times, (his joy should be a composed sense of satisfaction. [In this context, see the Ramah's conclusion of his notes to Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim (697:1) in which he quotes Proverbs 15:15: "A good-hearted person is always celebrating."]) with a friendly countenance. (In his commentary on Avot 1:14, the Rambam defines "a friendly countenance" as "a spirit of will and gentility.") The same applies with regard to his other traits. (In Shemonah Perakim, Chapter 4, the Rambam mentions many other "intermediate traits." Among them: Courage is the midpoint between arrogance and fear. Humility is the intermediate between pride and meekness. Earnestness is the intermediate between boasting and lowliness....Patience is the intermediate between rashness and insensitivity...) This path is the path of the wise. (i.e., those whose behavior is controlled by their intellect) Every man whose traits are intermediate and equally balanced can be called a "wise man." (Note the contrast to the "pious" of the following halachah. Though the published editions of the Mishneh Torah include this line as the final concept in our halachah, many of the authoritative manuscripts place it as the beginning of Halachah 5.)
And this explanation is forthcoming in the words of our sages of blessed memory (Bava Bathra 16b) to the effect that on that day Abraham had died and Jacob was cooking a lentil dish for the mourner's meal. Esau, it seems, was not present at Abraham's demise at all, his eye had shed no tear for his death, and his heart had not broken over Isaac's mourning, but he related to them heartlessly and shamefully and pursued his frivolities in the field. Even when he chanced to come home and found Jacob busy preparing the mourner's dish for his father, he did not sit down, as was the custom, to nod his head in woe and to console, but he shouted out in the manner of the carousers (Genesis 25:30): "Pour me some of this red, red stuff!" That is, I'll open my mouth, and you pour it down! (as Rashi explains). And when Jacob saw him thus abhorrently demeaning his fathers, he was extremely pained that Isaac's honor should be more deeply stamped upon Esau than it was upon himself. For the respect due the elder son by the younger derives from the father's image being more deeply stamped and impressed upon the former in point of his being "the first of his strength." For this reason the younger brother is required to honor the elder, as our sages have explained (Kethuvoth 103a). But if Esau demeaned his fathers, how could their honor be more deeply impressed upon him than upon Jacob! For this reason, Jacob, seeing the evil of his ways, said to him: Because I consider my fathers the crown of my glory, and because (49)"As this day" I relate to them more deeply than you do (Genesis 25:31): "Sell as this day your birthright to me." That is, let our relationship to our father in the days to come be as it is this day. For it is not right that you walk around all day with the stench of your field and I follow in the footsteps of our father, and yet, whenever you feel like it, you vaunt yourself, saying that our father's name is more deeply impressed upon you than upon me.
Lust for pleasure is worse than all the negative traits mentioned above. For, if a person is gluttonous, he will come to fall to greed, theft, false oaths, hatred of the creatures and envy. Such a person is like Esav, who said, (Genesis 25:30) “Please pour some of that red red stuff into me.” About such a person it states, (Proverbs 23:2 (See Rashi)) “If you care for your soul, it would be better for you to put a knife to your throat.” For out of gluttony he will eventually come to eat the meat of an animal that died without being slaughtered (Neveilah) or that has been slaughtered improperly (Treifah) and all other kinds of forbidden foods. Similarly, it is written, (Ecclesiastes 6:7) “All man’s toil is for his mouth,” and it states, (Proverbs 13:25) “The stomach of the wicked will always be lacking.”
“On the eleventh day, prince of the children of Asher, Pagiel the son of Okhran” (Numbers 7:72). “On the eleventh day, prince of the children of Asher, Pagiel the son of Okhran” – what was the reason for the prince of Asher to present his offering after the prince of Dan? It is because Dan is named for judgment [din], and Asher is named for its confirmation [ishuro]; that is why the Holy One blessed be He commanded Asher to present his offering after Dan, because the judge must confirm his judgment, just as it says: “Seek justice, confirm it for the oppressed” (Isaiah 1:17). “His offering was one silver dish, its weight one hundred and thirty; one silver basin of seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel; both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:73). “His offering was [one] silver dish…” – Rabbi Tanḥuma said: The names of all the tribes were called for the redemption of Israel and for their praise. Asher’s name was called for the redemption of Israel, just as it says: “All the nations will praise [ve’ishru] you, as you will be a desired land, said the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:12), and for their praise, just as it says: “Happy [ashrei] is the nation for whom this is so; happy is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalms 144:15). Israel’s happiness [ishuran] is only because they chose the Holy One blessed be He to be God for them and the Holy One blessed be He chose them to be a treasured nation for Him. That is why when the prince of Asher came to present his offering, he presented his offering for the sake of the choice, that the Holy One blessed be He chose Israel from all the nations, just as it says: “The Lord has chosen you to be His treasured people of distinction [from all the peoples that are on the face of the earth]” (Deuteronomy 14:2), as it is stated: “Happy is the one whom You choose and draw near…” (Psalms 65:5). Therefore, he presented his offering of a silver dish, corresponding to the nations of the world, who were initially attributed to Abraham. (See Genesis 17:5.) “Its weight one hundred and thirty” – these are the seventy descendants of Noah and the sixty queens, as Solomon said: “They are sixty queens” (Song of Songs 6:8). Who were they? They were the sixteen sons of Ketura, Yishmael and his twelve sons, and Esau and his seventeen sons and grandsons. How so? The sons of Elifaz are eight and they are: “The sons of Elifaz: Teman, Omar, Tzefi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek” (I Chronicles 1:36); they, with Elifaz, are eight. There it is written: “These are the chieftains of the sons of Esau: The sons of Elifaz firstborn of Esau: The chieftain of Teiman,… the chieftain of Koraḥ, the chieftain of Gatam, the chieftain of Amalek…” (Genesis 36:15–16). They are nine, (They are nine with the addition of Koraḥ, who is listed in the verse in Genesis but does not appear in the verse in Chronicles.) Re’uel with his sons are five, as it is stated: “The sons of Re’uel: Naḥat, Zeraḥ, Shama, and Miza” (I Chronicles 1:37), that is fourteen. The sons of Esau are three: (Besides Elifaz and Re'uel.) “[The sons of Esau…] Yeush, Yalam, and Koraḥ…” (I Chronicles 1:35), that is seventeen. And the eleven chieftains who are tallied at the end, as it is stated: “These are the names of the chieftains of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: The chieftain of Timna…” (Genesis 36:40), that is fifty-seven. If you say: Are they not fifty-eight, Timna was the daughter of Elifaz. It is completed with three kings of Edom who were descendants of Edom. (See Genesis 36:32–34.) They are: Bela son of Beor (Genesis 36:32), who was named after Esau, who was a glutton [bela] and sold his birthright because of his gluttony. “Son of Beor” (“Beir” can mean animal; see Exodus 22:4.) – the son of one who rendered himself like an animal, as it is stated: “Feed me [haliteni] now from that red stuff, as I am exhausted” (Genesis 25:30), just as it says: One may not forcibly feed an animal, but one may place food in its mouth [malitin]. (Shabbat 155b.) The second, “Yovav son of Zeraḥ from Botzra” (Genesis 36:33). Botzra was of Edom, as it is stated: “Who is this, coming from Edom, with crimsoned garments from Botzra, resplendent in His attire, striding in His abundant strength? I speak with justice, potent to save” (Isaiah 63:1). The third, “Ḥusham of the land of the Temanite” (Genesis 36:34), and Teman was the land of Edom, as it is stated: “Your mighty, Teman, will be broken, so that each man from the mountain of Esau will be eliminated by slaughter” (Obadiah 1:9). But the other kings were from other places and other nations, that is sixty. Why did he call all these dishes [ke’arot]? It is because the Holy One blessed be He disqualified all of them. Ke’ara is nothing other than an expression of leprosy, just as it says: “Recessed [shekaarurot], deep green” (Leviticus 14:37). “Silver [kesef]” – due to shame, as they will all go “to reviling and eternal disgrace” (Daniel 12:2). From where is it derived that kesef is an expression of shame. It is as in the Jerusalem Targum, they call disgrace kisufa. “One silver basin” – this is Israel, whom the Holy One blessed be He separated out from them, just as it says: “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself…” (Psalms 135:4). And it says: “I took your father, Abraham, from beyond the river, and I led him throughout the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants, and I gave him Isaac” (Joshua 24:3). “Seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel…” – just as it says: “With seventy people, your ancestors descended to Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:22). “Both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering [leminḥa]” – as the Holy One blessed be He dispatched to the nations of the world and to Israel prophets of them and among them. That is leminḥa, just as it says: “The spirit of the Lord will rest [venaḥa] upon him” (Isaiah 11:2), and it says: “The spirit rested [vatanaḥ] upon them” (Numbers 11:26). The Holy One blessed be He wished to give His Torah to all of them, as it is stated: “He said: The Lord came from Sinai, [and shone from Seir for them, He appeared from Mount Paran]” (Deuteronomy 33:2). “One gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense” (Numbers 7:74). “One [gold] ladle” – from all of them, the Holy One blessed be He chose only Israel, as it is stated: “Unique is my faultless dove, unique to her mother, pure to the one who bore her” (Song of Songs 6:9). That is why they are the happiest of the nations, just as it says: “Girls see her and laud her, and queens and concubines praise her” (Song of Songs 6:9) – these are the nations. Why did the Holy One blessed be He choose them? It is because all the nations rejected the Torah and did not want to receive it, but these wanted and chose the Holy One blessed be He and His Torah, which is five books corresponding to the five fingers on the hand, and received the Ten Commandments at Sinai. That is, “one gold ladle of ten shekels.” What is “filled with incense”? It is because they all said: “All that God spoke we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7); they accepted upon themselves Torah study and action. (These are sometimes compared to a pleasant smell. See Vayikra Rabba 30:12.) “One young bull, one ram, one lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering” (Numbers 7:75). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:76). “One young bull…” – these three species of burnt offering, why? They correspond to the three crowns that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel for this: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship. The crown of Torah, this is the Ark, as it is written: “You shall craft a gold crown upon it all around” (Exodus 25:11). The crown of priesthood, this is the golden altar, in whose regard it is written: “You shall craft a gold crown for it all around” (Exodus 30:3). The crown of kingship, this is the table, as it is written: “He crafted a crown of gold for it all around” (Exodus 37:11). “One goat as a sin offering” – corresponding to a good name, which is action, just as we learned: Study is not the principal matter but action, as action atones for the person, like what we learned: Repentance and good deeds are a shield before punishment. That crown corresponds to the candelabrum, to realize what is stated: “For mitzva is a candle, and Torah is light” (Proverbs 6:23). Why is Torah called light? It is because it illuminates for the person what he should do. And because the Torah teaches the person how he shall perform the will of the Omnipresent, therefore, the reward of study is great. And one who causes another to perform an action is greater than one who performs it, as it is stated: “The act of righteousness will be peace and the work of righteousness will be quiet and security forever” (Isaiah 32:17). “And for the peace offering, two bulls, five rams, five goats, five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Okhran” (Numbers 7:77). “And for the peace offering, two bulls…” – as the Holy One blessed be He gave two Torahs to Israel: the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. He gave them the Written Torah, in which there are six hundred and thirteen mitzvot, in order to fill them with mitzvot and accord them merit, as it is stated: “The Lord desires for the sake of His righteousness; He will make the Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21). He gave them the Oral Torah, so they would excel through it among the other nations. That is the reason that He did not give it in writing, so that the Ishmaelites would not falsify it the way that they did to the Written Torah and say that they are Israel. In that regard, the verse said: “I write for him much of My Torah, but it is regarded like a strange matter” (Hosea 8:12). The Holy One blessed be He said: If I write for Israel much of My Torah – this is the Mishna, which is greater than the Bible – “it will be regarded like a strange matter.” “Five rams, five goats, five lambs in their first year” – these three species of peace offerings correspond to the priests, Levites, and Israelites. Alternatively, corresponding to the three types of greatness that the Holy One blessed be He conferred upon them in reward for the fact that they received the Torah. They are: being a treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, as it is stated: “You shall be treasured for Me from among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine. You shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6). They were three species of five each for a total of fifteen, corresponding to the Torah, that is five books, and the Ten Commandments, which they received, which were written on two tablets, five on this tablet and five on that tablet. Another matter: It corresponds to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes, as they are the primary chosen ones, just as it says: “Because He loved your forefathers, He chose their descendants after them, and He took you out before Him, with His great power, from Egypt” (Deuteronomy 4:37). “This was the offering of Pagiel…” – since the Holy One blessed be He saw that he presented the offering in this order, He began lauding his offering: “This was the offering of Pagiel son of Okhran.”
“[My offering, My food…], you shall observe to present to Me at its appointed time” (Numbers 28:2) – this is what the verse said: “The righteous eats to his own satisfaction” (Proverbs 13:25). This is Eliezer, who said to Rebecca: “Please let me sip a little water from your jug” (Genesis 24:17) – a sip. “And the belly of the wicked will lack” (Proverbs 13:25) – this is Esau, who said to Jacob: “Please pour for me [haliteni]” (Genesis 25:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak bar Rabbi Ze’eira said: He opened his mouth wide like a camel. He said: ‘I will open my mouth, and you will insert it.’ There we learned: “One may not forcibly overfeed a camel, and one may not force feed it; however, one may place food into its mouth [malitin]. ( Shabbat 155b.) “The righteous eats to his own satisfaction” (Proverbs 13:25) – this is Ruth the Moavite, in whose regard it is written: “She ate, was satiated, and left over” (Ruth 2:14) – there was blessing in the mouth of that righteous woman. (Although she ate little, she was satiated.) “And the belly of the wicked will lack” (Proverbs 13:25) – these are the nations of the world. There was an incident involving an idolater who invited all the residents of his city. Rabbi Dostai said: He invited me to that feast with all the residents of his city, and of all the delicacies in the world only brittle nuts were lacking. What did he do? He took from before us the board of the table, which was worth six silver talents, and he broke it. (He broke the board because he was angry that the brittle nuts were lacking.) I said to him: ‘Why did you do that?’ He said to me: ‘You say that this world is ours and the World to Come is yours. If we do not eat now, when will we eat?’ I read in his regard: “And the belly of the wicked will lack.”
“Say to them: This is the fire offering that you shall bring to the Lord: unblemished lambs in the first year, two each day, a continual burnt offering” (Numbers 28:3). “Say to them: This is the fire offering that you shall bring to the Lord: unblemished lambs in the first year” – not both of them simultaneously, but rather: “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer in the afternoon” (Numbers 28:4). Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon said: There was never a person in Jerusalem with iniquity attributed to him. How so? The continual offering of the morning atones for transgressions that were at night, and [that] of the afternoon atones for transgressions that were performed during the day. In any case, no person lodged in Jerusalem with an iniquity attributed to him, as it is stated: “Righteousness lodged in it…” (Isaiah 1:21). The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘In this world you present before Me the showbread and offerings. In the World to Come I will set a great table before you, and the idolaters will see and be ashamed,’ as it is stated: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is full” (Psalms 23:5). Likewise it says: “Behold, My servants will eat, and you will starve; behold, My servants will drink, and you will be thirsty” (Isaiah 65:13).
“Esau came from the field” – Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Aivu, Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Levi, and the Rabbis in the name of Rabbi Simon: You find that Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and Isaac one hundred and eighty. Those five years that the Holy One blessed be He withheld from his life, it is because Esau violated two transgressions: He consorted with a betrothed young woman, as it is stated: “For he found her in the field” (This verse refers to a betrothed woman who was raped.) (Deuteronomy 22:27); “and he was weary” – he killed a person, just as it says: “For my soul is wearied by the killers” (Jeremiah 4:31). Rabbi said: He stole as well, just as it says: “If thieves came for you, if plunderers of the night…” (Obadiah 1:5). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This is what I promised to Abraham, and said to him: “You shall go to your fathers in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age]” (Genesis 15:15) – is this “a good old age,” that he sees his grandson engaging in idol worship, engaging in forbidden sexual relations, and shedding blood? It is preferable that he leave the world [without seeing it].’ That is what is written: “For Your kindness is better than life” (Psalms 63:4). “Esau said to Jacob: Feed me now from that red, red [haadom haadom] dish, as I am weary. Therefore, his name is called Edom” (Genesis 25:30). “Esau said to Jacob: Feed me [haliteni] now from that red” – Rabbi Ze’eira said: That wicked one opened his mouth wide like a camel. He said to him: ‘I will open my mouth and you continuously pour,’ like what we learned: One may not forcibly overfeed a camel and one may not force feed it. However, one may place food into its mouth [malitin]. (Shabbat 155b.) “From that red, red [ha’adom ha’adom]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From him and from his Patron. (God is the Patron of Jacob. Esau sought to consume the stew, and the Temples of Jacob’s God.) Reish Lakish said: From him, and from those like him [hadomin lo]. (His righteous descendants, who are similar to him.) He is red, his cooked food is red, his land is red, his warriors are red, his garments are red, One who is red exacts retribution against him, in red garments. (See Isaiah 63:1–2.) He is red – “the first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25). His cooked food is red – “feed me now from [that] red.” His land is red – “to the land of Se’ir, to the field of Edom" (Genesis 32:4). His mighty ones are red –“his warriors’ shields are reddened” (Nahum 2:4). His garments are red – “his soldiers are colored scarlet” (Nahum 2:4). One who is red exacts retribution against him – “my beloved is clear and ruddy” (Song of Songs 5:10). In red attire – “why is there red in Your attire?” (Isaiah 63:2).
“Messengers [malakhim]” – these were flesh and blood messengers. The Rabbis say: Actual angels. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Hagar was Sarah’s maidservant and five angels happened upon her, (See Genesis 16:7–12.) this one who is the beloved of the household, all the more so. If several angels escorted Eliezer, (See Genesis 24:7 and Bereshit Rabba 59:10.) who was a slave of the household, this one, who was the beloved of the household, all the more so. Rabbi Yosei said: Joseph was the youngest of the tribes and three angels escorted him; that is what is written: “A man found him” (Since the “man” is unidentified and appears by chance, and also plays a crucial role in the story, the midrash understands that the mysterious man was, in fact, an angel.) (Genesis 37:15), “the man asked him” (Genesis 37:15), “the man said to him” (Genesis 37:17); this one, who was the father of them all, all the more so. “Before him” – before the one whose time to assume kingship was before his. (See Genesis 36:31.) Rabbi Yehoshua said: He removed his royal purple garment and cast it before him. He said to him: ‘Two starlings cannot sleep on one board.’ (Our kingdoms cannot overlap.) “To Esau his brother” – although he is Esau, he is his brother. “To the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” – he is ruddy, his cooked food is red, his land is red, his mighty are red, his garment is red, and a red one will exact retribution from him in red garments. He is ruddy – “the first emerged ruddy” (Genesis 25:25); “his cooked food is red” – “feed me please from that red, red dish” (Genesis 25:30); “his land is red” – “to the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” (Red, adom, is similar to Edom. See Genesis 25:30.) ; “his mighty are red” – “mighty ones are colored scarlet…” (Nahum 2:4); and a red [adom] one will exact retribution from him – “my beloved is clear and ruddy [adom]” (Song of Songs 5:10); in red garments – “why is there red on your garments?” (Isaiah 63:2).
[(Gen. 25:30:) PLEASE LET ME GULP DOWN SOME OF THIS RED RED STUFF.] What is the meaning of LET ME GULP DOWN? R. Johanan said: From you and from those like you, < i.e., > from the righteous who are like you. (Gen. R. 63:12. The repetition of RED suggests that ESAU was not only making demands of Jacob, but that such demands would be repeated against the righteous in future generations.)
Another interpretation: LET ME GULP DOWN. "Give me" is not written here, but LET ME GULP DOWN. He said to him: LET ME GULP DOWN < SOME >. He gave him < some > in a saucer. He said: You are giving it to me in a saucer. Pour from the pot < directly > into my mouth. Now the word for "gulping down" (rt.: L'T) is nothing but the word for "pouring"; for so have our masters taught (in Shab. 24:3): ONE DOES NOT STUFF THE CAMEL NOR CRAM IT BUT FEEDS IT FULLY (rt.: L'T). (Since this root never appeals in Sctipture apart from Gen. 25:30, its meaning is doubtful. The context in the Mishnah implies that the verb in question is something that one does to the camel. Thus “gulping down” must have been something that Jacob did to Esau. See Gen. R. 63:12; PRK 6:2.) He therefore said (in Gen. 25:30): LET ME GULP DOWN (in the sense of POUR INTO ME).
(Ibid., cont.:) TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM. [What is the meaning of TO THE LAND OF SEIR (rt.: S'R)?] That he makes one's hair (rt.: S'R) stand on end. TO THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM). (Gen. R. 63:12; 75:4.) He is red (rt.: 'DM), his food is red, his warriors are red, his attire is red, his shields are red, his land is red, the one who stands up to him is red, and the one who exacts retribution from him is red in red attire. He is red (according to Gen. 25:25): THE FIRST (i.e., Esau) CAME FORTH RUDDY. His food is red (according to Gen. 25:30): < PLEASE LET ME GULP DOWN > SOME OF THIS RED RED STUFF. His warriors are red (according to Nahum 2:4): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His attire is red (according to ibid., cont.): AND HIS SOLDIERS ARE CLOTHED IN CRIMSON. His shields are red (according to ibid.): HIS WARRIORS' SHIELDS ARE RED. His land is red (rt.: 'DM) (according to Gen. 32:4 [3]): TO THE LAND OF SEIR IN THE FIELDS OF EDOM (rt.: 'DM). The one who stands up to him is red. This is David (according to I Sam. 16:12): SO HE SENT AND BROUGHT HIM. NOW HE WAS RUDDY. And what < else > is written about him (in II Sam. 8:14)? HE PUT GARRISONS IN EDOM. And the < the Holy One >, who exacts retribution from him, is red (according to Cant. 5:10): MY BELOVED IS BRIGHT AND RUDDY. (Is. 63:1:) WHO IS THIS COMING FROM EDOM (rt.: 'DM)? < He comes > in red attire (according to vs. 2): WHY IS YOUR CLOTHING SO RED … ?
(Numb 28:2:) “Guard to offer it to Me at its set time.” This text is related (to Prov. 13:25), “The righteous man eats to satiate his soul.” This is Eliezer who said to Rebekah (in Gen. 24:17), “Please let me sip a bit of water,” enough to sip. (Prov. 13:25, cont.:) “But the belly of the wicked is lacking.” That is Esau who said to Jacob (in Gen. 25:30), “Please stuff me (haliteini).” R. Isaac bar Zeira said, “He opened his mouth wide like a camel and said, ‘I will open my mouth and you put it in.’” It is taught there (Mishnah Shabbat 24:3), “One may not forcibly overfeed a camel on Shabbat and one may not force-feed it. However, one may place food into its mouth (malitin).” Another interpretation (of Prov. 13:25), “The righteous man eats to satiate his soul”: This is Ruth about whom it is written (in Ruth 2:14), “and she ate her fill and had some left over.” As blessing dwelt in the mouth of that righteous woman. (Prov. 13:25, cont.:) “But the belly of the wicked is lacking.” That is the gentiles. There was a story about a gentile who made a banquet for all the people of his city: R. Dustai said, “He invited me to that banquet, with all the people of his city, and his table was not lacking any of the tasty foods of the world except for perekh nuts alone. What did he do? He took the serving table that was in front of us that was worth more than sixty talents of silver and he broke it. I said to him, ‘Why did you do this?’ He said to me, ‘You say that this world is ours and the next world is yours. If we do not [get to] eat now, when will we eat [it[?’ I read [as being] about him (Prov. 13:25, cont.), ‘but the belly of the wicked is lacking.’” (Numb. 28:3:) “And you shall say to them, ‘This is the burnt offering which you shall offer to the Lord: two yearling lambs without blemish.’” Not two simultaneously, but (as in vs. 4), “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the second lamb you shall offer at twilight.” R. Judah bar Simon said, “None ever lodged in Jerusalem with sin on their hands. (Numb. R. 21:21.) How so? The sacrifice of the morning atoned for the transgressions which were committed during the night, and the daily sacrifice at twilight atoned for transgressions which were committed during the day.” In any case none lodged in Jerusalem with sin on their hands, as stated (in Is. 1:21), “righteousness lodges (Although the biblical context requires a past tense for this verb, the sense of the midrash assumes a present or a future. Such a translation also fits the later use of the imperfect tense used here.) there (i.e., in Jerusalem).” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Israelites, “In this world you offer shewbread, but in the world to come I will prepare a great table for you, with the idolaters looking on in shame. It is so stated (in Ps. 23:5), “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies….” It also says (in Is. 65:13), “Behold, My servants shall eat, [but you shall go hungry]….”
THE VISION OF JACOB AT BETHEL "BETTER is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). The first blessings wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob were concerning the dews of heaven, and concerning the corn of the earth, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth" (Gen. 27:28). The final blessings were the blessings of the foundation of the world, and in them there is no (interruption), either in this world or in the world to come, as it is said, "And God Almighty bless thee" (Gen. 28:3). And he further added unto him the blessing of Abraham, || as it is said, "And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee" (Gen. 28:4). Therefore (say): "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). "Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit" (ibid.). "Better is the patient in spirit"—this (saying) is applicable to our father Jacob, for every day he was patient in spirit, and he spake all kinds of words of entreaty. (The words) "than the proud in spirit" (ibid.) refer to the wicked Esau, because every day he was eating the flesh of that which he had hunted. Owing to his pride he did not give any of his food to Jacob. Once he went out to hunt but he did not meet with any success. He saw Jacob eating lentil food, and he desired this in his heart, and he said to him: "Let me gulp down, I pray thee, some of that red pottage" (Gen. 25:30). Jacob said to him: Thou camest forth red at thy birth from thy mother; (now) thou dost desire to eat (this) red food; therefore he called his name "Edom" (red), as it is said, "And Esau said to Jacob" (ibid.).
7. Most important of all, one must be careful not to eat in a gluttonous manner when breaking the fast. This is utterly forbidden because it is the way of the wicked Esav, who said, “Pour into me now” (Bereishis 25:30). Similarly, it is written in Mishlei, “The belly of the wicked is always lacking” (13:25). Many people are remiss in this area, gobbling down their food in a gluttonous and drunken manner. This greatly detracts from the merit of the fast.
By doing so one fulfills the directive of verse 7: "to eat in the Presence of G–d." In view of the fact that one eats in the Presence of the שכינה, one has to share one's meal with the poor, and not give them anything inferior to what the host eats himself. One must observe table manners, not gulp down one's food as did Esau when he sold Jacob his birthright (Genesis 25,30). We have a tradition that a wicked person will always feel that his belly lacks something, is hungry (Proverbs 13,25). When the Torah writes לפני ה' אלוקיך, this is always to emphasize that we must feel in the presence of positive rather than negative forces, חצוניות. While consuming one's meal one must not engage in futile pursuits but concentrate on the immediate requirements of the meal and on words of Torah.
Edom, on the other hand, is impure, his food habits are worse than those of other nations, as had already been demonstrated by their patriarch Esau when he wanted the lentils Jacob had cooked (Genesis 25,30). He said to Jacob: הלעטני נא מן האדם האדם, "Please pour some of this red, red (food) down my throat." The exile the Jewish people suffer under the dominion of Edom is by far the worst. The Torah uses the pig as a symbol of the abominable manner in which this animal pretends to be pure, displaying its cleft hooves as proof, while refusing to chew the cud, symbol of paying homage to G–d.
We have now learned that the three parts of the Tabernacle correspond to the three parts of the universe concerning which King David said in Psalms 103,20: "Bless the Lord, O, His angels, mighty creatures who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding. Bless the Lord all His hosts, His servants who do His will; bless the Lord all His works, through the length and breadth of His realm." David's son Solomon also adopted his father's outlook when he alluded to this in three consecutive verses in Song of Songs 5,13-15. Three different parts of the human body form the subject of those verses, each one representing a different aspect of the universe and how man's composition reflects this division of the universe into three constituent parts. I (Rabbenu Bachyah) have explained this in detail when I discussed Jacob's dream of the ladder." Thus far the quotation from Rabbenu Bachyah.
הלעיטני נא מן האדום. There is a great moral lesson here. It teaches that man's food intake should be based on considerations of sanctity and modesty. When he eats, he should behave as if in the presence of his king. This is best illustrated in Exodus 23,11 where the אצילי בני ישראל, the elite of the Children of Israel, are portrayed as ויחזו את האלוקים, ויאכלו וישתו, "They had a vision of G–d and they ate and drank." Surely this means that they consecrated their eating and drinking to be such a sacred activity that they were fit to have visions of the Divine even then.
The flax and camels in the story in the Tanchuma that we quoted are metaphors. The example of the camels laden with flax refers to Cain, whose sacrifice (the one G–d rejected) consisted of flax (Tanchuma Bereshit 9). The example of the camel is a metaphor for Esau who had said to Jacob: הלעיטני נא מן האדום האדום הזה (Genesis 25,30). The expression הלעיטני is reminiscent of camels as we know from Shabbat 155, that whereas one must not stuff a lot of food down a camel's throat (on the Sabbath), one may feed it by a method called מלעיטין. The reason that Rabbi Levi in Bereshit Rabbah used the metaphor of קוצים, thorns, is because G–d told Adam after he had eaten from the tree of knowledge that the earth would respond to his efforts by bringing forth קוץ ודרדר, thorn and thistle (Genesis 3,17).
את קרבני לחמי, “My offering, My bread.” The words שנים ליום, mean “two sheep per day, one in the morning and one in the evening,” not both at the same time (verse 4). We find that King Solomon consumed far more than that as is spelled out in Kings 5, 2-3: “Solomon’s daily provisions consisted of 30 kors of semolina, 60 kors of ordinary flour; 10 fattened oxen, 20 pasture-fed oxen, 100 sheep and goats, besides deer, gazelles, roebuck and fatted geese.” The author (of Kings) appears to contrast Proverbs 13,25: “a righteous person eats (enough) to satisfy his soul (life-force), whereas the belly of the wicked will always feel in need.” Eliezer, Avraham’s trusted servant is an example of the righteous mentioned by Solomon, seeing that he asked Rivkah to only let him sip a little water from her jug (Genesis 24,17). Esau, on the other hand, demanded from Yaakov that he let him “gulp down the red stuff” (Genesis 25,30). We find that in Job 37,23 Elihu tells Job that “Shaddai we cannot attain to Him, He is great in power and Justice,” whereas in Job 36,22 the same Elihu proclaims: “see, G’d is beyond reach in His power; who governs like Him?” [This suggests we can appreciate His greatness. Ed.]. How can these two verses be reconciled? When G’d gives to us He gives according to His power; when He asks of us He asks much less than is due Him, demanding only that we give according to our means. To illustrate: the Torah writes in Exodus 26,1 that the coverings for the Tabernacle be made of ten carpet-like strips of cloth; this is an illustration of the verse in Job 37,23, seeing “we cannot attain to Him, providing Him with His needs.” Similarly, when the Torah asks the Jewish people to provide olive oil for the Menorah in the Tabernacle (Exodus 27,20) the request is one well within the power of the Israelites to fulfill. Similarly, the Torah asks the farmer to present merely the first ripe fruit of his orchard to the Lord (Exodus 23,19). On the other hand, when the Bible describes G’d’s largess to man, such as in Ezekiel 47,12 the wording is: “all kinds of trees for food will grow up on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fall; they will yield new fruit every month; each tree will produce new ‘first-fruit’ every single month.” This is a perfect illustration of the imbalance of what G’d asks of us and what He is prepared to provide for us. The author quotes a few more verses depicting the generous measure of G’d’s largess.
A Midrashic approach quoted by Rashi understands the word רעה as the name of a star or planet (Mars) which is so named as it symbolises bloodshed and war. Pharaoh foresaw in his astrological charts that the Jewish people would suffer a blood bath in the desert. He warned them that their leaving Egypt would prove worse for them than their remaining in Egypt. Esau used to call that star Edom. This is why he referred to מן האדום האדום הזה, when he asked Yaakov to share with him that famous dish of broth (Genesis 25,30 — see our commentary there). The wicked Pharaoh who was an expert astrologer called the star in question רעה. He attributed all misfortune in the world to the influence of that planet. He himself became a victim of that planet’s force as part of G’d’s retribution of measure for measure. When he foresaw a blood bath facing the Jews, he did not realize that this was the reference to the Israelites who would be killed because they served the golden calf. This is what Moses referred to in his prayer after the sin of the golden calf when he said to G’d: “why should the Egyptians who would take note of G’d killing the entire people be able to say (boast) ברעה הוציאם, ‘He took them out under the auspices of the planet (horoscope) רעה, only in order to kill them’” (Exodus 32,12). Moses pointed out that if G’d carried out His intention of killing the people (32,10) He would cause a desecration of His recently established great name by playing into the hands of the Egyptians who had predicted this already here. As a result they would retroactively deny their recently held conviction that G’d had orchestrated the plagues out of His love for the Jewish people. They would henceforth attribute all those plagues to the stars and their respective constellations. When G’d accepted Moses’ argument, i.e. וינחם ה' על הרעה אשר דבר לעשות, “G’d relented concerning the רעה He had said He would do,” (32,14) He decided that the bloodletting would be that when Joshua would perform mass circumcision of the Israelites born in the desert. In Joshua 5,9 we find the expression “to-day I have removed from you the shame (full prediction) of Egypt.”
Eisov said to Yaakov, Please [Now] give me a swallow of this red [pottage], for I am exhausted. He was therefore named Edom [Red].
And Esau said to Jakob, Let me now taste that red pottage, for I am faint, -- therefore he called his name Edom.
| וַיֹּ֖אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִכְרָ֥ה כַיּ֛וֹם אֶת־בְּכֹרָֽתְךָ֖ לִֽי׃ | 31 J | Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” |
SELL ME YOUR BIRTHRIGHT TODAY – (Our sages) have already inquired how it is proper (for Jacob) to entice his brother to sell the birthright, in particular, for lentils. It is certainly not the case that he intended to gain the right to the (firstborn’s double share of) the estate; also, who even knows whether prior to the giving of the Torah it was customary that the firstborn received a double share of the inheritance. The benefit of the birthright at that time was apparently a sign of virtue and the right to carry on the family name (literally, “to rise to his father’s name”.) The scripture already stated, “through Isaac your heirs will be named” (with regards to Abraham, Bereishit 21:12) and our sages learned “in Isaac” and not “all of Isaac,” meaning that the one who holds on to Isaac’s (righteous) ways has the pedigree to carry on the family name. After (the sale) Esau went out to a bad culture that very day, and therefore to Esau there was no difference whether he had the birthright or not, since how could he rightly be called “firstborn” if he couldn’t be called (Isaac’s) “son” (as a result of his decision to engage in bad behavior.) The only benefit to Esau in having the birthright was to deprive Jacob of it so that he did not have the birthright; Esau so no positive benefit for himself in it. That is the reason Jacob asked Esau to sell it, since Esau did not lose anything in the sale and Jacob had benefit from the sale. This is also why Esau said, “why do I need the birthright” – he stated that it made no difference at all to him whether he had the birthright, since he had no desire at all to be (Isaac’s) son (i.e., to live up to the family name.) This is the reason the scripture states among the attributes of Israel, “Israel, my son, my firstborn.” (Shemot 4:22) Apparently, the word “firstborn” already implies “son” (so why the redundant language?) This language is coming only to repudiate Esau – that Israel has two positive attributes, “son” and also “firstborn,” whereas Esau was not content to spurn the birthright, he also spurned being Isaac’s son.
מכרה כיום, “Sell me effective immediately!” when the Talmud in B’rachot 32 states that a priest who has killed a person must not perform the priestly service in the Temple, the same applied during Avraham’s time when the priestly services were performed by the respective firstborn males of each family. The priests from the tribe of Levi were appointed only after the sin of the golden calf. An alternate exegesis: while it is true that a person is obligated to give honour to his older brother, the firstborn, no such rule exists when that firstborn is a wicked person. Yaakov no longer considered his brother Esau as worthy of being honoured. כיום, effective as of today;” Yaakov referred to the extent that the rules for the privileges of the firstborns exist now. He knew that in the future the “birthright” would not be subject to being “sold” by the one who had been born to it. An alternate exegesis: the word כיום refers to the monetary value of such a birthright at that time. Clearly it had very little value as so much could happen before the present owner of it could ever make use of it. [Esau’s reference to his impending death in a hunting accident being a distinct possibility makes sense then. Ed.]
מכרה כיום, “sell to me as of today!” Yaakov refers to the value of Esau’s birthright as of that day, and offers to pay that price. Seeing that the value is completely potential, Esau not knowing if Yaakov will outlive him or will outlive his father, the price must surely be minimal. In either of those two events the birthright would be completely without any value.
SELL ME. Mikhrah (sell me) is vocalized with a chirik, (Mikhrah (sell me) is an elongated imperative, the usual imperative of sell being mekhor. The rule in Hebrew grammar is that when a word in the kal follows the efol, vocalization of its elongated imperative is written with a kamatz katan, i.e., zekhor (remember) is elongated like zokhrah (Neh. 5:19), and shemor (keep) to shomrah (Ps. 25:20). Hence mekhor should become mokhrah. I.E. points out that even though mekhor follows the efol conjugation, it is elongated as an efal. In the latter, the elongated imperative is vocalized with a chirik (Cherez).) like shilchah (send) in Send (shilchah) the lad (Gen. 43:8) and shikhvah (lie) in Lie (shikhvah) with me (Gen. 39:7. (These words are conjugated in the efal and are thus vocalized with a chirik in the elongated imperative.) The birthright refers to the double share of the father’s wealth which belongs to the first born. (Cf. Deut. 21:17.) Others maintain that the first born is always superior to his younger siblings in that they must rise before him and serve him as a son serves his father. (In other words Jacob did not buy the birthright because he wanted a double share but because the birthright had honorary significance. I.E. offers this interpretation either because he believes that Isaac was poor at this time and the double share was insignificant, or because the law of the double share of the first-born took effect only after the revelation at Sinai.)
ויאמר יעקב מכרה כיום, Jacob said: "Sell as of this day, etc." The word "as of today," needs amplification. There are aspects to the birthright which do not become effective until after the death of the father, and as such they are legally considered as דבר שלא בא לעולם, something the eventual existence of which is still subject to doubt. The claim to such things cannot legally be established on an "if and when" basis. Jacob added the words "as of this day" in order to make the sale legal at this time. This is in accordance with Baba Metzia 16 and Choshen Mishpat 211,2. When someone who is poor and does not have what to eat goes hunting and offers the proceeds of his hunt for sale adding that such sale be effective "today," the sale is valid. The reason for this is that the poor man desperately needs the proceeds from such a sale. The Geonim write that the word "today" is not critical to the effectiveness of such a sale. Even if the sale was to be effective the day after it would still be valid. The decisive criterion is the critical need for the proceeds of the sale. The only reason the Talmud mentions the word "today" is to exclude dates such as "after thirty days or longer." As long as the time stipulated for the sale to take effect is within one day so that the seller can assure his survival during this space of time he has met the important criterion. When Jacob said "כיום," he did not mean "today" but "in accordance with the rule applying to sales that take effect within a day. He saw Esau was very tired and weak and providing this food for him at that time was a matter of survival. Had Esau not been in a temporarily desperate situation the sale would not have been legal.
מכרה כיום את בכורתך לי, “sell me your birthright effective today!” At that time, the privileges connected with the birthright did not include a double portion in the father’s inheritance as was legislated in the Torah later on. The principal value of the birthright consisted in filling the father’s position of head of the family once the father passed away. It was more a position of honour than of immediate financial advantage. It also was accompanied by a certain amount of authority within the family, of course. According to Nachmanides, once the father had died, the firstborn would be in charge of the family’s estate. This is what Esau referred to when he said: “what good is the birthright to me as my pursuits will lead to my death,” i.e. I will never outlive my father to reap the benefits of my potential privileges. This then is the meaning of the sequence: “he ate, he drank, he went (on his way), i.e. Esau despised the birthright.” He demonstrated his lifestyle by the manner in which he negated the value of the birthright for him.
ויאמר יעקב מכרה כיום, the letter כ in the word כיום is known as the כ האמתי, a formulation we also encounter in Samuel I 9,13 כי אותו כהיום תמצאון אותו, “for truly today you will find him.” Other examples of this prefixכ being used to emphasise the truth of something are found in Numbers 11,1 and Proverbs 10,20, as well as in Hoseah 5,10. In our verse the letter כ means that Yaakov did not want Esau to sell him the birthright symbolically, but that he meant for a fully fledged legal transaction to be completed, his making a proper kinyan acquisition. [I believe this supports the view of our sages that what was at stake was not Esau’s share as a firstborn in an extra third of his father’s estate, something that at this point was only a potential claim as opposed to an actual claim, and therefore could not have been transferred legally in a binding manner. What was at stake were obligations a firstborn is duty bound to fulfill from the time he is physically and mentally capable of doing so. Yaakov felt that Esau was spiritually not equipped to perform such duties, hence he wanted to relieve him of them. Yaakov could not acquire the spiritual aspects of the birthright merely by pointing out to Esau that it was a burden for him anyway, as the position of the firstborn was something firmly entrenched in the culture of his time. Seeing that the world at that time was concerned with material wealth primarily, Yaakov had to compensate Esau according to the terms other people would understand as being appropriate. Ed.] In spite of Yaakov compensating his brother Esau in “real” terms for something to which his claim was thus far only potential, he was punished for initiating such a sale because he had upset the norms of civilised society by doing so. The fact that Esau rose to great prominence and distinction and hardly seems to have suffered any disadvantage for the deal Yaakov offered him, did not exonerate Yaakov from trying to upset the norms of society. [this view, i.e. that Yaakov paid Esau with money, not with a dish of lentils, is supported at least in part by Ibn Ezra. Ed.]
SELL ME THIS DAY (‘KAYOM’) THY BIRTHRIGHT. “I.e., as this day. (“As this day.” Our text of Rashi reads: “Ketargumo (Explain it as the Targum rendered it), ‘as this day.’” Rashi now proceeds to interpret the Targum to mean, “just as this day is certain, etc.”) Just as this day is certain, so make me a binding sale.” This is Rashi’s language. The literal meaning of the word kayom is “at this time,” just as: But stand thou still at this time (‘kayom’), that I may cause thee to hear the word of G-d; (I Samuel 9:27.) At this time (‘kayom’) you shall find him; (Ibid., Verse 13.) Let the fat be made to smoke at this time (‘kayom’); (Ibid., 2:16.) But unto us belongeth confusion of face, as at this day (‘kayom’). (Daniel 9:7.) It would appear from the opinion of Onkelos (Since Onkelos, the author of the Targum, added the word dilhein, it would appear from this, etc.) that because the sale of the birthright was to take effect after the death of his father Isaac, he [Jacob] said, “Sell me the birthright, with the sale to take effect on whatever day [our father’s death] may occur.” (Ramban’s intent is as follows: Since Esau would not possess the birthright until after Isaac’s death —(see Ramban further, Verse 34, that the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father)— if he were to attempt to sell it effective immediately, the sale would not be valid. But in this way, having stipulated “whenever that may be,” even though the death of Isaac and the subsequent acquisition of the birthright by Esau have not yet occurred, the sale by Esau is nevertheless valid since Jacob stipulated “whenever that may be.” See my Hebrew commentary, p. 145.) This is a typical usage of lahein in the Aramaic language: “Wherever (lahein) are you going?” (Yerushalmi Berachoth II, 8: lahein yeizil lei.) This means, “To what place are you going?” This is derived from the expression, “Whatever (hein) you let me know.” (Yalkut Shimoni Ezra 10:3.) Similarly in Bereshith Rabbah, Parshath Vayishlach, (Bereshith Rabbah 78:1.) “Wherever (velahein) are they going?” (Our Bereshith Rabbah reads: ule’an atun azlin. See, however, Theodore’s edition of this Midrash, p. 906, where he quotes from manuscript, velahein, as Ramban has it.) is derived from the expression, “Whatever (hein) is broken.” (Bereshith Rabbah 78:1.) This is their (Those conversing or writing in the Aramaic language.) customary usage of language in many places. And in the book of Daniel this form appears with a patach (That is our kametz.) under the letter lamed, similar in meaning to the word ilahin (which): Which ‘lohin’ the angels whose dwelling is not with flesh; (Daniel 2:11.) whatever (“Whatever, you do, O king….”) (‘lohin’), O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee. (Ibid., 4:24.) Now Onkelos translated the Hebrew word zulathi as ilahin (Deuteronomy 1:36. Zulathi Caleb (excepting Caleb) is translated by Onkelos as elahin Caleb. To the Aramaic root lahin which appears in the book of Daniel — (see my Hebrew text, p. 145 line 2 from bottom, covering Notes 53 and 55 here) — Onkelos added the letters aleph and yod, thus making it elahin. The intent of Ramban is to indicate that it should not surprise us that Onkelos added a dalet in the text before us, thus making it dilhein, for just as the original word hen was augmented to become lahein so he further expanded it to read dilhein. (Aboab.)) its meaning being as the two words, ila hin. Now in carefully edited texts of Onkelos I found the reading, kayom dilhei. This conforms with my interpretation, for hei in their language (Aramaic.) means “which,” as it is said in the Talmud: “Which (hei) Rabbi Meir?” (Baba Kamma 99b.) “Which (hei) Rabbi Yehudah?” (Baba Bathra 141a.) and others. It is possible that Onkelos understood the word kayom (as the day) as if it were bayom (on the day). The verse would then be stating, “Sell the birthright to me on the day it will come into your possession.” We find such usage of the letter kaf elsewhere: As (‘Ka’asher’) they go, I will spread My net upon them, (Hosea 7:12.) meaning ba’asher (wherever they go) rather than “whenever they go.” Similarly, And for the blood (‘kidmei’) of thy children that thou didst give unto them; (Ezekiel 16:36. Ve’kidmei is to be interpreted as ubidmei (and in the blood).) For I have spread you abroad as the four (‘ke’arba’) winds of the heavens. (Zechariah 2:10. Ke’arba is here to be interpreted as be’arba (in the four).) And some scholars say (Quoted by R’dak in his commentary in the name of his father. It is mentioned in Pesikta Zutrata, and a reference to it is also found in Bamidbar Rabbah 6:2.) that the price for the birthright was not the pottage at all. Rather, Scripture tells that when Esau, being faint, desired to eat, Jacob said to him, “Sell me your birthright for money and then eat,” and Esau, in his haste for food, answered him, “What is this birthright to me? It is sold to you.” He then swore to him upon it, and they sat down to eat and drink. Scripture however did not reveal the price. I do not agree with this interpretation.
מכרה כיום, meaning: “immediately!” Sell me your share of the birthright which you are entitled to from our father’s estate which I will give you. After that I will give you to eat as proof of the sale and as confirmation. We find a similar transaction in Genesis 31,46 where Yaakov and Lavan ate in order to confirm their non-aggression pact.
מכרה כיום SELL ME THIS DAY (literally, like the day) — Explain it as the Targum renders it “as this day”: just as this day is certain, so make me a sure sale.
בכרתך THY BIRTHRIGHT — Because the sacrificial service was then carried out by the first-born sons, Jacob said, “This wicked man is unworthy to sacrifice to the Holy One, blessed be He” (Genesis Rabbah 63:13).
כיום siehe zu 21, 23.
מכרה כיום, seeing that as of now all your interests are focused on your work so that you are so tired that you cannot even recognise a dish of lentils for what it is, there is no question that you would not have the time or energy to perform the duties involved in the obligations associated with being a firstborn
Jacob said: Just as you have a request from me, I too have something to ask of you. Sell me your birthright this day, meaning now.
מכרה כיום, “sell me as of this day!” Rashi understands the word כיום as describing the transaction about to take place to be as clear and beyond misunderstanding as daylight, which illuminates everything clearly. The plain meaning of the word is: “immediately,” as, for instance in Samuel I 2,16 קטר יקטירון כיום את החלה, “let me first burn the fat presently, etc.” Onkelos, taking into account that the sale under discussion will become effective only after Yitzchok’s death, understands the word כיום to mean “as and when, with retroactive closing date as of today.” Some commentators understand Yaakov as saying that the sale, trade, will be effective only today when you are close to death. It is appropriate that you receive some of this dish now for once you have died the entire inheritance of our father will automatically come to me. Esau admitted that Yaakov was right and proceeded to gulp down the red dish. The major problem with the whole transaction is that a birthright has never been understood as something that can be acquired or disposed of by selling and buying. What kind of procedure represents the transfer of the object being sold to the buyer, i.e. what מעשה קנין is there possible? If the object of the sale was the double share of the father’s inheritance decreed by the Torah for the firstborn, we have learned that if someone says “I sell you what I will inherit from my father,” that such a declaration is legally quite meaningless. (Baba Metzia 16) Some resolve this problem by saying that seeing Yaakov should by rights have been the firstborn as he was formed out of Yitzchok’s first drop of semen, and that Esau was born first only because he pushed himself ahead at the time of the delivery, he did not even need to make a קנין, act of acquisition, for something which rightfully was his in the first place. We do not think that this argument is tenable, as the Torah specifically calls the “first born” the one that emerges first from the mother’s womb. (Exodus 13,2) Others hold that Yaakov was convinced that his father was going to deed him all his belongings during his lifetime, just as Avraham had deeded all his belongings to Yitzchok during his lifetime. He would do so in order to forestall any legal protest by Esau when the time came. Still other Rabbis claim that the word בכורתך did not refer to inherited wealth at all, but to the dignity, the standing among his peers that the senior brother usually commands. Yaakov wanted to trade the dish of lentils he was about to give to Esau for that intangible symbol of dignity. Still other sages say that all Yaakov was about to buy from Esau was anything that he might inherit from his father on this very day, (if his father were to die on that day). If so, such a sale would be legally valid. Yaakov used the words מכרה כיום to clarify that legal point. When hearing this, Esau said: ”what good is the birthright to me that you want to buy from me only what might accrue to me this day, seeing that I am not going to outlive my father anyway, you might as will buy my future share in any birthright also.” This is why the Torah testifies in a line later on that Esau displayed his disdain for the birthright. (verse 34) In any event, seeing that the part of the transaction described by Yaakov with the words מכרה כיום was legally valid, any codicil, such as proposed by Esau, would be valid also. Esau seized upon that point later on when he accused Yaakov of ויעקבני זה פעמים (27,36) referring to the fact that Yaakov had tricked him into this codicil, something that would not have had legal standing but for his having first agreed to the sale of limited duration, i.e. מכרה כיום. My late father, the רא'ש of blessed memory, seized on this detail to rule that when someone sells something to one’s neighbour which is not subject to regular methods of acquisition, such as “what I am going to inherit from my father,” or “a loan which I have outstanding for repayment with X and secured only by an oral promise to repay,” both objects not subject to sale in the accepted sense of the word, and the seller adds an oath to his verbal sale, such a sale has become valid, and the court can enforce the terms of the sale from the seller due to the seller having obligated himself by oath. This is all derived from the pains Yaakov took to legalise the sale for the day on which it was concluded by adding the words “swear it to me,“ to Esau.
And this explanation is forthcoming in the words of our sages of blessed memory (Bava Bathra 16b) to the effect that on that day Abraham had died and Jacob was cooking a lentil dish for the mourner's meal. Esau, it seems, was not present at Abraham's demise at all, his eye had shed no tear for his death, and his heart had not broken over Isaac's mourning, but he related to them heartlessly and shamefully and pursued his frivolities in the field. Even when he chanced to come home and found Jacob busy preparing the mourner's dish for his father, he did not sit down, as was the custom, to nod his head in woe and to console, but he shouted out in the manner of the carousers (Genesis 25:30): "Pour me some of this red, red stuff!" That is, I'll open my mouth, and you pour it down! (as Rashi explains). And when Jacob saw him thus abhorrently demeaning his fathers, he was extremely pained that Isaac's honor should be more deeply stamped upon Esau than it was upon himself. For the respect due the elder son by the younger derives from the father's image being more deeply stamped and impressed upon the former in point of his being "the first of his strength." For this reason the younger brother is required to honor the elder, as our sages have explained (Kethuvoth 103a). But if Esau demeaned his fathers, how could their honor be more deeply impressed upon him than upon Jacob! For this reason, Jacob, seeing the evil of his ways, said to him: Because I consider my fathers the crown of my glory, and because (49)"As this day" I relate to them more deeply than you do (Genesis 25:31): "Sell as this day your birthright to me." That is, let our relationship to our father in the days to come be as it is this day. For it is not right that you walk around all day with the stench of your field and I follow in the footsteps of our father, and yet, whenever you feel like it, you vaunt yourself, saying that our father's name is more deeply impressed upon you than upon me.
"And Jacob cooked pottage." In the name of Rabbi Acha, Rabbi Ba said that the nature of the world never changes. Come and behold, it is written, "And Jacob cooked pottage (Heb. נָזִיד)," as in the verse "they dealt (Heb. זָדוּ)" (Shemot 18:11), which was translated into Aramaic as "they thought." It means that the heart thinks of and contemplates Torah, which represents the knowledge of its Creator. Thus, it is written, "and Esau came from the field, and he was faint" (Beresheet 25:29). It is the nature of the liver to go out hunting and swallow with its mouth. If it does not find any prey, it becomes tired and says to the heart, 'Before you think of the words of Torah, think of eating and drinking to nourish your body.' This is the meaning of the verse, "and Esau said to Jacob 'Give me to swallow, I pray you, of that red pottage,'" for it is my way to swallow the blood and transmit it to the other parts; "for I am faint," without food and drink. And the heart replies, 'Give me the first and choicest of whatever you swallow, give me your birthright,' this is the meaning of "Sell me this day your birthright" (Ibid. 31). That is, swear by your desire. As the heart contemplates food, the liver swallows. If it were not for the heart, longing and thinking about food, the liver and other organs would not be able to swallow. As Rabbi Yosi said, This is the way of slaves, who do not to eat before their master.
“Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the animals of the Levites in place of their animals; the Levites shall be Mine, I am the Lord” (Numbers 3:45). “Take the Levites…” – our Rabbis said: Why did the Holy One blessed be He command to redeem the firstborn of Israel with the Levites? It is because initially the firstborn were performing the sacrificial service, until the tribe of Levi arose, as our Rabbis taught: Until the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted and the sacrificial service was performed by the firstborn. From the establishment of the Tabernacle, private altars were prohibited and the sacrificial service was performed by the priests. ( Zevaḥim 112b.) Know that the firstborn were sacrificing until the tribe of Levi arose; take proof from the beginning of the creation of the world. Adam the first man was the firstborn of the world. When he sacrificed his offering, as it is stated: “May it please the Lord more than a bull with horns and hooves” (Psalms 69:32), he donned the vestments of the High Priest, as it is stated: “The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife hide tunics, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). They were praiseworthy garments, and the firstborn would perform the service in them. When Adam died, he bequeathed them to Seth. Seth gave them to Methuselah. When Methuselah died, he bequeathed them to Noah. Noah arose and sacrificed an offering, as it is stated: “He took from every pure animal…[and offered up burnt offerings]” (Genesis 8:20). Noah died, and he bequeathed them to Shem. Was Shem the firstborn? Was it not Yefet who was the firstborn, as it is stated: “Brother of Yefet the eldest” (Genesis 10:21)? Why, then, did he bequeath them to Shem? It is because Noah foresaw that the line of the patriarchs would be established from him. Know that Shem would sacrifice, as it is stated: “And Malkitzedek (Commenting on this verse, Rashi quotes a midrash (perhaps from Bereshit Rabba 56) that identifies Malkitzedek with Shem the son of Noah.) king of Shalem…[he was a priest of God the Most High]” (Genesis 14:18). Was priesthood granted to him? Priesthood was not given until Aaron stood. What is it that it says here: “He was a priest”? It is because he would sacrifice like priests. Shem died, and he bequeathed it to Abraham. Was Abraham the firstborn? Rather, because he was righteous, the birthright (I.e., the status of firstborn.) was passed to him and he sacrificed, as it is stated: “He offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). Abraham died, and bequeathed it to Isaac. Isaac arose and gave it to Jacob. Was Jacob firstborn? It is, rather, that you find that Jacob took it from Esau cunningly. He said to him: “Sell me your birthright today” (Genesis 25:31). Do you think, perhaps, that it was for nothing that Jacob said to Esau that he should sell him the birthright? No. It is, rather, that Jacob sought to sacrifice, but he could not because he was not a firstborn. Esau said: What do I want with this birthright, as it is stated: “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die, [and why do I need a birthright]” (Genesis 25:32). At that moment, Ezekiel’s prophecy applied in his regard and said to him: “Surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6). Did Esau hate blood? Did he not kill several righteous men, did he not kill several pious men, and it says: “Surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you”? Rather, he said to him: ‘Surely, you hated the blood of an offering,’ as he was firstborn, and the firstborn sacrifice. Therefore, “blood will pursue you.” At that moment, when Jacob acquired the birthright, he began sacrificing, as it is stated: “God said to Jacob: Arise, ascend to Beit El…and make there an altar…” (Genesis 35:1). Likewise, when Moses sacrificed at Sinai, it was the firstborns who sacrificed, as it is stated: “He sent the lads of the children of Israel, [and they offered up burnt offerings]” (Exodus 24:5). Who are the “lads”? They were the elite of the firstborn. “They offered up burnt offerings” – you learn that no person would sacrifice other than the firstborn. When Israel performed that deed, (They sinned with the Golden Calf.) they said: Let the firstborn come and sacrifice offerings before it, as it is stated: “They arose early the next day, and they offered up burnt offerings and they presented peace offerings” (Exodus 32:6). God said to them: ‘I promoted the firstborn, and I rendered them prominent in the world, but they rejected Me and arose and sacrificed before the calf. I will remove the firstborn and bring in the children of Levi.’ Therefore, God said to Moses that he should count them, as it is stated: “Count the children of Levi” (Numbers 3:15). Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi said: Who whispered to you that God removed the firstborn from sacrificial rites and appointed the children of Levi, as it is stated: “Take the Levites”? In place of whom? “In place of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the animals of the Levites in place of their animals; the Levites shall be Mine, I am the Lord.” The Rabbis said: To what is this matter comparable? To a provincial money changer regarding whom a matter of corruption was attributed. The king knew, and said to his governor, ‘remove him and appoint another in his place.’ Nevertheless, that money changer is found to be obligated to repay a debt. The king said: Let the one who inherited his place repay his debt. So, the firstborn were prominent in the world, but arose and sacrificed before the calf. God said: Let the firstborn depart, and let the children of Levi enter. Nevertheless, the firstborn incurred liability to be eliminated. God said: Let the Levites come and redeem them. Therefore, you find the Levites redeeming the firstborn. That is what is written: “Take the Levites…” “And the animals of the Levites in place of their animals” – because priests and Levites are exempt from redeeming their firstborn, the firstborn of man and the firstborn of a donkey, [the latter of] which is likened by the verse to the firstborn of man, as it is written: “However, you shall redeem [the firstborn of man], and the firstborn of an impure animal you shall redeem” (Numbers 18:15). But they are not exempt from [redeeming] the firstborn of a pure animal, as it is sacred. What is, “the Levites shall be Mine, I am the Lord”? I am trustworthy to pay them a good reward because they sanctified My Name at the time of the calf.
“Jacob said: Sell me your birthright this day” (Genesis 25:31). “Jacob said: Sell me…this day” – he said to him: ‘Sell me one day (The one day is the length of God’s day, based on an interpretation of the verse: “One thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday [keyom etmol]” (Psalms 90:4).) of yours.’ Rabbi Aḥa said: Anyone who knows how to calculate the days of the exile will find that Jacob sat one day in tranquility in the shadow of Esau. “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die, and why do I need [lama zeh li] a birthright?” (Genesis 25:32). “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die” – Reish Lakish said: He began cursing and blaspheming. “Lama li” (That would have been enough to convey his rhetorical question: “Why do I need a birthright?”) is not written here, but rather, “lama zeh li.” It teaches that he denied: “This is [zeh] my God” (Exodus 15:2). Another matter, “behold, I am going to die” – as Nimrod was seeking to kill him because of that garment that had belonged to Adam the first man. When he would don it and go out to the field, all the beasts and the birds in the world would come and gather near him. “Jacob said: Take an oath to me this day, and he took an oath to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:23). “[Jacob] said: Take an oath to me” – what did Jacob our patriarch see that led him to dedicate himself to acquiring the birthright? It is as we learned: until the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted, and service was performed by the firstborn. From the time that the Tabernacle was established, private altars were prohibited, and service was performed by the priests. (Zevaḥim 112b.) He said: ‘Will this evil one stand and sacrifice?’ That is why he dedicated himself to acquiring the birthright. That is what is written: “For I will render you blood, and blood will pursue you; surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6). Did Esau hate blood? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: This is the blood of birthright and offerings. Rabbi Levi said: This is the blood of circumcision. The Rabbis said: You hated a person’s blood in his body. That is what is written: “He loved curses, and they will now come upon him. [He had no desire for blessing, and it will now be far from him]” (Psalms 109:17). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥama: “He had no desire for blessing” – and no desire for birthright. Rabbi Huna said: This is the blood of the offerings, as it is called blessing, just as it says: “You shall craft for Me an altar of earth…[in every place where I mention my name, I will come to you and I will bless you]” (Exodus 20:21).
(Gen. 25:31:) THEN JACOB SAID: SELL ME YOUR BIRTHRIGHT FOR TODAY. He said to him: Are you requesting my birthright? Do you request my share in the world to come? He said to him: I do not know whether you have a share in the world to come, but sell me the birthright since it is public knowledge (Rt.: PRSM; cf. Gk.: parresia (“boldness of speech”).) FOR TODAY. SELL… FOR TODAY (KYWM): R. Aha said: Whoever knows how to {reply} [calculate] properly, knows that Israel received < the birthright > in this world only for a thousand years, because a day (YWM) for the Holy One is a thousand years. It is so stated (in Ps. 90:4): FOR A THOUSAND YEARS < IN YOUR EYES ARE LIKE THE DAY (KYWM) WHICH IS YESTERDAY >. (The Israelites knew only a millennium of true independence. See also Gen. R. 63:13.)
(R. Jochanan) asked him: Hast thou never learnt to read the Shema', or the Tephillah, or the Grace after meals? He replied to him: No. He arose and (R. Jochanan) taught him the three (prayers). (Again) he sat down and wept. (R. Jochanan) said to him: My son, why dost thou weep? He replied: Because I desire to learn Torah. He (thereupon) taught him two rules (of the Law) every day of the week, and on the Sabbath (Eliezer) repeated them and assimilated them. He kept a fast for eight days without tasting anything until the odour of his mouth attracted the attention of R. Jochanan ben Ẓakkai, who directed him to withdraw from his presence. He sat down and wept. (R. Jochanan) said to him: My son, why dost thou weep? He rejoined: Because thou didst make me withdraw from thy presence just as a man makes his fellow withdraw, when the latter is afflicted with leprosy. (R. Jochanan) said to him: My son, just as || the odour of thy mouth has ascended before me, so may the savour of the statutes of the Torah ascend from thy mouth to Heaven. He said to him: My son! Whose son art thou? He replied: I am the son of Hyrḳanos. Then said (R. Jochanan): Art thou not the son of one of the great men of the world, and thou didst not tell me? By thy life! he continued, This day shalt thou eat with me. (Eliezer) answered: I have eaten already with my host. (R. Jochanan) asked: Who is thy host? He replied: R. Joshua ben Chananjah and R. José the Priest.
Even when Esau wanted some of Jacob's soup, נזיר, prior to the transaction involving the sale of the birthright, it was Esau who practiced extreme deception as Rashi explains (25,29). Rashi says that the dish consisted of red lentils. How did Rashi know this? Or, at least, who told Rashi this? Rashi was not in the habit of making such a statement without quoting his source!
בין הערבים יקטירנה, “he shall bring it up in smoke in the afternoon.” It is a well known fact that the fragrance of incense burned in the late afternoon lingers longer than its counterpart burned in the morning. This is already referred to in Psalms 141,2: “take my prayer as an offering of incense, my upraised hands as an evening sacrifice.” David emphasizes that which is offered in the afternoon/evening. When referring to his offering he did not mention such offerings as sin-offerings or guilt-offerings or even burnt-offerings, but asked G’d to look kindly on his offering of incense. All the other offerings are in expiation of some sin, even sins committed only in one’s thoughts and never carried out which are atoned for by the עולה, the burnt-offering. The incense offering has no connotation of sin associated with it at all. David asked that his prayer be accepted by G’d as if it had been incense. This is also why he said in the verse following שיתה ה' שמרה לפי, “O Lord set a guard over my mouth.” I believe that the word שיתה belongs together with the word לפי, as if David had said: שיתה ה' לפי, שמרה לפי, he meant that G’d should put suitable words in his mouth. David thereby alluded to what G’d had said to Moses in Exodus 4,11 מי שם פה לאדם, “who has provided man with a mouth?” David requested that G’d help him not to utter words which are not appropriate. This is the meaning of the latter half of the verse in Psalms 141,3 נצרה על-דל שפתי, “set a watch at the door of my lips.” The word דל is short for דלת שפתי. The idea of a mouth having a door is already described in Micah 7,5 where the prophet says שמר פתחי פיך, “be guarded in your speech.” He used the word פתח to describe the mouth which opens and closes just like a door. G’d uses similar language in Job 41,6 saying of Leviathan: דלתי פניו מי פתח, “who can pry open his face?” The word נצרה in Psalms 141,3 is in an imperative form just like מכרה in Genesis 25,31, or in Genesis 43,8 when Yehudah told his father Yaakov שלחה הנער אתי, “send the lad (Binyamin) with me!” The dagesh in the letter צ of the word נצרה is merely for aesthetical purposes to make the reading of the word more pleasant-sounding. It is similar to the dagesh in Exodus 15,17 in the letter ק of the word מקדש of the line מקדש ה' כוננו ידיך. It results in doubling the sound. The psalmist could have written נצור just as easily as he wrote נצרה. Concerning the words משאת כפי מנחת ערב, “my upraised hands as a gift of the evening,” David requests here that his prayer at this time be even more welcome to G’d than an offering of incense in the morning. The reason he describes his prayer as “his outstretched palms,” is to compare it to the incense which is born on one’s hands, having in mind Leviticus 16,12: “and his cupped handfuls of finely ground incense.” Another thought David may have had in mind when he referred to מנחת ערב may have been related to the meaning of the word ערבות, “pleasing,” as in Maleachi 3,4, וערבה לה' מנחת יהודה וירושלים, “then the offerings of Yehudah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, etc.” Seeing that of all the sacrifices none is as welcome to G’d as the incense, its smoke begins to rise heavenwards immediately it is placed on the altar. This is why at the beginning of this hymn David describes it as קראתיך חושה לי, “when I call You hasten to me.”
כנגדו, she should be constantly present to attend to his needs; the prefix letter כ is to be understood as in Samuel I 9,13 כהיום, and as in Numbers 11,1 כמתאוננים, and as in Hoseah 5,10 כמסיגי גבול, in all of which instances the letter כ serves to emphasise what follows. (compare Genesis 25,31 where Yaakov insists that the sale of the birthright be effective immediately with the words כיום, “as of today”) Other explanations of the word כנגדו are that if and when her husband would embark on a sinful path of action, it would be woman’s task to prevent him from doing so by opposing it; these are familiar to all my readers, I am sure. The basic difference between man the species and woman his mate who were not initially created as two separate individuals as opposed to all the other living creatures, is to distinguish him favourably from all those other creatures. It draws attention to the fact that man is made from superior raw materials, and that as opposed to the other creatures among whom the male does not enjoy an advantage over the female, man, i.e. the male of the human species, does enjoy such an advantage. The male of the human species enjoys a position of authority vis a vis his female counterpart. The reason that he enjoys this right is the fact that woman is –after all- one of his own original limbs, and a person does have control over the various parts of his body. Seeing that the male of the human species had been the principal creation, woman became an adjunct to him, so that it is logical that man possesses superior strength to woman, and that also the power of his intellect is more manifest than that of his female counterpart.
That his intentions. . . are peaceful — just as this sun. . . The Re’m was puzzled why Rashi cited the Mechilta, [which says that the sun is an allegory for peace,] and ignored the Baraisa in Sanhedrin 72a, which says: “If it as clear to you as the sun that his intentions towards you are peaceful. . .” For according to the Baraisa, the sun is an allegory for the issue being clear, not for peace. [To resolve this,] it seems that Rashi was answering a question: [If the simple meaning of the verse is as the Baraisa said,] why does the verse not say, “If it shines on him like day,” or simply “day,” as in, “Sell, as the day, your birthright to me” (Bereishis 25:31)? This would have meant that the issue is clear. Therefore Rashi explains [the verse according to the Mechilta:] “Just as the sun represents peace. . .” Yet you might object: Why does Rashi cite the Mechilta, [which does not follow the plain meaning of the verse either]? The answer is: The Mechilta is close to the verse’s plain meaning, and also resolves various difficulties in the verses.
Yaakov said, As of this day [Like this day], sell your birthright to me.
And Jakob said, Sell today, as (on this very) day, what thou wouldst hereafter appropriate, thy birthright, unto me.
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר עֵשָׂ֔ו הִנֵּ֛ה אָנֹכִ֥י הוֹלֵ֖ךְ לָמ֑וּת וְלָמָּה־זֶּ֥ה לִ֖י בְּכֹרָֽה׃ | 32 J | And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?” |
הנה אנכי הולך למות, “here I am going to die;” (prematurely) the inheritance of the land of Israel promised by G-d to Avraham is linked to the birthright. Seeing that it will not be realised until after 400 years as G-d had told Avraham, (15,13) and seeing that Esau did not expect to live that long, of what benefit was the status of being the firstborn to him personally? What could he possibly lose by trading that status for a hot meal at this time? ולמה זה לי הבכורה, “what good is this birthright for me?” Esau means that if he could be assured that he would live that long he would not entertain the thought of selling his birthright, but since G-d Himself had told his grandfather that this would come true only in the fourth generation [and Avraham had therefore been able to make a pact of non aggression with Avimelech covering the next three generations, Ed.] he could sell such an entitlement for next to nothing. His own life was in danger daily due to his vocation as a hunter. In the very best set of circumstances his claim to the Land of Israel could only become of interest after their father Yitzchok had died. [Yitzchok was only 175 years old when this conversation took place. Ed.]
ויאמר עשו הנה אנכי הולך למות, Esau said: “seeing that I am likely to die young (due to my lifestyle), I am willing to sell my birthright for a mess of pottage, seeing it is only an intangible asset. In light of these considerations, I might as well sell it to you.”
[BEHOLD, I AM AT THE POINT TO DIE.] He was daily exposed to danger when he went out hunting, as an animal might kill him. Thus there was a possibility that he would predecease his father.
ויאמר עשו, it is not clear whether the Torah records Esau’s reflections on Yaakov’s demand, something Esau did not articulate, or whether Esau told Yaakov in so many words that the birthright was of no value to him as he did not expect to live long enough to benefit from it
הנה אנכי הולך למות, I am going into the forest day after day to hunt in an area full of bears, lions and other ferocious beasts, and I am risking my life on a daily basis. What point would there be in my waiting until our father dies and I get my share of the birthright? This is the way my father Rabbi Meir interpreted Esau’s words in this verse. This is the meaning of “Esau despised the birthright.” (verse 34).
הנה אנכי הולך למות BEHOLD I AM IN PERIL TO DIE — The birthright is something unstable, for not always will the sacrificial duties be performed by the first-born, for the tribe of Levi will assume this. Further Esau said: What is the nature of this Service? Jacob replied, “Many prohibitions and punishments and many acts involving even the punishment of death are associated with it — just as we read in the Mishna, (Sanhedrin 22b): The following priests are liable to death: those who carry out their duties after having drunk too much wine and those who officiate long-haired. He said: If I am going to die through it, why should I desire it.
הולך למות, through the excessive fatigue and exertion associated with my vocation.
Said Eisov: “What is the nature of this Service?” If he said it due to hunger, he should have said, “I am dying,” [rather than, “I am going to die”].
And Esau said: Behold, I am going to die; I am so tired that I feel that I am about to collapse. For what do I need a birthright? Even if some sort of financial benefit will accrue from the birthright, it will be actualized only in the distant future, and Esau the hunter is not a calculating individual who makes long-term plans.
“Esau said, I am at the point of death, so what use is my birthright to me?” [25:32]. Jacob said: sell it to me, as clear and certain is the day, so certainly sell me your birthright. Jacob said: it is not just that the evildoer Esau should bring the offerings, because the offering of sacrifices was done by the firstborn. Esau said to Jacob: a person can be killed through the offering of sacrifices, like when he goes bareheaded or when he is drunk and brings his offerings, he is worthy of the death penalty. Therefore, Esau said: I do not want the birthright. (Rashi, Genesis, 25:32.) Bahya writes. Esau said: what will the birthright do for me? The custom was in ancient times that after the father’s death, the firstborn had great honor from the other children and sat in his father’s place. Esau said: what good is the honor if I have to wait for the honor to come only after my father’s death. Who knows who will die first, particularly since I go every day to hunt wild animals that might kill me first? (Bahya, Genesis, 25:31.) “There was a famine in the land … the Lord had appeared to him and said, do not go down to Egypt” [26:1–2]. There was a famine in the land and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar. The Holy One appeared to Isaac and said to him, do not go to Egypt. You are not like your father who went to Egypt out of hunger, but you were a sacrifice on the altar. Therefore, you should not go to Egypt, which is outside the land of Israel. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:2.)
"Hal'itehu (This verb occurs but once in Scripture in Genesis 25:30: “Hal’iteni min ha-adom ha-adom ha-zeh -- Pour into me, I pray thee, some of this red, red [pottage].” Ibn Ezra comments that the term “hal’iteni” connotes “eating.” The various English translations render the phrase “Let me swallow” or “Let me gulp.” Neither of those translations captures the hif’il, or causative, voice of the verb. The Soncino translation of the talmudic dictum is “Stuff the wicked.” The Bet Yehudah Yiddish-language translation of the passage renders the phrase as “Pour into me.” See also Bereshit Rabbah 63:30. That translation was originally preferred by this writer as most accurately capturing the nuanced meaning of the text. However, felicity of English style prompts translation as “Gorge the wicked.”) la-rasha ve-yamot (R. Judah Shaviv, Teḥumin, X (5748), p. 157, note 3, suggests that the phrase “until he dies” is a reference to Esau’s exclamation “Behold I am about to die” (Genesis 25:32) in conjunction with his demand “Pour into me.”) – Gorge the wicked and let him die" is formulated as a principle of comportment by the Gemara, Bava Kamma 69a, with regard to thieves who steal fruit yielded by a sapling within the first four years after it has been planted. The fruit of the first three years is entirely forbidden as orlah; the fruit that grows during the fourth year, known as neta reva'i, or, in the case of grapes, as kerem reva'i, must either be transported to Jerusalem and consumed within the walls of the city or redeemed by exchanging the fruit for coins which must then be expended for the same purpose.
(6) Esau's concept of the birthright and its values may not have differed much from the way many Jews perceive the "feast of Leviathan." Some are willing to sell their claim cheaply, whereas others treasure it and would spend their life savings to assure themselves of their share in it. Since Jacob realized that although he treasured the value of the birthright, Esau considered it of trifling importance, he felt morally justified in swapping it for a nominal amount. The apparent urgency to complete the transaction (sell it to me this day!) may have been prompted by the realization that the next time Esau would be exhausted he might well be at the point of death, and the opportunity for this transaction might have disappeared forever. Since Esau had made it clear that he had many close encounters with death (Genesis 25,32), Jacob made it plain that under such circumstances, when no documents were at hand to record transfer of ownership, the least he required was an oral declaration of a binding nature. The sale was to become effective "as of now!" The Torah gives evidence that Esau had an opportunity to reconsider this rash decision when he was fully restored to his senses, i.e. after having eaten. Therefore, we are told, "He ate, he drank, he got up and he went about his business; he despised his birthright."
So, "SHE TOOK FROM THE TREE AND ATE." The Torah describes two considerations as having won out. 1) The external appearance of the tree was made the yardstick of what is good and what is evil. 2) The prospect of immediate pleasure outweighed the fear of the eventual harm. "Their eyes were opened and they were naked." This does not describe their embarrassment, which would not have been objectionable, and would have been the result of their having enjoyed the fruit of that tree. The awareness was a form of knowledge that they needed to maintain their image. In order to do this, expensive trimmings for one's exterior are required. They therefore quickly attempted to cover themselves so that they could prove themselves superior to the animals. (9) The Torah therefore does not state that they did this in order to cover their nakedness. This is also why no mention is made of their feeling ashamed when they heard the voice of G-d, only that they hid themselves out of fear, seeing that they had transgressed G-d’s commandment. Adam said "I heard Your voice and was afraid." To this G-d replied "who told you that you are naked?" (6) Had Adam and Eve eaten only from the trees whose fruit had been permitted, the feeling of shame would have necessitated covering only their private parts, would not have induced in them the feeling that they needed fancy clothing to prove their superior status. Only eating from the tree of knowledge could have accounted for that feeling. (7) Adam (man) added to his sin by blaming his wife, suggesting that because she had given him of the fruit, he had been bound to eat it. That is why G-d blamed him doubly now, saying 1) "Because you listened to your wife;" 2) "Because you ate." When our sages explain Psalms 69,32, "And this will please the Lord better than a bullock tossing its horns and showing its hooves," they say that this refers to the offering brought by Adam. The ox Adam offered had its horns protruding beyond his hooves. Split hooves are a sign of "purity" in an animal, and reconciliation with one's Maker is to be achieved by means of the sacrifice of a "pure animal" (or by words as described in Hoseah 14, who describes the bull as equivalent to lips). When such a reconciliation is attended by the claim that others are responsible for one's shortcomings, one distorts the concept of sacrifice. Adam did this by blaming his sin on his wife. Therefore, the Psalmist describes the signs of purity of his sacrificial bullock as having been obscured by its horns. Originally, the bull had only one horn, a sign of superior strength. It is the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah that a horned animal is more likely to gore, to cause damage. Therefore, it would have been most fitting symbolically to serve as the sin offering for Adam. Eve fell into the same trap as Adam by blaming the serpent for her sin. The serpent, being the last party involved in the episode, did not need to be asked by G-d. It was cursed by having its former superior height reduced till it became the lowliest creature, condemned to crawling on the ground. Since the serpent had tricked Eve into eating what held allure for the eye, it would henceforth subsist on a diet of things that looked like earth, i.e. held no allure for the eye. The ongoing enmity between man and the snake, with man seeking to smash the head of the snake, is another part of the curse decreed on the latter. Woman was cursed in matters specific to her function. When she fails to become pregnant right after marriage, both parties worry about her being barren. Her pain will be greater than that of man, since even when she bears children she is not certain of her husband's love. There is the discomfort of pregnancy and the pain of giving birth. Despite all this, man dominates her when it comes to marital relations. Since man was created first, and since the survival of the species depends on him (he is commanded to procreate, not she), she who was created later was clearly created for his benefit, and not vice versa. Woman's sex urge is therefore usually weaker than man's. As the Talmud says (Kidushin 2), "It is the way of a man to try and recover what he has lost (i.e. looking for a wife), it is not the way of the lost object (woman) to go looking for its owner." For this reason, man displays less embarrassment in matters relating to sex. Granted that the urge for physical contact is rooted in the animalistic within us, man nevertheless has the redeeming excuse that he needs to reproduce the species. Woman does not share this redeeming aspect of the sex urge. The comparison is similar to what Solomon has stated in Proverbs 6,31-32 when he compares people who steal because of need with people who steal because of greed. The curse upon man was greater, since as a direct product of G-d’s creative activity (He personally had equipped him with the soul of life), his conduct should have been on a far higher plane than even that of his wife. He was cursed in all "directions" of motion corresponding to the status of being a "living creature" par excellence which had been his prior to his sin. The four aspects of motion can be subsumed as defined by the answers to the questions 1) where to? 2) how? 3) how much? 4) motion itself. Scriptural references for the above are "Go for yourself from your country," i.e. "where to;" (Genesis 12,1). "He will keep going and cry" equals the "how"? (Psalms 126,6). "Continuing to grow in intensity," equals the "how much?" (Exodus 19,19). "Here I am going to die," equals the "motion itself," an example of when the very nature of the motion transforms the essence of the one who is in motion (Genesis 25,32). G-d said, "Because you listened to your wife" 1) "The earth is cursed," will not yield its fruit easily. Man is condemned to eat vegetables he has to grow and plant, since he had been too anxious to eat from the fruit of the tree for which he did not have to toil. 2) Only after having "sweated and toiled" will man be able to feed himself from now on. 3) "Until you die," i.e. until your travels take you from above the ground to your grave below. 4) "To dust you will return," you will dissolve into a multiplicity of particles (reference to how much, quantity). Instead of being a single integrated unit, you will disintegrate. 8) Originally, Adam had called Eve “ishah ", emphasizing her parity with man, i.e. ish. After the episode with the tree of knowledge, he called her chavah, emphasizing the female element within her, and the fact that she was the mother of all subsequent human beings. Between these two names, the two functions of woman are defined. On the one hand, as the eyshet chayil, woman of valor, she possesses all the ingredients that can raise her to the status of prophetess; on the other hand her function is to become a mother. A woman who fails to give birth, just like a man who is sterile, has not forfeited her major function in life, as is proven from Isaiah 56,3-5, "Let not the barren proclaim I am but a dried-out tree." We hold the view that man's major function is the performance of good deeds, something quite independent of procreation. If Jacob had been angry at Rachel for demanding children, else her life would not be worth living (Genesis 30,1-2), it was precisely for this reason. When the Talmud in Nedarim 64 states that of the four categories of people who are considered as dead, one is the group that have no children, the reference is only to their perpetuating their name on this earth. When woman conducts herself true to her purpose as helpmate to man, she also retains the name ishah. When, however, she acts as a hindrance, her function is reduced to that of the female part within her, i.e. she remains only chavah, mother. (9) G-d, in His kindness, covered their entire bodies with clothing, fulfilling a wish Adam had expressed already before that. G-d had waited for this request for clothing just as He had waited for the request of a suitable mate.
And Esau bethought himself of the path he had chosen for himself and answered (Ibid 32): "Behold, I go to die. Why, then, should this birthright be mine?" The meaning here is as follows: Good men always follow in the footsteps of their virtuous forefathers, as our sages have stated (Erchin 16b): "One should never abandon the 'trade' of his fathers." All this, so that he be called by the name of his fathers. And the opposite is the case with those who do not walk in the path of their fathers — he causes their name to be forgotten until their memory is almost obliterated. This is the intent of "I go to die…" That is, I have not chosen to follow the way of my fathers, whose glory is to dwell at home; but I love the life of the wilderness, to walk by myself to the lairs of lions and to hunt. What profit is there, then, in my fathers' name being conferred upon me if their ways are not my ways.
And Jacob saw that the selling of the birthright would be to Esau's shame and humiliation. He, therefore, said (Genesis 25:32): "Swear to me as this day." His intent was not that this bind Esau for fear of his soul. For one such as he would not be bound by a vow or any manner of oath. (Our sages have already said [Bava Bathra 16b] that Esau had perpetrated five transgressions on that day, one of which was denial of the Holy One.) But because he foresaw the possibility that the sale might be contested (the birthright accorded by such a father as Isaac not being barterable for money), he desired to confirm the sale through Esau's oath, so that no further litigation be necessary if Esau contested the transaction. (To this should be added the fact that it is the practice of the peoples to this very day to secure those transactions which have some inherent weakness by means of an oath on the part of the leaser or seller.)
“Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the animals of the Levites in place of their animals; the Levites shall be Mine, I am the Lord” (Numbers 3:45). “Take the Levites…” – our Rabbis said: Why did the Holy One blessed be He command to redeem the firstborn of Israel with the Levites? It is because initially the firstborn were performing the sacrificial service, until the tribe of Levi arose, as our Rabbis taught: Until the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted and the sacrificial service was performed by the firstborn. From the establishment of the Tabernacle, private altars were prohibited and the sacrificial service was performed by the priests. ( Zevaḥim 112b.) Know that the firstborn were sacrificing until the tribe of Levi arose; take proof from the beginning of the creation of the world. Adam the first man was the firstborn of the world. When he sacrificed his offering, as it is stated: “May it please the Lord more than a bull with horns and hooves” (Psalms 69:32), he donned the vestments of the High Priest, as it is stated: “The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife hide tunics, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). They were praiseworthy garments, and the firstborn would perform the service in them. When Adam died, he bequeathed them to Seth. Seth gave them to Methuselah. When Methuselah died, he bequeathed them to Noah. Noah arose and sacrificed an offering, as it is stated: “He took from every pure animal…[and offered up burnt offerings]” (Genesis 8:20). Noah died, and he bequeathed them to Shem. Was Shem the firstborn? Was it not Yefet who was the firstborn, as it is stated: “Brother of Yefet the eldest” (Genesis 10:21)? Why, then, did he bequeath them to Shem? It is because Noah foresaw that the line of the patriarchs would be established from him. Know that Shem would sacrifice, as it is stated: “And Malkitzedek (Commenting on this verse, Rashi quotes a midrash (perhaps from Bereshit Rabba 56) that identifies Malkitzedek with Shem the son of Noah.) king of Shalem…[he was a priest of God the Most High]” (Genesis 14:18). Was priesthood granted to him? Priesthood was not given until Aaron stood. What is it that it says here: “He was a priest”? It is because he would sacrifice like priests. Shem died, and he bequeathed it to Abraham. Was Abraham the firstborn? Rather, because he was righteous, the birthright (I.e., the status of firstborn.) was passed to him and he sacrificed, as it is stated: “He offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). Abraham died, and bequeathed it to Isaac. Isaac arose and gave it to Jacob. Was Jacob firstborn? It is, rather, that you find that Jacob took it from Esau cunningly. He said to him: “Sell me your birthright today” (Genesis 25:31). Do you think, perhaps, that it was for nothing that Jacob said to Esau that he should sell him the birthright? No. It is, rather, that Jacob sought to sacrifice, but he could not because he was not a firstborn. Esau said: What do I want with this birthright, as it is stated: “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die, [and why do I need a birthright]” (Genesis 25:32). At that moment, Ezekiel’s prophecy applied in his regard and said to him: “Surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6). Did Esau hate blood? Did he not kill several righteous men, did he not kill several pious men, and it says: “Surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you”? Rather, he said to him: ‘Surely, you hated the blood of an offering,’ as he was firstborn, and the firstborn sacrifice. Therefore, “blood will pursue you.” At that moment, when Jacob acquired the birthright, he began sacrificing, as it is stated: “God said to Jacob: Arise, ascend to Beit El…and make there an altar…” (Genesis 35:1). Likewise, when Moses sacrificed at Sinai, it was the firstborns who sacrificed, as it is stated: “He sent the lads of the children of Israel, [and they offered up burnt offerings]” (Exodus 24:5). Who are the “lads”? They were the elite of the firstborn. “They offered up burnt offerings” – you learn that no person would sacrifice other than the firstborn. When Israel performed that deed, (They sinned with the Golden Calf.) they said: Let the firstborn come and sacrifice offerings before it, as it is stated: “They arose early the next day, and they offered up burnt offerings and they presented peace offerings” (Exodus 32:6). God said to them: ‘I promoted the firstborn, and I rendered them prominent in the world, but they rejected Me and arose and sacrificed before the calf. I will remove the firstborn and bring in the children of Levi.’ Therefore, God said to Moses that he should count them, as it is stated: “Count the children of Levi” (Numbers 3:15). Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi said: Who whispered to you that God removed the firstborn from sacrificial rites and appointed the children of Levi, as it is stated: “Take the Levites”? In place of whom? “In place of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the animals of the Levites in place of their animals; the Levites shall be Mine, I am the Lord.” The Rabbis said: To what is this matter comparable? To a provincial money changer regarding whom a matter of corruption was attributed. The king knew, and said to his governor, ‘remove him and appoint another in his place.’ Nevertheless, that money changer is found to be obligated to repay a debt. The king said: Let the one who inherited his place repay his debt. So, the firstborn were prominent in the world, but arose and sacrificed before the calf. God said: Let the firstborn depart, and let the children of Levi enter. Nevertheless, the firstborn incurred liability to be eliminated. God said: Let the Levites come and redeem them. Therefore, you find the Levites redeeming the firstborn. That is what is written: “Take the Levites…” “And the animals of the Levites in place of their animals” – because priests and Levites are exempt from redeeming their firstborn, the firstborn of man and the firstborn of a donkey, [the latter of] which is likened by the verse to the firstborn of man, as it is written: “However, you shall redeem [the firstborn of man], and the firstborn of an impure animal you shall redeem” (Numbers 18:15). But they are not exempt from [redeeming] the firstborn of a pure animal, as it is sacred. What is, “the Levites shall be Mine, I am the Lord”? I am trustworthy to pay them a good reward because they sanctified My Name at the time of the calf.
“Jacob said: Sell me your birthright this day” (Genesis 25:31). “Jacob said: Sell me…this day” – he said to him: ‘Sell me one day (The one day is the length of God’s day, based on an interpretation of the verse: “One thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday [keyom etmol]” (Psalms 90:4).) of yours.’ Rabbi Aḥa said: Anyone who knows how to calculate the days of the exile will find that Jacob sat one day in tranquility in the shadow of Esau. “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die, and why do I need [lama zeh li] a birthright?” (Genesis 25:32). “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die” – Reish Lakish said: He began cursing and blaspheming. “Lama li” (That would have been enough to convey his rhetorical question: “Why do I need a birthright?”) is not written here, but rather, “lama zeh li.” It teaches that he denied: “This is [zeh] my God” (Exodus 15:2). Another matter, “behold, I am going to die” – as Nimrod was seeking to kill him because of that garment that had belonged to Adam the first man. When he would don it and go out to the field, all the beasts and the birds in the world would come and gather near him. “Jacob said: Take an oath to me this day, and he took an oath to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:23). “[Jacob] said: Take an oath to me” – what did Jacob our patriarch see that led him to dedicate himself to acquiring the birthright? It is as we learned: until the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted, and service was performed by the firstborn. From the time that the Tabernacle was established, private altars were prohibited, and service was performed by the priests. (Zevaḥim 112b.) He said: ‘Will this evil one stand and sacrifice?’ That is why he dedicated himself to acquiring the birthright. That is what is written: “For I will render you blood, and blood will pursue you; surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6). Did Esau hate blood? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: This is the blood of birthright and offerings. Rabbi Levi said: This is the blood of circumcision. The Rabbis said: You hated a person’s blood in his body. That is what is written: “He loved curses, and they will now come upon him. [He had no desire for blessing, and it will now be far from him]” (Psalms 109:17). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥama: “He had no desire for blessing” – and no desire for birthright. Rabbi Huna said: This is the blood of the offerings, as it is called blessing, just as it says: “You shall craft for Me an altar of earth…[in every place where I mention my name, I will come to you and I will bless you]” (Exodus 20:21).
(Ex. 2, 5) And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river. Said R. Jochanan in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai: "From this it may be inferred that she came down to cleanse herself from the idols of her father's house, and so also do we find [that the word 'washing' is applied for idols.] (Is. 4, 4) When the Lord shall have washed away the filth from the daughters of Zion." (Ex. 2, 5) And her maidens walked along by the side of the river. Said R. Jachanan: "The word halicha (walk), is used in connection with death, and so also does the passage read, (Gen. 25, 32) Behold I am going (holech) to die." (Gen. 2, 5) And when she saw the box among the flags; i.e., as soon as her maidens noticed that she desired to save Moses they said to her: "Our princess, the custom of the universe is that if a frail king issues a decree even though the decree is not observed by the rest of the world, nevertheless the king's sons and household obey it and thou art transgressing the decree of thy father, [which caused the throwing of the children in the river]." Thereupon the angel, Gabriel, came and smote them upon the ground [thus the above meaning, going to death, is derived]. (lb.) She sent Amatha and fetched it. R. Juda and R. Nechemiah differ in the explanation of Amatha. One said it means her hand, while the other contends that it means her maid. The one that explains it to mean hand bases his opinion upon the text (amatha, means arm), but the one that explains it to mean maid bases his opinion that for hand the text should have used Yada (hand), [which could not be misunderstood]. But how can you interpret Amatha maid? Have we not said above that Gabriel came and smote them upon the ground? One of the maidens was left, for it is not customary to leave a princess without a maiden. Again, the one who interprets Amatha hand, why did not the text used rather Yada? By using Amatha it informs us that her arm became stretched out, for the master said: "So also we find that it happened with the arm of Pharaoh's daughter! and thus also it happened with the teeth of the wicked [Og] as it is written (Ps. 38) The teeth of the wicked Shibarta, and Resh Lakish said: Do not read Shibarta (hast Thou broken) but read it Shirbabta (that became remified)."
(Gen. 25:29:) NOW JACOB HAD BOILED < A STEW >. Esau came in from the field and saw that Jacob's face was blackened. He said to him: What are you doing? He said to him: Do you not know that our grandfather Abraham is dead, and I am cooking food? (See Gen. R. 63:11 ; BB 16b; (bar.); Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 25:27; PRE 35.) Now he was going to prepare the mourner's meal on his behalf. Esau said to him: My friend and my enemy, < both > alike have died. Abraham has died, and Nimrod has died. SO (according to Gen. 25:32) WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS BIRTHRIGHT TO ME? What was he cooking? Lentils, because from ancient times they had brought lentils (on account of) [unto] the mourner and lentils to the house with a wedding. (Gen. 25:29:) THEN ESAU CAME. (See Gen. R. 63:12; PRK 3:1; cf. BB 16b; PR 12:5.) They have said: This wicked man committed three transgressions on that day. He robbed, since it is written (of Edom in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU, PLUNDERERS (rt.: ShDD) (The midrash may also see an allusion here to Gen. 25:27: A MAN OF THE FIELD (SDH).) OF THE NIGHT. He also seduced a maiden who was betrothed, as stated (in Gen. 25:7): < EDOM BECAME A MAN > OF THE FIELD. A field is nothing but a maiden, since it is stated (in Deut. 22:25): IF IN THE FIELD [THE MAN FINDS A MAIDEN] < WHO IS BETROTHED, AND THE MAN SEIZES HER AND LIES WITH HER >…. And he took a life, since it is stated (in Gen. 25:29): AND HE WAS EXHAUSTED. EXHAUSTED can only < imply > "killing." Thus it is stated (in Jer. 4:31): WOE UNTO ME, NOW! FOR MY LIFE IS EXHAUSTED BEFORE THOSE WHO KILL.
(Gen. 25:32:) AND ESAU SAID: LOOK, I AM GOING TO DIE. Abraham is dead; yet the Holy Spirit says (in Jer. 22:10): DO NOT WEEP FOR ONE WHO IS DEAD < … > WEEP BITTERLY FOR ONE WHO IS GOING AWAY. (Gen. 25:32, cont.:) SO WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS BIRTHRIGHT TO ME? Now the Holy Spirit says (in Ps. 109:17): SINCE HE LOVED A CURSE, IT HAS COME UPON HIM; SINCE HE DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN BLESSING, IT IS FAR FROM HIM. How did the first-born sacrifice? (Zev. 14:4:) BEFORE THE TABERNACLE WAS ERECTED < … > THE SACRIFICIAL SERVICE WAS < PERFORMED > BY THE FIRST-BORN. (The complete sentence from the Mishnah is quoted in Bekh. 4b; below, 6:12; PR 5:9; Gen. R. 63:13; Numb. R. 4:8. See also PRE 8.) Moreover, everyone who offered sacrifice was worthy of being blessed, as stated (in Exod. 20:21 [24]): < YOU SHALL MAKE ME > AN ALTAR OF EARTH…. < AND IN EVERY PLACE WHERE I HAVE MY NAME MENTIONED > I WILL COME UNTO YOU AND BLESS YOU. Esau said: This man wants neither to sacrifice nor to be blessed. The prophet said to him (in Ezek. 35:6): SURELY YOU HAVE HATED BLOOD; SO BLOOD SHALL PURSUE YOU. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hanina ben Hama: This is the blood of the sacrifices which he hated to sacrifice to the Holy One. But our masters say: This is the blood of circumcision, since he stretched his foreskin (to undo his circumcision). Thus it is stated (in Ps. 55:21 [20]): HE HAS PUT FORTH HIS HAND AGAINST HIS WHOLENESS AND PROFANED HIS COVENANT.
Another interpretation (of Ezek. 35:6): SURELY YOU HAVE HATED BLOOD. Now Esau hated blood. His father had blessed him through blood, and he had confidence in blood, as stated (in Gen. 27:40): YET BY YOUR SWORD YOU SHALL LIVE. Still it < actually > says to him (in Ezek. 35:6): SURELY YOU HAVE HATED BLOOD! It is simply that he hated a person's life while it was placed in his body. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 25:32, end): SO WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS BIRTHRIGHT TO ME?
(Deut. 25:18, cont.:) And he cut off (rt.: znb) all who were lagging behind you. He smote them with a blow to the tail (rt.: znb). (The word can also denote the penis. See PR 7:3; 12:10, 13; 13:1.) And this agrees with what R. Hanina bar Shilqa, said, “What did the House of Amalek do to Israel? (Below, section 14.) They cut off their penes and flung them heavenward, as they said, ‘This is what You have chosen, take for Yourself what You have chosen.” As Israel did not know what the nature of spit was, until Amalek came and taught them, as stated (with reference to Ezek. 8:17), “here they were sending the spit in their faces.” From whom did he learn it? From his grandfather Esau, as stated (in Gen. 27:36), “And he said, ‘Is he not (hky) rightly named Jacob?’” (Gen. R. 67:4.) He rubbed (rt.: hkk) his throat and brought out the spit. (Deut. 25:18), “All who were lagging behind you.” R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and the masters [differed]. R. Judah said, “They said, ‘If He is master over all of out deeds, we will serve Him; but if not, we will revolt against Him.’” R. Nehemiah said, “They said, ‘If He furnishes us with our food like a king who is living in the province, such that the province lacks nothing at all, we will serve Him; but if not, we will revolt against Him.’” And the masters said, “They said, “’If we have a thought in our hearts and He knows what we are thinking, we will serve Him; but if not, we will revolt against Him.’” R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Levi, “In their heart they had a thought, and the Holy One, blessed be He, granted them their request.” And what is the evidence? (Ps. 78:18:) “They tested God in their heart by asking food for themselves.” See what [else] is written there (in vs. 29), “So they ate and were very full.” Another interpretation (of Deut. 25:18), “all who were lagging behind you”: R. Judah, R. Nehemiah and the masters [differ]. (PRK 3:12; PR 12:13, cont.; PRE 44; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Exod. 17:8 and Deut. 25:18.) R. Judah says, “Whoever was overcome was discarded.” R. Nehemiah says, “Whomever the cloud vomited up was discarded.” And the rabbis say, “It was the tribe of Dan that the cloud vomited up, [as] they all served idols, as stated (The reference is to the idol which the Danites took from Micah. See Jud. 17–18.) (Deut. 25:18, cont.), ‘when you were tired and weary, and did not fear God.’” [You were] tired from thirst and weary from the road, and you did not fear God. (Above, Gen. 7:15; 8:5; 12:13; Tanh., Gen. 12:14; Deut. 6:10, cont.; PRK 3:13; PR 13:4; Gen. R. 73:7; cf. BB 123b.) R. Pinhas said in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahman, “It is a transmitted aggada [that] Esau will fall at the hand of the children of Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin), as stated (in Jer. 49:20), ‘Surely the youngest of the flock shall drag them away.’ Why does it call them the youngest of the flock? Because they were the youngest of the tribes.” Hence, Moses said to Joshua (Exod. 17:9), “Choose men for us.” As he was [descended from] Joseph, about whom it is written (Gen. 42:18), “I fear God.” And about Esau, it is written (Deut. 25:18), “and did not fear God.” Youth is written with reference to the one and small is written with reference to the other (i.e., with reference to Esau). Youth is written with reference to the one (in Gen. 37:2), “since he (Joseph) was a youth with the children of Bilhah [and with the children of Zilpah].” And small is written with reference to the other (in Obad. 1:2), “I will surely make you (Edom) smallest among the nations.” The one (Esau) grew up with two who were righteous (i.e., with Isaac and Rebekah) and did not learn from their deeds, while the other grew up with two who were wicked (i.e., Potiphar and Pharaoh) and did not learn from their deeds. The one received the birthright as a result of his good deeds, while the other lost his birthright from his evil deeds. The one supported his brothers, while the other sought to kill his brother. The one fenced himself away from sexual immorality and from the spilling of blood, while the other sullied himself with sexual immorality and the spilling of blood. The one conceded to the revival of the dead, as stated (Gen. 50:24), “God will surely remember you”; while the other denied the revival of the dead, as stated (Gen. 25:32), “Behold, I am going to die.” The one offered his life for his mother’s honor, as stated (Gen. 33:7), “and after, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed”; while the other sought to kill his mother, as stated (Amos 1:11), “and he destroyed his uterus.” (This is a homiletical translation of the verse, which would otherwise be translated as, AND HE REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Therefore, the one (Esau) will fall by the hand of the other (Jospeh). And R. Johanan said, “All of the ministering angels sought to battle with the ministering angel of Esau, but he would not fall by their hand, as he would remove each and every one with a response: To Reuben, he says, ‘You were suspected about your father’s concubine.’ To Simeon and Levi, ‘You also killed [the inhabitants of] Shekhem.’ To the other tribes, ‘You sold your brother and sought to kill him.’ To Judah, ‘You were also suspected about your daughter-in-law, Tamar.’ To Benjamin he said, ‘You were suspected about the concubine in Giveah.’ When the ministering angel of [Joseph] came and battled with him, he immediately fell in front of him, as he had no response to answer him. This is what is written (Obad 1:18), “And the House of Jacob shall be fire, and the House of Joseph flame, and the House of Esau shall be straw.”
“The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile while her maidens were walking on the bank of the Nile. She saw the basket among the reeds and she sent her maidservant [amatah] and she took it” (Exodus 2:5). “To bathe in the Nile” (Exodus 2:5) – to wash off the idolatry of her father’s home. “While her maidens were walking [holekhot],” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The term halikha here is nothing other than an expression of death, and likewise it says: “Behold, I am going [holekh] to die” (Genesis 25:32). They said to her: ‘Our mistress, the way of the world is that a king issues a decree and the entire world does not fulfill it, but his children and the members of his household fulfill it; and you are violating the command of your father.’ Immediately, [the angel] Gabriel came and slammed them onto the ground [and killed them]. “She sent her maidservant [amatah] and she took it.” Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, one says her arm, and one says her maidservant. The reason for the one who says “her arm” is that amatah is written. (Had the verse been referring to her maidservant, it should have said na’aratah, maiden, which is the expression employed earlier in the verse.) The reason for the one who says “her maidservant” is that yadah (The more common term for “her arm.” ) is not written. According to the opinion of the one who says her maidservant, when Gabriel came and slammed them onto the ground, he spared one of them, as it is not the way of a princess to remain alone. They raise an objection: According to the one who says “her hand,” let it write “yadah.” This is not difficult, as this is the reason that amatah is written, because her arm was stretched. (Her arm stretched, so it was the length of several cubits (amot).) We learned: Likewise you find: “You have broken [shibarta] the teeth of the wicked” (Psalms 3:8); do not read it as shibarta, but rather as shirbavta, that you enlarged and extended. The Rabbis say: Pharaoh’s daughter was a leper; that is why she went to bathe. When she touched the basket she was cured. That is why she had compassion for Moses and loved him exceedingly.
I have already hinted that Jacob, who referred to himself as possessing כל, "all," in Genesis 33,11, is similarly described by that term in our grace prayer. What is meant is his remaining totally alive, seeing all his children continued to live according to their father's tenets. Jacob was also called איש, and our sages relate that whereas Jacob did not die, Esau did die (Taanit 8). Esau had said of himself in Genesis 25,32 that he was headed for death. Jacob's ability to remain "alive," חי, began with Sarah, who was not attached to the קליפה, and through whose son, ביצחק, one side of such pollutants was already removed, i.e. מיצחק, hence the description of his blessing as מכל. The terms בכל-מכל-כל, refer to elimination of the pollutants in ever-increasing measure. Abraham therefore is at the bottom of such a chain whereas Jacob is at the top, and thus was called חי.
The scoffers of that generation maintained that Sarah had been impregnated by Avimelech and that Isaac was the issue. They claimed that, had Abraham been Isaac's father, it would have been impossible for Isaac to have fathered a son such as Esau who pursued married women to commit adultery with them under the noses of their husbands. Isaac's extraordinary success as well as the fact that he was sanctified on Mount Moriah and not allowed to leave the holy soil of ארץ ישראל, all served to show that he was indeed a true son of Abraham. Of Esau the Torah reports in Genesis 36 6: וילך עשו אל ארץ, "Esau went to a land." He had to leave ארץ ישראל because that land "vomits" people who behave in a grossly incestuous manner. Isaac was the model of refinement in every respect. The reason G–d blessed him in such an extraordinary fashion was to demonstrate the fact to one and all that sexually pure conduct unlocks all the bounty of the land of Israel to those who dwell in it.
All three patriarchs were refined through the experience of some degree of exile. Jacob together with his sons, of course, descended into exile in Egypt, where they were in real exile, having had to leave their homeland. Jacob actually should have been brought to Egypt in chains, as our sages state in Shabbat 89b. The 400-year exile started with the birth of Isaac, though Isaac did not actually leave the Holy Land. He is however, always referred to as being גר, a stranger, in that land. Even though the patriarchs were not physically enslaved, the status of being sojourners sufficed to consider them as being in exile. Even Abraham, who was looked up to as a prince among the local population, and who had been "crowned" king in the עמק השוה, as we have mentioned earlier, suffered thirty years of mental exile during the years between the ברית בין הבתרים and the birth of Isaac. Jacob was especially pursued by the קליפה, for Samael had managed to injure Jacob's ירך, thigh, hip joint. As a result, Jacob was in need of greater refinement than his father or grandfather, which manifested itself in a more serious form of exile. Although Esau was a son of Isaac, and honored his father, [which indicated Isaac's affinity to that קליפה of his, Ed.], the fact that Esau lived a life designed to lead to physical as well as spiritual death (as we know from his own admission in Genesis 25,32 when he sold the birthright, and again when he wished for his father to die prematurely, Genesis 27,41) meant that Isaac had rid himself of that קליפה and therefore only needed a minimal amount of exile experience. Abraham died before Esau had become wicked, and thus had no affinity to Esau's קליפה. Abraham also expelled Ishmael from his home when G–d commanded him to pay heed to what his wife Sarah had told him, namely to expel the servant woman and her son. As a result of his keeping away from both these קליפות Abraham did not have to experience actual exile. He did not even have to feel as a stranger. All that was needed to refine him was the anxiety experienced between the promise of the birth of an heir and the fulfillment of that promise, which meant the onset of the 400 years of his descendants being regarded as strangers or of their being actual slaves.
הולכות ,ונערותיה, “and her servantmaids “walking,” Rashi, while interpreting the word as meaning “walking towards her death,” quotes a traditional explanation in the Talmud Sotah 12 according to which it is short for “being on a path which leads to death,” as in Genesis 25,32, where Esau is quoted as saying: הנה אנכי הולך למות, “here I am pursuing a path that will result in my death;” The scholar in the Talmud has the servant maids warning the daughter of Pharaoh who was actually going to use the waters of the Nile as a mikveh, ritual bath, in order to cleanse herself from the desecrations that were a daily occurrence in her father’s palace, by warning her that even when other people might disregard the king’s command surely his own daughter would not dare do so? They warned that by doing so she would condemn herself to death by execution. When hearing what her maidservants had said to Pharaoh’s daughter, the angel Gavriel struck them so that they fell to the ground. At this point there surfaces a divergence of opinion between two scholars, one saying that the word אמתה, as distinct from the word נערות for the servant maids used by the Torah previously, refers to the servant maid who had been spared by the angel, as it is not fitting for a princess to remain without at least one of her attendants. The other scholar does not understand the word אמתה as “her servant maid,” but as “her arm,” i.e. the arm of the princess which had been miraculously lengthened to the extent of about 2,5 meters for this purpose. Rashi, for reasons of a grammatical nature, rejects the second opinion offered in the Talmud, saying that if correct the letter מ in that word would have to have a dot, dagesh in it. He adds that further proof is the fact that the letter א in the word is vocalised with an abbreviated vowel chataf patach.
מאה שנה, “one hundred years;” Rashi comments on the reason why the word: שנה, “year,” is repeated here three times, when the Torah could have simply written: מאה עשרים ושבע שנה, “one hundred and twenty seven years.” He suggests that the Torah wished us to know that Sarah was as free from sin at a hundred as she had been at twenty, and that she was as beautiful at twenty as she had been at seven. This, of course, raises the question why the Torah, in reporting the death of Yishmael at 137 years (Genesis, 25,32) used exactly the same formulation? We can answer this by pointing out that when reporting Sarah’s age, each group of years is reported separately, as an individual unit, whereas when reporting Yishmael’s age at death, the groups of years are introduced in the construct mode, i.e. מאת, not מאה, i.e. all the years had the same common factor. Not only that, but the Torah sums up her years once more with the words: שני חיי שרה, “the years of Sarah’s life,” i.e. all her years were earmarked by a common denominator. If, when Avraham’s death is reported our sages have seen fit to read something into the way his years are reported, although there too just as at the death of Yishmael we find the word מאת in the construct form, this can be accounted for by the word: ימי, “days of,” which are superfluous and therefore available for interpretation. (Genesis 25,7) Rashi also adds that Sarah was free from sin at twenty as if this was something exceptional; this sounds strange as at that time everyone was free from sin, i.e. not held accountable until the age of twenty? We must understand Rashi as if he had written: ”just as she was free from sin at 20, she remained free from sin until the end of her life. Accountability for sins at the age of 12 or 13 for females and males respectively, commenced only after the Torah had been given. [Our midrashim describe Yishmael as “innocent” when expelled by Sarah, as he was below 20 years of age. Ed.] Sarah had not required cosmetics at twenty anymore than she had required it at the age of seven. We know from Rivkah, who accepted jewelry at the age of three in order to enhance her appearance, that girls in those days felt the need to enhance their natural charms at an early age. (Compare Genesis 24,22) There is a Midrash in pessikta zutrata according to which the reference to her being one hundred as meaning that she was as beautiful at a hundred as she had been at twenty, whereas she was as free from sin at twenty as she had been at seven.
על יד היאר means BESIDE THE RIVER. Similar is (II Samuel 14:30) “See, the field of Joab is beside mine (על ידי)”. It really denotes even in this sense the actual hand, for a person’s hand is beside him (i. e. beside his body). Our Rabbis explained that the word הלכת “they were going” denotes dying, similar to (Genesis 25:32) “Behold I am going (הולך) to die” — they were going to their death because they attempted to prevent her from saving the child. Scripture, too, supports them in this explanation, for if this is not the meaning, why do we need that it should write “and her damsels were going”? (Scripture reports nothing as having happened because they were walking there. Why then stress this detail if it merely signifies that they were walking along the bank?).
ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם. I warn you that what you have in mind will boomerang on you and instead of improving your lot will worsen it. Pharaoh used this expression in a sense similar to Esau rejecting his birthright saying הנה אנכי הולך למות, “I am pursuing a path which will lead to my premature death, anyway” (Genesis 25,32). A similar meaning is Solomon saying in Proverbs 5,5 of the immoral woman: רגליה יורדות מות “her feet go down to death.” Our sages in Berachot 28 described the same thought as והם רצים לבאר שחת.
The Gemara cites proofs to support these charges. He engaged in sexual intercourse with a betrothed maiden, as it is written here: “And Esau came in from the field”; and it is written there with regard to rape of a betrothed maiden: “For he found her in a field” (Deuteronomy 22:27). He killed a person, as it is written here: “And he was faint”; and it is written there: “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the slayers” (Jeremiah 4:31). And he denied the principle of God’s existence, as it is written here: “What profit is this to me” (Genesis 25:32); and it is written there: “This is my God and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2). When he questioned the profit of “this,” he was challenging the assertion that “this is my God.” And he denied resurrection of the dead, as it is written: “Behold, I am at the point of death” (Genesis 25:32), indicating that he did not believe in resurrection after death. And he despised the birthright, as it is written: “And Esau despised the birthright” (Genesis 25:34).
The verse continues: “And her maidens walked along [holekhot] by the riverside” (Exodus 2:5). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This walking is nothing other than the terminology of going toward death, and similarly it states: “Behold, I am going [holekh] to die” (Genesis 25:32).
Eisov said, Here I am going to die, what [good] is this birthright to me.
And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and in another world I shall have no life; and what then to me is the birthright, or the portion in the world of which thou speakest?
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֗ב הִשָּׁ֤בְעָה לִּי֙ כַּיּ֔וֹם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖ע ל֑וֹ וַיִּמְכֹּ֥ר אֶת־בְּכֹרָת֖וֹ לְיַעֲקֹֽב׃ | 33 J | But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. |
השבעה לי כיום “swear it to me as of this day. Yaakov requested an oath that Esau would not change his mind about this deal at some time in the future. This was the only way that the sale would have meaning for him. He did so because the Talmud teaches that if someone announces: “I will sell you whatever I will inherit from my father,” such a statement is legally meaningless. (Baba Metzia 16).
ויאמר השעבה לי. He said: "swear it to me on an oath." The reason that Jacob requested an oath from Esau was because the whole institution of the birthright contains many intangibles, such as the honour and dignity conferred on the firstborn. Jacob was particularly interested in the privilege of performing duties in the Temple, something which was the duty of the firstborn at that time. We are conversant with the rule that a person cannot transfer the right to intangibles either by sale or by gift (Maimonides Hilchot Mechirah chapter 22). This is why Jacob insisted on making such acquisition by means of an oath. Yoreh Deah 239 rules that both tangibles and intangibles may be acquired by means of an oath.
Jacob used the words "swear it to me." Actually the oath is not sufficient to acquire an intangible which does not even exist yet such as becoming heir to one's father if the latter dies before the heir. The reason is that the purchaser cannot truly have convinced himself that he will ever obtain what he has purchased (Baba Metzia 16). If, however, the purchaser was absolutely certain in his mind, the object has indeed been acquired and the oath is quite irrelevant. This is why Jacob had to add the words כיום, as I have explained already. In the meantime I have found a book of the Rivash in which he writes as follows in the course of item number 328. "You have written that you have seen that the son of the Rosh wrote in the name of his father that if someone tried to acquire a "future" by means of an oath such an acquisition is legally valid. He proves the thesis from the sale of the birthright from Esau to Jacob and the fact that the latter insisted on an oath. Since we have neither the signature of the Rosh or his son Rabbi Yaakov to confirm such a theory, it is not admissible to place such theories in the mouths of great men [in order to lend them weight Ed.] seeing that the theory has absolutely no merit. The "so-called" proof from our story is no proof at all seeing that all this occurred before the Torah was given to the Jewish people. It is quite possible that in those days people did not distinguish between selling "futures" and selling "actuals." The oath then would merely have served to reinforce the sale, to protect oneself against the seller changing his mind at a later date. Esau was, after all, a man of violence." Thus far the Rivash. This is exactly in agreement with what we have written, the only difference being that the Rivash did not see fit to provide a reason why Jacob insisted on an oath.
The reason Jacob said: "swear an oath on it to me," instead of merely "swear an oath on it," is so that it would be understood that the sale was for the benefit of Jacob (not for someone else). The oath had to be acceptable to Jacob else Esau could have annulled it in his heart. The essential element of an oath is the heart, i.e. what a person has in mind at the time of the oath (compare Rabbi Akiva in Torat Kohanim 12). Rabbi Akiva insists that at the time an oath is sworn the person undertaking it must have no reservations about the declaration he makes on oath. When Jacob said "swear it to me," he meant: "make your oath correspond to my will."
Another reason Jacob was careful to add the word לי "to me," was that only he was able to acquire the birthright. Inasmuch as the benefits of the birthright include such intangibles as the duty to perform sacrificial service in the sanctuary, this was something that devolved from Isaac to his son. This privilege could not be sold to anyone who was not a son of Isaac. The dignity of the office of the priesthood (in those days equivalent to the birthright) could also not be transferred to an outsider.
וימכור את בכרתו, He sold his birthright, etc. The Torah here had to state the validity of the sale a) because of the reasons we have explained, b) because Esau acted under some kind of duress, c) that Esau sold something for a mere fraction of its real worth. In his commentary on Choshen Mishpat item 227, the Maharik writes as follows: "if someone sold something due to pressing need even at a price significantly below its accepted market value, he cannot retract because he was aware of what he was doing and forgave the difference in value to the purchaser." In view of this ruling the fact that Esau sold the valuable birthright for a single swallow of Jacob's potage did not invalidate the sale. Esau had described his state of exhaustion as: "here I am about to die;" there is no greater emergency than a person selling something in order to save his life. We know from Job 2,4 that a person will give up all that he has for his life. Had Esau not been in such a state, Jacob could not have acquired the birthright from him. When Solomon said in Proverbs 5,22 that the wicked will be entrapped by their iniquities, he had Esau in mind. According to Bereshit Rabbah 63,14 Esau had committed a number of sins on that fateful day and this was the reason that he forfeited the birthright which was transferred to someone more deserving than he.
ויאמר השבעה לי, he was afraid that Esau would have second thoughts after having eaten.
SWEAR TO ME THIS DAY. When Esau said, “What is this birthright to me? I do not desire it,” Jacob said to him, “Swear to me that you will not desire it, nor will you inherit it forever.” Thereupon he swore to him, and following that he sold it to him, and Jacob gave him the purchase price (That is, the money. This is in accordance with the opinion stated above. Although Ramban does not agree with it, he nevertheless mentions it as an alternate interpretation of the verse.) or the pottage he desired. It is possible that Esau said, “What is this birthright to me? It is sold to you,” and Jacob said, “Swear to me that you will never complain about the sale.” And when Scripture says that first he swore to him and then he sold it to him, its intent is as if it said that he sold it to him first and then swore to him.
וימכור את בכורתו, in exchange for money. After this Yaakov gave Esau the reddish looking dish of lentils he had cooked, as is customary among people sealing a bargain.
השבעה לי, seeing that the purchase under discussion was something abstract, the oath would replace the act of physically taking possession of the object purchased and moving it.
וימכור את בכורתו, in accordance with the price they had mutually agreed upon. The Torah did not bother to spell out the exact sum.
Jacob said: I am not satisfied with a simple declaration that you don’t care about the birthright. Rather, take an oath to me this day that you are transferring it to me. He took an oath to him that the birthright would belong to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob. It is possible that the stew was given in payment for the birthright. However, it can be argued that as part of the family meal, the stew was not Jacob’s to sell to his brother. If so, perhaps Esau sold the birthright for a substantial sum, which Jacob handed over immediately or promised to give at a later time. 8
And Jacob saw that the selling of the birthright would be to Esau's shame and humiliation. He, therefore, said (Genesis 25:32): "Swear to me as this day." His intent was not that this bind Esau for fear of his soul. For one such as he would not be bound by a vow or any manner of oath. (Our sages have already said [Bava Bathra 16b] that Esau had perpetrated five transgressions on that day, one of which was denial of the Holy One.) But because he foresaw the possibility that the sale might be contested (the birthright accorded by such a father as Isaac not being barterable for money), he desired to confirm the sale through Esau's oath, so that no further litigation be necessary if Esau contested the transaction. (To this should be added the fact that it is the practice of the peoples to this very day to secure those transactions which have some inherent weakness by means of an oath on the part of the leaser or seller.)
There are high mysteries in this verse, and we friends wonder about them, for it says that Jacob lived instead of Yisrael, to wit 'And Israel lived.' For the name Jacob indicates smallness, and the name Israel indicates Mochin of greatness, while "and lived" alludes to the Light of Chayah, which is the Mochin of greatness. It should have said, 'And Israel lived.' How do we know that Yisrael indicates Mochin of Greatness? From the verse, "Yisrael is holy to Hashem" (Jer. 2:3), (Holy is an allusion to greatness). It also says, "Israel is My son, My firstborn" (Shemot 4:22), firstborn being an allusion to greatness. Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, said, Yet scripture says, "and he sold his birthright to Jacob" (Beresheet 25:33), for with the birthright, which is greatness, the name Jacob is mentioned.
“Jacob said: Sell me your birthright this day” (Genesis 25:31). “Jacob said: Sell me…this day” – he said to him: ‘Sell me one day (The one day is the length of God’s day, based on an interpretation of the verse: “One thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday [keyom etmol]” (Psalms 90:4).) of yours.’ Rabbi Aḥa said: Anyone who knows how to calculate the days of the exile will find that Jacob sat one day in tranquility in the shadow of Esau. “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die, and why do I need [lama zeh li] a birthright?” (Genesis 25:32). “Esau said: Behold, I am going to die” – Reish Lakish said: He began cursing and blaspheming. “Lama li” (That would have been enough to convey his rhetorical question: “Why do I need a birthright?”) is not written here, but rather, “lama zeh li.” It teaches that he denied: “This is [zeh] my God” (Exodus 15:2). Another matter, “behold, I am going to die” – as Nimrod was seeking to kill him because of that garment that had belonged to Adam the first man. When he would don it and go out to the field, all the beasts and the birds in the world would come and gather near him. “Jacob said: Take an oath to me this day, and he took an oath to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:23). “[Jacob] said: Take an oath to me” – what did Jacob our patriarch see that led him to dedicate himself to acquiring the birthright? It is as we learned: until the Tabernacle was established, private altars were permitted, and service was performed by the firstborn. From the time that the Tabernacle was established, private altars were prohibited, and service was performed by the priests. (Zevaḥim 112b.) He said: ‘Will this evil one stand and sacrifice?’ That is why he dedicated himself to acquiring the birthright. That is what is written: “For I will render you blood, and blood will pursue you; surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6). Did Esau hate blood? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: This is the blood of birthright and offerings. Rabbi Levi said: This is the blood of circumcision. The Rabbis said: You hated a person’s blood in his body. That is what is written: “He loved curses, and they will now come upon him. [He had no desire for blessing, and it will now be far from him]” (Psalms 109:17). Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Ḥama: “He had no desire for blessing” – and no desire for birthright. Rabbi Huna said: This is the blood of the offerings, as it is called blessing, just as it says: “You shall craft for Me an altar of earth…[in every place where I mention my name, I will come to you and I will bless you]” (Exodus 20:21).
“From Beersheba” – Rabbi Yudan and Rav Huna, Rabbi Yudan said: From the source [be’er] of the oath [shevua]. He [Jacob] said: So that Avimelekh will not stand over me and say: ‘Take an oath to me just as your grandfather took an oath to me,’ and I will delay the joy of my descendants for seven generations. (Abraham's oath caused a delay of seven generations. See Bereshit Rabba 54:4.) Rav Huna said: [He departed] from the source of the birthright. He [Jacob] said: ‘So that Esau will not stand over me, challenge the birthright, and say: This is how you deceived me and took my birthright.’ The result will be that I will lose that oath, as it is stated: “Take an oath to me this day” (Genesis 25:33). “From Beersheba” – Rabbi Berekhya said: From the source of the blessings. He [Jacob] said: ‘So that Esau would not stand over me and say to me: This is how you deceived me and took the blessings.’ The result will be that I will ruin all the toil that my mother toiled on my behalf.
(Genesis 45:8) "So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh." I am like a creditor to him, as it is stated (Exodus 22:24), "Do not impose interest upon him." Just as the way of a creditor is to lend to a borrower (Proverbs 22:7), in the book of Rabbi Meir, it is written, "And he has made me a father," as it says, "which the Lord, your God, gives you" (Deuteronomy 15:2). This is a legal judgment derived from the full texts written in the Torah, which emerged from Jerusalem during the Sabbatical year and ascended to Rome, and the scrolls were stored in the synagogue of Asvyros. "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). "For a man and his wife, leather tunics" (Genesis 3:21). "I will descend now and see their outcry" (Genesis 18:21). "The Lord who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth" (Genesis 24:7). "And he sold his birthright" (Genesis 25:33). "Behold, now, I am old; I do not know the day of my death" (Genesis 27:2). "The fragrance of a field that the Lord has blessed" (Genesis 27:27). "And Oholibamah bore Jeush" (Genesis 36:5). "Eliphaz, the son of Esau" (Genesis 36:10). "These were the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau" (Genesis 36:14). "They arose and went down to Egypt" (Genesis 43:15). "And I buried her there on the way" (Genesis 48:7).And he has made me a father to Pharaoh." And here are the names that came down to Egypt (Genesis 46:8). "So shall you say to the children of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:3). "The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses" (Exodus 12:37). "For it is a sign between Me" (Exodus 31:13). "Five for the planks on one side" (Exodus 26:27). "We have no barricade against it." "And the priest shall take from its blood" (Leviticus 4:34), for if it is a lamb. "And when the zav becomes purified with living water" (Leviticus 15:13). "One lamb of the first year without blemish" (Leviticus 14:10). "All who come to join the ranks must be counted in their census" (Numbers 4:3). "From the first of your dough, you shall give" (Numbers 15:20). "Avenge the vengeance of the children of Israel" (Numbers 31:2). "And they came to Moses and to the congregation of the children of Israel" (Numbers 12:1). "The heads of the families of the house of Joseph approached" (Numbers 36:1). "But I have not the power to go up" (Deuteronomy 1:26). "And they shall inherit it, they and all the people of the land" (Numbers 32:22). "To give us into the hands of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:27). "Nor take a mother upon her young" (Deuteronomy 22:6). "Brimstone and salt burning" (Deuteronomy 29:22). "Like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah" (Deuteronomy 29:22). "I said, I would scatter them" (Deuteronomy 32:26). So they are written in the Torah that emerged from Jerusalem.
“This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death” (Deuteronomy 33:1). Halakha: A person of Israel who passed before the ark (He served as prayer leader.) and erred, (He is unable to continue the prayer for some reason.) how must he act? So the Sages taught: One who passes before the ark and errs, let another pass in his stead. Our Rabbis taught us, Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: If one erred in the first three blessings, he returns to the beginning of “Shield.” (“Shield of Abraham,” the first blessing of the Amida prayer.) Rav Huna said: If one erred in the middle three (There are actually thirteen middle blessings in the weekday Amida prayer. Thus, the midrash is referring to a case in which someone made a mistake in one of the thirteen middle blessings. In the Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah there are three middle blessings.) blessings, he returns to “the holy God.” (The third blessing ends with the words "the holy God." The midrash states that the person who made the mistake starts from the fourth blessing, which begins right after the words "the holy God.") Rav said: If one erred in the final three, he returns to the beginning of “we give thanks.” (Which is the first of the last three blessing) Another matter, one who passes before the ark and erred, another passes in his place. From where does he begin? It is from the beginning of the blessing where he erred. From where did they derive it? It is from the patriarchs of the world. Why? It is because each of them would begin only from where the other ended. How so? Abraham blessed Isaac. From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5). What did he give him? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: He gave him the birthright, like the matter that is stated: “He sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:33). Rabbi Neḥemya said: He gave him a blessing, like the matter that is stated: “May God give you [of the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth…]” (Genesis 27:28). Isaac arose to bless Jacob, he said: ‘From the place that father ended, I will begin. Father ended with veyiten, I, too, will begin with veyiten,’ as is it is stated: “May God give you [veyiten lekha].” With what did Isaac end? It was with summoning, as it is stated: “Isaac summoned Jacob and blessed him” (Genesis 28:1). Jacob arose to bless the tribes, he said: ‘I will begin only with summoning,’ as it is stated: “Jacob summoned his sons” (Genesis 49:1). With what did he end? It was with zot, as it is stated: “And this [vezot] is what their father spoke to them” (Genesis 49:28). Moses arose to bless Israel, he said: ‘I will begin only with zot.’ From where is it derived? It is from what is written regarding the matter: “This is [vezot] the blessing.”
(Ib. b) R. Jochauan in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai said: "Since the day the Holy One, praised be He! created the world there was no man who called the Holy One, praised be He! 'Lord' (Adon) until Abraham came and called him 'Lord,' for it is said (Gen. 15, 8.) And he said Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" Rab said "Daniel also would not have been answered were it not for the sake of Abraham, for it is said (Dan. 9, 17.) And now listen, O our God! to the prayer of thy servant, for the sake of the Lord; — 'for Thy sake' he [Daniel] ought to have said? But [he prayed] for the sake of Abraham, who called you Lord." Again said R. Jochanan in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai: "Since the day when the Holy One, praised be He! created the world, there was no man who thanked the Holy One, praised be He! until Leah came and thanked Him, as it is said (Gen. 29, 35.) This lime will I thank the Lord." What is the meaning of being called Reuben? R. Elazar said: "Leah said, 'See the difference between my son and the son of my father-in-law (Esau); whereas my father-in-law's son sold his birthright to Jacob of his own accord, as it is written (Gen. 25, 33.) And he sold his right of first-horn unto Jacob, yet what happened? As it is written (Ib. 27, 41.) And Esau hated Jacob, and it is also written (Ib. ib. 36.) And he said, hath he been therefore named Jacob, because he hath supplanted me these two times; but my son, although it was against his will that Joseph took from him the birthright, as it is written (I Chr. 5, 1.) But when he defiled his father's bed was his birth-right given unto the sons of Joseph; yet he never envied him, for it is written (Gen. 37, 21.) And when Reuben heard it he delivered him out of their hands.'" Why was she named Ruth? R. Jochanan said "Be cause she merited that from her shall come forth David, who satisfied the Holy One, praised be He! with songs and praises." And whence do we derive that the name is the cause? R. Elazar said: "It is said (Ps. 46, 9.) Come, look at the deeds of the Lord, who hath made desolation on the earth. Do not read it Shamoth (desolation), but read Shemoth (names)."
(Hosea 12:13 [12]:) THEN JACOB FLED TO THE LAND OF ARAM. From where did he flee? From Beersheba, as stated (in Gen. 28:10): AND JACOB SET OUT FROM BEERSHEBA. Was he in Beersheba? Was he not rather in Hebron, as stated (in Gen. 35:27): I.E., HEBRON, WHERE ABRAHAM AND ISAAC SOJOURNED? < The situation was merely that he fled > from a place set aside for oaths (shevu'ot), since < it was > there < that > Abraham had sworn to Abimelech. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 21:23, 31): SO NOW SWEAR TO ME BY GOD, BEHOLD…. THEREFORE THAT PLACE WAS NAMED BEERSHEBA, (i.e., The Well of the Oath) BECAUSE < IT WAS > THERE < THAT > BOTH OF THEM HAD SWORN. Now where is it shown that Isaac had sworn? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:32f.): THAT ISAAC'S SERVANTS CAME < AND TOLD HIM ABOUT THE WELL >…. SO HE CALLED IT SHIBAH (i.e., oath); < THEREFORE THE NAME OF THE CITY IS BEERSHEBA UNTO THIS DAY >. (Similarly Rashi and Nachmanides on Gen. 26:33. Cf. Malbim on this verse, according to whom Beersheba means “seventh well,” in that this well was the seventh dug by Isaac. Cf. also Ibn Ezra, who, because of what might be an alternative derivation from the number seven in Gen. 21:23-33, suggests that either Beersheba had two derivations or that there were two cities with this name.) And Esau also swore to Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 25:33): < THEN JACOB SAID > SWEAR TO ME FIRST. < Thus he swore an oath > when he took his birthright. He thought in his heart and said: If he should come and say: Come, swear to me that you have not taken my blessing by deceit, what shall I be able to do to him? I shall simply go away from this place set aside for oaths. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 28:10): AND JACOB SET OUT FROM BEERSHEBA (i.e., The Well of the Oath). (Beersheba seems to be, not a particular city, but any well where one might swear an oath. Thus, there is no contradiction between Jacob living in Hebron and setting out from Beersheba, i.e., the Hebron oath well.) Ergo (in Hosea 12:13 [12]): THEN JACOB FLED TO THE LAND OF ARAM.
Rabbi Eliezer said: Lentils are the food of mourning and sorrow. Know thou that this is so, for when Abel had been killed, his parents were eating lentil food (as a sign) of their mourning for him in mourning and sorrow. And Jacob was eating lentil food in mourning and sorrow because the kingdom, the dominion, and the birthright belonged to Esau. Moreover, on that day Abraham, his grandfather, died. The Israelites eat lentil food in mourning and sorrow on account of the mourning || and sorrow for the Temple, and on account of the exile of Israel. Hence thou mayest learn that the children of Esau will not fall until a remnant from Israel shall come and give to the children of Esau lentil food in mourning and sorrow, and will take away from them the dominion of the kingdom and the birthright, which Jacob acquired from (Esau) by oath, as it is said, "And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him" (Gen. 25:33).
Alternatively, this can be understood as an oath. There are matters which are acquired only by means of an oath, such as items that are intangible. (the fragrance of the jasmin). Compare my commentary on Genesis 25,33 when Esau sold his birthright.
[17] For he shows us Esau, who is named after his folly, as elder in point of age, but it is to the younger brother named from his discipline and practice of things excellent, even Jacob, that he awards the prize of precedence. Yet Jacob will not judge himself worthy to accept this prize until, as in some contest of the arena, his adversary has surrendered in exhaustion and yielded up the victor’s crown to him who has waged war without parley or quarter against the passions. For Esau ‘sold,’ we read, the ‘birthright to Jacob’ (Gen. 25:33),
Tangential to the mention of Leah’s son, Judah, and the reason for his name, the Gemara explains the sources for other names, including Reuben. Rabbi Elazar said: Reuben’s name should be considered a prophecy by Leah, as Leah said: See [re’u] the difference between my son [beni] and the son of my father-in-law, Esau, son of Isaac. Even though Esau knowingly sold his birthright to his brother Jacob, as it is written: “And he sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:33), nonetheless, behold what is written about him: “And Esau hated Jacob” (Genesis 27:41).
Yaakov said, Swear to me as of this day [like this day]. He swore to him, and sold his birthright to Yaakov.
And Jakob said, Swear to me today that so it shall be. And he sware to him, and sold his birthright to Jakob.
| וְיַעֲקֹ֞ב נָתַ֣ן לְעֵשָׂ֗ו לֶ֚חֶם וּנְזִ֣יד עֲדָשִׁ֔ים וַיֹּ֣אכַל וַיֵּ֔שְׁתְּ וַיָּ֖קׇם וַיֵּלַ֑ךְ וַיִּ֥בֶז עֵשָׂ֖ו אֶת־הַבְּכֹרָֽה׃ | 34 J | Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright. |
However, the person who does not bind himself to the inner intelligence, wisdom and vitality that is in each thing corresponds to Esav. He despised the birthright, as is written (Genesis 25:34), “And Esav despised the rights of the firstborn”—i.e., the inner intelligence. This is (Proverbs 18:2), “The fool does not desire understanding, but only to bare his heart.” And this corresponds to the Kingdom of Evil, to the moon of the Other Side, of which it is said (Isaiah 24:23), “The moon shall be disgraced.”
ויעקב נתן לעשו וגו, meanwhile Yaakov had already given to Esau, etc.;” at the same time when Esau had paid him money for the birthright, Yaakov had already fed him bread and a dish of lentils as proof that the sale had taken place. This was a normal procedure when commercial transactions took place in those days. We find an additional example of this in Genesis 31,46, when Yaakov and Lavan conclude a peace treaty by the stone monument.
ויבז עשו את הבכורה, “at that point Esau had shown that he despised the birthright;” until Aaron was appointed priest, the Temple service used to be performed by the firstborns of each family, regardless of which tribe they belonged to. In practice what Esau had done was as if he had said: “why should I dirty my hands with the blood of sacrificial animals,” as per Ezekiel 35,6: as I live, declares G-d: “I will doom you with blood, blood shall pursue you;” the reference is to the blood of circumcision as well as to that of sacrificial animals. [Esau is presumed to have poked fun at the need of circumcision also.] An alternate explanation of the line: “Esau despised the birthright;” seeing that Esau did not want people to point at him as the fool who had sold his birthright, he made it plain that he despised the birthright and what it stood for. In the end, we know that he came to regret this as he accused Yaakov of having tricked him out of it. (27,36).
ויבז עשו את הבכורה, “Esau had already displayed disdain for the asset known as birthright.” This is why Yaakov bought it from him. We find that Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid, referring to this verse, claims that if one finds a confirmed sinner in the possession of holy texts such as a Torah scroll, it is permissible to use subterfuge to get him to sell it.
Eisov scorned the birthright. Even after the sale he did not consider the birthright to be worth the money he received for it. Therefore it is not correct to say that he was cheated.
SO ESAU DESPISED. Esau also despised the birthright (The opening line of I.E. is difficult to comprehend. It literally reads: also this birthright because… Weiser, Filwarg, and Krinsky suggest that the text is corrupt. We have followed Filwarg’s reconstruction since it involves adding only one letter, viz., emending gam zot (also this birthright) to gam baz et (he also despised the birthright). The point is that in addition to selling the birthright because he was weary, he also despised the birthright because his father had no wealth to leave him (Weiser).) because he saw that his father had no wealth. Many are amazed at this because Abraham left Isaac a vast amount of money?” (Gen. 24:34, 37.) Have they never seen a man very rich in his youth and poor in his old age? Proof that Isaac was poor is the fact that he loved Esau because of his need. (Cf. verse 28. The reading of Nachmanides is: because of his game (tzedo). The printed texts read: because of his need (tzorko).) Had there been ample food in Isaac’s house and Esau the honorable one in his father’s sight, (Cf. Is. 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for a dish of food. Furthermore, why did Isaac have to tell Esau, Bring me venison (Gen. 27:7), if he had savory meat at home for his daily meals? Additionally, why did Jacob not have choice garments (Gen. 27:15.) and why didn’t Rebekah give Jacob gold and silver for his journey (when he fled to Haran), seeing that Jacob was so poor that he had to say, “If God will…give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on” (Gen. 28:20). Also, why did Rebekah, who loved him so much, not send him money in view of the fact that he was so impoverished that he had to tend Laban’s flock? As to the verse which states, And the man waxed great…And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household (Gen. 26:13, 14), it refers to the period prior to Isaac’s old age. Now, those who are intellectually blind think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. However, the prophet Elijah shows that the opposite is the case. (I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is described.) They further ask, why did God withhold wealth from Isaac? Let them tell us why God withheld sight from Isaac’s eyes. Let them not put us off with a poor answer based upon a Midrashic homily, (The allusion is either to an aggada which ascribes Isaac’s blindness to a curse put on him by Abimelech (Megillah 15a) or as a result of the incense which Esau’s wives offered to the idols (Tanchuma 20:20). Additional Midrashic reasons for Isaac’s blindness are quoted by Krinsky in his comments on Gen. 27:1.) for there is a secret meaning in the matter (Either for Isaac’s blindness (Weiser, Krinsky) or to the Midrash (Filwarg).) and we must not probe into it, for the thoughts of God are deep and beyond the ken of man. Similarly others say, behold Isaac had sheep, (If Isaac had sheep then he was not poor. The contradicts I.E.’s assertion that Isaac was poor.) for Rebekah told Jacob, Go now to the flock (Gen. 27:9). However, it is possible that he had a few sheep remaining. It is also possible that Go now to the flock means go to the place where sheep are sold.
ויקם וילך ויבז עשו את הבכורה, Esau arose, went on his way and despised the birthright. The Torah stresses that Esau's despising the birthright was a conscious act. Had the Torah written: "He arose, he went and he despised the birthright," we could have thought that he merely did so unconsciously. The Torah added the word "Esau" here once more to tell us that Esau deliberately showed disdain for the birthright. Even if Esau had not desperately needed to trade something to obtain some of Jacob's potage he would have sold the birthright cheaply at any time if Jacob had asked him to.
ויעקב נתן לעשו לחם ונזיד עדשים, “and Yaakov had given to Esau bread and a dish of lentils, etc.” At this point in the story the Torah reveals the nature of the dish Yaakov had cooked when Esau arrived home when we read: “Yaakov was cooking a dish.” It would have been more appropriate to mention the kind of dish Yaakov had been cooking already at the beginning of the paragraph and to continue later that Yaakov had given Esau a dish of lentils. It is possible that the Torah chose this sequence in order to describe the haughtiness of Esau as well as his lack of etiquette and regard for others; this is why the Torah did not mention what precisely Yaakov had been cooking until it had told us Esau’s whole range of reactions to what he found at home on that day. As long as we did not know what kind of ordinary dish Yaakov had cooked, we could have credited Esau with demanding the exotic dish that his brother had been preparing and that this had been the reason that he was so willing to trade his birthright for it. When the Torah, finally tells us at the end of the paragraph the nature of the dish for which Esau traded his birthright, it wanted to show us how Esau had related to it in the first place.
ויעקב נתן לעשו, as the price for the birthright. He is not reported as having given Esau wine, as the wine he drank was that belonging to the household of his father. However, fresh bread, which Yaakov had baked for himself, he did give him together with the dish of lentils. My father, of blessed memory, wrote that Yaakov positively compensated Esau with money, and that the dish of lentils and the bread he gave him and which they both ate together was only to seal the bargain between them, a custom to which we have already referred. [It is difficult to know whether our author adopted this interpretation, or whether he did not consider it as the plain meaning of the text as written. Personally, seeing that the author generally distinguishes between a past tense constructed with a letter ו when appearing as a prefix to a future mode, and the ordinary past tense, the word נתן instead of ויתן should have made him adopt his father’s interpretation as the plain meaning. Ed.]
וילך, he returned to the field to continue hunting.
ויבז, even after he had eaten and drunk he did not feel that Yaakov had tricked him and taken advantage of him when he had felt hungry.
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
ויבז עשו, seeing that eventually Esau regretted having sold his birthright, as we know from 27,36 the Torah goes on record here that he had despised the birthright and had no right to go back on the bargain he had made in full knowledge of what it entailed.
ויבז, the word is equivalent to Numbers 15,31 ויבזה from את דבר ה' בזה, the construction being parallel to ויקן as a form of the past tense קנה, “he bought, he acquired” (Genesis 33,19)
ויבז עשו THUS ESAU DESPISED—Scripture testifies to his wickedness: that he despised the Service of the Omnipresent!
ויעקב נתן, nicht ויתן יעקב, hatte ihm bereits sofort gegeben, hatte nicht seinen Hunger benutzt, um ihn zum Verkaufe zu zwingen. מכר heißt auch nicht notwendig verkaufen im eigentlichen Sinne, sondern auch: überlassen, preisgeben, צורם מכרם (Dewarim 32, 30) ימכר ד׳ את סיסרא (Richter 4, 9).
Von diesem ganzen Kaufpakte, finden wir übrigens, bekam Jakob nicht den geringsten Vorzug oder Vorteil, vielmehr ward Esau groß wie ein Fürst, während Jakob sich bei den Schafen plagen musste, also, daß die בכורה gar keinen äußeren Vorteil gewährte; es konnte sich vielmehr nur darum gehandelt haben, wem die geistige Leitung des Hauses einst anvertraut werden sollte. Dazu kommt, daß beide noch Knaben — nach Baba Batra 16b. erst 15 Jahre alt — waren. Die בכורה war also nur in kindischem Spiele verkauft worden — so nennt sie auch בר קפרא in :ב"ר משחקים, also von einem Schacher, oder einem ernsten Geschäfte konnte gar nicht die Rede sein. Esau kommt abends hungrig nach Hause, Jakob kocht sich gerade ein Gericht: Gib mir rasch von diesem Roten, mich lechzt danach, spricht Esau. Jakob gibt ihm und spricht: Sowie du gierig nach diesem Roten bist, so fehlt mir die בכורה. Du treibst dich den ganzen Tag auf dem Felde herum und eben dachte ich mir, wie es werden würde, wenn der Vater einmal stürbe und das Abrahamszelt ein Jägerhaus werden sollte — deshalb lechze ich nach der בכורה, wie du nach dem Gerichte. Nehmen wir hinzu, was die oben zitierte Überlieferung sagt, daß an diesem Tage Abraham gestorben war und Jakob sich nun denken musste, wie es sein würde, wenn statt Jizchak, Ismael Abrahams Stelle vertreten sollte, sich denken durfte, der Großvater stirbt und der Enkel, der seine geistig sittliche Stelle einst ausfüllen soll, treibt sich auf dem Felde auf der Hetzjagd herum — so ist diese ganze Verhandlung der beiden Knaben so erklärlich wie charakteristisch. Und wie diese damals einander gegenüber standen, so standen Jakob und Esau Jahrhunderte lang zu einander. Jakob gibt gerne sein Materielles dem danach lechzenden Esau hin, wenn dieser ihm nur gestattet, seiner geistig sittlichen Lebensaufgabe zu warten. —
ויעקב נתן לעשו, he had used the lentils or the dish containing them as the קנין חליפין, a token used to serve as symbol of the transfer of ownership of the object constituting the one being sold. Compare Ruth 4,7 where a shoe is mentioned as serving as such a token.
Eisov scorned the birthright. Even after the sale he did not consider the birthright to be worth the money he received for it. Therefore it is not correct to say that he was cheated.
Scripture testifies to his wickedness... Meaning: we know he did not desire his birthright since it is written that he sold it to Yaakov. If so, why does Scripture need to write, “Eisov scorned the birthright”? Perforce, Scripture is testifying to his wickedness. In other words, we would anyway know that he was wicked, but here Scripture is testifying to it. We similarly explained the verse, “The daughter of Besueil, the Aramite, of Padan Aram” (v. 20).
And Jacob gave Esau bread and a stew of lentils. Jacob fed Esau, in accordance with the custom to eat a meal at the conclusion of an acquisition. 9 By serving a meal, Jacob exhibited the seriousness of the purchase of the birthright for him. He, Esau, ate and he drank, and after he recovered and realized that he was not going to die, he arose, and he went, and Esau scorned the birthright. He remembered the sale, but he considered the entire incident ridiculous, pointless, and meaningless.
ויעקב נתן לעשו, “meanwhile Yaakov had already given to Esau, etc.” Some commentators believe that the food Yaakov had given to Esau had not been in exchange for the birthright, but had been an ordinary human gesture, something everybody does when faced with an extremely hungry person whom he is able to help. The type and amount of payment Yaakov gave Esau in exchange for the birthright has not been recorded in the Torah.
ויבז עשו את הבכורה, “Esau displayed disdain for the birthright.” According to Ibn Ezra, Esau’s disdain for the birthright was rooted in the fact that his father Yitzchok, though initially heir to an immense fortune, had become poor, so that he even depended on his food supply on his son Esau who supplied his meat diet. If bread had been plentiful in Yitzchok’s home at that time, Esau would not have sold his birthright for a mere dish of lentils. Even assuming that Yitzchok had been eating delicacies on a daily basis, how are we to account for the fact that Rivkah sent her son Yaakov empty-handed to find a match in the house of Lavan who was known to cherish money above all else? Yaakov even had to pray to G’d that He should provide him with bread to eat and clothes to wear! (Genesis 28,20) Nachmanides accuses Ibn Ezra of misunderstanding or misrepresenting the state of affairs in Yitzchok’s household. The Torah testifies that Yitzchok had inherited great wealth. If he had been poor, why would Avimelech have been afraid of the influence which his great wealth bestowed on Yitzchok so that he described him as being more powerful than he, the king of the Philistines? (26,26) It is unreasonable to suppose that in the short interval between Avraham’s death (or even his “retirement,”) and the sale of the birthright he had lost all his wealth. Moreover, the Torah testifies after the death of Avraham that G’d blessed Yitzchok (seeing that Avraham had neglected to do this, so as not to offend Ishmael) If Yitzchok had become a pauper, how would G’d’s blessing have manifested itself as such? The fact that Rivkah did not send a dowry with Yitzchok was not because they were poor, but because she was afraid that this would give Esau additional reason to ambush him and kill him. As to the venison Esau supplied for his father, his father happened to be fond of venison, and he used this supply of venison brought to him by his son Esau in order to strengthen the mutual bond of love between father and firstborn son. [Yitzchok was keenly aware that additional external prompts were needed to firm that relationship. Ed.] The Torah sees the example of Esau’s selling the birthright for a dish of lentils as an illustration of his general lack of moral stature.
It is then related that Jacob gave the bread and the pottage to Esau, who reveled in the filling of his belly and shamed the birthright. Even after he had gone he did not regret his folly and his wickedness and say: "What have I done!" This is the intent of (Genesis 25:34): "And he ate, and he drank, and he arose, and he went away, and he shamed…" That is, even after he went away. Indeed, we never find him regretting the act at all, except in conjunction with his complaint over losing the blessing, as it is written (Ibid 27:36): "He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing." It is only when he has a mundane complaint that he spills out everything along with it. In addition to this, he realized then that the tie between Isaac and his children was an extremely valuable commodity, "for His blessed ones shall inherit the land" (Psalms 37:22). It is for this reason that he worried about the birthright. Add to this the fact that at the time he was more than sixty years old, whereas his shaming of the birthright had taken place when he was a callow youth of fifteen, for which reason he made light of it and sold it for a mess of lentils (or received full payment for it, though this is not stated explicitly, according to those who subscribe to this view).
He responded, Now you deserve a whipping, because you believed Esau and lied about Ya'akov's words. The scripture bears witness that "Jacob was a plain man" (Gen. 25:27), (i.e. he was unable to cheat). Also, it is written, "You will show truth to Jacob" (Michah 7:20). This was the situation concerning Jacob and Esau. Even before, Esau detested his birthright, and he asked Jacob to take the birthright without payment! Thus, it is as written, "and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way, thus Esau despised the birthright" (Gen. 25:34).
Rabbi Yosi said, It is later written, "Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils" (Beresheet 25:34). What are these lentils? They are round as a circle, and as the circle which revolves around the world does not deviate from its path, so man in that time will never deviate from his. Although there will yet be all that is good and precious and perfect, with all that, the worldly habit of eating and drinking will not change.
“Jacob gave Esau bread and a stew of lentils; he ate, he drank, he arose, and he went, and Esau scorned the birthright” (Genesis 25:34). “Jacob gave Esau bread and a stew of lentils” – just as this lentil is shaped like a circle, so, the world is cyclical. Just as this lentil has no opening, so, it is prohibited for a mourner to speak. Just as this lentil has aspects of mourning and rejoicing, so, mourning because our patriarch Abraham died; rejoicing, because Jacob took the birthright. “He ate, he drank” – he brought a group of immoral people in with him. They said: ‘We will eat his food and mock him.’ But the Divine Spirit was saying: “Set the table” (Isaiah 21:5) – prepare the table; “set the lookout to watch [tzafo hatzafit]” (Isaiah 21:5) – prepare the candelabrum. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: There is a place where they call the candelabrum tzafita. “Arise princes” (Isaiah 21:5) – this is Mikhael and Gavriel. “Anoint a shield” (Isaiah 21:5) – write that the birthright is to Jacob. Bar Kappara said: Because they were mocking Jacob, the Holy One blessed be He agreed, and mocked them, and authorized the birthright to Jacob. From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “So said the Lord: My firstborn son is Israel” (Exodus 4:22). “He arose, and he went” – Rabbi Levi said: He departed from his world. (He lost his share in the World to Come.) “Esau scorned the birthright [et habekhora]” – what did he scorn with it? (The word et is expounded as an amplification, indicating that he scorned something else as well.) Rabbi Levi said: He scorned the revival of the dead with it. That is what is written: “With the coming of the wicked, comes also scorn” (Proverbs 18:3). “With the coming of the wicked” – this is Esau, as it is stated: “They will be called the region of the wicked” (Malachi 1:4). “Comes also scorn [buz]” – as his disgrace [bizyono] comes with him. “And with shame [kalon], humiliation [ḥerpa]” (Proverbs 18:3) – as the shame of famine accompanies him. Ḥerpa is nothing other than famine, just as it says: “So that you will no longer be subject to the humiliation of [ḥerpat] famine among the nations” (Ezekiel 36:30).
On this point, however, the Tanaim of the following Baraitha differ. (Gen. 24) The Lord has blessed Abraham bakol (in all things). What does the word bakol mean? R. Maier savs: "He was blessed in not having any daughters." R. Juda says: "On the contrary he was blessed in having a daughter." Acherim says: "He had a daughter by the name bakol" R. Elazar the Modai, said: "Abraham, our father, was an astrologer; and therefore all the kings from the West and the East came to his door to ask his advice." R. Simon b. Jochai said: "A diamond was hanging on Abraham's neck, and when a sick man looked upon it, he was cured. And when Abraham passed away, the Holy One, praised be He! sealed it in the planet of the sun." Abaye said: "This is the reason for the statement: 'When the sun rises the sick become better.' " There is another explanation [of the word bakol] that as long as Abraham was alive Esau did not become bad. According to still others: "Because Ishmael repented in his days." That Esau did not rebel in his days, as it is written (Gen. 25, 29-34) and Esau came from the field, etc., and it was taught in a Baraitha that on that day our ancestor Abraham died, and Jacob boiled lentils to offer consolation to Isaac. And whence do we learn that Ishmael had repented? As It happened when Rabina and R. Chama b. Bizna were sitting before Raba while Raba was slumbering, Rabina then said to R. Chama b. Bizna: "Is it a real fact what you said in the name of R. Jochanan, that any death which is termed Geviah, refers only to a death of a righteous?" "Yes," came the reply. "But the same expression is also written concerning the generation of the flood?" "Our reference is only when the word geviah (departed) goes together with Asipha (gathered)." But concerning Ishmael both expressions are used." Meanwhile Raba awoke from his slumber. He then said to them: "Children, thus said R. Jochanan, 'Ishmael repented during his father's life, for it is written (Ib., ib. 9) And his sons Isaac and Ishmael, etc. And from the fact that Isaac is named first, although Ishmael was older, it is to be understood that Ishmael had repented and, knowing that Isaac was better than he, he gave him the preference.' " But perhaps the verse counts them inaccordance with their wisdom. Then the Scripture (Ib. 35, 29) And Esau, and Jacob, his sons, buried him, should also have said, Jacob and Esau, and not according to the age, as it is now. Hence, we infer that Ishmael had repented.
“It was contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone, for they had told him of Mordekhai’s people; Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were in the whole kingdom of Aḥashverosh, the people of Mordekhai” (Esther 3:6). “It was contemptible [vayyivez] in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone” – contemptible one son of contemptible one. It is written there: “Esau showed contempt [vayyivez] to the birthright” (Genesis 25:34), and here it is written: “It was contemptible in his eyes.” “Haman sought to destroy all the Jews” – Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei ben Lakonya said: In this world, Israel was likened to rocks, as it is stated: “For from the top of rocks I will see them” (Numbers 23:9); “look to the rock from which you were quarried” (Isaiah 51:1). They were likened to stones, as it is stated: “From the shepherd of the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24); “the stone that the builders rejected” (Psalms 118:22). The nations of the world were likened to pottery; that is what is written: “He will break it as a potter’s jug is broken” (Isaiah 30:14). If a boulder falls on a clay pot, woe to the pot; if the pot falls on a boulder, woe to the pot; one way or the other, woe to the pot. So it is regarding anyone who confronts them [the Jews]; he will receive his just deserts from them. And so it says in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: “That a stone was hewn from the mountain, not with hands, and it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay” (The stone will destroy the image made of the different materials, each representing an empire that will be destroyed.) (Daniel 2:45). Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yannai said: If the royal purple is sold in the marketplace, woe to the buyer and woe to the seller. Likewise, Israel is the royal purple in which the Holy One blessed be He glories; that is what is written: “My servant Israel, that I glory in you” (Isaiah 49:3); if they are sold, woe to the seller and woe to the buyer. To what is the wicked Haman comparable? To a bird that made a nest on the seashore and the sea swept away its nest, and it said: ‘I will not move from here until the sea becomes dry land and the dry land becomes sea.’ What did it do? It would take water from the sea in its mouth and pour it on the land, and would take dirt from the land and cast it into the sea. Its fellow came and stood alongside it and said to it: ‘Luckless and unfortunate one! Ultimately, what can you accomplish?’ So said the Holy One blessed be He to the wicked Haman: ‘World class fool! I said I would destroy them, so to speak, and could not, as it is stated: “He said He would destroy them, were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach to turn back His wrath from destruction” (Psalms 106:23), and you said “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13) [them]. By your life, your head will be severed instead of their heads, as they are destined for deliverance and you for hanging.’
(Gen. 25:34:) SO ESAU DESPISED. < He was > of the opinion that he was joking with Jacob, but the Holy One gave his concurrence from above. (Gen. R. 63:14.) It is so stated (in Exod. 4:22): THUS SAYS THE LORD: ISRAEL IS MY FIRST-BORN SON.
(Gen. 25:34:) SO ESAU DESPISED < HIS BIRTHRIGHT >. (Prov. 18:3:) WHEN A WICKED ONE COMES, THERE IS ALSO DESPISING. This refers to Esau, about whom it is stated: SO ESAU DESPISED. (Prov. 18:3, cont.:) {AND WHEN DISGRACE COMES}, [AND WITH DISGRACE, SHAME], since the famine came in his footsteps. Thus it is stated (immediately after the verse about Esau despising his birthright, in Gen. 26:1): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND.
Rabbi said: Isaac circumcised Jacob, and Esau; and Esau despised the covenant of circumcision just as he despised the birthright, as it is said, "So Esau despised his birthright" (Gen. 25:34). Jacob clung to the covenant of circumcision, and circumcised his sons and his grandsons. Whence (do we know) that the sons of Jacob were circumcised? Because it is said, "Only on this condition will the men consent unto us to dwell with us… if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised." (Gen. 34:22). Another text says, "Only on this condition will we consent unto you: if ye will be as we be" (Gen. 34:15). Hence thou canst learn that the sons of Jacob were circumcised. The sons of Jacob circumcised their sons and their grandsons. They gave it to them as an inheritance for an everlasting statute, until Pharaoh the Wicked arose and decreed harsh laws concerning them, and withheld from them the covenant of circumcision. And on the day when the children of Israel went forth from Egypt all the people were circumcised, both young and old, as it is said, "For all the people that came out were circumcised" (Josh. 5:5).
And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn over, Sarah, and to weep over her, and he stood up from before his dead and spoke unto the sons of Heth, the in habitants of the land, saying: I am a stranger and so journey with you; give me a possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him: Behold the land is before thee, in the choice of the land bury thy dead, for verily, no man will pre vent thee from burying thy dead. And Abraham said unto them: If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is in the end of his field, and I will purchase it of him for whatsoever he may desire for it. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth, and they went and called him, and he came into the presence of Abraham; and Ephron said unto Abraham: Whatsoever thou wishest thy servant will do. And Abraham said: Nay, but I will buy the cave and thy field for its full value, as a possession for a burial place forever. And Ephron answered, saying: Behold the field and cave are before thee, give me whatsoever pleaseth thee. But Abraham said: Nay, only for its full value shall I purchase it from thy hands and from the hands of all those that go in at the gate of thy city, and from thy seed forever. And Ephron and all his kinsmen heard this, and Abraham weighed unto Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, into the hands of Ephron and his brethren; and Abraham wrote down these proceedings and had it testified by four witnesses, and these are their names: Ami gal, son of Abishna, the Hittite; Adihoron, son of Ashu nash, the Hivite; Abdon, son of Ahirom, the Gomrite, and Bakdil, son of Abidos, the Zidonite; and Abraham took the book of the sale and placed it in his treasury, and these are the words that Abraham wrote into the book saying: That Abraham bought the cave and the field from Ephron, the Hittite, and from his seed, and from all those that went in at the gate of his city and from their seed forever, to be the purchased possession of Abraham and his seed, and of all those that go forth from his loins for a possession of a burying place forever. And he put a seal thereto and had it testified by witnesses. Thus the field and the cave therein and the entire ground were secured for Abraham and his seed after him, from the children of Heth; and behold it is before Mamre, even in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan. And after this Abraham buried there Sarah his wife, and that place with all its boundaries became the possession of Abraham and his seed for a burying place. And Abraham buried Sarah in great display, as it is customary with the burials of kings, and she was interred in very beautiful and costly garments. And her bier was attended by Shem and his sons Eber and Abimelech, also by Auer, Eshcol, and Mamre, and all the dignitaries of the land followed her bier. And the days of Sarah were a hundred and seven and twenty years when she died, and Abraham made a great and heavy mourning, and he observed that mourning for seven days. And all the inhabitants of the land consoled Abraham and Isaac his son concerning Sarah. . And when their days of mourning were over Abraham sent away his son Isaac to go unto the house of Shem and Eber to learn the ways and instructions of the Lord. And Isaac remained there for three years. At that time Abraham arose with all his servants and they started to return home, towards Beer-sheba. And when the year was around, Abimelech king of the Philistines, died in that year. He was one hundred and ninety-three years old when he died. And Abraham went with all his people into the land of the Philistines to comfort the household of Abimelech, and all his household, and then he returned to his home. And after the death of Abimelech the people of Gerar took his son Benmelech, who was then only twelve years of age, and they made him king in his father's place; and they called his name Abimelech after his father, for such was their way of doing in Gerar. And Abimelech ruled in the place of his father and he sat upon his throne. And Lot the son of Haran died also in these days, in the thirty-ninth year of Isaac's life; and all the days that Lot lived were one hundred and forty years when he died. And these are the sons of Lot, born unto him by his daughters. The name of the first-born was Moab and the name of the second was Benamy. And the two sons of Lot took unto themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they bare unto them children. And these were the children of Moab: Ed, and Majon, and Tarsus, and Canvil, four sons, and they are the fathers of the children of Moab even unto this day. And all the families of the children of Lot went forth to dwell wherever they should find a suitable place, for they were very fruitful and they increased greatly. And they went out and built cities unto themselves in the land of their habitation, calling the names of the cities which they built after their own names. And Nahor son of Terah, Abraham's brother, died in those days, in the fortieth year of the life of Isaac; and all the days of Nahor were one hundred and seventy-two years, and when he died he was buried in Haran. And when Abraham heard of his brother's death he was full of grief and sorrow and he mourned over him many days. And Abraham called Eliezer, his head-servant, to give him orders concerning his house, and he came and stood before him, and Abraham said unto him: Behold I am old, I do not know the day I may die, for verily I am advanced in years. And now arise and go forth and do not take a wife for my son from this place, nor from this land, from the midst of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom we are dwelling. But go thou to my land and to my native place and take from there a wife for my son. And the Lord God of heaven and earth who hath taken me from the house of my father and brought me to this place; and who hath said unto me: To thy seed I will give this land for an inheritance forever, he will send his angel before thee and give thee success on thy way that thou mayest procure a wife for my son from my family and from the house of my father. And the servant answered unto Abraham his master saying: Behold I will go to thy birth-place and to thy father's house to take a wife for thy son from there. But per adventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land; must I need bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him: Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord before whom I have walked will send his angel before thee to make thy way a success. And Eliezer did according to Abraham's orders and Eliezer swore unto Abraham, his master, concerning this matter. And Eliezer arose and took ten camels of the camels of his father, and ten men from the servants of his master he took likewise, and they departed for Haran, the city of Abraham and Nahor, to bring thence a wife for Isaac the son of Abraham. And while they were gone Abraham sent to the house of Shem and Eber, and they brought thence his son Isaac. And Isaac came back to his father's house in Beer-sheba at the same time that Eliezer and his men arrived in Haran. And they stopped in the city near the watering place, and Eliezer made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of wa ter, and they remained there; and Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, prayed, saying: O, Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham, and appoint this day a wife for the son of my master from his own family. And the Lord hearkened to Eliezer's voice for the sake of his servant Abraham, and he happened to meet the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and Eliezer came into her house. And Eliezer related unto them all his affairs, and that he was the servant of Abraham, and they were greatly rejoiced with him; and all of them blessed the Lord for bringing about this event, and they gave him Rebekah, Bethuel's daughter, to be the wife of Isaac, and the young maiden was very comely of appearance; she was a virgin and ten years old at that time. And Bethuel, and Laban and his children, made a great feast that night, and Eliezer and his men came and ate and drank and were exceedingly rejoiced that night; and in the morning Eliezer and his men arose and he called the whole household together, saying: Let me depart now that I go to my master. And they arose and sent away Rebekah, and her nurse Deborah, daughter of Uz, with her. And they gave her silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and they blessed her. Thus they sent away Eliezer with his men and the servants that took Rebekah, and he went and returned unto his master into the land of Canaan. And Isaac took Rebekah and she was unto him a wife, and he brought her into the tent, and Isaac was forty years of age when he took Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, his uncle, for a wife. And at that time Abraham again took a wife in his old age, from the land of Canaan, and her name was Keturah; and she bare unto him: Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah—six sons. And the sons of Zimran were: Abihen, and Molech, and Marim. And the sons of Jokshan were: Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Medan were: Amido, and Joab, and Gochi, and Elisha, and Notach. And the sons of Midian were: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abi da, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ishbak were: Makiro, and Bejodua, and Tator. And the sons of Shuah were: Bildad, and Mamdad, and Meman, and Mehan. All these are the families of the children of Keturah, the Canaanitish woman, which she bare unto Abraham, the Hebrew. And Abraham sent all of them away, giving them gifts, and they went away from Isaac his son, to locate wheresoever they should find a suitable place; and they went all unto the mountains eastward and they built unto themselves six cities and they dwelt therein even unto this day. And the children of Shebah and Dedan, the sons of Jokshan, did not dwell with their brethren in their cities, and they journeyed about camping in the countries and in the deserts even unto this day; and the children of Midian, son of Abraham, went eastward of the land of Cush, where they discovered a large valley in the country of the east, and they located there and built a city, and they dwelt in it. That is the land of Midian unto this day. And Midian dwelt in the city which he built, with his five sons and all belonging unto him; and these are the names of Midian's sons, according to their names and their cities: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ephah were: Methach, and Meshar, and Avi, and Tzanua. And the sons of Epher were: Ephron, and Zur, and Alirun, and Medin. And the sons of Chanoch were: Reuel, and Rekem, and Azi, and Alyoshub, and Alad. And the sons of Abida were: Chur, and Melud, and Keruy, and Molchi. And the sons of Eldah were: Miker, and Reba, and Malchiyah, and Gabol. These are the names of the Midianites according to their families; and afterwards the families of Midian spread throughout the land of Midian. And these are the families of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. - - And Ishmael took a wife from the land of Egypt, and her name was Ribah, the same is Meribah. And Ribah bare unto Ishmael: Nebayoth, and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and their sister Bosmath. And Ishmael disowned his wife Ribah, and she went from him and returned to Egypt to the house of her father, and she dwelt there, for she had been very wicked in the sight of Ishmael, and in the sight of his father Abraham. And Ishmael afterward took a wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she bare unto him: Nishma, and Dumah, and Masa, and Chadad, and Tema, and Yetur, and Naphish, and Kedma. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, twelve princes according to their nations; and the families of Ishmael spread forth, and Ishmael took his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to locate where they should find a suitable place, And they went and dwelt near the wilderness of Paran and their dwelling was from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt as thou comest toward Assyria; and Ishmael and his sons dwelt in the land, and they had chidren born unto them, and they were fruitful and increased greatly. And these are the names of the sons of Nebayoth, the first born of Ishmael: Mend, and Send, and Mayon; and the sons of Kedar were: Alyon, and Kezem, and Chamad, and Eli. And the sons of Adbeel were: Cha mad, and Jabin; and the sons of Mibsam were: Obadiah, and Ebedmelech, and Yeush—these are the families of the children of Ribah, the wife of Ishmael; and the sons of Mishma, the son of Ishmael, were: Shamua, and Zecaryon, and Obed; and the sons of Dumah were: Kezed, and Eli, and Machmad, and Amed; and the sons of Masa were: Melon, and Mula, and Ebidadon; and the sons of Chadad were: Azur, and Minzar, and Ebed melech; and the sons of Tema were: Seir, and Sadon, and Yakol; and the sons of Yetur were: Merith, and Yaish, and Alyo, and Pachoth; and the sons of Naphish were: Ebed, and Tamed, and Abiyasaph, and Mir; and the sons of Kedma were: Calip, and Tachti, and Omir—these were the children of Malchuth, the wife of Ishmael, according to their families. All these are the families of Ishmael according to their generations, and they dwelt in those lands wherein they had built themselves cities unto this day. And Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s son, was barren in those days, she had no offspring. And Isaac dwelt with his father in the land of Canaan, and the Lord was with Isaac; and Arpachshad, son of Shem, the son of Noah, died at that time, in forty-eighth year of Isaac’s life; and all the days of Arpachshad’s life were four hundred and thirty years when he died.
And a desparate struggle ensued between Esau and the two men that were with Nimrod, and they yelled terribly at Esau; when Esau turned suddenly upon them smiting them to death with his sword. And all the great men of Nimrod, who were out hunting with Nimrod in the wilderness, when they heard the terrible yelling recognized at once the voices of those two men, and they hastened to ascertain the cause thereof, and behold the king and the two men that were with him lay dead in the wilderness. And when Esau saw from a distance the mighty men of Nimrod coming towards him, he fled and escaped; and Esau took along with him the costly garments of Nimrod, bequeathed to Nimrod by his father, and by virtue of which garments Nimrod prevailed over all the people of the earth; and Esau ran hastily and concealed those garments in his house. And Esau ran very swiftly with those garments. towards the city, to escape Nimrod's men, and when he reached his father's house Esau was wearied and exhausted and almost dead with excitement, as he approached his brother, Jacob, and sat down before him; and he said unto his brother Jacob: Behold, I shall surely die this day, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob acted cunningly with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright unto Jacob, for thus it was the pleasure of the Lord. And the share of Esau in the cave, which is in the field of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the Hittites for the possession of a burying place, Esau sold unto Jacob likewise, and Jacob became the owner thereof for a consideration. And Jacob wrote down the whole transaction in a book, and he had it testified to by witnesses and he annexed a seal thereto, and the book remained in Jacob’s possession. And when Nimrod, the son of Cush, was dead, his men took him up and carried him away midst great consternation, and they buried him in his city. And all the days that Nimrod lived were two hundred and fifteen years when he died, and the days of his reigning over the people of the earth were one hundred and eighty five years. Thus Nimrod died by the sword of Esau in shame and disgrace, and his death was caused by the seed of Abraham, as he himself foresaw it in his dreams. And after Nimrod's death his kingdom became divided into many provinces, and all the countries ruled over by Nimrod were restored to their previous kings who recovered them after Nimrod's death. And all the people of Nimrod's household were enslaved for many days by the other kings of the earth.
For behold in spite of all that he hath done he did not think of bringing unto thee neither a burnt offering nor a peace offering, nor an ox, nor a lamb, nor a goat of all that he hath killed on the day of the weaning of his son. And also since the day that Isaac was born, which is now thirty-seven years ago, Abraham hath not built a single altar nor brought one offering; because having received what he prayed for he forsook his Lord. And the Lord said unto Satan: Hast thou set thy mind upon my servant Abraham and knowest thou that there is not upon the earth a man like unto him for righteousness and piety, one that feareth God and shunneth all that is evil? As I am living if I would say unto him: Offer up Isaac thy son before me, he would not withhold him from me, and much less if I were to say unto him bring me a burnt offering from thy sheep or cattle. And Satan replied unto the Lord: Speak then at once to Abraham as thou hast said and surely thou wilt see whether he will not transgress thy words this very day. - At that time the word of the Lord was unto Abraham and he said unto him, Abraham, and he said here I am. And the Lord said unto him: Take thou thy son, thy only one, even Isaac, and get thee hence unto the land Moriah and offer him up there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which will be shown unto thee by the clouds of the glory of God resting upon it. And Abraham spoke within his heart: How can I do it, to take away my son Isaac from Sarah, his mother, in order to offer him up as a burnt offering before the Lord? And Abraham came unto the tent and seated himself before Sarah, his wife, and he spoke unto her in these words: Our son Isaac is now grown up and yet he hath not been taught the service of his God these many days. Now, therefore, I will go with him to-morrow and bring him unto the house of Shem and his son Eber, and there he will learn the ways of the Lord. For they will teach him to know the Lord, and also how to pray in the presence of the Lord so that he be answered, and there he will be instructed in all the service of the Lord. And Sarah answered: Thou hast spoken well. Go then my lord and do then as thou hast said; but do not take him away from me to a very distant place, nor let him stay away from me there many days, for verily my soul is bound up in his soul. And Abraham said unto Sarah: My daughter pray thou before the Lord our God that he might do well with us. And Sarah took her son Isaac, and he tarried with her all that night, and she kissed him and she embraced him, and she gave him instructions even to the very morning. And she said unto him: Oh! my son, how is it possible for me to part with thee? And she kissed him and embraced him again and she wept over him, and she gave Abraham instructions concerning him. And Sarah said unto Abraham: I pray thee my lord take good care of thy son and keep thine eyes on him, for I have not another son, nor even a daughter, besides him. Oh! do not forsake him. If he be hungry give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty give him water to drink, and let him not go on foot nor allow him to sit in the sun, nor let him go alone in the road nor prevent him from doing anything he may desire, and thou shalt do unto him according to all that he may say unto thee. And Sarah continued weeping all that night concerning Isaac, and gave him instructions until morning.
Another interpretation: “This month shall be for you” (Exodus 12:2) – that is what is written: “You shall say to Pharaoh: So said the Lord: Israel is My firstborn son. I have said to you: Let My son go, and he will serve Me; and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.” (Exodus 4:22–23). May the name of the Holy One blessed be He be exalted, as He “declares the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). Regarding Abraham it says: “Also that nation, whom they will serve, I will judge [dan]” (Genesis 15:14). What is dan? The plague of the firstborn, which is called an affliction [nega], as it is stated: “One further affliction [nega] [will I bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt; afterward he will send you forth from this]” (Exodus 11:1). What is: “I [anokhi] will judge?” (The question is about the use of the word anokhi for the first person singular.) The Holy One blessed be He said: “I will exact retribution from them with the plague of the firstborn, as it is stated: “Behold, I [anokhi] will kill your firstborn son.” The Holy One blessed be He passed this sign to Abraham, and Abraham to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, Jacob to Levi, Levi to Kehat, Kehat to Amram, and Amram to Moses. Moses kept it as he proceeded. What is: “Israel is My firstborn son?” Rabbi Ḥiyya said: Sons whose fathers blessed them with their actions. That is Abraham as it is stated: “Blessed is Abram to God the Most High” (Genesis 14:19). Alternatively: “Israel is My firstborn son” – sons of he who took the birthright. (A reference to Jacob, who bought the birthright from Esau. See Genesis 25:29–34.) Alternatively: “Israel is My firstborn son” – the Holy One blessed be He said to the wicked Pharaoh: ‘Do you not know how much I value the firstborn, as I wrote in My Torah: “Do not work your firstborn ox” (Deuteronomy 15:19). Anyone who works it is beaten, and you extended your hand against My firstborn; justice demands that you will be beaten.’ The Holy One blessed be He brought ten plagues upon him corresponding to the ten trials with which Abraham was tested and he withstood them all. He brought them through Moses and through Aaron and by Himself. This is analogous to a king against whom ten provinces rebelled. He took with him two generals and went and conquered them. The king said: If I record them [the victories] in my name, how can I accord them honor? If I record them in their names, I exclude myself. Rather, I will divide them into three, (Three provinces for each of them. ) and there is one extra, and I will divide it among the three of us. Thus, the plague of boils was performed by the three of them. What does it say regarding the boils: “Upon the magicians [baḥartumim]” (Exodus 9:11), is defective, (It is without a yod, as though baḥartumam is written, meaning their magician. ) meaning that it afflicted their angel on high, so they would have no ability to resist. He brought ten plagues upon them like a military campaign. (See Tanḥuma, Bo 4. ) The frogs were especially hard on them, as it is stated: “Frogs that destroyed them” (Psalms 78:45), as they wounded their bodies and castrated them [the Egyptians], as it is stated: “And into your bedchamber, and onto your bed” (Exodus 7:28). The frogs said to them: ‘The image of their God (The Egyptians had tried to prevent Israel from procreating, and having children is, as it were, reproducing the image of God.) is nullified, and yours [your ability to procreate] remains intact?’ Therefore: “That destroyed them [vatashḥitem],” as it says: “And he spilled it [veshiḥet] on the ground” (Genesis 38:9). (Referring to Onan, who spilled his seed on the ground rather than procreate with Tamar.) From where [is the proof] that they [the frogs] spoke [medabberot]: “Regarding [al devar] the frogs that He had brought upon Pharaoh” (Exodus 8:8). Moreover, He brought upon them the plague of wild beasts [arov], because they were all intermingled [me’urbavin]; one man consorted with ten women, and ten men consorted with one woman; therefore, He brought a mixture [irbuvya] (Irbuvya and me’urbavin are from the same root as arov.) upon them. When the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: “One further affliction [nega] will I bring upon Pharaoh” (Exodus 11:1), Moses said: The sign has arrived [higia]. “One was Abraham” (Ezekiel 33:24) – behold, it is the affliction of the “one”. (Abraham is described as one, and the fact that God said “one further affliction” rather than simply: A further affliction, alluded to the fact that it was the plague that Abraham had been told about. ) Since they [Israel] were firstborn, He therefore killed the firstborn, as it is stated: “Behold, I will kill your firstborn son” (Exodus 4:23). That is the sign to Abraham: “I will judge” (Genesis 15:14) Another matter: Why is Israel called “My firstborn son”? Because it is written in the Torah: “Rather, he shall acknowledge the firstborn son of the hated, giving him a double portion” (Deuteronomy 21:17); so too, Israel inherits two worlds, this world and the World to Come. That is why the Holy One blessed be He gave the secret of [calculating the waxing and waning of] the moon to Israel, that they should count on its basis, but the idolaters count on the basis of the sun; that is to say, just as the sun rules only during the day, so too, they rule only in this world, and just as the sun is made of fire, so, they are destined to be punished in it, as it is stated: “Behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace” (Malachi 3:19). And just as the moon is seen during the day and at night, so, Israel rules in this world and in the World to Come. And just as the moon is made of light, so, Israel inherits the light, as it is stated: “Light is sown for the righteous” (Psalms 97:11), and it says: “Arise, shine, for your light has arrived” (Isaiah 60:1). That is why it says: “This month shall be for you” (Exodus 12:2) – it shall be yours, because you are of the same type [as the moon].
He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!”… Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. (Gen. 25:30–34)
Second, she had watched the twins grow up. She knew that Esau was a hunter, a man of violence. She had seen that he was impetuous, mercurial, a man of impulse rather than calm reflection. She had seen him sell his birthright for a bowl of soup. She had watched while he “ate, drank, rose, and left. So Esau despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:34). No one who despises his birthright can be the trusted guardian of a covenant intended for eternity.
In the case of Esau, the most pointed verse is the one in which he agrees to part with his birthright in return for a bowl of soup (Gen. 25:34). In a staccato series of five consecutive verbs, the Torah says that he “ate, drank, rose, went, and despised” his birthright. Yet this tells us that he was impetuous, not that he was evil.
who disgraced you Heb. הֳשָּׁאטוֹת, an expression for disgrace. The ‘aleph’ is not sounded. וַיִבֶז, despised (Gen. 25:34), is translated as וְשָּׁט [in Targum Onkelos].
with all the disdain [Heb. שָּׁאטְךָ,] interpreted as an expression of disdain, like (Gen. 25:34): “and Esau despised,” which Onkelos renders: וְשָׁט, but I say that שָּׁאטְךָ is an expression of lust, golozemant or golosement in Old French, ardent desire, gluttony.
and mobilize in companies Heb. והתשוטטנה בגדרות. Jonathan renders: ואתהמכוּן בסיעָן, mobilize in companies. He interprets והתשוטטנה as an expression of armies that run to and fro (משוטטים) ; and גדרות is an expression of sheepcotes full of flocks, and can be interpreted as “and roll in the dung of the sheepcotes,” an expression of contempt. [Onkelos translates:] “And Esau despised” (Gen. 25:34), ושט עשו.
A careful reading of Esav’s story shows many other deficiencies in his personality, (See, for example, Bereshit 26:34–5, where his choice of wives meets the clear disapproval of his parents. Moreover, his disdain for his own birthright (Bereshit 25:34) is also commonly understood to show poor character.) but even if all we had to go on was his stated intention to murder his brother, that would be enough in order to understand him as someone who sees others as mere objects. One who is prepared to murder another human being is showing that another’s right to life is purely dependent upon the aggressor’s own needs or preferences – similar to how most of us think about inanimate objects.
Genesis 25:19-34
Two stories of sibling confrontation begin the Yaakov cycle. From the first, vv. 19–28, all the necessary conditions are introduced for what is to come: struggle in the womb (foreshadowing Yaakov’s wrestling match in Chap. 32, the structural resolution of this earlier one), God’s plan for the younger son to outdo the older one, the importance of names as clues to personalities, and parental preference. This last point seals the fate of the two boys. The second story (vv.29–34) is Yaakov’s first act of stealth, and sets the pattern for his whole life. Note at the same time the text’s emphasis on Esav’s role (v.34), “Thus did Esav despise the firstborn-right.” As before, these episodes point in two temporal directions. Esav resembles Yishmael, the man of the bow; and parental preference will launch the initially tragic action in the Yosef story (Chap. 37).
The Gemara cites proofs to support these charges. He engaged in sexual intercourse with a betrothed maiden, as it is written here: “And Esau came in from the field”; and it is written there with regard to rape of a betrothed maiden: “For he found her in a field” (Deuteronomy 22:27). He killed a person, as it is written here: “And he was faint”; and it is written there: “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the slayers” (Jeremiah 4:31). And he denied the principle of God’s existence, as it is written here: “What profit is this to me” (Genesis 25:32); and it is written there: “This is my God and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2). When he questioned the profit of “this,” he was challenging the assertion that “this is my God.” And he denied resurrection of the dead, as it is written: “Behold, I am at the point of death” (Genesis 25:32), indicating that he did not believe in resurrection after death. And he despised the birthright, as it is written: “And Esau despised the birthright” (Genesis 25:34).
Yaakov then gave Eisov bread and a pottage of lentils. He [Eisov] ate and drank, got up and left. [Thus] Eisov scorned the birthright.
And he arose, and went. And Esau despised the birthright, and vilified the portion in the world that cometh, and denied the resurrection of the dead.
And Jakob gave to Esau bread and pottage fo lentiles. And he ate and drank, and arose and went. And Esau scorned the birthright, and the portion of the world that commeth.
| וַיְהִ֤י רָעָב֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ מִלְּבַד֙ הָרָעָ֣ב הָרִאשׁ֔וֹן אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָיָ֖ה בִּימֵ֣י אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֵּ֧לֶךְ יִצְחָ֛ק אֶל־אֲבִימֶ֥לֶךְ מֶֽלֶךְ־פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים גְּרָֽרָה׃ | 1 J | There was a famine in the land—aside from the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham—and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar. |
However to fulfill that which was further said to him (Genesis 26:3), "as I will give to you and your seed, all of these lands," Scripture recounted the matter of the wells, his leaving Gerar, and that which Abimelech came to seek his friendship - as if he was the master of the land. And observe this story, and see how it indicates this concept: For behold, Scripture mentioned [that] the reason of, "And the Philistines stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham," was in order that Issac's shepherds should not benefit from them, and go away from there from lack of water; and besides that, Abimelech told Issac, "Go away from us, for you have become far too big for us," meaning [that] due to the large quantity of his livestock, there was no room for the livestock of the land; [such that] behold, Issac left the land - but he did not distance himself from the city [of Gerar]. As he dwelt in Nachal Gerar, close to the city - and not like Rashi wrote - as since it shares the name Gerar, it appears that it was close to it. [Hence] he dwelt there against their will. Moreover, he returned and dug the wells that Abraham had dug and the Philistines had filled. And in order to govern over them more, he called them by the name his father had called them - to indicate that they were not new. Rather he would open the wells that they had already filled and call them by their names - as he did this by the power of his hand. And they also dug and found a spring of living water... and even though the shepherds of Gerar fought about this well... behold, this well nevertheless stayed with the shepherds of Issac... And they also dug another well - and even though they also fought about it, it stayed with him; and he called it Sitnah, to [mark] their hatred (sinah) towards him. Until, when they dug the third well, they did not fight about it; and he therefore called its name, Rechovot - as Issac said, "the Lord has widened (hirchiv) and made us fruitful in the land." [This] means to say, "Even though they sent me away from them, the Lord widened it for us in this land, against their will." And this is the reason for all of this story - about which Ramban did not find any purpose or glory to Issac - being written here. [However, Ramban] maneuvered to explain it by way of [its] shell [to be] about our holy and glorious Temple. But in my opinion, there is great glory to Issac [in this story], and that is why it is written here. And since Issac did all of these things with a bold heart - as if he was the master of the land - hence in his coming to Beersheba, the Lord appeared to him and promised him, "I am the Lord of Abraham, your father, do not fear." [This] means to say, "I am the One who gave Abraham your father the power to defeat the kings, and I am the One who gave you the power to act with strength; hence do not fear the men of Gerar, nor about the matter of the wells that you made - as I am with you in all that you do"... "We did not touch you and we sent you away in peace" - meaning to say that we did not take anything from all that is yours, but we rather sent you away in peace. As there is no doubt that you are now more blessed of the Lord than when you came to our land. And that proves that you received benefit and goodness in this land, even as it was from God. And therefore, it is not fit that you do harm to the land in which you lived and were blessed.
ויהי רעב בארץ, there was a famine in the land (Canaan); Yitzchok thought [that this was a signal] that the exile of Avraham’s descendants [predicted to him] was about to begin; this is why he headed for Egypt. G-d told him not to proceed to Egypt but to remain within the boundaries of the land of Canaan. (Philistine region) He indicated to him that the exile in Egypt was not yet about to commence.
מלבד הרעב הראשון, “in addition to the previous famine,” (in his father’s lifetime) According to some commentators this was already the second famine in Yitzchok’s lifetime.
וילך יצחק אל אבימלך, “Yitzchok went to Avimelech” (whose land had not been affected, and with whom Avraham had made a reciprocal treaty.)
מלך פלשתים גררה, “the King of the Philistines whose capital was in G’ror.” At that time it had still been Yitzchok’s intention to use the land of the Philistines as a shortcut to Egypt. (Compare Exodus 13,17 where G-d did not use the land of the Philistines as a shortcut to lead the Israelites to the land of Canaan.)
ויהי רעב בארץ מלבד הרעב הראשון , “There was famine on earth, apart from the first famine, etc.” Nachmanides writes concerning this statement that it is possible that the first famine on earth was the one reported in Genesis 12,10 during the days of Avraham. His comment is surprising in view of what we learned in Bereshit Rabbah 64,2 that there were a total of 10 famines which have been mentioned in the Bible, the first one of which occurred in the days of Adam as a result of G’d cursing the earth for his sake (Genesis 3,17). The second is supposed to have occurred during the time of Lemech, Noach’s father who greeted Noach’s birth as a good omen, saving mankind from the earth which had been cursed (Genesis 5,29). The correct interpretation of our verse is that the word “the first famine,” referred to in our verse describes the post-deluvian world, not the “first” ever. This is evident even from the continuation of Nachmanides’ commentary in which he writes: “for they were remembering the first famine and telling each other about it.” On account of that famine Avraham had felt impelled to leave the land of Canaan and to descend to Egypt. Yitzchak, true to the example set by his father, wanted to do the same, until G’d restrained him by telling him not to go to Egypt. Nachmanides, in commenting on this whole paragraph, involving Yitzchak and Avimelech, writes: “this entire paragraph is full of allusions and foreshadows what would happen to the Jewish people when they would go into exile to the land of the Babylonians. Whereas the exile of Avraham into Egypt had been due to a famine, foreshadowing that his descendants would also descend there on account of a famine, this exile of Avraham to Gerar was voluntary (Genesis 20,1) “Avraham journeyed from there to the land of the South and settled between Kadesh and Shur and he sojourned in Gerar.” The descent of Yitzchak to Gerar, as opposed to that of his father, was involuntary and occurred at the specific command of G’d. (verse 2) It therefore can serve as a preview of an exile to a land one’s fathers had come from. Just as Avraham had come from Babylonia before migrating to the land of Canaan, so when his or Yitzchak’s descendants would march into exile it was fitting that the place they would be exiled to would be the land they had originally come from. Please remember that Yitzchak’s “exile” was different from his father’s. Avimelech did not rob him of his wife. He only lived in fear that this might happen, fear being one of the hallmarks of living in exile. At the beginning, as soon as Yitzchak arrived, Avimelech had issued instructions that no one should dare harm Yitzchak (verse 11), whereas ultimately he expelled him from his country (verse 16). Eventually, the same people who had expelled him sought an alliance with Yitzchak. This is very similar to the experience of the Jewish people during the Babylonian exile. The exile commenced due to the terrors of hunger (Lamentations 5,10). During the Jews’ stay in Babylon they were not oppressed, and many of them rose to positions of great influence. Finally, [after the Babylonians had themselves become vassals of the Persians, Ed.] King Coresh proclaimed that they were free to return to their homeland and gave them money and a military escort to protect them on the way (Ezra 1,3). He even warned the surrounding kingdoms not to molest the returning Jews (Ezra chapter 4 and Daniel chapter 7). Basically, what the Torah tells us in this paragraph is that there was a famine and Yitzchak went to the land of the Philistines, a land governed by the same Avimelech who had already governed it in the days of Yitzchak’s father and who had concluded a sacred covenant with his father. This was the reason Avimelech did not dare touch Yitzchak. [Originally, Avimelech had requested the covenant because he was afraid of what might happen to his offspring when the Jews would take over the country. It had not occurred to him that Avraham’s son might use his own country as a safe haven from famine. Ed.] The inquiry about the status of Rivkah was not made by Avimelech but by the local inhabitants, and this is why the Torah was careful to write (verse 7) “the men of the place inquired about his wife.” In spite of being told that Rivkah was not Yitzchak’s wife they did not molest her remembering the covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak’s father. When Avimelech protested to Yitzchak that “someone from the local population almost slept with Rivkah,” (verse 10) he meant: “I did not touch her and I was extremely careful not to get involved with her. But, at the same time, it was very possible that one of my countrymen could have done so and then you Avraham would have been the immediate cause of making us guilty just as happened in your father’s time.” Thus far Nachmanides
ויהי רעב בארץ, in the land of Canaan.
מלבד, meaning that since the last mentioned famine in Genesis chapter 12, there had not been another famine in the land of Canaan. The only reason Avraham had left the land of Canaan at that time had been the famine, and his desire to save the vast herds of cattle and sheep owned by him at that time.
וילך יצחק, Yitzchok, relying on the treaty between his father and Avimelech the King of the Land of the Philistines, considered it the natural thing to do to move to the region ruled over by Avimelech in order to sojourn there until the famine would pass. Avimelech at that time had stipulated that the treaty between them would remain in force for grandchildren and great grandchildren of the signatories. (21,23)
BESIDE THE FIRST FAMINE THAT WAS IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM. Perhaps (“Perhaps.” Since in Bereshith Rabbah 25:3, it is stated that there were ten famines in the world, the first one having been in the days of Adam, Ramban writes, “Perhaps,” meaning that a famine of such magnitude had never occurred before the days of Abraham, and this explains why Scripture uses it as a reference point.) there was no famine in the world until the days of Abraham. This is why Scripture counts from it, for otherwise, what need is there to mention it? In my opinion the correct reason why Scripture mentions it is to tell us that people remembered the first famine, mentioning that on account of it Abraham went down to Egypt and there G-d did him great honor. It was for this reason that Isaac wanted to go in his father’s footsteps by descending into Egypt until it was said to him, Go not down into Egypt. (Verse 2 here.) The reason for the prohibition has been stated by our Rabbis: “You [Isaac] are a perfect burnt-offering and residence outside of the Land of Israel does not befit you.” (Quoted by Rashi in this form. The source is in Bereshith Rabbah.) In my opinion, there is also included in this subject a reference to the future. Abraham’s exile into Egypt on account of the famine is an allusion to the exile of his children there. (See Ramban above, 12:10, for complete exposition of this subject.) His going to Abimelech (Chapter 20.) however was not an exile for he resided there of his own volition. But Isaac’s going [to the land of Abimelech, as recorded here in this verse, And Isaac went unto Abimelech] on account of the famine, does allude to an exile since he left his place against his will and went to another land. Now Isaac’s exile was from his own place to the land of the Philistines, which was the land in which his father had resided. This alludes to the Babylonian Exile, which took place in the land in which their ancestors had resided, namely, Ur of the Chaldees. (In view of the fact that Ramban, at the end of Seder Noach (11:28), states his opinion at length that Abraham’s birthplace was not Ur of the Chaldees, it is necessary to say that the author’s reference here is to the time when Terah, his father, took him there, and while being there his life was saved by a miracle. See Ramban there at the end of Verse 28.) Know further that this Babylonian Exile mentioned is mirrored in the events which befell Isaac in that they did not take his wife (As they did to Abraham in Egypt. (12:15).) in the land of the Philistines. Rather, his lot there was only exile and fear. At the beginning Abimelech said, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. (Further, Verse 11.) Later he regretted it and said, Go from us. (Verse 16 here.) Afterwards, he returned and made a covenant with Isaac (Verses 25-31 here.) Similarly, in the Babylonian Exile, they were exiled there because of the burning heat of famine, (Lamentations 5:10.) and while there, they were neither subjugated, nor were they treated harshly. On the contrary, their leaders were princes in the government. Later on, they said, Whosoever there is among you of all His people — his G-d be with him — let him go up, (Ezra 1:3.) even alerting the princes and governors beyond the River (Euphrates. The term “beyond the River” here applies to the region beyond the River westward from the standpoint of those in Babylonia or Persia.) to help them. Later on, they ceased work [on the House of G-d in Jerusalem] , and it ceased “for a season and a time.” (See Ezra 4:24 and Daniel 7:12.) Later, they again changed their policy and gave permission for the construction of the House of G-d, saying, That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savor unto the G-d of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. (Ezra 6:10.)
TO ABIMELECH, KING OF THE PHILISTINES. It is not known whether this is the same Abimelech who lived in the days of Abraham (Chapter 20.) or whether every Philistine king was so called, for in the time of David he was also called Abimelech. (Psalms 34:1.) Onkelos, however, is of the opinion that the Abimelech with whom Isaac dealt was a son [of the one mentioned in the account of Abraham]. (Ramban refers to Onkelos’ translation of Verse 28, Let there be now an oath between us, and thee, which Onkelos translates as follows: “Let there be now an oath which was between our fathers between us and thee.” Thus Onkelos states that the present Abimelech was a son of the one who lived in the days of Isaac’s father.) The reason that Isaac went to Abimelech was that he intended to go down to Egypt, so he went to Abimelech, his father’s confederate, in the hope that perhaps he would deal kindly with him in the days of the famine, thus making it unnecessary for him to go down to Egypt. Now Abimelech, on account of his covenant with Abraham, did not harm him or his family at all. However, the men of the place (Verse 7 here.) asked Isaac, in mere quest, concerning his wife, and he said, She is my sister. (Verse 7 here.) Even so, neither the king nor any of his men touched her for they remembered the affair of Abraham. (Chapter 20.) Hence Abimelech said, One of the people might lightly have lain, (Verse 10 here.) meaning to say, “I Abimelech did not touch her, and I was careful concerning her, but one of the men of the land might easily have stumbled, and then you would have made us incur guilt, as we sinned in the matter of your father.”
מלבד הרעב הראשון אשר היה בימי אברהם, as we read in Genesis 12,10. There was no need for this phrase except to inform us that just as his father Avraham had traveled to Egypt on account of a famine, so now his son was about to emulate his father and to travel to Egypt by way of the land of the Philistines. This was the shortest route to Egypt, as we know from Exodus 13,17. G’d told him not to go to Egypt as he knew what his plans were.
Seit das Land Abraham zum einstigen Besitze verheißen worden, sehen wir daßelbe wiederholt von Hungersnot heimgesucht, eben das Land, das bestimmt war von Milch und Honig überzufließen. Denn die Blüte dieses Landes soll nicht bloß durch die Arbeit des Menschen und die Gunst der Natur, sondern in erster Linie durch die Sittlichkeit und Rechtschaffenheit seiner Bewohner bedingt sein. "Es speit die Bewohner aus, sobald sie sittlich entarten". Sowie das Volk ursprünglich ein "hartes", schwer zu gewinnendes Volk, durch die Macht des Gesetzes das Gottesvolk wurde, so war auch sein Boden an sich hart und unfruchtbar, der Hungersnot preisgegeben, und nur eben durch die Macht desselben Gesetzes zum Lande der Fülle und des Segens zu umwandeln. Garisim und Ebal, das ist das Bild der Alternative, zwischen welche das Volk von vornherein gestellt war; wüste Öde der eine, üppige Blüte der andere. Und auf Ebal, den öden, ward der Altar der Thora gebaut. Denn völlig voraussetzungslos soll durch das Gesetz ein Ebal zum Garisim werden. Land und Volk gehören innig zusammen, keines erreicht die Blüte ohne das andere.
אשר היה בימי אברהם, ever since that time there had not been as severe a famine in the Land Of Canaan as there was at the time the Torah speaks of here, a famine severe enough to cause the inhabitants of the land to migrate in search of food.
וילך יצחק אל אבימלך, in order to obtain a permit to stay in his country. This teaches us that Yitzchok possessed good manners, seeing he could have claimed this as a right under the treaty between Avraham and Avimelech.
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was during the days of Abraham. Isaac, who was a shepherd living in the south of the land of Canaan, went to Avimelekh king of the Philistines, to Gerar. Avimelekh was one of the local rulers of the Philistines, and perhaps he was king over all the Philistines at the time. 10
מלבד הרעב הראשון, “in addition to the first famine, etc.” Nachmanides, basing himself on the word הראשון, “the first ever,” speculates that the famine in Avraham’s time may have been the first famine on record in antiquity. If not, why was there a need to once more refer to a famine, which, at this time, does not interest the reader at all? It is possible that the reason that the Torah does refer to the previous famine is that people in Yitzchok’s generation still recalled the famine which had occurred some 70-80 years earlier, and they recalled that Avraham had moved to Egypt at the time on account of that famine. They also remembered that Avraham had become a very wealthy man during his stay in Egypt, and had even retained all that newly acquired wealth despite his confrontation with the Pharaoh of Egypt. It was natural then to expect that like father like son, Yitzchok too, would move to Egypt to await the end of the famine there. This is why G’d told him not to leave the Holy Land, or, more specifically, not to move to Egypt. G’d added that He would extend His blessing to him. He renewed the oath He had sworn to Avraham at the time. Rashi explains the reason why Yitzchok was not to descend to Egypt being the fact that someone who had been a burnt offering on the altar on the Holy Mount Moriah is not to demean himself by leaving the Holy Land. Other commentators feel that G’d stopped Yitzchok from traveling to Egypt because in the Heavenly Court the decree that the Jewish people would be enslaved in Egypt had already been promulgated, so that if he had traveled there he could not have left until the end of that period of enslavement. Nachmanides writes that G’d’s directive to Yitzchok was also a סימן, a historical preview of what the Jewish people would experience when the time came, i.e. that any move to Egypt was a move to eventual exile, and that Yitzchok’s sojourn in the part of the Holy Land occupied by the Philistines under Avimelech was not considered as part of that exile. The very fact that our patriarchs resided in that land is proof that it is ancestral land and will forever remain part of the Holy Land promised to Avraham by G’d. The fact remains that in spite of Avimelech having been a partner of Avraham in a non-aggression pact extending for 3 generations, this did not prevent him or his son from expelling Yitzchok. Eventually,.Avimelech personally, did not harm Yitzchok seeing he had sworn an oath of friendship to Avraham; His subjects, however, did what they could to make life miserable for Yitzchok. The Jewish exile experience in Babylonia is compared to Yitzchok’s experience in the land of the Philistines, welcome turning into hatred and even the destruction of our Temple by the Babylonians. This was followed by another change of heart, this time by the Persians. [Rabbi Chavell traces the Ramban’s historical analysis by quoting both from the Book of Ezra and the Book of Daniel. Ed.] At any rate, the Philistines remembered that G’d had protected Avraham against outrages done by both the Egyptians and the previous Avimelch, so that they were careful not to harass him too much.
"And there was a famine in the land..." (Gen. 26:1). Rabbi Yehuda opened the discussion with the verse, "Hashem tries the righteous, but the wicked and him who loves violence His soul hates" (Tehilim 11:5). How orderly and right are the deeds of the Holy One, blessed be He, and all He does is according to justice and truth, as it is written, "He is the Rock, His work is perfect" (Devarim 32:4).
And then Isaac, of whom it is written, "And there was a famine in the land..." (Gen. 26:1). And Isaac went to Gerar. From there, he later ascended peacefully. And so all the Righteous are tested by the Holy One, blessed be He, to raise their heads in this world and in the World to Come.
"And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham" (Gen. 26:1). Rabbi Abahu opened the discussion with the verse, "While the king was reclining at his board, my spikenard sent forth its fragrance" (Shir Hashirim 1:12). We learned that the righteous will pass through four eras and four times, each different from the other. During the first, knowledge will increase in the world, and the righteous will conceive what they have not conceived in this world. As we have learned from Rabbi Pinchas, in the future, the perception of the righteous will be greater than that of the ministering angels, as it is written, "as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). During the second time, you shall be occupied. (End of Midrash Hane'elam)
[2] And so all the righteous suffered in their youth and ultimately found comfort. Abraham suffered greatly in his youth, was thrown into a fiery furnace, and was cast out of his father's house. Sixteen kings came against him, and his wife was taken from him by both Pharaoh and Abimelech. He was tested with his only son, Isaac, but in the end found peace, as it says "And Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Isaac also suffered greatly in his youth, as Ishmael took an arrow and tried to kill him. It says, "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac" (Genesis 21:9). "Playing" means he took an arrow and tried to kill him. Furthermore, his father Abraham was going to slaughter him, and then famine came, as it says, "Now there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 26:1). Isaac went to Abimelech and became the target of jealousy, as it says, "And the Philistines envied him" (Genesis 26:14). They told him to leave, and he went and settled in Gerar, where he disputed with the shepherds. But ultimately he found comfort, as it says, "Therefore he called it Rehoboth, for he said, 'For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land'" (Genesis 26:22). Similarly, Jacob suffered greatly, as Esau pursued him, and he was enslaved by his sons. He was pursued by Laban and punished through his daughter. His son was sold, and in the end he found peace, as it says, "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years" (Genesis 47:28). Joseph was deeply pained when his brothers despised him, threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned. As it is written, "They afflicted his feet with shackles; iron pierced his soul until his word came to pass and God's word proved him true" (Psalms 105:18-19). Joseph remained silent, as it is written, "He sits alone in silence" (Lamentations 3:28). In the end, he was redeemed, as it is written, "He will not abandon forever, for He desires to show kindness" (Lamentations 3:31). And it is written at the end, "Hurry and go up to my father" (Genesis 45:9).
“From the ground, which the Lord cursed” – there were ten periods of famine that came to the world: One in the days of Adam the first man, as it is stated: “Cursed is the ground on your account” (Genesis 3:17); one in the days of Lemekh, as it is stated: “From the ground, which the Lord cursed”; one in the days of Abraham – “there was a famine in the land” (Genesis 12:10); one in the days of Isaac, as it is stated: “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine” (Genesis 26:1); one in the days of Jacob, as it is stated: “For these two years, the famine” (Genesis 45:6); one in the days when the judges judged, as it is stated: “It was in the days when the judges judged; there was a famine in the land” (Ruth 1:1); one in the days of David, as it is stated: “There was a famine in the days of David for three years” (II Samuel 21:1); one in the days of Elijah, as it is stated: “As the Lord, God of Israel, before whom I stand, lives, there will be dew and rain during these years only by my word” (I Kings 17:1); one in the days of Elisha, as it is stated: “There was a great famine in Samaria” (II Kings 6:25); and there is one that circulates and comes periodically to the world. And [there will be] one more in the future, as it is stated: “Not a famine for bread, and not a thirst for water, but rather, to hear the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak: In reality, it [David’s famine] should not have occurred in the days of David, but rather, in the days of Saul. (The reason underlying the famine was relevant to Saul, not David (II Samuel 21:1).) However, because Saul was the shoot of a sycamore, (Easily broken, unable to withstand it, due to his lack of merit.) the Holy One blessed be He postponed it and brought it about in the days of David. They say a parable: Shilo sinned, but Yoḥana pays?! That is astonishing! Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great said: This is analogous to a glazier who had in his hand a basket filled with goblets and cut glass. When he would wish to hang his basket, he would [first] bring a peg, affix it, and suspend himself from it, and only then would he hang his basket. That is why they did not come in the days of downtrodden people, but rather, in the days of powerful people, who are able to withstand them. Rabbi Berekhya would cite this verse in their regard: “He gives strength to the weary” (Isaiah 40:29). Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥelbo: There were two [famines] that occurred in the days of Abraham. Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: One was in the days of Lemekh, and one in the days of Abraham. The famine that came in the days of Elijah was a famine of drought; one year produced [crops], and one year did not produce. The famine that came in the days of Elisha was a famine of panic, as it is stated: “Until the head of a donkey was sold for eighty silver pieces” (II Kings 6:25). The famine that was in the days that the judges judged, Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Dosa: For the price for which one used to purchase forty-two se’a, they could purchase [only] forty-one. (According to a different reading: the price for which one used to purchase two se’a, they could purchase [only] one.) But is it not taught: A person should not depart and go outside the Land of Israel unless two se’a of wheat sells for one sela? (Double the ordinary price of wheat, which was four se’a for a sela (Pe’a 8:7).) Rabbi Shimon said: That is only when he does not find any [wheat] to buy, but if he can find to buy, even if it is one se’a for a sela, one should not depart and go outside the Land of Israel. But Elimelekh did depart, therefore, he was punished.
“There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was during the days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Avimelekh king of the Philistines, to Gerar” (Genesis 26:1). “There was a famine in the land.” “The Lord knows the days of the faultless” (Psalms 37:18) – this is Isaac. “Their inheritance will last forever” (Psalms 37:18), “Reside in this land [and I will be with you, and I will bless you]” (Genesis 26:3), “They are not put to shame in difficult times” (Psalms 37:19) – the difficulty of Avimelekh. “And in days of famine they are sated” (Psalms 37:19) – “There was a famine in the land.”
“The Lord will not starve the soul of the righteous” (Proverbs 10:3) – this is Isaac. “Reside in this land.” “And He averts the devastation of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:3) – this is Avimelekh. “There was a famine” – Ten famines came to the world. One during the days of Adam the first man – “accursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17); one during the days of Lemekh – “from the ground that the Lord had cursed” (Genesis 5:29); one during the days of Abraham – “there was famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt” (Genesis 12:10); one during the days of Isaac: “there was a famine in the land”; one during the days of Jacob – “for these two years there has been famine” (Genesis 45:6); one during the days when the judges judged – “It was in the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land” (Ruth 1:1); one during the days of Elijah, as it is stated: “As the Lord God of Israel [lives…there will not be dew or rain these years, except by my word]” (I Kings 17:1); one during the days of David – “there was a famine during the days of David” (II Samuel 21:1); one during the days of Elisha – “there was a great famine in Samaria” (II Kings 6:25); and one that is progressing and coming to the world and one in the future, as it is stated: “I will send famine in the land, not famine for bread, not thirst for water…” (Amos 8:11). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: The primary brunt of them was during the days of David, but it would have been appropriate for them to have been during the days of Saul, but because Saul was an offshoot of a sycamore tree (The sycamore tree is frail.) the Holy One blessed be He transferred it and brought it during the days of David. Shila sinned and Yoḥana is punished? (The phrase means how can one person sin and another be punished.) Rabbi Ḥiyya Rabba said: This is analogous to a glazier who had a basket filled with cut, ornate glassware. When he sought to hang his basket, he would bring a peg, implant it into the wall, and then hang his basket. Therefore, all of them did not befall lowly people, (Major catastrophes did not befall people who would not be able to withstand them. They befell mighty people, who could withstand them.) but rather, mighty people. Rabbi Berekhya would read in their regard: (Regarding David’s generation.) “He gives strength to the weary” (Isaiah 40:29). Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Two [famines] came during the days of Abraham. Rabbi Aḥa said: One during the days of Abraham and one during the days of Lemekh. The famine that came during the days of Elijah was a famine of drought; one year it produced and one year it did not produce. (There was a small amount of rain, and there was some produce (See Mishna Avot 5:8).) The famine that came during the days of Elisha was one of panic – “until the head of a donkey was sold for eighty silver pieces” (II Kings 6:25). The famine that was during the days that the judges judged – Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: Forty-one se’a were sold for the price of forty-two se’a. But was it not taught: A person may not leave the Land of Israel unless two se’a of wheat go for one sela. Rabbi Shimon said: When? It is at a time that one cannot find any to acquire, but if he can find any to acquire, even if it is one se’a for a sela, he may not leave the Land of Israel. Because Elimelekh left the Land of Israel, he was punished that he and his sons died.
“Isaac went to Avimelekh [king of the Philistines], to Gerar” – to Gardiki. (The name of that area in Roman times.) Rabbi Dostai in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Why did they [not] (Radal and Etz Yosef add the word "not" based on Yerushalmi, Sheviit 6:1.) decree impurity on the abode in Gardiki? (Even though they decreed impurity on places outside of Israel, on this place, which is close to the border they did not decree impurity since people would not go there anyway.) It is because it is a poor abode. Until where? It is until the ravine of Egypt. “The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you” (Genesis 26:2). “The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell [shekhon] in the land” – establish permanent residence [shekhuna] in the Land of Israel; plant, sow, graft branches (See Matnot Kehuna.) on trees. Alternatively, “shekhon in the land” – cause the Divine Presence [haShekhina] to rest in the land. “Reside in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you, and to your descendants, and I will keep the oath that I took to Abraham your father” (Genesis 26:3). “Reside in this land” – Rabbi Hoshaya said: [God said:] ‘You are an unblemished burnt offering; just as a burnt offering, if it goes outside the curtains, it is disqualified, you, too, if you go out of the Land of Israel, you are disqualified.’ “To you, and to your descendants, I will give all these [ha’el] lands – the mighty; just as it says: “He took the mighty of [eilei] the land” (Ezekiel 17:13). Another matter, why does it not state haeleh, but rather, ha’el? It is to say: I will give you some of them. When will I give you the rest? It will be in the future.
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana began: “Raise your voice, Bat-Galim, [listen, Layish; destitute is Anatot]” (Isaiah 10:30). Isaiah said to Israel: Instead of reciting songs and psalms before idols, raise your voice in words of Torah, raise your voice in synagogues. “Bat-Galim” – just as these waves [galim] are conspicuous in the sea, so their ancestors were conspicuous in the world. Another matter: “Bat-Galim” (Isaiah 10:30) – bat golim, daughter of exiles: daughter of Abraham, the one of whom it is written: “There was a famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt [to reside there]” (Genesis 12:10); daughter of Isaac, of whom it is written: “Isaac went to Avimelekh, king of the Philistines, to Gerar” (Genesis 26:1); daughter of Jacob, of whom it is written: “He went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:5). “Listen” (Isaiah 10:30), listen to My commandments, listen to words of Torah, listen to words of prophecy, listen to perform acts of righteousness and good deeds. “Layish [Laisha]” (Isaiah 10:30) – and if not, laisha, (This is one of the biblical terms for lion.) the lion will ascend upon you. This is the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “The lion has ascended from its lair” (Jeremiah 4:7). “Destitute [is Anatot]” (Isaiah 10:30) – destitute of righteous individuals, destitute of prophecy, destitute of mitzvot and good deeds. “Anatot” – and if not, (If you do not listen to all these warnings.) “Anatot,” – that resident of Anatot will come and prophesy in your regard, as it is written: “The words of Jeremiah son of Ḥilkiyahu, of the priests who were in Anatot…” (Jeremiah 1:1). When the punishment arrived, he lamented over them, eikha. (Eikha means “how,” and is the opening word of the book of Lamentations, which begins: “How does the city that was full of people sit solitary?” (Lamentations 1:1). Eikha is also the Hebrew name of the book of Lamentations. The prologue to Eikha Rabba records how different Sages would begin their study of Lamentations. They would often begin by expounding a verse that in their view encapsulated the essence of the book, before beginning with the first verse. Thus, many of these introductions conclude with the word eikha, which is used as an expression of lamentation, as well as a reference to Lamentations 1:1 and a transition from the Sage’s introduction to his actual recitation or study of Lamentations (see Etz Yosef).)
{(Gen. 26:1:) NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE. This verse is related (to Prov. 18:3): WHEN A WICKED ONE COMES, THERE IS ALSO DESPISING. Who was this < wicked > one? This was Esau the Wicked, who came upon his feet to Abbadon (i.e., to hell, the place of damnation). What is written?} (As these braces indicate, Buber believed the whole paragraph to be superfluous.)
(Gen. 25:34:) SO ESAU DESPISED < HIS BIRTHRIGHT >. (Prov. 18:3:) WHEN A WICKED ONE COMES, THERE IS ALSO DESPISING. This refers to Esau, about whom it is stated: SO ESAU DESPISED. (Prov. 18:3, cont.:) {AND WHEN DISGRACE COMES}, [AND WITH DISGRACE, SHAME], since the famine came in his footsteps. Thus it is stated (immediately after the verse about Esau despising his birthright, in Gen. 26:1): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND.
[(Gen. 26:1:) NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND.] This text is related (to Ps. 33:18): BEHOLD, THE EYE OF THE LORD IS ON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. (Gen. R. 40:1.) It is speaking about Abraham, of whom it is read that he feared God. Thus it is stated (of Abraham in Gen. 22:12): THAT YOU FEAR GOD. (Ps. 33:18, cont.:) ON THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE, since < Abraham > was waiting for the Holy One, for this reason: (Ps. 33:19:) TO DELIVER THEIR LIFE FROM DEATH, < i.e., > from his execution by Nimrod. (Ibid., cont.:) TO KEEP THEM ALIVE IN THE FAMINE, the one which came in his days, as stated (in Gen. 26:1): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND.
[Another interpretation (of Ps. 33:18): BEHOLD, THE EYE OF THE LORD < IS ON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM >.] This is Isaac. (Ibid., cont.:) ON THOSE WHO WAIT, since he was waiting for the Holy One. (Ps. 33:19:) TO DELIVER THEIR SOUL FROM DEATH, when Ishmael sought to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 21:9): THEN SARAH SAW THE SON OF HAGAR THE EGYPTIAN PLAYING. Now PLAYING can only mean "killing." Thus it is stated (in II Sam. 2:14): PLEASE LET THE YOUNG MEN ARISE AND PLAY BEFORE US. (The result of their “playing” was that they all killed each other. See below, Exod. 1:24.) (Ps. 33:19, cont.:) TO KEEP THEM ALIVE IN THE FAMINE, since the famine did come in his days, as stated (in Gen. 26:1): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND.
(Gen. 26:1, cont.:) AND ISAAC WENT TO ABIMELECH…. He had wanted to go down to Egypt, < but > the Holy One immediately appeared to him. He said to him (in vs. 2): DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT. Abraham went down < there >, but Isaac did not go down. Now why did he say, not to Abraham, but only to Isaac: DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT? R. Hosha'ya said: The Holy One said unto Isaac: Because your father came to the land from abroad, he went down to Egypt; but, since you were born in the land of Israel and < represent > a pure burnt offering, how could you be going down? (Gen. R. 64:3.) Ergo (in Gen. 26:2): DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT.
(Gen. 26:3:) RESIDE IN THIS LAND. R. Hanan said in the name of R. Samuel b. R. Isaac: Why < was such a command necessary >? He would not have wanted to become unclean outside the land. < He wanted to leave > because a decree had been issued, as stated (in Gen. 26:1): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE. It therefore says (in vs. 3): RESIDE IN THIS LAND. R. Joshua ben Levi said: In this world the righteous have been rejected (rt.: TRP), as stated (in Ps. 111:5): HE HAS GIVEN teref (rt.: TRP) (In the context of Ps. 111:5, teref should be translated as FOOD, but here the context requires something with a negative meaning, such as REJECTION.) TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM; but in the world to come, (ibid., cont.:) HE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIS COVENANT. (Gen. R. 40:2.)
[(Exod. 37:1:) THEN BEZALEL MADE THE ARK.] This text is related to (Prov. 9:9): GIVE TO ONE WHO IS WISE, AND HE WILL BE STILL WISER; INFORM ONE WHO IS RIGHTEOUS, AND HE WILL INCREASE IN LEARNING. speaks about Noah. (Tanh., Exod. 10:6; Exod. R. 50:2.) When he made the ark, the Holy One said to him (in Gen. 7:2): OF EVERY CLEAN BEAST [YOU SHALL TAKE SEVEN PAIRS….] When he left , he sacrificed some of the clean < animals >. He said: Did not the Holy One increase the clean animals simply so that I might sacrifice some of them? (Gen. 26:1; 34:9.) Ergo (in Prov. 9:9): GIVE TO ONE WHO IS WISE…. This is Noah.
Another comment on I have been young, and now am old. This verse suggests that the Holy One, blessed be He, will never abandon the righteous during a time of famine, neither they nor their descendants. In fact, when a disaster envelops the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees how they will survive. You find this to be so in the case of Elijah, whom He told how to survive, as it is said: Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee (I Kings 17:9). Similarly you find: Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there (ibid., vv. 3–4). And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine (Gen. 26:1); and there was a famine in the land; and Abraham descended (ibid. 12:10). Similarly, when the famine came upon Jacob, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to him that Joseph would feed him in Egypt, as it is said: And Joseph fed his father and his brothers (Gen. 47:12). Hence, Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt.
“There was a famine in the land.” Ten famines came to the world. One during the days of Adam; one during the days of Lemekh; one during the days of Abraham; one during the days of Isaac; one during the days of Jacob; one during the days of Elijah; one during the days of Elisha; one during the days of David; one during the days when the judges judged; and one that is yet progressing and coming to the world. One during the days of Adam, as it is stated: “Accursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17); one during the days of Lemekh, as it is stated: “From the ground that the Lord had cursed” (Genesis 5:29); one during the days of Abraham, as it is stated: “There was famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt” (Genesis 12:10); one during the days of Isaac: “There was a famine in the land, beside the first famine” (Genesis 26:1); one during the days of Jacob, as it is stated: “For these two years there has been famine in the land” (Genesis 45:6); one during the days of Elijah, as it is stated: “There will not be dew or rain these years, except by my word” (I Kings 17:1); one during the days of Elisha, as it is stated: “There was a great famine in Samaria” (II Kings 6:25); one during the days of David, as it is stated: “There was a famine during the days of David, three years” (II Samuel 21:1); one during the days when the judges judged, as it is stated: “There was a famine in the land” (Ruth 1:1); and one that is advancing upon the world, as it is written: “I will send famine in the land, not famine for bread, not thirst for water” (Amos 8:11). Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: It would have been appropriate for the main manifestation of them (The years of famine during the days of David.) to have been during the days of Saul, and it was not appropriate for them to have been during the days of David. [But] because Saul was an offshoot of a sycamore tree, (The sycamore tree is frail.) and would have been unable to withstand it, the Holy One blessed be He transferred it and brought it to David, who is the offshoot of an olive tree (The olive tree is sturdy.) and [he] was able to withstand it. A parable says: Shila sinned and Yoḥana (Generic names of that period.) pays for it? So, all of them did not come upon lowly people, but rather upon mighty people who could withstand them. Rabbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: [It is analogous] to a glazier who had a basket filled with cups of cut glass. When he sought to hang his basket, he would bring a peg, hammer it [into the wall,] and then hang his basket. So, all of them did not come upon lowly people, but rather to mighty people. Rabbi Berekhya would read in reference to them: (David’s generation.) “He gives strength to the weary” (Isaiah 40:29). Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Ḥelbo: Two [famines] (That of Lemekh occurred while Adam was still alive.) came during the days of Adam. (In the parallel text of this midrash found in Bereishit Rabba 25:3 it says ‘Abraham’ instead of ‘Adam.’) Rav Huna in the name of Rav Aḥa: One was during the days of Abraham, and one was during the days of Lemekh. The famine that was during the days of Elijah was due to a drought. One year it produced [a harvest] and the other year it did not produce. But the famine during the days of Elisha was due to [economic] panic, as it is stated: “Until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty of silver” (II Kings 6:25). [Regarding] the famine that came during the days that the judges judged, Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Dosa: They were forty-two se’a (A measure of dry volume roughly equivalent to 8 liters.) and they became forty-one se’a. (The reference is to the amount of produce that could be purchased for one sela. Some commentators suggest that the text should be read: they were [sold] at a rate of two se’a [per sela] and became one se’a [per sela]. See Etz Yosef.) But is it not taught: A person may not depart to outside the Land of Israel until two se’a (Of wheat.) are bought for a shekel? (The reference is to the biblical shekel, which is the equivalent of the rabbinic sela.) Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: When is that so? It is when one cannot find anything [else] to buy. But if he can find [other food] to buy, even [at] one se’a for a shekel, a Jew may not leave the Land of Israel. (Elimelekh was punished because his decision to leave the Land of Israel was not justified.) But is it not taught: During a time of pestilence, a time of war, gather everyone inside, but during a time of famine, scatter? Why was Elimelekh punished? It is because he sank the hearts of Israel. [It is analogous] to a prominent person who lived in a province, and the residents of the province would depend upon him, and would say that if drought years would come, he could provide food for the province for ten years. When a drought year came, his maidservant went out, and went into the market with her basket in her hand. The residents of the province said: This is the one who we relied upon, that if there would be a drought he could support us for ten years? His maidservant is standing in the market with her basket in her hand! So, Elimelekh was one of the prominent residents of the province, and one of the leaders of the generation. When the years of famine arrived, he said: ‘Now, all Israel will come around to my door, this one with his basket and that one with his basket.’ He arose and fled from them; that is what is written: “A man of Bethlehem of Judah went.”
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, for he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great many servants; and when the days of the famine had passed by the Lord appeared unto Isaac, saying unto him: Arise and leave this place and return unto thy land, even to the land of Canaan. And Isaac arose and returned to Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all that were his, according to the command of the Lord. And soon after, Shelach, the son of Arpachshad, died, in the eighteenth year of the lives of Jacob and Esau. And all the days of Shelach were four hundred and thirty-three years when he died. At the same time Isaac sent his youngest son, Jacob, unto the house of Shem and Eber to acquire the knowledge of the Lord, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years. And Esau, his brother, went not with him, for he refused to go, and he remained in his father's house in the land of Canaan. And Esau was always hunting in the field, bringing home whatsoever he could procure. Such was Esau’s occupation all the time; and Esau was a man cunning and deceitful, prevaricating, and “stealing the minds” of the people, yet he was very courageous in the field, being on the hunt most the time, and going as far as Seir, which is Edom. And he tarried in the land of Seir hunting in the fields for one year and four months. And Esau saw in the land of Seir the daughter of a Canaanite, and her name was Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the son of Epher, from the families of Heth, the son of Canaan; and Esau took her to be his wife and he came unto her. And Esau was forty years old when he took her, and he brought her to Hebron, which was the land of his father's dwelling-place, and he dwelt there. And it was in those days in the one hundred and tenth year of Isaac’s life, which was the fiftieth year of the life of Jacob that Shem, the son of Noah, died in that year; and Shem was six hundred years old when he died. And when Shem died Jacob returned unto his father, to Hebron, which was in the land of Canaan. And in the fifty-sixth year of Jacob’s life some people arrived from Haran, bringing Rebekah tidings concerning her brother Laban, the son of Bethuel. For Laban's wife had been barren in those days without any off spring, nor did the maid-servants of Laban bare children unto him. And after some time the Lord remembered Adinah, Laban's wife, and she conceived and bare two daughters, twins, and Laban named his daughters, calling the name of the oldest one Leah, and the name of the youngest one Rachel. And when those people arrived and told Rebekah these things, Rebekah rejoiced greatly that the Lord had remembered her brother and that he had been blessed with children.
דרך ארץ פלשתים כי קרוב הוא, “the route which runs through the land of the Philistines; although (or because), it was the shortest route.” According to our author what is meant is “although,” despite, the fact that it was the shortest route. We find a similar meaning for the word כי in Exodus 19,5: כי לי כל הארץ, “although the whole earth belongs to Me.” Another example of this meaning of the word כי is found in Psalms 41,5, “heal me although I have sinned against You.” רפאה נפשי כי חטאתי לך. Consider also Genesis 48,14: שכל ידיו כי מנשה הבכור, “he crossed his hands although Menashe was the firstborn.” In our context, although there was an additional boundary to be crossed between Egypt and the land of Canaan, namely the land of the Philistines, as we know from when while in the land of the Philistines G-d had commanded Yitzchok not to continue on to Egypt on account of the famine in the land of Canaan, (Genesis 26,1) so that it seemed strange that G-d did not lead the Israelites by this route, He was afraid that if they would find resistance to their traversing that land, they would refer to return to Egypt.
Abraham does indeed leave his land, his birthplace, and his father’s house and arrives in the land of Canaan. It is natural to assume that this is the end of this particular story, but it proves to be only the beginning. No sooner does he arrive than there is a famine in the land and he has to leave and go to Egypt (Gen. 12:10). There is another famine in the days of Isaac, forcing him too to leave, this time to stay among the Philistines in Gerar (Gen. 26:1). Jacob has to leave home not once but twice, once for fear of Esau’s violent reprisal for the loss of his blessing, a second time due to famine and the desire to be reunited with his long-lost son Joseph in Egypt. There he dies.
There was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that was in the days of Avraham. Yitzchok went to Avimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
And there was a mighty famine in the land of Kenaan, besides the former famine which had been in the days of Abraham; and Izhak went to Abimelek king of the Philistaee at Gerar.
As long as Abraham was alive, there was plenty, as it is said (Gen. 24:1), "And God had blessed Abraham in everything." Once Abraham died, "There was a famine in the land" (Gen. 26:1). Isaac came and [again] there was plenty, as it says (Gen 26:12), "Isaac sowed in that land [and reaped in that year a hundred measures]." As long as Abraham was alive, the wells were filled with water, [but] once Abraham died what does it say, but (Gen. 26:15), "And all the wells which had been dug [by the servants of his (i.e., Isaac's) father in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled with earth]." They said, since they are no longer filled with water, they will be a hazard should we stumble into them, and thus they filled them up. Isaac came and [again] the wells were filled with water, as it is said (Gen. 26:18-19), "And Isaac again dug up the wells of water, etc." and "[Isaac's] servants [also] dug, etc."
| וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַל־תֵּרֵ֣ד מִצְרָ֑יְמָה שְׁכֹ֣ן בָּאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃ | 2 J | יהוה had appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land which I point out to you. |
Genesis 24,7. “do not bring my son back there under any circumstances.!” We find that G’d confirmed Avraham’s attittude concerning Yitzchok not leaving the soil of The Holy Land, when He said to Yitzchok (Genesis 26,2) אל תרד מצרימה, שכון בארץ..גור בארץ הזאת, “do not go down to Egypt; reside in the Land…even if you have to be a transient in this land!” We have a standing rule according to which it is permissible to be afraid of something or someone bigger than oneself, whereas it is forbidden to be afraid of someone smaller than oneself. In other words, whereas it is permissible to be afraid of G’d, it is not permissible to be afraid of anyone other than G’d. This is why all manner of idol worship is prohibited. The attribute of love enables one to love those who are “smaller” than we are, notably the members of our household who depend on us. When we keep this rule in mind we will be able to understand a story in the Talmud Kiddushin 57 where it is related that Shimon ben Ammasuni undertook to explain the meaning of each word את in the Torah, proving that the word invariably includes something that the Torah had not spelled out specifically. However, when he came to the line (Deuteronomy 6,13) את ה' אלוקיך תירא, “you are to revere the Lord your G’d,” he was stymied, not knowing what the word את in that line could possibly add, as it is forbidden to revere anyone other than the Lord. His students asked him if he thought that all the explanations that he had found for the other times that the word את occurs should be disregarded? He replied that “just as the Torah promises a reward for explaining its intricacies, so it rewards those who refrain from offering explanations that are not appropriate.” In the meantime, Rabbi Akiva who had heard of Shimon ben Ammasuni’s dilemma, said that even this את added an additional meaning to the verse in which it appeared, suggesting that the Torah scholars deserve to be revered also. Rabbi Akiva was able to offer this explanation since Torah scholars are “greater” than the ordinary people consulting them, so that they fit the principle that it is allowed to revere, be in awe of, people that are greater than oneself. This is a basic difference between the attribute of reverence, יראה, and the attribute of אהבה, love. While it is in order to say: “I am afraid of you,” to someone more powerful than oneself, a king for instance, it is not in order to say to such a king: “I love you.” It is, however, permissible to say to such a king: “I love to be in your house,” “I love to serve you,” etc. The above distinction explains why Shimon ben Amassuni had not found a problem with the word את in Deuteronomy 6,5 where the Torah writes: ואהבת את ה' אלוקיך, “you shall love the Lord your G’d.” He understood this verse as not applying to G’d’s essence, but to attributes of G’d, attributes worth emulating because they make Him lovable. This is also why Rabbi Akiva was able to resolve his difficulty when he suggested that reverence for Torah scholars, who are an extension of G’d from Whom they received their knowledge and stature, therefore qualify for a portion of reverence that is due to their Master. Seeing that the Torah scholar is a servant of G’d, he too is entitled to some of his Master’s reflected glory. Avraham’s major attribute was אהבה, his love for people. This attribute included even in their concerns with matters that did not involve their relations to the Creator. This being so, G’d did not object to his descending to Egypt, leaving the soil of the Holy Land. His son Yitzchok’s primary attribute was יראה, reverence for the Essence of G’d; i.e. he concentrated all his faculties on how to serve G’d. This being so, it would have interfered with his basic character were he to leave the sacred soil of the land of Israel for even a short period.
Genesis 46,1. “he offered meat-offerings in honour of the G’d of his father Yitzchok.” The Midrashim offer many different explanations of this verse. The reader’s attention is directed at the commentary of Nachmanides (very lengthy). He concludes that Yaakov, personally, (if it had been up to him) did not really want to descend to Egypt. It was only because he realized that it had been decreed for him to be exiled in Egypt, (compare Shabbat 89) according to which Yaakov should actually have descended to Egypt in iron chains. Under the circumstances, Yaakov realized that he was very fortunate to travel to Egypt in style, instead. When he addressed G’d as the G’d of Yitzchok, he implied that his father Yitzchok had not been forced to leave the Holy Land, even though there had been a famine there in his lifetime also, G’d had commanded him to remain there. (Genesis 26,2) He may have hoped to change G’d’s decree so as to enable him to remain in the Holy Land.
“And God appeared unto him and said, do not descend to Egypt. Dwell in the land of which I shall tell unto you [Israel].” (Bereshit, 26:2) Why was it forbidden for Yitzchak to descend into Egypt, but not for Avraham? Yitzchak needed live in a perpetual state of the fear of God and constraint. He felt a constant need to guard himself. Therefore it was forbidden for him to leave Israel, for whoever is in need of constraint is not permitted to go out and find a reason to earn a livelihood until God summons him to do so. (And to constrict himself in his eating. Therefore God said to him, “sit in your house and wait expectantly until I find you a reason to earn a living. In the realm of the brit hamaor (his sexual activity), he was greatly constrained; therefore he needed no restrictions concerning this, as it is said (Bereshit, 26:8), “and Yitzchak was sporting with his wife Rivka.” Avraham Avinu, however, was constrained in his eating, therefore it was permitted for him to look for reasons to earn a livelihood. Thus it is with all the souls of Israel, whoever knows where he is constrained in the composition of his soul, it is permitted for him to travel from his place and go after his own reasons. Indeed whosoever knows where his heart is afflicted and in this could experience expansion, God forbid, he must wait for God’s salvation, when He shall invite him to go out from his place and his house. Tashlum Mei HaShiloach.)
שכון בארץ אשר אמר אליך. "Dwell in the land I shall tell you to." This was a general directive to accept G'd's instructions where he was to take up residence even if it conflicted with his own wishes. G'd told him this in order to be able to reward him for obeying. G'd had done something similar when He told Abraham in 12,1 that he was to go to a place G'd would designate (in the future). Five verses later on G'd specified the land, i.e. "the land of Canaan," something He could have done immediately were it not for the fact that He wanted Abraham to accumulate merit for obeying His directive.
וירא, perhaps it had been part of Yitzchok’s plan to move all the way to Egypt as had done his father in similar circumstances, knowing that the food supply in Egypt was more abundant than that in any other country in the civilised world at the time. G’d appeared to him, meaning to dissuade him from carrying out such a plan, seeing that in the Land of the Philistines there was no famine at the time. In view of this, G’d said it would be better for him to reside there on a temporary basis than to move all the way south to Egypt. The Land of the Philistines is historically considered as part of the Land of Canaan as we have written in connection with 15,21 in reference to 15,18. G’d repeats this in verse 3 so that there could be no doubt about it [as some of us might have thought after considering that Avraham might have signed it away when he concluded his treaty with Avimelech at Beer Sheva. Ed.]
שכון בארץ אשר אמר אליך, in this verse the instruction is שכון, “make a permanent residence,” whereas in verse 3 the same instruction speaks of גור בארץ, “establish a temporary residence.” The commandment is reinforced that Yitzchok should not leave the Land of Canaan at that time or at any time in the future, the reason being
אשר אומר אליך, what I have said to your father is equally valid for you.
DWELL IN THE LAND WHICH I SHALL TELL THEE OF. It is incomprehensible that G-d should tell Isaac at one time, Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of, [and in the following verse continue], Sojourn in this land, (Verse 3 here.) [and in both cases be referring to the same land]. Instead, its explanation is as follows: “Go not down into Egypt, and dwell all your days in the land which I shall tell you from time to time. At the bidding of G-d you should move, and at the bidding of G-d you should encamp, (See Numbers 9:18.) and right now, sojourn in this land, the land of the Philistines, for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give it, even as it is written, Counted to the Canaanites are the five lords of the Philistines.” (Joshua 13:3.) It is possible that [the event referred to in the beginning of the verse], And the Lord appeared unto him, and said … dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of, happened earlier so that before Isaac left his place it was said to him, “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of when you will be there. Now dwell in this land, the land of Canaan, which will comprise many peoples and many lands, for I now command that you should not leave it forever for all these lands will I give to thy seed.” Following this command, Isaac journeyed from his place because of the famine to go into all the lands of Canaan, to dwell in the land which He would tell him. And when he came to Gerar, He said to him, “Dwell here.” It was not necessary however for Scripture to detail this for it is known that Isaac would not transgress the command of G-d. (Therefore, when Scripture wrote that Isaac was given the charge, Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of, he left his place and went searching within the land of Canaan for a new home. When he finally reached Gerar he was told, Sojourn in this land. Thus Ramban explains that there was a lapse of [[illegible]] Verses 2 and 3. The original difficulty which Ramban mentions at the beginning of his comments on this verse is thus removed.) A similar case of interpretation appears in the verse, Upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of, (Above, 22:2.) as I mentioned there.
אל תרד מצרימה GO NOT DOWN INTO EGYPT — Because he thought of going down to Egypt as his father had gone down in time of famine. He said to him, “Do not go down to Egypt for you are a burnt-offering without blemish and residence outside the Holy Land is not befitting you” (Genesis Rabbah 64:3).
Aus V. 3 ist ersichtlich, daß Jizchak die Absicht hatte, nach Mizrajim, der gewöhnlichen Zuflucht vor Hungersnot, zu gehen. Er ging zuerst zum Abimelech, dem Bundesgenossen seines Vaters, wie es scheint, um womöglich durch ihn Hülfe zu finden. Es war aber auch dort die Not. Da erschien ihm Gott mit der Weisung, keinen menschlichen Schutz zu suchen. Sein Acker sei die Pflege des Gottesgehorsams. שכון, wohne ruhig, ist mehr als גור und weniger als ישב. Wiederholt הארצות האל, gerade diese Länder, die du so wiederholt der Hungersnot erliegen siehst, gebe ich dir und deinen Nachkommen, damit, durch Befolgung meiner Gesetze, dort sich eine solche Blüte entfalte, daß dadurch alle Völker der Erde sich veranlaßt sehen werden, bei euch und in Befolgung eures Beispiels die Wege zu suchen und zu betreten, durch welche der Mensch Selbstschöpfer seines Segens wird.
אל תרד מצרימה, do not let the shortage of grass to feed your livestock be the cause of moving to Egypt. (as the sons of Yaakov claimed in 47,4 to explain why they had moved to Egypt.)
שכון בארץ אשר אומר אליך, make huts for the shepherds and pens your livestock in the places which I will specify for you.
For you are a burnt-offering without blemish and being outside the [Holy] Land does not befit you. I.e., a burnt-offering is a kodshei kodoshim sacrifice and may not be taken outside the Temple Courtyard. Similarly, the Land of Israel is your “Temple Courtyard”; you may not go outside the Land.
The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you. Like the other forefathers, Isaac too merited a divine revelation.
שכון בארץ אשר אומר אליך, “reside in the land which I will tell you about.” Nachmanides explains that the negative “do not go down to Egypt,” was not followed immediately by a directive to settle in Gerar, but that the words “reside in the land which I will tell you,” were a sort of hint that in due course G’d would give more specific instructions. In this respect Yitzchok’s experience paralleled that of his father, who also traveled through different parts of the Holy Land in order to have already established a presence there when the time would come for G’d’s promise to give the entire land to his descendants to be fulfilled. It goes without saying that Yitzchok complied with G’d’s directive until G’d eventually told him to settle in Gerar.
“Isaac went to Avimelekh [king of the Philistines], to Gerar” – to Gardiki. (The name of that area in Roman times.) Rabbi Dostai in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Why did they [not] (Radal and Etz Yosef add the word "not" based on Yerushalmi, Sheviit 6:1.) decree impurity on the abode in Gardiki? (Even though they decreed impurity on places outside of Israel, on this place, which is close to the border they did not decree impurity since people would not go there anyway.) It is because it is a poor abode. Until where? It is until the ravine of Egypt. “The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you” (Genesis 26:2). “The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell [shekhon] in the land” – establish permanent residence [shekhuna] in the Land of Israel; plant, sow, graft branches (See Matnot Kehuna.) on trees. Alternatively, “shekhon in the land” – cause the Divine Presence [haShekhina] to rest in the land. “Reside in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you, and to your descendants, and I will keep the oath that I took to Abraham your father” (Genesis 26:3). “Reside in this land” – Rabbi Hoshaya said: [God said:] ‘You are an unblemished burnt offering; just as a burnt offering, if it goes outside the curtains, it is disqualified, you, too, if you go out of the Land of Israel, you are disqualified.’ “To you, and to your descendants, I will give all these [ha’el] lands – the mighty; just as it says: “He took the mighty of [eilei] the land” (Ezekiel 17:13). Another matter, why does it not state haeleh, but rather, ha’el? It is to say: I will give you some of them. When will I give you the rest? It will be in the future.
(Gen. 26:1, cont.:) AND ISAAC WENT TO ABIMELECH…. He had wanted to go down to Egypt, < but > the Holy One immediately appeared to him. He said to him (in vs. 2): DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT. Abraham went down < there >, but Isaac did not go down. Now why did he say, not to Abraham, but only to Isaac: DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT? R. Hosha'ya said: The Holy One said unto Isaac: Because your father came to the land from abroad, he went down to Egypt; but, since you were born in the land of Israel and < represent > a pure burnt offering, how could you be going down? (Gen. R. 64:3.) Ergo (in Gen. 26:2): DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT.
(Job 22:28:) WHEN YOU DECREE SOMETHING, IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU. The Holy One has spoken to the righteous (tsaddiq) one: If you have done my will, I also will put your will ahead of my own. (Ibid.:) WHEN YOU DECREE SOMETHING, IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU…. R. Berekhyah the Priest said: What is the meaning of IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU? The Holy One has said to the righteous one: When I say something and you say something < else >, I abrogate mine, as it were, to make yours come to pass. Ergo: IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU. When was the pronouncement? When < Israel > committed that act (i.e., of the golden calf). What did the Holy One do? He said to Moses (in Exod. 32:7): GO AND GET DOWN, FOR YOUR PEOPLE < WHOM YOU BROUGHT UP FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT > HAVE ACTED BASELY. What is written (in vs. 10)? SO NOW LEAVE ME ALONE < SO THAT MY ANGER MAY BURN AGAINST THEM >…. Moses immediately rose up in prayer and supplication, as stated (in vs. 11): BUT MOSES IMPLORED < THE LORD HIS GOD >…. (Deut. 9:26, 29:) O LORD GOD, DO NOT DESTROY YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR HERITAGE…. FOR THEY ARE YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR HERITAGE…. The Holy One said to him: I cannot < endure them >. He said to him: Just as you have endured them from Egypt up to now, so endure them < this time >. (Numb. 14:19-20:) PLEASE PARDON THE INIQUITY OF THIS PEOPLE < ACCORDING TO YOUR GREAT STEADFAST LOVE, EVEN AS YOU HAVE PARDONED THIS PEOPLE FROM EGYPT UP TO NOW >. THEN THE LORD SAID: I HAVE PARDONED THEM AS YOU ASKED. Immediately (according to Exod. 32:14): THE LORD REPENTED OF THE EVIL WHICH HE HAD PLANNED TO DO TO HIS PEOPLE. (Job 22:28:) WHEN YOU DECREE SOMETHING, IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU. Jacob also vowed things before the Holy One. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 28:20-21): THEN JACOB VOWED A VOW, SAYING: < IF GOD IS WITH ME, PROTECTS ME ON THIS WAY THAT I GO, AND GIVES ME FOOD TO EAT AND CLOTHING TO PUT ON >, AND IF I RETURN SAFELY UNTO MY FATHER'S HOUSE, < THE LORD SHALL BE MY GOD >. He said to him: My father, Isaac, wanted to go abroad, but you did not permit him because he was a whole burnt offering. You appeared to him and said to him (in Gen. 26:2): DO NOT GO DOWN TO EGYPT. Now I am going away, not for my benefit, but < from > before my brother lest he kill me. I have received permission from you and from my father. Do not forsake me. (Gen. 28:20:) THEN JACOB VOWED A VOW, < SAYING >:
And recognised them. Because he was searching for them, if they came because of the famine, since it's the way of the patriarchs to come to Egypt because of the famine. See for example "And there was famine in the land, and Avram descended Egyptwards" (Bereishit 12:1), and so too with Yitzchak until the Holy Blessed One said to him "Don't descend Egyptwards" (Bereishit 26:2). And they weren't looking for him and thinking he would be king! And my teachers have explained that the brothers had beards when they sold him, and now were unchanged, but Yosef didn't have a beard and had since grown one, so he looked different.
He went down to Egypt: Compelled by the Divine Word: Rabbi Moshe Alshich (Rabbi Moshe Alshich, a well known Kabbalist and commentator, lived from 1508 - 1593) explained that our forefather Isaac wished to go to Egypt in order to begin the four hundred years of slavery as foreigners in a strange land which had been predicted to Abraham, but God would not allow him to do so. He said: “Don’t go down to Egypt; dwell in this land and I will be with you.” (Genesis 26:2) Even though Isaac dwelt for some time in the land of the Philistines, this was actually part of the land that was promised to his descendents. Isaac knew that the promise made to Abraham could not be fulfilled until one of Abraham’s descendents went down to Egypt. That is why the verse says My father (Jacob) was a wandering Aramean and he went down to Egypt to dwell there – he went down to become the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Isaac was compelled by God’s commandment not to go down but Jacob was compelled by God’s commandment to go down to Egypt!
It is worthwhile to note that the total number of animals offered on New Moons was 11 as this number corresponds to the 11 hours which the sun is older than the moon. The sun was created (made operational) on the fourth day at the beginning of the day (night), whereas the moon was made operational 11 hours later. The number 11 also recalls the fact that the solar year is (on average) 11 days longer than the lunar year (12 months), seeing the solar year is 365 days and the lunar year 354 days. The reason that the bulls were being offered in respect of Avraham (and Sarah) is because Avraham and Sarah originally were like טומטום ואנדרונינוס, hermaphrodite and epicene (people whose sexual organs were underdeveloped preventing them from bearing or siring children). The ram offered in respect of Yitzchak symbolised the uniqueness of the ram Avraham had slaughtered at the time, of which we learned in Avot 5,6 that it had been designated as such an offering since the days of the creation. The seven sheep offered in respect of Yaakov acknowledge symbolically that his features are engraved on the throne of G’d above the seven heavens (Bereshit Rabbah 68,18). The three tenths ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a gift-offering for each of the bulls correspond to the three verses in which G’d is described as appearing to Avraham (Genesis 12,7; 17,1; 18,1). The two tenths ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as gift-offering which accompanied the ram offering were in respect of the two verses in the Torah in which G’d is described as appearing to Yitzchak (Genesis 26,2; 26,24). The reason that only one tenth ephah fine flour mixed with oil was brought as gift-offering alongside the seven sheep is that we have only one verse in which G’d is described as appearing (וירא) to Yaakov (Genesis 35,9). The reason that the Torah repeats the word עשרון in connection with the single tenth ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as gift-offering in respect of the seven sheep symbolising Yaakov, is that it alludes to both of Yaakov’s names, יעקב and ישראל. It also alludes to the two blessings he received (from his father), one instead of Esau’s blessing, the other prior to his departure to Charan. He also received 10 blessings when he was called Yaakov when his father gave him the first blessing (compare Genesis 27,28-29 and Genesis 32,30 [where the individual blessings are not enumerated; presumably G’d confirmed Yitzchak’s blessing. Ed.]). Yaakov also used the word עשר twice when he promised to tithe (twice) everything G’d would give him (Genesis 28,23). This applied especially to his son Levi as we pointed out in connection with Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 37 why Levi was considered the tenth son (compare author’s comments on Genesis 28,22). It may be worth considering in this connection that Jeremiah 31,8 quotes G’d as saying: “Ephrayim is My firstborn.” When you count backwards from Ephrayim you will find that Levi is the tenth son. When you count from Levi to Aaron in descending order, i.e. Gershon, Kehat, Merari, Livni, Shimi, Amram, Yitzhar Chevron, Uzziel, Aaron you also have Aaron as the tenth (collective) descendant of Levi named by the Torah (compare Chronicles I 6,1-3). This is also why we find in Chronicles I 23,13: “Aaron was set apart, he and his sons, forever to be consecrated most holy, to make burnt-offerings to the Lord, etc.”
אנכי הא-ל אלו-הי אביך ,”I am the Lord G’d of your father.” G’d meant: “I am the same G’d who prevented your father from leaving the Holy Land by telling him “do not go down to Egypt (Genesis 26,2). If I tell you now to proceed to Egypt, I do not want you to be afraid of this trip.” We have a similar assurance phrased by a warning not to be afraid in Isaiah 41,14 “do not be afraid, O worm Jacob.” A third example of G’d offering reassurance by phrasing it in a similar manner is found in Isaiah 41,10 “fear not for I am with you, be not frightened for I am your G’d.”
[59] Abraham too becomes naked when the words have been spoken to him, “Go forth out of thy country and thy kindred” (Gen. 12:1). Isaac also does not indeed become naked, but is always naked and without body, for an injunction has been given him not to go down into Egypt (Gen. 26:2), and “Egypt” is the body. Jacob, again, loves nakedness of the soul, for his smoothness signifies nakedness. “For Esau,” we read, “was a hairy man, but Jacob a smooth man” (Gen. 27:11), and accordingly he has “Leah” as wife.
Freedom from passions (one of the meanings of “nakedness”) is illustrated by Moses setting up the Tent of Witness outside the Camp (Exod. 33:7); by Aaron entering unrobed (!) into the Holy of Holies (cf. Lev. 16:1 ff.); by Nadab and Abihu leaving their coats (or irrational parts) for Mishael and Elzaphan (Lev. 10:5); by Abraham leaving his country (Gen. 12:1); by Isaac being forbidden to go down into Egypt (i.e. the body, Gen. 26:2); and by Jacob’s smoothness (Gen. 27:11). (54 ff.)
[81] Isaac, too, the self-taught had an oracle vouchsafed to him thus, “Go not down into Egypt,” that is passion, “but dwell in the land which I say to thee” (that is in the wisdom which has no material body, and none can shew it to another), “and sojourn in this land” (Gen. 26:2, 3), that is in that form of existence which may be shewn and is perceived by the senses. The purpose of this is to shew him that the wise man does but sojourn in this body which our senses know, as in a strange land, but dwells in and has for his fatherland the virtues known through the mind, which God “speaks” and which thus are identical with divine words.
[29] In this country there awaiteth thee the nature which is its own pupil, its own teacher, that needs not to be fed on milk as children are fed, that has been stayed by a Divine oracle from going down into Egypt (Gen. 26:2) and from meeting with the ensnaring pleasures of the flesh. That nature is entitled Isaac.
[46] For it is indeed an insufferable threat that he holds over him, when he says: “Let the days of my father’s mourning draw near, that I may slay Jacob my brother” (Gen. 27:41); for he prays that Isaac, the only example of freedom from passion beneath the sun, who receives the divine warning “not to go down into Egypt” (Gen. 26:2), may become the subject of irrational passion, desiring him, I take it, to be wounded by the darts of pleasure or sorrow or some other passion. By so desiring he makes it clear that the man who falls short of perfection and knows only toilsome progress will be liable not to be wounded only but to be utterly destroyed. God, however, in His loving-kindness will neither cause a being of an inviolable kind to be the victim of a passion, nor will He hand over the pursuit of virtue to a mad murderer for ruin.
Adonoy appeared [became revealed] to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land that I will make known to you.
It had been in Izhak's heart to go down to Mizraim; but the Lord appeared to him, and said, Go not down to Mizraim; dwell in the land as I have told thee;
| גּ֚וּר בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את וְאֶֽהְיֶ֥ה עִמְּךָ֖ וַאֲבָרְכֶ֑ךָּ כִּֽי־לְךָ֣ וּֽלְזַרְעֲךָ֗ אֶתֵּן֙ אֶת־כׇּל־הָֽאֲרָצֹ֣ת הָאֵ֔ל וַהֲקִֽמֹתִי֙ אֶת־הַשְּׁבֻעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖עְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם אָבִֽיךָ׃ | 3 J | Reside in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; I will assign all these lands to you and to your heirs, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. |
Genesis 24,7. “do not bring my son back there under any circumstances.!” We find that G’d confirmed Avraham’s attittude concerning Yitzchok not leaving the soil of The Holy Land, when He said to Yitzchok (Genesis 26,2) אל תרד מצרימה, שכון בארץ..גור בארץ הזאת, “do not go down to Egypt; reside in the Land…even if you have to be a transient in this land!” We have a standing rule according to which it is permissible to be afraid of something or someone bigger than oneself, whereas it is forbidden to be afraid of someone smaller than oneself. In other words, whereas it is permissible to be afraid of G’d, it is not permissible to be afraid of anyone other than G’d. This is why all manner of idol worship is prohibited. The attribute of love enables one to love those who are “smaller” than we are, notably the members of our household who depend on us. When we keep this rule in mind we will be able to understand a story in the Talmud Kiddushin 57 where it is related that Shimon ben Ammasuni undertook to explain the meaning of each word את in the Torah, proving that the word invariably includes something that the Torah had not spelled out specifically. However, when he came to the line (Deuteronomy 6,13) את ה' אלוקיך תירא, “you are to revere the Lord your G’d,” he was stymied, not knowing what the word את in that line could possibly add, as it is forbidden to revere anyone other than the Lord. His students asked him if he thought that all the explanations that he had found for the other times that the word את occurs should be disregarded? He replied that “just as the Torah promises a reward for explaining its intricacies, so it rewards those who refrain from offering explanations that are not appropriate.” In the meantime, Rabbi Akiva who had heard of Shimon ben Ammasuni’s dilemma, said that even this את added an additional meaning to the verse in which it appeared, suggesting that the Torah scholars deserve to be revered also. Rabbi Akiva was able to offer this explanation since Torah scholars are “greater” than the ordinary people consulting them, so that they fit the principle that it is allowed to revere, be in awe of, people that are greater than oneself. This is a basic difference between the attribute of reverence, יראה, and the attribute of אהבה, love. While it is in order to say: “I am afraid of you,” to someone more powerful than oneself, a king for instance, it is not in order to say to such a king: “I love you.” It is, however, permissible to say to such a king: “I love to be in your house,” “I love to serve you,” etc. The above distinction explains why Shimon ben Amassuni had not found a problem with the word את in Deuteronomy 6,5 where the Torah writes: ואהבת את ה' אלוקיך, “you shall love the Lord your G’d.” He understood this verse as not applying to G’d’s essence, but to attributes of G’d, attributes worth emulating because they make Him lovable. This is also why Rabbi Akiva was able to resolve his difficulty when he suggested that reverence for Torah scholars, who are an extension of G’d from Whom they received their knowledge and stature, therefore qualify for a portion of reverence that is due to their Master. Seeing that the Torah scholar is a servant of G’d, he too is entitled to some of his Master’s reflected glory. Avraham’s major attribute was אהבה, his love for people. This attribute included even in their concerns with matters that did not involve their relations to the Creator. This being so, G’d did not object to his descending to Egypt, leaving the soil of the Holy Land. His son Yitzchok’s primary attribute was יראה, reverence for the Essence of G’d; i.e. he concentrated all his faculties on how to serve G’d. This being so, it would have interfered with his basic character were he to leave the sacred soil of the land of Israel for even a short period.
Genesis 26,3. (some editions of the Kedushat Levi do not contain this paragraph) sojourn in this land…..for to you and to your descendants I will give this land .as a result of Avraham having hearkened to My voice, etc.” This verse sounds at first glance as if Yitzchok on his own account did not have the merits required for him to stake a claim to this land in his own right. It is known (in Kabbalistic circles) that Avraham constantly endeavoured to restore the “sparks” that had escaped from the Shechinah in the celestial regions, and that seeing that these were to be found among the gentiles, this necessitated that he visit countries other than the land of Canaan. Once he had gathered them up, Yitzchok could begin to spiritually elevate them. It would no longer be necessary for Yitzchok to leave the Holy Land in order to search for any remaining “sparks,” that had escaped the “Shechinah” and become tainted by contact with the material world and its allures. This is what is alluded to when the Torah speaks of תולדות יצחק, “Yitzchok’s accomplishments,” instead of תולדות אברהם, “Avraham’s accomplishments,” as Avraham did not have the merits of his father to assist him in his task on earth. As a result of this lack of זכות אבות, he had to sojourn in other countries on occasion.
7. Now from the innerness of the blessings, which is the refined aspect of the blessings, the controls of the intellect are blessed. [These controls] correspond to Keter, as in (Genesis 26:3), “And ehyeh (I will be) with you, and I will bless you.” KeTeR is synonymous with waiting, as in (Job 36:2), “KaTaR (Wait) for me a while.” For when we ask a person something of intellect, he says, “Wait till I compose myself.” And there, as well, EMuNah (faith) is needed; corresponding to “a wondrous ŒMaN (tradesman).”
“… and he offered sacrifices to God of his father Yitzchak.” (Bereshit, 46:1) Why was God called here “God of his father Yitzchak”? Because Yaakov prayed in the direction of the words that were said to Yitzchak (from God) (Bereshit, 26:3), “live in this land [and do not leave the boundaries of Israel], and I will be with you.” So Yaakov then feared that perhaps it was also forbidden for him to leave. Therefore he prayed to God until He illuminated his eyes to show him that for him it was permitted to leave.
והקימותי את השבועה וגו, “and I will keep My oath,etc.” 'ונתתי לזרעך וגו, “I will give to your descendants, etc;” by repeating this oath, G-d specifically excluded Yishmael’s descendants from this promise. This was in spite of the fact that Yishmael was a descendant of Yitzchok’s father Avraham.
כי לך ולזרעך אתן, "for I shall give to you and to your descendants, etc." The land of the Philistines was included in the this gift of the land. Nachmanides also understands our verse in that sense. He writes that the reason G'd said "to you" i.e. not only to Isaac's descendants, may have accounted for the phenomenal success Isaac experienced when he planted in the land of the Philistines (26,12). G'd also intended to tell Isaac that he would be farming successfully there. [after all, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were shepherds not tillers of the soil. Ed.] Perhaps it was because Abraham at the time had failed to establish himself on the soil of the land of the Philistines that G'd told Isaac that he would stake a better claim to that land by ploughing and sowing it. This is why G'd was specific in speaking about כל הארצות האל, "all of these lands."
G'd also wanted to assure Isaac that Ishmael would not share in any of the promises made by Him to Abraham. This is why G'd stressed the word לך, "to you." G'd added the word ולזרעך, "and to your seed," to exclude children of Isaac who would not qualify as his seed in the spiritual sense of the word. This is similar to G'd having told Abraham (21,12) "through Isaac will your seed be known." Nedarim 31 derives from that wording that not all of Isaac's seed would be worthy.
גור בארץ הזאת, “dwell in this land.” G’d commanded Yitzchak not to leave the boundaries of the Holy Land. The reason was that he had been sanctified when he lay bound on the altar on Mount Moriah in order to become a burnt-offering (Bereshit Rabbah 64,3). [some ancient sources combine this with the fact that Yitzchak was born in Eretz Yisrael. Ed.] Had Yitzchak left the country he would have become ritually impure, just as are all the people outside the land of Israel. Why did G’d phrase the command not to leave Eretz Yisrael as גור “dwell as a stranger,” when He had already told him in the previous verse שכון בארץ, “live permanently in the land!?” He wanted to give Yitzchak a hint of the גור אריה, the vision Yitzchak had seen while lying bound, something which transformed him into the epitome of פחד יצחק, the heading under which our tradition sums up Yitzchak’s relationship with G’d. It was because of this vision that when Yitzchak found out that he had been deceived by both his sons when he gave the blessing to Yaakov, that the Torah reports: ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדולה, ”Yitzchak experienced a very great trembling (27,33).” [Being wrong in one’s assessment of such an important matter as almost giving the power to bless and to curse to an unworthy person was a traumatic experience for someone whose life was based on the attribute of Justice. Ed.]
גור...לך ולזרעך, I have already explained this in connection with the previous verse.
AND I WILL FULFILL THE OATH WHICH I SWORE UNTO ABRAHAM THY FATHER. There is no need for the Holy One, blessed be He, to assure Isaac that He will not violate the oath which He swore to his father, for He is not a man, that He should repent. (I Samuel 15:29.) Abraham had no other seed upon whom a covenant had been established with G-d except Isaac. The oath, moreover, was not given on condition. In the case of Jacob, (Further, 35:12. And [[illegible]] land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it.) it was necessary that he be given such assurance on account of his brother Esau. He was thus saying that in him [Jacob] and his seed will the covenant be fulfilled, not in Esau. [But in the case of Isaac, why was it necessary that he be given such a promise?] It would appear then that this expression, Vehakimothi eth hashevuah, is itself an oath. (It is thus to be translated, And I will ‘establish’ the oath. This is now found in most English translations.) It is for this reason that the Torah always says, The land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; (Deuteronomy 34:4.) Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self. (Exodus 32:13.) For we find no source for an oath having been given to Isaac except this verse. Now it was the desire of the Holy One, blessed be He, to swear to each one of the patriarchs to let it be known that each one was worthy of the covenant being made with him alone, and that the merit of each one stands before Him together with their seed. Even though the previous one suffices, it is an additional merit and honor to them. (That is, their descendants.) It is for this reason He said, Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land, (Leviticus 26:42.) since all of them had the distinction of G-d having made a covenant with them. It is possible that He promised something additional to Isaac through this oath, namely, that He will fulfill in him himself, the oath He had sworn to Abraham his father, i.e., that he [Isaac] will be a blessing among the nations, even as He said to Abraham his father, And all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves with thy seed. (Above, 22:18.) The explanation of the verse before us will thus be: “And I will fulfill in thee the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father since you will be a blessing among the nations.” Similarly, He also says in the case of Jacob, And in thee and in thy seed shall all of the families of the earth be blessed. (Further, 28:14.)
'כי לך ולזרעך וגו, because I have given him and his descendants this land, I have now commanded you not to leave this land which I described as the land I will show you, etc.” in Genesis 12,1.
האל is the same as האלה THESE.
גור בארץ הזאת, I want you to stay in this country,
ואהיה עמך ואברכך and even though there is presently a shortage of grazing land, if you stay where I tell you to your livestock will prosper.
ואברכך, I will bless you both in money and livestock, on condition that you remain in this country.
The reason is that כי לך ולזרעך אתן את כל הארצות האל והקימותי את השבועה, the reason I tell you all this is because here I will keep My oath to Avraham your father to give him and his descendants this land. While you will reside in this land you will be treated like a prince among them. You will acquire title to this land thanks to your lengthy unbroken residence on it.
Reside in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you; for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will keep the oath that I took to Abraham your father. You belong to this land, and it belongs to you and your descendants, and therefore you must stay here and live here.
והקימותי את השבועה אשר נשבעתי לאברהם אביך, “so that I can fulfill the oath I have sworn to your father Avraham.” There is, of course, no need for G’d to give an assurance that He will not renege on His oath. Besides, Avraham did not have any other seed which would qualify for the promise of G’d to give the land to Yitzchok’s offspring to create doubt to whom G’d would give the land. After all, only he was in a covenantal relationship with G’d. When it came to G’d repeating His promise to Yaakov, in due course, this was necessary in order to make clear that Esau, though included in the promise: “your seed will be known through Yitzchok” did not automatically exclude Esau. The meaning of והקימותי את השבועה וגו' therefore is that G’d swears a separate oath to Yitzchok concerning who He will give the land of Israel to. When we read in Exodus 33,1 Numbers 32 11, and Deuteronomy 34,4 the formulaאשר נשבעתי לאברהם, ליצחק, וליעקב, we would be hard pressed to find where exactly G’d swore such an oath to Yitzchok, if not in our verse here. It is also possible that the reason why Yitzchok was added to be a beneficiary of G’d’s oath was in order to confer upon him also the blessing which G’d had bestowed at the beginning of chapter 12, i.e. that just as Avraham was to be a blessing for the nations, so his son Yitzchok’s very existence would do the same for the nations of the earth. G’d had promised that the nations of the earth would be blessed through Avraham’s seed; now the same blessing was in effect for the seed of Yitzchok.. Accordingly, the meaning of the entire verse would be: “I will keep My oath to Avraham your father through you. The same promise was repeated in due course to Yaakov when the time was ripe for that.
“Reside in this land” [26:3]. Remain in this land, as this land will be your children’s. I will bless your descendants like the stars of the sky, because your father Abraham was pious.
Having arrived at this principle, I now will enlighten your eyes about a Midrash (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 118a-b.) stated by our sages, of blessed memory, about our forefather Yaakov, peace be upon him. The Holy One, blessed is He, said to him, (Genesis 28:14) “Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall burst forth westward, eastward, northward, and southward.” Now, we must understand this word “burst forth-uFaratzta-ופרצת,” which is different than what was said to Avraham, (Genesis 13:14-15) “Raise now your eyes and look out from the place where you are: northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.” That is, when it comes to Avraham, the dimensions conclude with, “northward, southward, eastward, and westward,” and the same is so of Yitzchak. (That is, about Avraham, the continuing verse (Genesis 13:17), cited in Shabbat 118b states, “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth! For to you I will give it,” to which Rashi comments, “Only this land, and not more.” Likewise, about Yitzchak the verse (Genesis 26:3) states, “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your offspring I will give all these lands etc.,” to which Rashi explains, “These lands, and no more.” That is, the portions of Avraham and Yitzchak have measure and limitation, which is not so of the portion of Yaakov, as explained in the Talmud there, and as will now be further explained.) In contrast, about Yaakov the verse states, “You shall burst forth-uFaratzta-ופרצת westward, eastward, northward, and southward,” meaning, “Your portion is unlimited.” I now shall enlighten your eyes about this secret. That is, since they are encompassed by the seventy ministers that limit and constrain them, the portions of Avraham and Yitzchak are limited. However, since Yaakov is the middle line-Kav HaEmtza’ee-קו האמצעי and he alone ascends to the Crown-Keter where the ministers cannot ascend, therefore Yaakov’s inheritance is unlimited and it bursts forth-Poretz-פורץ from all constraints. This is because the ministers only ascend to the right and left, corresponding to Avraham and Yitzchak. However, Yaakov is in the center and only he ascends to the Crown-Keter – to the Unlimited One-Ein Sof-אין סוף – which is an inheritance without constraints. Therefore, all the ministers and their dominions are under the inheritance of Yaakov.
Our God and God of our fathers, remember us favorably before You and be mindful of us for deliverance and compassion from the eternal high heavens. Remember in our behalf, Adonoy, our God: the love of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants; the covenant, the kindness, and the oath which You swore to our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, and the binding of Isaac, his son on the altar, as it is written in Your Torah. (Genesis 22:1-19.)
Our God and God of our fathers, remember us favorably before You and be mindful of us for deliverance and compassion from the eternal high heavens. Remember in our behalf, Adonoy, our God: the love of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants; the covenant, the kindness, and the oath which You swore to our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, and the binding of Isaac, his son on the altar, as it is written in Your Torah. (Genesis 22:1-19.)
[2] Another interpretation: "and Yaakov was called." It is said in scriptures: "The glory of God is to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2) God showed Jacob, our forefather, what He did not show Abraham and Isaac. He showed Abraham only what was before him, as it says, "For all the land which you see, I will give to you and your descendants forever." (Genesis 13:15) He showed Isaac only what was in his present surroundings, as it says, "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you." (Genesis 26:3) But to Jacob, God showed him both what was before him and what was hidden, as it says, "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south." (Genesis 28:14) God showed him the four corners of the world. When Jacob was about to leave this world, he revealed everything to his children. God said to him, "Just as Jacob concealed a matter, so too you shall reveal to your children my secrets, which are my hidden things." These traits of concealment and revelation belong to Me, not to you. Similarly, Solomon said, "He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy conceals a matter." (Proverbs 11:13) Balaam, the wicked one, said, "I will show you what he will do to your people in the end of days." (Numbers 24:14) This is one who goes about as a talebearer. But you are trustworthy and a spirit of covering a matter belongs to you. (Proverbs 25:2)
Another matter, “when you will come into the land of your dwellings” – Rabbi Zakai of She’av said: Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, everywhere You call it the land of Canaan, but here you call it “the land of your dwelling”?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘As you live, I gave it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of them in the Bible; (Abraham (Genesis 15:7); Isaac (Genesis 26:3); Jacob (Genesis 28:13).) that is why it is “the land of your dwelling.”’ Why did Canaan merit that the land was called by his name? It is because when he heard that Israel was coming, he evacuated the place. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You evacuated the place; the land will be called by your name. And I will give you a land as fine as your land.’ Which is that? It is Africa. What is written above? It is the portion of the spies: “they defiantly [vayapilu] ascended to the mountaintop” (Numbers 14:44) – they brought blackness upon its inhabitants. (Those who participated in the defiant ascent.) They were all in blackness, as “the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and Moses, did not move from the midst of the camp” (Numbers 14:44), as they did not ascend with them. Moses said to them: ‘This is what the Holy One blessed be He said to me: “Do not ascend and do not wage war, as I am not in your midst” (Deuteronomy 1:42). You said: “Where are we ascending? Our brethren have melted [hemasu] our hearts, [saying: A people greater and taller than we, cities great and fortified…]”’ (Deuteronomy 1:28). (Moses said to them: “You, yourselves, said that in terms of physical strength, they are superior. I assured you that with God on our side we would prevail. Now that God is not in our midst, you seek to ascend?”) What is “melted [hemasu] our hearts”? Our Rabbis said: From here they derived the measure of the pomegranates, as our Rabbis taught: The pomegranates from when they reach half [misheyimasu]. ( Yerushalmi, Ma’asrot 1:2.) “Hemasu our hearts, saying” – Moses said: ‘From the outset, you divided it. (Your hearts.) “You all approached me” (Deuteronomy 1:22) – For good: (They requested that Moses, not God, speak to them.) “All the heads of your tribes approached me” (Deuteronomy 5:20) – For evil. (They requested to send spies into the Land.) “You all approached me and said” (Deuteronomy 1:22), and it is written: “You murmured in your tents, and you said: In the Lord’s hatred of us”’ (Deuteronomy 1:27). The Holy One blessed be He said: “I have loved you” (Malachi 1:2), and they say “In the Lord’s hatred of us”? They were expounding and saying: ‘Know that He hates us: A flesh and blood king has two sons and two fields, one that is watered by irrigation and one that is watered by rain. Does he not give to the one that the king loves, the one watered by irrigation, and to the one that he hates, he gives the one that is watered by rain? The land of Egypt is watered by irrigation and we were in it. The land of Canaan is watered by rain, and he took us out of Egypt to give us the land of Canaan. Nevertheless, “You girded each man his weapons of war… The Lord said to me: Say to them: Do not ascend and do not wage war” (Deuteronomy 1:41–42). [God said:] ‘I thought to ascend with you, but now, do not ascend, because it will be a descent for you.’ Nevertheless, “you girded [vataḥgeru]” – you all became as one.’ (It was as though you were fastened to one another by a belt [ḥagora].) “You prepare yourself [vatahinu] to ascend the mountain” (Deuteronomy 1:41) – what is vatahinu? They were saying: From drop to drop, the hin (A hin is a measure of volume.) is filled. (Even if we no longer merit miracles, through painstaking effort we will prevail.) One verse says: “You sinned [Vatazidu]” (Deuteronomy 1:43) and one verse says: Vatahinu. What is vatazidu? They mocked [she'hezidu] the encampments of the Holy One blessed be He. (Until that point, they never left an encampment without the pillar of cloud and the Ark (see Numbers 9:15–23).) “You ascended the mountain. The Emorites…emerged [against you and pursued you as do the bees]” (Deuteronomy 1:43–44). “The bees” – just as this bee, once it strikes a person it immediately dies; you, too, once one of them would touch you, his soul would depart. Just as the bee flies, they were flying above you. In the past, they would hear of your renown and die, as it is stated: “Peoples heard, they were agitated” (Exodus 15:14). (The following verse ends: “The inhabitants of Canaan dissipated” (Exodus 15:15).) But now: “[The Emorites…]pursued…they smote you” (Deuteronomy 1:44). “You returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not heed” (Deuteronomy 1:45). It is, as it were, that you rendered the attribute of justice as though it were cruel. (It totally overcame the attribute of mercy, which is represented by the name “the Lord.”) Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Woe unto the wicked, as they render the attribute of justice as though it were cruel. “The Lord said: Rise, go on a journey” (Deuteronomy 10:11) – if I come to perform justice with you, you will not enter the Land. Rather, “rise, go on a journey [before the nation, and they will come and inherit the Land]” (Deuteronomy 10:11). That is, “when you will come into the land.”
“For you are coming to the land of Canaan” – this is what the verse said: “God is not a man, that He will deceive” (Numbers 23:19). Alternatively, “God is not a man” – does man not cause God to deceive; did the son of Amram not make Him reconsider? It is He who said: “Let Me be, and I will destroy them” (Deuteronomy 9:14). The son of Amram, arose and caused Him to reconsider, as it is stated: “The Lord reconsidered the evil” (Exodus 32:14). Another matter: “God is not a man, that He will deceive” (Numbers 23:19) – when He says that He will bring good upon Israel, [then] even though the generation has incurred liability, He does not delay; but when He says to bring evil, He retracts it. “Will He say and not perform?” (Numbers 23:19) – know that he said to Abraham: “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you could count them. He said to him: So shall be your descendants” (Genesis 15:5). He did so, as it is stated: “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance” (Deuteronomy 1:10). He said to him: “Know, that your descendants will be a stranger [in a land that is not theirs, and they shall be enslaved to them, and they shall oppress them, four hundred years]” (Genesis 15:13), but they did only two hundred and ten years. That is, “God is not a man, that He will deceive” (Numbers 23:19) – for good; (God does not deceive regarding predictions of good matters.) but regarding evil, “will He say and not perform?” (Numbers 23:19). (The Hebrew phrase can be read “That One said and did not perform” rather than as a question.) He said to Israel: “For you are not My people” (Hosea 1:9), and then He said: “I will say to Not My People: You are My people” (Hosea 2:25). “Will He say and not perform?” (Numbers 23:19) – He said to Abraham: “For I will give [all these lands] to you, and to your descendants” (Genesis 26:3), and He did not retract it, as it is stated: “For you are coming to the land of Canaan,” and He took them into the land.
“There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was during the days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Avimelekh king of the Philistines, to Gerar” (Genesis 26:1). “There was a famine in the land.” “The Lord knows the days of the faultless” (Psalms 37:18) – this is Isaac. “Their inheritance will last forever” (Psalms 37:18), “Reside in this land [and I will be with you, and I will bless you]” (Genesis 26:3), “They are not put to shame in difficult times” (Psalms 37:19) – the difficulty of Avimelekh. “And in days of famine they are sated” (Psalms 37:19) – “There was a famine in the land.”
“The Lord will not starve the soul of the righteous” (Proverbs 10:3) – this is Isaac. “Reside in this land.” “And He averts the devastation of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:3) – this is Avimelekh. “There was a famine” – Ten famines came to the world. One during the days of Adam the first man – “accursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17); one during the days of Lemekh – “from the ground that the Lord had cursed” (Genesis 5:29); one during the days of Abraham – “there was famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt” (Genesis 12:10); one during the days of Isaac: “there was a famine in the land”; one during the days of Jacob – “for these two years there has been famine” (Genesis 45:6); one during the days when the judges judged – “It was in the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land” (Ruth 1:1); one during the days of Elijah, as it is stated: “As the Lord God of Israel [lives…there will not be dew or rain these years, except by my word]” (I Kings 17:1); one during the days of David – “there was a famine during the days of David” (II Samuel 21:1); one during the days of Elisha – “there was a great famine in Samaria” (II Kings 6:25); and one that is progressing and coming to the world and one in the future, as it is stated: “I will send famine in the land, not famine for bread, not thirst for water…” (Amos 8:11). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: The primary brunt of them was during the days of David, but it would have been appropriate for them to have been during the days of Saul, but because Saul was an offshoot of a sycamore tree (The sycamore tree is frail.) the Holy One blessed be He transferred it and brought it during the days of David. Shila sinned and Yoḥana is punished? (The phrase means how can one person sin and another be punished.) Rabbi Ḥiyya Rabba said: This is analogous to a glazier who had a basket filled with cut, ornate glassware. When he sought to hang his basket, he would bring a peg, implant it into the wall, and then hang his basket. Therefore, all of them did not befall lowly people, (Major catastrophes did not befall people who would not be able to withstand them. They befell mighty people, who could withstand them.) but rather, mighty people. Rabbi Berekhya would read in their regard: (Regarding David’s generation.) “He gives strength to the weary” (Isaiah 40:29). Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Two [famines] came during the days of Abraham. Rabbi Aḥa said: One during the days of Abraham and one during the days of Lemekh. The famine that came during the days of Elijah was a famine of drought; one year it produced and one year it did not produce. (There was a small amount of rain, and there was some produce (See Mishna Avot 5:8).) The famine that came during the days of Elisha was one of panic – “until the head of a donkey was sold for eighty silver pieces” (II Kings 6:25). The famine that was during the days that the judges judged – Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: Forty-one se’a were sold for the price of forty-two se’a. But was it not taught: A person may not leave the Land of Israel unless two se’a of wheat go for one sela. Rabbi Shimon said: When? It is at a time that one cannot find any to acquire, but if he can find any to acquire, even if it is one se’a for a sela, he may not leave the Land of Israel. Because Elimelekh left the Land of Israel, he was punished that he and his sons died.
“Isaac went to Avimelekh [king of the Philistines], to Gerar” – to Gardiki. (The name of that area in Roman times.) Rabbi Dostai in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Why did they [not] (Radal and Etz Yosef add the word "not" based on Yerushalmi, Sheviit 6:1.) decree impurity on the abode in Gardiki? (Even though they decreed impurity on places outside of Israel, on this place, which is close to the border they did not decree impurity since people would not go there anyway.) It is because it is a poor abode. Until where? It is until the ravine of Egypt. “The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you” (Genesis 26:2). “The Lord appeared to him, and said: Do not go down to Egypt; dwell [shekhon] in the land” – establish permanent residence [shekhuna] in the Land of Israel; plant, sow, graft branches (See Matnot Kehuna.) on trees. Alternatively, “shekhon in the land” – cause the Divine Presence [haShekhina] to rest in the land. “Reside in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you, and to your descendants, and I will keep the oath that I took to Abraham your father” (Genesis 26:3). “Reside in this land” – Rabbi Hoshaya said: [God said:] ‘You are an unblemished burnt offering; just as a burnt offering, if it goes outside the curtains, it is disqualified, you, too, if you go out of the Land of Israel, you are disqualified.’ “To you, and to your descendants, I will give all these [ha’el] lands – the mighty; just as it says: “He took the mighty of [eilei] the land” (Ezekiel 17:13). Another matter, why does it not state haeleh, but rather, ha’el? It is to say: I will give you some of them. When will I give you the rest? It will be in the future.
(Exodus 13:5) "which He swore to your forefathers": Where did He swear it to your forefathers? Abraham — (Genesis 15:18) "On that day the L–rd made a covenant with Abraham." Isaac — (Ibid. 26:3) "Live in this land." Jacob — (Ibid. 28:13) "the land on which you are lying, etc."... "Then you shall perform this service": As the service that you performed in Egypt so shall you perform in all the generations. These are the words of R. Nathan.
Jer. 3:19): AND GIVE YOU A DESIRABLE LAND, a land that the ancestors of the world (Literally: “fathers of the world.” According to Ber. 16b and Rashi, ad loc., the title father should be limited to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Similarly the title mother should apply only to Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachael.) found desirable. Abraham, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 12:9): THEN ABRAM JOURNEYED AS HE WENT ON AND TRAVELED TOWARDS THE NEGEB. And so it says (in Gen. 23:4): I AM AN ALIEN AND TRANSIENT AMONG YOU; GIVE ME A BURIAL PLACE AMONG YOU. Isaac. {He also found it desirable when he was departing from world. What did he say to his children (in Gen. 49:29)? BURY ME WITH MY ANCESTORS IN THE FIELD OF EPHRON BEN ZOHAR THE HITTITE.} (Note that Gen. 49:1, 28 attributes these words to Jacob.) [The Holy One also endeared it to Isaac (in Gen. 26:3): RESIDE IN THIS LAND, …. ] Jacob. This he commanded (in Gen. 50:5): IN MY GRAVE WHICH I DUG FOR MYSELF IN THE LAND OF …. Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): A DESIRABLE LAND, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL (rts: TsBH TsB') HERITAGE OF THE NATIONS, in that it is a land of delights (rt.: TsBH) for the peoples of the world.
Another interpretation (of Numb. 15:2): WHEN YOU COME UNTO THE LAND OF YOUR HABITATIONS…. R. Zakkay of Sha'av (in Galilee) said: Israel said: Sovereign of the World, in every place you call this [the Land of Canaan, but here (in Numb. 15:2)] THE LAND OF YOUR HABITATIONS. (Numb. R. 17:3.) The Holy One said to them: By your life, I gave it to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob: To Abraham I said (in Gen. 24:7): TO YOUR SEED I SHALL GIVE THIS LAND. (Cf. Galatians 3:16.) To Isaac I said (in Gen. 26:3): RESIDE IN THIS LAND, AND I WILL BE WITH YOU AND BLESS YOU, FOR TO YOU AND TO YOUR SEED I WILL GIVE ALL THESE LANDS…. To Jacob I said (in Gen. 28:13): THE LAND ON WHICH YOU ARE LYING I WILL GIVE TO YOU AND TO YOUR SEED. Since the son inherits from the father, he therefore said unto them (in Numb. 15:2): WHEN YOU COME UNTO THE LAND OF YOUR HABITATIONS.
(Exod. 23:20:) BEHOLD, I AM SENDING AN ANGEL …. This text is related (to Jer. 3:19): THEN I SAID: HOW WOULD I (This translation fits the context of the midrash.) PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN,… ! (Tanh., Exod. 6:17; see below, Tanh. (Buber), Numb. 4a:15.) R. Eleazar ben Pedat says: What is this : WOULD I PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU? It had occurred to me that we, I and you, would be < alone > in the world. (Tanh., Exod. 6:17, adds, “I as father and you as children.”) How did you manage for me to bring the peoples of the world in among you? (Cf. Tanh., Exod. 6:17: “How did you manage to bring the peoples of the world in between me and you?”) This expression is nothing but an expression of setting apart (as in Gen. 30:40): AND HE PUT (rt.: ShYT) HIS OWN FLOCKS …. R. Hama bar Hanina said: What is the meaning of WOULD I PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU? (Cf. Exod. R. 32:2.) There was a great love between me and you. (Below, Tanh. (Buber), Lev. 7:12; Numb. 4a: 15; Exod. R. 32:2.) How did you manage that I should hate you? (Jer. 3:19:) HOW WOULD I PUT (rt.: ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN! This expression is nothing but an expression of hatred, as used (in Gen. 3:15): I WILL PUT (rt.: ShYT) ENMITY . Another interpretation (of Jer. 3:19:) HOW WOULD I PUT (ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN ! R. Joshua ben Levi said: I spoke in defense. (Gk.: synegoria.) You behaved toward me so that I denounced you and pronounced you guilty (rt.: HYB). The expression (rt.: ShYT) is nothing but an expression of guilt (rt.: HYB), as used (concerning one guilty of negligence in Exod. 21:30): IF A RANSOM IS PUT (rt.: ShYT) UPON HIM, . Another interpretation (of Jer. 3:19:) HOW WOULD I PUT (ashit; rt.: ShYT) YOU AMONG THE CHILDREN! R. Berekhyah the Priest said: You were as dear to me as someone who has a single field, which he fertilizes, cultivates, and weeds. So dear were you to me. Your behavior toward me was for you to commit lawlessness. Now this word (ashit) is nothing but an expression for lawlessness, as used (in Is. 5:6): AND I WILL MAKE (ashit) IT (i.e., the Holy One's vineyard) A DESOLATION. (Jer. 3:19, cont.:) AND GIVE YOU A DESIRABLE LAND, a land that the great ones of the world (i.e., the patriarchs) desired. (Below, Tanh. (Buber), Numb. 4a: 16.) Abraham said to the Hittites (in Gen. 23:4): GIVE ME A BURIAL SITE. The Holy One also endeared it to {the children of} Isaac, as stated (in Gen. 26:3): RESIDE IN THIS LAND, …. Jacob said (according to Gen. 50:5): IN MY GRAVE WHICH I DUG FOR MYSELF . Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): A DESIRABLE LAND. (Ibid., cont.:) [BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE] . What is the meaning of BEAUTIFUL (tsevi) HERITAGE? Just as in the case of a deer (tsevi), when one slaughters it, strips off its hide, and tries to return the flesh into the hide, it does not contain it, so the land of Israel does not contain its produce. What is written (in Is. 30:24)? AS FOR THE OXEN AND ASSES THAT WORK THE GROUND, THEY SHALL EAT FERMENTED FODDER, WHICH HAS BEEN WINNOWED WITH SHOVEL AND PITCH FORK. First they winnow with the SHOVEL and after that with the PITCH FORK. Why? Because there was more grain than straw. Even so there was produce in winnowing the straw. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (ibid.): FERMENTED MASH, WHICH HAS BEEN WINNOWED WITH SHOVEL AND PITCH FORK. Mashes are from produce. Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): [A DESIRABLE LAND,] BEAUTIFUL (tsevi) HERITAGE (understood in the sense of THE MOST DEERLIKE HERITAGE), a land which does not contain its produce, a land which was so good that all the kings of the world desired it. It is written (in Josh. 12:9): THE KING OF JERICHO, ONE; THE KING {FOR AI} [OF AI WHICH IS BESIDE BETHEL], ONE. Now there are only three miles (Lat.: mille.) between Jericho and Ai; yet it says: THE KING OF JERICHO. It is simply that whoever has a possession outside of the land without having a possession in the land of Israel was not called a king. (Sifre, to Deut. 7:12 (37); Gen. R. 85:14.) Why? Because they longed for the land of Israel. R. {Isaac} [Johanan] said: What is written (in Josh. 7:21): I SAW AMONG THE SPOILS A SHINAR MANTLE, a Babylonian (Gk.: Babylonikon; Lat.: Babylonicum.) robe of royal purple, (Gk.: porphura; Lat.: purpura.) which the king of Babylon wore to rule in Jericho. Ergo (in Jer. 3:19): THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE OF THE NATIONS. (According to this reasoning, the various kingships were so close to each other in Israel because every king needed a seat in Israel in order to be regarded as a king.) (Ibid., cont.:) AND I SAID YOU SHALL CALL ME FATHER. Just as a father is obliged for his daughter's enjoyments, so did I bring down rain for you. (Exod. 16:14:) WHEN THE LAYER OF DEW HAD GONE UP, …. (Jer. 3:20:) SURELY AS A WOMAN BREAKS FAITH WITH HER LOVER . R. Judah bar Simon said: Oh that like an unfaithful wife. This a woman, who has a lover, gives him food, drink, and love. When his power is diminished, she leaves him and goes away. SURELY AS A WOMAN BREAKS FAITH WITH HER LOVER. I have not done so to you. The manna came down for you, and the well rose up. I did not deprive you of anything when you were unfaithful with me. See, I gave you an angel who watched over you. (Exod. 23:20:) SEE, I AM SENDING YOU AN ANGEL . When you became worthy and received the Torah, I went before you in person. But now, when you have been found guilty, here I am (ibid.:) SENDING AN ANGEL BEFORE YOU. [Another interpretation:] (Tanh., Exod. 6:18.) The Holy One said to Moses: I am sending before you but not before them. He said: If you send out before me, I do not want ; but Joshua saw the angel and fell down before him. What did he say to him (in Josh. 5:13)? ARE YOU FOR US OR FOR OUR ADVERSARIES? When he said to him: ARE YOU FOR US? he began to cry in great anguish. (Literally: “From under the nails of his feet.”) (Ibid., vs. 14:) Then he said: NO, BUT [I] AM THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST. NOW I HAVE COME. (Gen. R. 97:3 (traditional text only).) Here are two times that I have come to give Israel an inheritance. I am the one who came in the days of your master, Moses; but he rejected me. (Ibid., cont.:) NOW I HAVE COME. THEN JOSHUA FELL ON HIS FACE. He saw him and fell on his face, but when Moses saw , he rejected him. The Holy One said (in Exod. 23:20): SEE, I AM SENDING AN ANGEL BEFORE YOU, to you and to whomever observes the Torah [as you . Resh Laqish said: It is written (in Ps. 91:4): HE WILL COVER YOU WITH HIS PINIONS AND YOU WILL FIND REFUGE UNDER HIS WINGS, all who observe the Torah.] (Ibid., cont.:) HIS FIDELITY IS A SHIELD AND BUCKLER. Therefore (in Exod. 23:20): < I AM SENDING MY ANGEL BEFORE YOU > TO GUARD YOU ON THE WAY….
(Gen. 26:3:) RESIDE IN THIS LAND. R. Hanan said in the name of R. Samuel b. R. Isaac: Why < was such a command necessary >? He would not have wanted to become unclean outside the land. < He wanted to leave > because a decree had been issued, as stated (in Gen. 26:1): NOW THERE WAS A FAMINE. It therefore says (in vs. 3): RESIDE IN THIS LAND. R. Joshua ben Levi said: In this world the righteous have been rejected (rt.: TRP), as stated (in Ps. 111:5): HE HAS GIVEN teref (rt.: TRP) (In the context of Ps. 111:5, teref should be translated as FOOD, but here the context requires something with a negative meaning, such as REJECTION.) TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM; but in the world to come, (ibid., cont.:) HE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIS COVENANT. (Gen. R. 40:2.)
And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite (Exod. 13:5). (Scripture mentions) five nations though there were (in fact) seven nations. (Cf. Mekhilta (Lauterbach), p. 161.) Which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee (ibid.). Where did that occur? When he assured Abraham: In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying: “Unto thy seed have I given this land” (Gen. 15:18). When he swore unto Isaac: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, etc. (ibid. 26:3), and when he swore unto Jacob: The land whereupon thou liest, to thee will I give it (ibid. 28:13). Thou shalt keep this service (Exod. 13:5). That is, just as you performed this service in Egypt, so you must perform it in the generations to come. Where did He assure us that it would be? And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand (ibid. 6:8). Into the land of the Canaanite (ibid. 13:11). Why did Canaan deserve to have the land called by his name? When Canaan heard that the Israelites were approaching, he departed from that place. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Because you left that place, the land will be called by your name, and I will give you a land as beautiful as your own. What land was this? Africa. And it shall be given to thee (ibid.). This is written lest one should claim: “I inherited it from my ancestors.”
"Command the Children of Israel" (Numbers 34:2:). This is what is stated in the verse (in Numbers 23:19), "God is not a man to be deceitful," [meaning] a man will not make God deceitful; "nor the son of" Amram (this is a play on words, as the verse reads, the son of man, "Adam") to make Him "change His mind." As [only after God] said, "Let Me go," did the son of Amram stand and make Him change His mind, as stated (Exodus 32:14), "And the Lord rescinded the evil that He was saying to do to His people." Another interpretation (of Numbers 23:19): "God is not a man to be deceitful," with the good. When He speaks to bring good - even if the generation is liable - He does not go back on it, [as] "God is not a man to be deceitful." But when He speaks to bring evil, He does go back on it, as it is stated (Numbers 23:19), "He said it but does not do [it]." You should know that He said to Avraham (Genesis 15:5), "Look toward heaven and count the stars...." And He did it, as stated (Deuteronomy 1:10), "The Lord, your God, multiplied you, and behold you are today...." [But when] He said to Avraham (Genesis 15:13), "Know well that your offspring shall be strangers [... four hundred years]," they were oppressed for only two hundred and ten years. That is [the meaning of], "God is not a man to be deceitful" - with the good. But with the evil, "He said it but does not do [it]." [In this vein,] He said to Israel, "as you are not My people" (Hosea 1:9). But He went back and said, "and I will say to Not My People, 'You are My people'" (Hosea 2: 25). That is [the meaning of], "He said it but does not do [it]." He said to Avraham, "As I will give [the land] to you and your offspring" (Genesis 26:3), and He did not go back [on it]. As it is stated (Numbers 34:2), "when you come to the Land of Canaan," and He brought them into the Land.
And give thee a pleasant land (Jer. 3:19). It was a land greatly coveted by all the mighty men of the world. Abraham said of it: Give me a possession of a burying-place with you (Gen. 23:4). Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, made it precious to Isaac, as it is said: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee and will bless thee (ibid. 26:3). And Jacob said: In my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me (ibid. 50:5). Hence it says: And give thee a pleasant land, the goodliest heritage of the deer (Jer. 3:19). What is indicated by the use of the word deer? Just as the flesh of a deer cannot be restored into its skin when they attempt to recover it after it has been slaughtered and its skin has been stripped away, so the land of Israel is not able to contain its fruit (when it is worthy). A proof of this is written in the verse: The oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan (Isa. 30:24). At first they winnowed the grain with a shovel, but later they winnowed it with a fan. Why? because the grain was more plentiful than the straw, though the grain grows within the straw. Whence do we know this was so? For it is written: Shall eat savory provender. The savory provender was the fruit (of the straw). Hence, And give thee a pleasant land, the goodliest heritage of the deer indicates that like the deer the land of Israel could not contain its fruits.
When the Lord cuts down, etc. (Deuteronomy 12:29): "Look to the Lord and keep to His way" (Psalms 37:34). As they were thinking to enter the Land immediately. [Moshe] said to them, "You are thinking to inherit their land. [So] keep the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated (Psalms 37:34), 'Look to the Lord and keep to His way, and He will raise you high that you may inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.'" That is [the meaning of] that which Moshe said, "When the Lord, your God, cuts down." What is [the meaning of] "When (ki, which can also mean, if) He cuts down?" It is on condition; such that if they keep the Torah, they will enter the Land. And in every place that you find ki, it is conditional: "Ki along the road, you chance upon a bird’s nest [...]. You shall surely send" (Deuteronomy 22:6-7); "Ki you take up the head (make a census) of the Children of Israel, each man shall give a ransom" (Exodus 30:12);" Ki you build a new house, you shall make a parapet" (Deuteronomy 22:8). Here too, the Holy One, blessed be He stipulated with them that He would only cut down the [Canaanite] nations on condition that [the Israelites] would keep the Torah. Beloved is the Land of Israel, as the Holy One, blessed be He, chose it. You find that when He created the world, He apportioned the lands to the ministering angels of the nations, and He chose the Land of Israel [for Himself]. From where [do we know this]? As so did Moshe say (Deuteronomy 32:8), "When the Most High gave nations their inheritances, etc." And He chose [the people of] Israel as His portion, as stated (Deuteronomy 32:9), "For the Lord’s portion is His people, Yaakov His allotment." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Let Israel, who has come to be My portion, inherit the land that has come to be My portion." Hence it is written, "When the Lord cuts down." Yirmiyahu the prophet cried out and said (Jeremiah 3:19), "I had resolved to adopt you as My child, and I gave you a desirable land," a land that the fathers of the world desired. Avraham wanted it, as so does it state (Genesis 15:8), "And he said, 'O Lord God, how shall I know that I am to possess it?'" Yitschak wanted it, as it was stated to him (Genesis 26:3), "Reside in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for I will assign all these lands to you and to your seed." And Yaakov wanted it, as it is stated (Genesis 28:20-21), "If God will be with me, etc. I will return to my father’s house." Rabbi Yehudah said, "Moshe also wanted it, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 3:23-25), 'I pleaded with the Lord at that time, "[...]. Let me, I pray, cross over and see, etc."' And also David wanted it, as it is stated (Psalms 84:11), 'I would rather stand (histofef) at the threshold of [my God’s] house.'" What is [the meaning of] histofef? Rabbi Tanchum beRabbi Chanilai and Rav [differed on the matter]. One said, "David said in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Master of the world, even if I have palaces and a castle outside of the Land, and I only have a veranda (saf) in the Land of Israel, I would rather stand [there].'" And [the other] said [that David said], "Even if I only have lateling (sifsuf) carobs to eat in the Land of Israel, I would rather stand [there]." Hence, "and I gave you a desirable land," a land that the fathers desired. "An inheritance of beauty (tsvi, literally, a gazelle)" (Jeremiah 3:19). Just like a gazelle is light in its running, so does the Land of Israel run its fruits, such that it gives fruit first. Another interpretation: Just like the skin of a gazelle cannot hold its flesh, so [too], when Israel merits, the Land of Israel cannot hold its fruit. "Of the beauties (tsivaot) of the nations" (Jeremiah 3:19). That the delights (tsivionot) of the nations are in it. It is written (Joshua 12:9), "The king of Yericho one; the king of Ai, near Bethel, one." There is only three [mil] between the one and the other, and it states, "The king of Yericho one; the king of Ai, etc., one?" Rabbi Parnakh said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, "Any king that was outside the Land that did not acquire a city in the Land of Israel was not called a king. See what is written about Akhan (Joshua 7:21), 'I saw among the spoil a fine Shinar mantle.' [That is] Babylonian velvet. And from where was there Babylonian velvet in Yericho? Rather it was that the King of Babylonia was there and acquired a city in the Land of Israel." Hence, the land that the delights of the nations of the world are in it. And He gave it to Israel. Therefore, it is written, "When the Lord, your God, cuts down, etc."
If a man should dare say to a person more important than himself, “Why did you treat me so badly?” he would be held guilty of a serious offense, yet Moses said: For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people (ibid., v. 23). (Moses expresses doubt as to God’s ability to save the people from further anguish and is rebuked.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Alas for those who have perished but are not to be found! I revealed myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the Lord Almighty, but I never disclosed to them that My name is YHWH, (The name employed when speaking of God’s merciful aspect.) as I did to you, yet they never criticized My ways. To Abraham I said: Arise, walk through the land in the length thereof (Gen. 13:17), yet though he searched for a burial place for Sarah, and was unable to obtain one until he paid four hundred shekels of silver for it, he did not disparage My ways. I told Isaac: Sojourn in this land …for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands (ibid. 26:3), but even when he sought water to drink and was unable to find any, And the herdsman of Gerar strove with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: “The water is ours” (ibid., v. 20), he did not criticize My ways. I told Jacob: The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (ibid. 28:13), yet when he sought a place to pitch his tent, and could not obtain any land until he purchased it with a hundred lambs, he found no fault with My words.
Another matter: “Behold, I am sending an angel before you” – that is what is written: “And I said: How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children” (Jeremiah 3:19). What is ashitekh? The Holy One blessed be He said: From the moment that you stood at Sinai and received the Torah, and I wrote that I love you, as it is stated: “But because of the Lord’s love for you” (Deuteronomy 7:8) – after I loved you, how can I hate you? “How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children?” Ashitekh indicates nothing other than animosity, as it is stated: “I will place [ashit] animosity” (Genesis 3:15). Another matter: “How shall I place you [ashitekh] among the children?” (Jeremiah 3:19) – Rabbi Yehoshua said: You have obligated yourselves, as it is written: “In accordance with all that shall be imposed [yushat] upon him” (Exodus 21:30). Rabbi Berekhya said: You have laid waste to yourselves, as it is written: “Briers and thistles [shayit]” (Isaiah 5:6). “I gave you a desirable [ḥemda] land” – why is it called desirable? Because the Temple is located in it; that is what is written: “The mountain that God desired [ḥamad] for His abode” (Psalms 68:17). Another matter: “A desirable land” (Jeremiah 3:19) – for all the kings desired it, as between Ai and Jericho is only three mil, and this one had a king and that one had a king. Another matter: “A desirable [ḥemda] land” (Jeremiah 3:19) – the Rabbis say: A land that was made desirable for the patriarchs of the world. (God made it desirable to Abraham and Isaac by commanding them to live there and by promising them the land. They fulfilled these commands, thereby indicating how desirable it was to them. ) Abraham, as it is stated: “Go from your land…[to the land that I will show you]” (Genesis 12:1). Isaac – “reside in this land” (Genesis 26:3). Jacob – “you shall transport me from Egypt” (Genesis 47:30). Why did it become desirable for them? (Why was it desirable to them to be in the Land of Israel even after death, as in the case of Jacob? (Etz Yosef).) Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Because [those who are buried there] come to life first in the messianic era. What is “a magnificent inheritance [naḥalat tzevi]” (Jeremiah 3:19)? Why is it analogized to a gazelle [tzevi]? Just as the gazelle, when a person flays it, its hide cannot contain its flesh, so too, when Israel took possession of it, the Land of Israel could not contain its produce. Another matter: Just as the gazelle is easy to eat, (They do not require raising and herding.) so too, the produce of the Land of Israel is easy to eat. (When the people of Israel are deserving, the land produces great bounty without requiring hard work. ) The Rabbis say: Just as the gazelle, its legs are fleeter than any animal and any beast, so, the Land of Israel is faster to ripen its produce than all the lands. Why to that extent? The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘So that My name will be uniquely associated with you.’ “I said: You shall call Me my Father, and do not turn back from following Me” (Jeremiah 3:19), but you did not do so, but rather, “indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:20). The Rabbis say: It is not written here, “her husband,” but rather, “her lover.” Just as a woman cannot rebel against her husband, but she can reject her lover – why, because there is no marriage contract between them – so the Holy One blessed be He says to Israel: ‘You did not render Me a husband but rather a lover; just as a woman betrays her lover, so “you have betrayed Me, house of Israel”’ (Jeremiah 3:20). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: If only [they were] like a woman to her lover. For as long as he gives her a wage, she obeys him; if he stops giving her wage, she says to him: ‘Was I not subservient to you only for the wage?’ So, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘Have I withheld anything from you such that you have rejected Me?’ That is, “a woman has betrayed her lover.” Another matter: “Behold, I am sending an angel” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: Had you merited, I, Myself, would have become a messenger for you just as I did for you in the wilderness, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day” (Exodus 13:21). Now that you did not merit, I am passing you to a messenger, as it is stated: “Behold, I am sending an angel.”
“I appeared to Abraham” – The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Alas for those who are lost and are not present. (An expression of loss over the deceased.) Many times I have revealed Myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not make known to them that My name is the Lord as I made known to you, yet they did not question My ways. I said to Abraham: “Arise, walk through the length and the breath of the land…” (Genesis 13:17). He sought to bury Sarah and did not find a place until he purchased it, and he did not question My ways. I said to Isaac: “Reside in this land… [for I will give all these lands] to you and your descendants…” (Genesis 26:3). He sought to drink water but did not find, but rather, “the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, [saying: The water is ours…]” (Genesis 26:20) and he did not question My ways. I said to Jacob: “The land on which you lie [I will give to you and to your descendants]” (Genesis 28:13). He sought a place to pitch his tent but did not find until he purchased one for one hundred kesita, and he did not question my ways, and did not ask Me what My name is, as you asked.’ ‘But you, at the beginning of [receiving] My mission you said to Me: What is Your name? In the end, you said: “Since I came to Pharaoh [to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You did not deliver Your people]” (Exodus 5:23). Regarding that, it is stated: “I have also established My covenant…[to give them the land of Canaan…]” (Exodus 6:4), that it was given to them, as I said to them that I would give the land to them, and they did not question Me. “Moreover, I have heard the cry of the children of Israel” (Exodus 6:5) – because they did not question Me, even though Israel in that generation were not conducting themselves properly, I heard their cry because of the covenant that I had established with their ancestors.’ That is what is written: “And I have remembered My covenant” (Exodus 6:5). “Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord, and I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their labor, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. And I will take you to Me as a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt ” (Exodus 6:6-7). “Therefore [lakhen] say to the children of Israel” – lakhen is nothing other than the language of oath-taking, as it is stated: “Therefore [velakhen] I took an oath to the house of Eli” (I Samuel 3:14). The Holy One blessed be He took an oath that He would redeem them, so that Moses would not fear that perhaps the attribute of justice would delay their redemption. “I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians…” There are four redemptions here: “I will take out…I will deliver…I will redeem…I will take,” corresponding to the four decrees that Pharaoh decreed against them. (See Shemot Rabba 1:12. The four decrees are: 1) Hard labor to build the storehouse cities, 2) Killing the newborn males, 3) Casting the newborn sons into the Nile, 4) Withholding straw from brick production.) Corresponding to them, the Sages instituted four cups on Passover eve, to fulfill what is stated: “I will raise the cup of salvation and call upon the name of God” (Psalms 116:13). “And I will bring you into the land about which I raised my hand, to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:8). “And I will bring you into the land about which I raised my hand.” I will do for them what I said to your ancestors – that I would give them the Land, and they would inherit it by their [the forefathers] merit.
גור בארץ הזאת ואהיה. Isaac accepted all his difficulties with the Philistines with great forbearance. Whenever the shepherds picked a quarrel about the wells, Isaac rather moved away than to feud with them. Even when it had become obvious, after he had been expelled, that his wealth had never been obtained at the expense of the Philistines, and the king and his Chief of Staff wanted to make a treaty with him, he not only agreed but prepared a feast for them. This peace-loving trait in Isaac is something that we must use as a model for our own conduct throughout life. We must strive to overcome our natural reactions when peace is at stake.
All these three gifts are directly related to the patriarchs. The gift of Torah commenced during the lifetime of Abraham, as we know from Sanhedrin 97, in which the 6000 years designated for the history of man in this world are divided into 2000 years of Tohu, followed by 2000 years of Torah. This latter period began when the Torah reports both Abraham and Sarah as having converted people to belief in monotheism in Genesis 12,5: ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן. The gift of ארץ ישראל began to be real when Isaac was forbidden to leave that country even during periods of famine, and G–d explained that this was because this land was given to him and his descendants (Genesis 26,2-3).
However to fulfill that which was further said to him (Genesis 26:3), "as I will give to you and your seed, all of these lands," Scripture recounted the matter of the wells, his leaving Gerar, and that which Abimelech came to seek his friendship - as if he was the master of the land. And observe this story, and see how it indicates this concept: For behold, Scripture mentioned [that] the reason of, "And the Philistines stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham," was in order that Issac's shepherds should not benefit from them, and go away from there from lack of water; and besides that, Abimelech told Issac, "Go away from us, for you have become far too big for us," meaning [that] due to the large quantity of his livestock, there was no room for the livestock of the land; [such that] behold, Issac left the land - but he did not distance himself from the city [of Gerar]. As he dwelt in Nachal Gerar, close to the city - and not like Rashi wrote - as since it shares the name Gerar, it appears that it was close to it. [Hence] he dwelt there against their will. Moreover, he returned and dug the wells that Abraham had dug and the Philistines had filled. And in order to govern over them more, he called them by the name his father had called them - to indicate that they were not new. Rather he would open the wells that they had already filled and call them by their names - as he did this by the power of his hand. And they also dug and found a spring of living water... and even though the shepherds of Gerar fought about this well... behold, this well nevertheless stayed with the shepherds of Issac... And they also dug another well - and even though they also fought about it, it stayed with him; and he called it Sitnah, to [mark] their hatred (sinah) towards him. Until, when they dug the third well, they did not fight about it; and he therefore called its name, Rechovot - as Issac said, "the Lord has widened (hirchiv) and made us fruitful in the land." [This] means to say, "Even though they sent me away from them, the Lord widened it for us in this land, against their will." And this is the reason for all of this story - about which Ramban did not find any purpose or glory to Issac - being written here. [However, Ramban] maneuvered to explain it by way of [its] shell [to be] about our holy and glorious Temple. But in my opinion, there is great glory to Issac [in this story], and that is why it is written here. And since Issac did all of these things with a bold heart - as if he was the master of the land - hence in his coming to Beersheba, the Lord appeared to him and promised him, "I am the Lord of Abraham, your father, do not fear." [This] means to say, "I am the One who gave Abraham your father the power to defeat the kings, and I am the One who gave you the power to act with strength; hence do not fear the men of Gerar, nor about the matter of the wells that you made - as I am with you in all that you do"... "We did not touch you and we sent you away in peace" - meaning to say that we did not take anything from all that is yours, but we rather sent you away in peace. As there is no doubt that you are now more blessed of the Lord than when you came to our land. And that proves that you received benefit and goodness in this land, even as it was from God. And therefore, it is not fit that you do harm to the land in which you lived and were blessed.
And so that you can better master these things: You should know that God, may He be blessed, gave the Land to Israel in the merit of the three forefathers. For behold, He promised Israel through Avraham that He would give their children the Land. And likewise did He promise to Yitzchak (Genesis 26:3) and likewise to Yaakov (Genesis 28:13). And if there had not been an oath to the forefathers, the Land would not have been Israel's. So the Land is specifically connected to the forefathers, and that is why He gave it specifically to the forefathers. And likewise does Scripture show - as it stated (Leviticus 26:42), "And I will remember My covenant with Yaakov; I will remember also My covenant with Yitzchak, and also My covenant with Avraham; and the Land will I remember." He said that He would remember the Land for the sake of the forefathers; and that is because the Land is connected to the forefathers. But it would have been fitting for the verse to state, "and I will remember the Land" - meaning to say that for the sake of the forefathers, I will remember the Land. But it said, "and the Land will I remember" - meaning to say that there is a remembering of the Land, just like there is a remembering of the forefathers. And in the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 36:5): Why does it mention the Land with them? Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, "There is a parable about a king who had three daughters, and a maidservant who was raising them. Every time the king was asked about the welfare of his daughters, he would say, 'Ask me about the welfare of the one raising them.'" To here [is the midrash]. And the understanding of this matter - that which it said, "and a maidservant who was raising them" - is that the virtue of the forefathers was specifically from the angle of the Land. For had there been no Land, the forefathers would not have gotten to the highest holiness. And so the Land is the one that raised them. And from this you will know that the Land is connected to the forefathers. So therefore, when it mentions the merit of the three forefathers, it also mentioned the Land with them - as they are one matter.
הִכְנִיסָנוּ לְאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל “God brought us into the Land of Israel,” not to inherit the land or benefit from it. For this was the promise God made to be fulfilled in the company of our forefathers, (The exact meaning of this expression חברת אבותינו “the company of our forefathers,” is not clear. It appears to suggest that Israel cannot take full possession of the land of Israel until it can happen in the presence of all generations - so that both we and our forefathers are present. Does this suggest that we cannot fully possess the land until the resurrection of the dead takes place?? In the meantime we must try to seize the land so that it is no longer in the possession of the Canaanites and the other nations that would try to hold on to it. Rabbi Foa ends by quoting the talmudic idea that land cannot be stolen from its owner - therefore whatever the situation we still have possession of it even if we are not holding on to it.) as Scripture states, “I will assign all these lands to you and to your heirs.” (Gen. 26:3) Rather, God brought us there to seize hold of it so that it would no longer be called the land of Canaan; instead it would be land of Israel. Even though it is now in the hands of strangers, it is ours because land cannot be stolen. (BT Sukkah 30a-30b Baba Kama 95a In other words, even though we are not in possession of the land of Israel, it still belongs to us.)
וגם הקימותי את בריתי, "And I also maintain My covenant, etc." G'd may have added here (according to our previous commentary) that even if He had already fulfilled His covenant with the patriarchs, they still would not have become privy to the degree of revelation that Moses had already now become privy to.
את ארץ מגוריהם, "the land in which they (the patriarchs) used to sojourn." Why did the Torah not content itself with describing the land the patriarchs had lived in as "the land of Canaan?" Why did the words את ארץ מגוריהם have to be added? Perhaps the Torah wanted to make us aware that the status of being aliens (which was part of the period of 400 years G'd had spoken to Abraham about) had already commenced during the lifetime of the patriarchs. This would have a great bearing on the timing of the Exodus. Still, this would leave open why the Torah had to use the word את twice when referring to that land. Use of that word creates the impression that the land of Canaan and the land in which the patriarchs sojourned were two different countries. Perhaps the Torah wanted to include the land of the Philistines [the coastal strip including Gaza, seeing that the Philistines were not of Canaanitic descent Ed.]. I have already explained this on Genesis 26,3.
לאברהם וליצחק, to Abraham and Isaac. Check on what we have written on Genesis 26,3 that the promise G'd made to Isaac concerning inheriting the land of Israel contained an additional dimension to the promise made to Abraham. G'd promised this additional dimension also to Jacob.
In the two verses quoted above Solomon informed us of the penalty for stealing from the poor. It is well known that there are four categories of people concerning whom the Torah has expressed especial concern, asking people to be merciful towards them and not to inflict any harm upon them. They are: the poor, the orphans, the widows and the proselytes. Indeed we find that the Torah expresses a warning against discrimination against the aforesaid in one and the same verse in Deuteronomy 16,14 where we read: ושמחת בחגיך, אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והלוי והגר והיתום והאלמנה אשר בשעריך. “You are to rejoice on your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant and your maid servant, the proselyte, the orphan and the widow in your cities.” Our sages as quoted by Rashi comment: “these four are Mine (G’d speaking). If you will give joy to those who are Mine, I will provide joy for those that are yours.” Mention of the Levites is equivalent to mentioning the poor as the Levites have no source of income other than the generosity of the Jewish farmer. G’d Himself is their portion as we read in Numbers 18,20 אני חלקך ונחלתך, “I am your share and your inheritance.” When the Torah legislated the treatment of the poor it did so both as a positive as well as a negative commandment. It is written (Deut. 15,10) נתון תתן, “you shall surely give (repeatedly),” (15,8) “and you shall repeatedly open your hand for him (the poor).” The negative counterpart of this commandment is found side by side (15,10), לא ירע לבבך בתתך לו, “your heart must not feel bad when you give him.” We also find another basic aspect of this commandment in Deut. 15,7 לא תאמץ את לבבך ולא תקפוץ את ידך מאחיך האביון, “do not harden your heart or close your hand against your destitute brother.” Seeing that the Torah legislated against stealing altogether already in the Ten Commandments as well as in Leviticus 19, 19,13, there was no need to stress a prohibition against stealing from the poor. The instruction to give to the poor would have been sufficient to make it plain that it is forbidden to steal from the poor instead of giving to the poor. The fact that the Torah nonetheless writes words prohibiting this prompted Solomon to tell us that the penalty for stealing from the poor is far harsher than that for stealing from ordinary people. It was not Solomon’s habit to repeat commandments which have been spelled out in the Torah already and to simply repeat them in his volume משלי, Proverbs. Whenever he does so, he does so only in order to reveal an additional dimension to such a commandment. After all, who is so great that he could arrogate to himself to add to the Torah something Moses had not already thought of or been told by G’d to write down? Solomon, in common with later sages, only added “fences” to the Torah, i.e. warned against conduct which might lead to infringing Biblical commandments. This is why he said: “do not steal from the poor because he is poor,” i.e. stealing from him is so commonplace seeing that the poor is defenseless, that we must be warned not to exploit his weakness. The poor does not have protagonists such as the rich have. Everybody hates the poor and keeps his distance from him, even his relatives. This is why Solomon emphasises that the temptation to steal from the poor is great precisely “because he is poor.” Solomon therefore warns us not to think that because the poor do not have defenders of flesh and blood that they are without recourse. On the contrary, G’d Himself is their advocate and will see to it that they do not suffer because they are being exploited due to their poverty. He will go out of His way to administer punishment to anyone who steals from the poor. Contrary to the penalty for thieves who do not steal from the poor specifically, whose penalty the Torah expressed in terms of financial restitution and penal charges, someone who steals from the poor will endure chastisement of body and soul. This is the meaning of the words וקבע את קובעיהם נפש, “he will put in their places those who have tried to put the poor in their place.” The Torah warns us in many places not to disadvantage orphans and widows, i.e. כל אלמנה ויתום לא תענון, ”do not oppress any orphan or widow” (Exodus 22,21). Our sages in the Mechilta comment on this verse: “even the widow of a king (presumably wealthy and influential) is included in this commandment.” The same applies to children of a king left orphaned. The reason is that in spite of their financial resources, the state of mind of such widows and orphans is one of melancholy and they are apt to cry at the slightest provocation. It is unfortunately a fact of life that people do take advantage of orphans and widows. The Torah goes on to say: אם ענה תענה אותם.....והרגתי אתכם בחרב והיו נשיכם אלמנות ובניכם יתומים, “if indeed you will persecute them..then I will kill you and your wives will become widows and your children orphans.” The Torah conditions this harsh punishment on the assumption that the victim cried out to G’d for vengeance. Generally speaking, people faced with unfair treatment put their faith in seeking recourse from a human tribunal. The orphan and widow have no other recourse than G’d Himself. This is why G’d listens specifically to their outcries and fights their battles for them. Solomon also addresses the plight of orphans and widows in this chapter, and this is why he said (Proverbs 23,10-11) אל תסג גבול עולם, ובשדי יתומים אל תבא. כי גואלם חזק. הוא יריב את ריבם אתך. “Do not remove ancient boundary marks; do not encroach upon the field of orphans. For they have a powerful redeemer; he will fight their battles against you.” The Torah also takes up the plight of the proselytes (strangers, immigrants to the land of Israel) on many occasions For instance, we find in Exodus 22,20 וגר לא תונה ולא תלחצנו כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים. “And do not taunt or oppress a stranger (convert) for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The Torah cites an additional reason for treating the proselyte fairly when it writes (Exodus 23,9) כי אתם ידעתם את נפש הגר, “for you are familiar with the mentality of the stranger.” Significantly, the Torah did not speak of your “knowing the stranger,” but of your being familiar with נפש הגר, the soul, the mentality of the stranger. You know that the mentality of strangers is one of feeling subdued, humbled, etc., so that his eyes are constantly turned towards G’d seeing he lacks in self-confidence. The Talmud (Baba Metzia 58) speaks of the prohibition of reminding a proselyte or even his son of his former deeds or the deeds of his father. When such a proselyte comes to study Torah one is not to say to him: “ how can the mouth which used to enjoy all manner of forbidden foods presume to qualify to study the holy Torah.” The reminder of the Torah that when the Jewish people were still enslaved in Egypt their status was not superior to the recent proselyte is an example of the Rabbinic dictum מום שבך אל תאמר לחברך, “do not speak to your fellow man about a blemish as long as you yourself are afflicted with a similar blemish.” (Baba Metzia 59). In fact we find that the righteous themselves are referred to as גרים, strangers, the expression גר being derived from גרגיר, something that has been separated from its origin. The righteous is in the habit of viewing himself as distinctive, a loner, in the sense that he is different from the majority. For instance, he does not view his residence on this earth as something other than temporary. This is what King David had in mind when he said (Psalms 119,19) “I am only a stranger on earth, do not hide Your commandments from me.” He viewed himself as a tourist who has already been invited to commence a journey though he does not know the time of departure. Seeing that he does not know when he will depart, he must accumulate provisions for his journey to guard against a sudden and unprepared departure. What do these “provisions” consist of? The observance of G’d’s commandments. This is what David meant when he asked G’d not to hide His commandments from him. We also note that all of the patriarchs have been referred to as גרים on different occasions. Avraham said of himself (Genesis 23,4) “I am a stranger or a resident stranger amongst you” when he prepared to buy a burial ground for Sarah. Yitzchak was commanded by G’d to remain in the land of Canaan during the famine, albeit as a stranger. The wording is גור בארץ הזאת, “sojourn in this land on a temporary basis” (Genesis 26,3). Yaakov is referred to as a stranger in our verse (first verse of our portion וישב) as well as in Genesis 47,4 and when he described his long stay at Lavan’s as that of a stranger in Genesis 32,5.
A Midrashic approach to our verse (Shemot Rabbah 32,2). From the words: “Here I am about to send an angel ahead of you,” we learn that G’d meant that had the Israelites been worthy He Himself would have continued to be at their head as He had been at the Exodus when the Torah testified “and the Lord Himself was walking ahead of them by day,” etc., (13,21). Now that they had proven unworthy G’d handed them over to an agent. This is the meaning of: “Here I am sending an angel ahead of you.” You will observe that as soon as the Jewish people had said כל אשר דבר ה’ נעשה ונשמע, “all that G’d has said we shall do and we shall hear (learn it)” in 24,7, G’d responded by saying: “I granted Adam eternal life for performing the single commandment I had given him not to eat from the tree of knowledge.” This is the meaning of Genesis 3,22: “here this Adam who had been just like one of Us, (i.e. immortal celestial being).” “These Jewish people who have undertaken to observe 613 of My commandments are surely entitled to eternal life!” The Midrash derives this from the words חרות על הלוחות, “freedom on the tablets” instead of reading it merely as “engraved on the Tablets” (32,16). We find a disagreement between Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nechemyah in the above quoted Midrash as to the precise meaning of the word חרות if read as meaning “freedom.” Rabbi Yehudah understands it as freedom from the oppression of mortal rulers, i.e. exile, whereas Rabbi Nechemyah understands it as freedom from the authority of the angel of death. He bases this on Numbers 21, 18-19 וממדבר מתנה, וממתנה נחליאל, ומנחליאל במות, “and from the wilderness- a gift. From “the gift”- my heritage became G’d. From the heritage called G’d- elevated heights.” Rabbi Nechemyah understands the verse not as describing physical landmarks describing where the Israelites rested on the way, but as spiritual landmarks and the gradual recapture by the entire people of Adam’s spiritual stature before the sin when he had still been immortal. The progression was as follows: through the experience of marching in the desert the Israelites merited the gift (מתנה) of Torah. Through the gift of Torah they inherited a relationship to divinity אל)) forever. Through this relationship they acquired immortality. After they had said to the golden calf: “these are your gods O Israel,” they again forfeited this new-found immortality. G’d said to them: ”you followed the same foolishness that Adam was guilty of who had proven unable to resist the temptation of the tree of knowledge for more than three hours. I had said: ‘you are divine (Psalms 82,6-7)-however you will have to die like humans.” In the past you were able to experience the Holy Spirit directly through Me. From now on you will be able to experience it only through the intermediary, the angel.” This is the meaning of “here I will send My angel ahead of you.” This is reflected in what Jeremiah 3,19 had in mind when he said: “I had resolved to adopt you as My child, and I gave you a desirable land- the fairest heritage of all nations; and I thought you would surely call Me “Father,” and never cease to be loyal to Me. Instead, you have broken faith with Me, as a woman breaks faith with a paramour, O House of Israel- declares the Lord.” G’d laments the fact that the Israelite people allowed Him to interpose the Gentile nations between Himself and the Jewish people. The words איך אשיתך mean a separation being established. The word is used in that sense in Genesis 30,40: “he set a separation between each flock.” When G’d referred to the “desirable land,” ארץ חמדה, He meant that it is a land which the great men of the world (the patriarchs) expressed a desire for. Avraham had pleaded with the sons of Chet to sell him a burial plot (Genesis 23,4). G’d had told Yitzchak: “reside in this land” (Genesis 26,3). Yaakov had expressed the wish to be buried in that land and claimed to have dug it with his own hands (Genesis 50,5). The reason Jeremiah quoted G’d as referring to the land of Israel as נחלת צבי, is that just as the skin of a deer shrinks after it has been removed from its carcass so that it does not cover it anymore, so the land of Israel displays similar lack of elasticity, not being able to accommodate itself to G’d’s bountiful harvests but flowing over with it. The expression צבאות גויים, “of the hosts of the world,” is a reference to the fact that all the kings on earth expressed a desire for this land. How do we know this? We find that the city of Jericho had its own king and that the town of Ai less than three miles removed also had its own king. The kingdoms in the land of Canaan each covered very small amounts of territory. In fact if a king ruled over a vast tract of land outside of the land of Israel but did not have a small kingdom inside the boundaries of the land of Israel he was not even considered as entitled to describe himself as “king.” [Proof of the truth of this is the fact that Joshua made war against and defeated no fewer than 31 Kings all in the narrow land called “the land of Israel,” not even including the coastal areas inhabited by the Philistines. Ed.] There is an interesting comment by Rabbi Parnach in the name of Rabbi Yochanan (Tanchuma Mishpatim 17). The words spoken by Achan ben Carmi in Joshua 7,21: וארא בשלל אדרת שנער, “I have seen amongst the loot (of the city of Jericho) a cloak from Shinor.” He understands the words literally as a cloak belonging to the King of Babylon (Shinor). He considered it as so valuable that he wore it only in Jericho. When Jeremiah 3,19 continues: “I had hoped you would call Me father,” he referred to G’d thinking that seeing He had taken the Israelites out of Egypt, and split the sea for them that surely He was entitled to the respect of a father. Instead, they had made the golden calf. Considering further that G’d had provided the Israelites with all their needs in the desert, they in turn had been unfaithful to him. When the Gentile nations had become unfaithful to G’d, He had appointed agents to look after their welfare instead of doing so Himself. Similarly, with the Jews. Now that they had become unfaithful, He would appoint this angel to look after them instead of continuing to do so Himself. This then is the meaning of the words: “Here I am going to send an angel ahead of you.”
That He made with Abraham—as it says, “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I assign …” (Gen 15:18). And that covenant and oath was le-Yiṣḥaq, meaning for the sake of Isaac, and not for the sake of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. For when the text says “To your offspring”—with a covenant and an oath—it means for Isaac, as it says, “For what will be called your ‘offspring’ will be from Isaac” (Gen 21:12). The oath was at the binding of Isaac. For it says, “By Myself I swear, the Lord declares” (Gen 22:1), and He [later] said to Isaac, “and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham” (Gen 26:3). The same oath and covenant He then confirmed in a decree for Jacob, for Israel, as an eternal covenant; for the oath and covenant were for his special offspring, not for Esau. Isaac, after all, said to Jacob, “May He grant the blessing of Abraham to you” (Gen 28:4).
These (Ashuri: אֵֽלֶּה). In both the Hebrew and Aramaic languages. This is also found in Ezra - "these vessels" (Ashuri: אלה מָֽאנַיָּ֔א - Ezra 5:15) written as אלה, and read as אֵ֚ל – and אל and אלה are one and the same, as in "these lands" (Ashuri: הָֽאֲרָצֹ֣ת הָאֵ֔ל - Genesis 26:3). And it says "these" because they are visible to humans, although they are high.
AND CANAAN BEGOT ZIDON HIS FIRST-BORN. These were the ten (“Ten.” There are eleven children of Canaan mentioned here. Ramban will explain later in the text that one did not develop into a separate nation.) nations, sons of Canaan, whose lands were given to our father Abraham since all seed of Canaan were sold into servitude forever. These were the ones that were given to Abraham. Their names, however, changed for the most part in the days of Abraham; here they were inscribed according to the names their father called them on the days of their birth, but after they parted according to their lands and their nations, they were called by other names. (Compare Verses 15-18 here with Verses 19-21 in Chapter 15.) Perhaps they were called by the names of the land in which they settled, as we have explained. (Above, at the end of Verse 13 concerning the origin of the name Philistines.) Likewise, Se’ir the Horite (Genesis 36:20.) was so called because the name of the city was Se’ira. And there are many similar names. It may be that the Arkite and the Sinite (Verse 17 here.) did beget families but were cut off from them, and their children were, for example, the Kenite, and the Kenizzite. (Further, 15:19.) These became the heads of families, the entire nation being called by their name as was customary among the tribes of Israel. Now in His gift [of the land of Abraham, G-d] called the ten nations by the names by which they were known in the time of Abraham. (Ibid., Verses 19-21.) Proof of this, [namely, that some of the names of the sons of Canaan changed in the time of Abraham], is that the Hivite mentioned here (Verse 17 here.) is not mentioned in the gift to Abraham, (Ibid., Verses 19-21.) and yet he was among them, as it is said, And He shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations. (Deuteronomy 7:1.) So also in every place [Scripture counts the Hivite among the nations that inhabited the land of Canaan]. Now the Canaanite is counted in the gift to Abraham among his [Canaan’s] children, (As the verse states: And the Amorite and the Canaanite… . Further, 15:21.) but only ten are counted [there (Ibid., Verses 19-21.) — while eleven children of Canaan are mentioned here] — (Verses 15-18 here.) because one of his sons did not prevail like his other brothers, and so he was called together with his brother [the Hivite] by the name of his father, [thus bringing to a total of ten the number of nations whose lands were given to Abraham]. It is possible also that it was Zidon, Canaan’s first-born who was called the Canaanite together with his brother, [the eleventh son of Canaan], who did not become a nation, [thus making ten the total number of lands given to Abraham]. Do not find it difficult that the land of the Philistines was also given to Abraham — as it is written, Sojourn in this land … for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands (Genesis 26:3.) — and yet the Philistines were of the sons of Mitzraim [and not of Canaan]! Scripture said, Counted to the Canaanites were the five lords of the Philistines, (Joshua 13:3. Hence their lands were also given to Abraham even though the Philistines themselves were not of the seed of Canaan.) because the Philistines conquered part of the land of the Canaanites and settled thereon. And here in Scripture you will see [that the Philistines captured part of the Canaanite land], for the boundary of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza (Verse 19 here.) yet we find that these were Philistine cities, since Abimelech, king of the Philistines, was king of Gerar, (Genesis 20:2.) and Gaza belonged to the Gazites. Similarly, For Gaza one. (I Samuel 6:17. This is counted among the guilt-offerings the five Philistine cities sent along with the Ark of G-d which they were returning.) Sidon also belonged to the Philistines, for it is written, All the Zidonians will I drive out from before the children of Israel; only allot thou it unto Israel for an inheritance; (Joshua 13:6.) and again, And also what are ye to Me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia? (Joel 4:4.) Perhaps the rest of the land of the Philistines, excluding that of these five of their lords, (Joshua 13:3.) was not given to Israel. Know that the land of Canaan with its boundaries, since it became a nation, (Exodus 9:24.) was qualified for Israel, and this was the lot of their inheritance, as it is said, When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:8.) But at the time of the dispersion of the nations, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave it to Canaan, on account of his being a servant, to keep it for Israel. This is just as a man who deposits for safe-keeping the belongings of the master’s son with his servant until such time as the son will grow up and acquire the belongings as well as the servant. I will explain this yet (Ibid., 2:23.) with the help of G-d, exalted be He.
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
כי קרוב הוא, and G’d feared that when faced with the need to conduct battles they would appoint an alternate leader in order to return to Egypt and submit to the Egyptians. We know that the Israelites tried to do this several times whenever they felt frustrated. (Examples are Numbers 14,3, Numbers 11,5) The disgruntled Israelites on such occasions “suddenly remembered” how good they had it in Egypt, citing the fish they ate for free, etc., as examples of their having been better off in Egypt. In light of what happened, although the Israelites did not have to face the armed might of the Philistines, G’d’s foresight in not leading them on that route seems extremely understandable. As a result of such considerations we find ויסב את העם דרך המדבר, that G’d made the Israelites take a much longer route in the direction of the Sea of Reeds. Moses described that had the Israelites traveled a straight path from their point of departure the whole journey would not have required more than 11 days. (Deuteronomy 1,2). Proof that the route to Egypt via the land of the Philistines is the shortest and most traveled route is furnished by Yitzchok’s declared intention to move to Egypt on account of the famine in the land of Canaan if G’d had not ordered him to stay in that land and he settled in the land of the Philistines while already on the way to Egypt (Genesis 26,3-6).
As a result of such considerations we find ויסב את העם דרך המדבר, that G’d made the Israelites take a much longer route in the direction of the Sea of Reeds. Moses described that had the Israelites traveled a straight path from their point of departure the whole journey would not have required more than 11 days. (Deuteronomy 1,2). Proof that the route to Egypt via the land of the Philistines is the shortest and most traveled route is furnished by Yitzchok’s declared intention to move to Egypt on account of the famine in the land of Canaan if G’d had not ordered him to stay in that land and he settled in the land of the Philistines while already on the way to Egypt (Genesis 26,3-6).
נשבע לאבתיך WHICH HE SWORE UNTO THY FATHERS — In the case of Abraham it says, (Genesis 15:18) “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram [saying, To thy seed I will give this land]”; in the case of Isaac it says, (Genesis 26:3) “Sojourn in this land … [for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries]”; and in the case of Jacob it says, (Genesis 28:13) “the land wheron thou liest [to thee will I give it and to thy seed]” (Mekhilta).
אשר נשבעת להם בך TO WHOM THOU SWAREST BY THINE OWN SELF — Thou didst not swear to them by a thing which is perishable — neither by the heavens nor by the earth, nor by the mountains, nor by the hills — but by Thy very Self, Who endurest forever and Whose oath endures for ever. For it is stated that God said to Abraham, (Genesis 22:16, 17) “By Myself have I sworn saith the Lord … [I will greatly multiply thy seed]”; to Isaac it was said, (Genesis 26:3, 4) “and I will perform the oath which I sware by Myself unto Abraham thy father … [and I will multiply thy seed]”; and to Jacob it was said, (Genesis 35:11) “I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply”; thus to him also God swore by Himself — by God Almighty (Shemot Rabbah 44:23).
לתת להם את ארץ כנען TO GIVE THEM THE LAND OF CANAAN — Of Abraham it is stated in the chapter that contains the commandment of the Circumcision, (Genesis 17:1, and 17:8) “[The Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him], I am God Almighty etc., and I will give to thee and to thy seed after thee the land of thy sojourning”. Of Isaac it is stated, (Genesis 26:3) “[The Lord appeared unto him and said], For unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham, thy father”, and that oath here referred to which I sware to Abraham I uttered by the name of God Almighty. Of Jacob it is stated, (Genesis 35:9, 11, 12) “[And God appeared unto Jacob … and God said unto him], I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply, … the land which I gave [Abraham and Isaac to thee I will give it] etc.” So you see that I made certain vows to them and I have not yet fulfilled them.
בארץ לא להם IN A LAND THAT IS NOT THEIRS — It does not say here in the land of Egypt but in a land that is not theirs; for soon after Isaac was born it states, (Genesis 21:34) “And Abraham sojourned (ויגר) [in the land of the Philistines]”; in regard to Isaac it is said, (Genesis 26:3) “Sojourn (גור) in this land (Canaan)”, and of Jacob Scripture states, (Psalms 105:23) “Jacob sojourned (גר) in the land of Ham”, whilst of his sons it is said, (Genesis 47:4) “To sojourn (לגור) in the land (of Egypt) have we come”.
עד תאות גבעות עולם EVEN TO THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS — Because my blessings have prevailed, extending to the very ends of the bounds of the everlasting hills, for He gave me a blessing that bursts all bounds, one that has no limits, that reaches even unto the four corners of the world, as it is stated, (Genesis 28:14) “[God said to Jacob] and thou shalt spread abroad to the West and to the East [and to the North and to the South]”, an unqualified promise that was made neither to Abraham nor to Isaac. For to Abraham He said, (Genesis 13:14) “Lift up thine eyes and look northwards etc. … for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it”, and He showed him only the Land of Israel. To Isaac He said, (Genesis 26:3) “for unto thee and unto thy seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath [which I swore unto Abraham thy father]”. It is to this that Isaiah alludes when he said, (Isaiah 58:14) “And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father” (Shabbat 118b), and he did not say, “with the heritage promised to Abraham”.
One might object to Yitzchak’s lack of awareness as dangerous: By not taking a proactive and engaged approach to the world, one would expect that Yitzchak would not fare very well – especially from his vulnerable position as a stranger in the land. Yet surprisingly, even as Yitzchak does not devote much energy to his physical well-being, the world seems to treat him with kid gloves (his near-sacrifice on the altar notwithstanding). Divine providence keeps Yitzchak from enduring his father’s and his son’s worst experiences. When in the same situation as his father (i.e., with Avimelech), Yitzchak does not have his wife taken away from him. When Yitzchak thinks of going down to Egypt, God appears to him to prevent him from doing so, telling him that there is no need for him to go into exile (Bereshit 26:2–3). In contrast, when Yaakov contemplates going to Egypt, God appears to him and tells him that he can go (Bereshit 46:3–4). Finally, as opposed to both his father and his son, circumstances do not lead to Yitzchak’s marrying more than one woman, which created major difficulties for both Avraham and Yaakov. Strangely enough, God not only allows for, but seems to encourage, Yitzchak’s lack of interest in the world. As a result, even without possessing the worldly cleverness and engagement of Avraham and Yaakov, Yitzchak comes out of difficult predicaments smelling like a rose.
Moreover, when it comes to basic physical needs and survival, Yitzchak simply does not seem to expend a great amount of energy. For example, the famous Renaissance-era Italian commentator R. Ovadia Sforno observes that Yitzchak allowed his sons to reach the very mature age of forty without taking an interest in their marital plans or lack thereof (Sforno on Bereshit 26:34) – in startling contrast to Avraham’s detailed concern for finding a spouse for Yitzchak. While his father was very concerned with marriage, Yitzchak himself was also curiously absent in the selection of his own wife. (An alternative explanation for this can be based on our suggestion of the strained relationship between Avraham and Yitzchak (see Chapter 2, p. 45, note 5 in the printed edition). While such an explanation could explain Avraham’s reticence to involve Yitzchak in the process, it fails to explain Yitzchak’s complete passivity in the whole affair. Moreover, the explanation here in this chapter fits into a clear pattern that runs through many of Yitzchak’s interactions with the mundane world. A third explanation that might be offered is that God apparently did not want Yitzchak to leave Eretz Yisrael. This, however, does not appear to be the reason for his not going, as the text seems to indicate that Yitzchak himself was not aware of this proscription until later (Bereshit 26:2–3). Yitzchak, then, with regard to himself or to his sons, does not seem to be particularly preoccupied with the concept of marriage at all.)
Who accumulates words against him, etc. The word גרו is missing an alef, as if it said אוגרו (accumulates). Similarly, the phrase (v. 17) לא תגורו is like לא תאגרו. We should not say, as it apparently seems, that the term גרו is like the phrase (Vayikra 24:16) כגר כאזרח (as a resident or citizen). For if so, why is the letter vav of גרו necessary? However, there is a difficulty with this explanation, for then גרו is missing an aleph. Therefore, Rashi says: Another explanation — between his co-dweller, etc. According to this, גרו means “dwelling,” as in the verse (Bereishis 26:3), “Dwell (גור) in this land.” But, with the second explanation alone, there is also a difficulty: The verse should explicitly say כירו (his range). Therefore, both explanations are needed.
והעוים היושבים בחצרים עד עשזה, “as well as the Avites who dwelled as far south as Gaza.” Nachmanides explains that all these details are provided by Moses to show that although the Caphtorim are not part of the 7 Canaanite nations G’d promised the descendants of Avraham, seeing that they had settled in the coastal plain only after having expelled the Avites, a Canaanite tribe, when the Israelites later on occupied those lands this was quite legal. Further more, in Genesis 26,3 G’d confirmed the fact that the land of the Philistines was included in the Holy Land, as Yitzchok was in the land of the Philistines at the time when G’d promised him ”these lands.” Name changes by people who had supplanted others were historically quite frequent, and Bereshit Rabbah 26,7 mentions in particular that the Chivi, as we mentioned a name analogous to נחש, snake, was so- called as these people were experts in what roots were safe to eat and which not, something extremely important to snakes which had been condemned by G’d to eat עפר, things growing directly in the earth. Moreover, in certain parts of the galil the word עוי was used interchangeably with chivi. Moses concludes by informing us that at that time all these lands were occupied by the Chivi, part of which used to belong to the descendants of Esau. Bereshit Rabbah identifies the Avim with the Refa-im, speaking also about the gift promised by G’d to Avraham, seeing that no mention is made by Moses here of the Chivi, it is logical that the Refa-im replace that tribe in Moses’ recital here. This also seems to be born out when Moses in Deut. 7,1 speaks of seven nations G’d will fling out of the land and replace them with the Israelites, and six of the seven are identical with the names mentioned by G’d when He promised the land to the Israelites, the seventh, the Chivi, not having been included in the list in Genesis 15,19-21 where the Refa-im, apparently is meant to be identical with the Chivi. If not that, the “Chivi” might be either one of the three other tribes mentioned in that promise and none of the others, i.e. the Keyni, K’nizi, or Kadmoni. Our sages claim that Israel never inherited the lands of the three last mentioned tribes, and that this will be fulfilled only after the coming of the Messiah. If that is factual, there can be no question but that the “Chivi” is identical with the Refa-im in the promise to Avraham in chapter 15 of Genesis. The latter (Chivi) was the 6th of the sons of Canaan. (Genesis 10,17) His father had called him “Chivi.” However in the days of Avraham, over 200 years later, his descendants were known as Refa-im. Personally, I feel that Chivi was a nickname, based on his familiarity with the various plants and their roots, as I mentioned earlier. The word רפאים is also used in Scripture as describing things buried underground, as we know from Job 26,5 הרפאים יחוללו מתחת מים ושוכניהם, “are dead things formed beneath the water and the inhabitants thereof?” Or, Isaiah 26,19 וארץ רפאים תפיל, “you make the land cast out the dead.” The children of the Chivi increased drastically, and when the Canaanites eventually took possession of the land now known as the land of Canaan, the family of the Chivi grabbed a major share of that land. All these names describe in one way or another the sixth son of Canaan, Chivi. Since at the time of Avraham the tribe was known as Refa-im, G’d referred to that tribe by the name known to Avraham. Moses, here, refers to it by its original name. Some of these lands had been known as the land of the Chorim, etc. At any rate, at the time of Moses the lands formerly belonging to the Refa-im had already been parceled out to other tribes/nations and their names had been changed. Seeing that some of the lands promised to Avraham were not included in the lands that Israel was about to invade and conquer, Moses had to identify which lands were still forbidden to the Israelites to invade. Hence we have the references to the Eymim, the Bney Ammon, etc. On the other hand, lands that on the face of it had no connection to the Canaanites, such as the regions occupied by the Philistines, or the Caphtorim, were mentioned in order that we know that the people dwelling in them had themselves been interlopers. Let us now turn to Rashi’s explanation that the Avim were descendants of the Philistines, seeing that they are lumped together in the Book of Joshua, 13,3 and that the Israelites at this time were unable to dispossess them on account of the oath given by Avraham to Avimelech in Genesis 21,23 (which spanned 4 generations) Seeing that the Philistines there had been replaced by the Caphtorim, Avraham’s oath no longer applied. Nachmanides challenges this interpretation by Rashi, claiming that the Avim have not been included under the heading of the Philistines, as in the quotation from Joshua the five leaders of the Philistines are mentioned first, without any mention of the Avim; only subsequently are the Avim listed as a separate nation. [Presumably, Nachmanides’ argument is based on the fact that the verse begins mentioning that there were only 5 such leaders of the Philistines, so that anyone mentioned after those five have been named is not included. Ed.] Furthermore, assuming that the land of the Avim had become permitted to the Israelites because they were not the original inhabitants there but had been replaced already by a previous invading force by the Caphtorim, who permitted the lands of the Philistines? [We know they had been there at the time of Avraham and at the time of Moses. Ed.] What reason was there that the lands of the Philistines should ever become part of the land of Israel so that Avimelech had felt threatened and asked Avraham for a non-aggression pact covering the next four generations? After all, the Philistines did not belong to the seven Canaanite tribes whose land G’d had promised to Avraham? The Philistines are after all descended from Mitzrayim, the second son of Cham, not of Canaan his fourth son! In light of all the above the true historical facts are that the Philistines as well as the Caphtorim had invaded and captured some of the lands previously occupied by the Canaanites, else how come Avimelech was King in Gerar, a territory at one time belonging to the Canaanites? The Philistines as well as the Caphtorim expanded southwards in the coastal plain and conquered Gaza, Ashkelon, Gat and Ekron from the Cananites. This made it legal for the Israelites to occupy lands that had been illegally acquired by its residents. Those lands, according to G’d’s promise to Avraham, had been intended as their ancestral heritage. As it happened, the Israelites did not actually conquer that coastal plain until long after the time frame provided for in Avraham’s oath to Avimelech had expired. Three generations of Philistines had already died before Joshua began his conquest of the land of Canaan.
וכנען ילד את צידון בכורו, “and Canaan sired Tzidon his firstborn.” These (following) ten nations (Canaanites) are all the ones that G’d promised Avraham that his descendants would inherit or dispossess. (Genesis 15,19-21) This is all based on the fact that all of Canaan’s descendants had been condemned to be slaves, forever. However, some of them had changed their names by the time Avraham appeared on the scene of history. At this point the Torah called them by the names given to them by their father at the time they were born. Once they had grown up, moved away from home and founded nations their names changed. Perhaps they adopted the name of the country in which they dwelled, just as the Egyptians called themselves Mitzrim, a derivative of the name Mitzrayim, the land they lived in. It is also possible that those sons that did not become founders of separate nations retained the names given to them at birth, whereas the others changed their names, or their descendants changed their names. Tzidon would be a case in point. He is called a Canaanite as he did not develop into a separate nation and adopted the name of his country. When the Torah had clearly described the land of the Philistines as being part of the land of Israel, although the Philistines had descended from Mitzrayim and not from Canaan, this is no counter argument. At the time when G’d described the land of the Philistines as part of the land He would give to his descendants, (Genesis 26,3 where G’d referred in his prophecy to Yitzchok that He had already sworn that land to his father‘s descendants) the Canaanites had already conquered that part of the land from their original owners. It is quite possible that the Israelites did not inherit more than the 5 principalities that had been inhabited by the 5 Philistine cities mentioned in Joshua It is important to realize that the land of Canaan, ever since the people on it became a nation, had been slated to become Israel’s. This is the חבל נחלתם of which Moses had spoken already in Deuteronomy At the time when G’d scattered the people of the earth, at the time when the tower was destroyed, He allocated that strip of land to the Canaanites on a “temporary” lease. The Canaanites’ function during the hundreds of years before the Israelites conquered that land had been to serve as caretakers on behalf of the Israelites, a task not uncommon for slaves to perform for absentee owners. The Israelites during that period need to be viewed as not yet having come of age to take over their inheritance. [although the author does not mention it, this commentary has been almost literally copied from Nachmanides. Ed.]
It seems that Jacob did not travel to Egypt intending to remain there. He planned to see Joseph and immediately return to Canaan for he had no desire to settle there. His only desire was to be in the Promised Land with his offspring with the hope of eventually inheriting it, as God promised. When the brothers came and told him that Joseph was alive and ruling over the Egypt and described Joseph’s great honor and glory as they were instructed to do, “You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen,” (Gen. 45:13) Jacob then answered, “Enough! My son, Joseph, is still alive.” (Gen. 45:28) Jacob was saying, “I don’t care about Joseph’s position or the greatness of which you speak. Since he is alive, I must go and see him before I die. I will go by myself and return immediately.” But Isaac was in doubt whether God approved of him leaving Canaan and entering the iron cauldron of Egypt, especially since God had refused to allow Isaac to leave Canaan in a time of famine, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in this land and I will be with you and bless you and to your offspring I will give this land.” (Gen. 26:2-3) He was also afraid that he might die while he was in Egypt. These fears and doubts were in his heart when he arrived at Beersheba. He was not on his way to Egypt when he came there; rather he came to Beersheba because it was a place of prayer and supplication to God. He came to find out what he should do. He offered sacrifices to the God of his father since this place was special to Isaac and God had prevented Isaac from going to Egypt. God answered him in a dream. God calls to him, “Jacob, Jacob.” It is my thought that with this double language, God comes to tell him that the promise that God made was to Jacob the individual and to Jacob, the nation who are also called by this name. God offers two teachings, one to the person and one to the people. Speaking to Jacob, our forefather, he says, “Fear not to go down to Egypt.” That is, “Even though I prevented Isaac, from going to Egypt, I am permitting you to go. Do not think you are any different to me. I was the God of your father and I am the One who says to you, ‘Fear not to go down to Egypt;’” “I am the Lord, I am no different.” The only difference according to the Kabbalists is that Isaac was never allowed to go to Egypt; this was not the case for Jacob.
I said to Isaac: “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you” (Genesis 26:3). His servants sought water to drink and they did not find it until they started a quarrel, as it is stated: “And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen saying: The water is ours” (Genesis 26:20), and he did not question My attributes.
on the inheritance of Jacob your father, as the mouth of God has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13–14). The reward for delighting in Shabbat is specifically the portion of Jacob. Not that of Abraham, about whom it is written, “Rise, walk through the land through its length and its width because I have given it to you” (Genesis 13:17), i.e., only this land alone in its borders. And not that of Isaac, about whom it is written, “Dwell in this land and I will be with you and I will bless you because I will give all of these lands to you and your offspring” (Genesis 26:3), meaning these lands and no others. Rather, that of Jacob, about whom it is written, “And your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all of the families of the land will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14). There are no boundaries for Jacob’s portion.
Stay temporarily in this land and I will be with you and bless you [My Word will be your support and I will bless you], for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands. I will [thus] keep the oath that I swore to Avraham, your father.
sojourn in the land, and My Word shall be for thy help, and I will bless thee; for to the end to thy sons will I give all these lands, and I will establish the covenant which I have covenanted with Abraham thy father.
| וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֤י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ כְּכוֹכְבֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנָתַתִּ֣י לְזַרְעֲךָ֔ אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הָאֲרָצֹ֖ת הָאֵ֑ל וְהִתְבָּרְכ֣וּ בְזַרְעֲךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֥י הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | 4 J | I will make your heirs as numerous as the stars of heaven, and assign to your heirs all these lands, so that all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your heirs— |
הארצות האל, “these lands;” this was to make plain that the lands over which the King of the Philistines ruled at that time were included in the land G-d had promised to the descendants of Avraham. Our author had already explained this in his commentary on Genesis 22,1.
The word: האל, is an allusion to the 31 Kings Joshua would defeat and whose lands he would conquer after Moses’ death.
והתברכו בזרעך, “and through your descendants will be blessed;” Rabbi Yoseph son of Tuviah said: “through your descendants all the nations of the world will receive genetic input.” As we learned in the Mishnah (Sotah 43) אחד המבריך ואחד המרכיב, it does not matter whether he bends or grafts the vine.
והרבתי...ונתתי לך לזרעך, for them it will be an outright gift as they will not only dwell there but will expel the gentiles from this land. The word זרעך is intended to apply to the descendants of Yaakov, seeing that this is the only seed common to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov. והתברכו, I have explained this on 23,18.
והתברכו בזרעך AND IN THY SEED SHALL BLESS THEMSELVES — A man will say to his son, “May your seed be as the seed of Isaac”. Such is the meaning of this phrase wherever it occurs in the entire Scriptures. The following passage is that from which this meaning may be derived for all such passages: (48:20) “By thee shall all Israel bless their children saying, “May God make thee [as Ephraim and Manasseh]”. So, too, in the case of a curse do we find a similar idea: (Numbers 5:27) “And the woman shall become a curse”, meaning that one who curses his enemy will say “May you be like such and such a woman”. Similar, also, is (Isaiah 65:15) “And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto mine elect”, meaning that one who takes an oath will say “May I be like such-and-such a person if I have really done so-and-so”.
A man will say to his son, “May your children be like the children of Yitzchok.” Rashi is explaining that the nations will receive oral blessings [from one another], not that they will become blessed because your children [are a source of blessing for them]. For then it should say והתברכו מזרעך.
And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens, and I will give to your descendants all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through your descendants.
Similarly, our patriarch Yitzḥak was told: I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and give to your descendants all these lands, so that all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your offspring. (ibid., 26:4)
Rabbi Pinḥas ben Ya’ir said: It was corresponding to the generations that were from Adam the first man until the Tabernacle, and corresponding to the mitzvot that they were commanded, that the princes presented the offering. “One silver dish” (Numbers 7:13) (Citations here and later from the portion describing Naḥshon’s offering (Numbers 7:13–17) are sample citations of phrases that recur for the rest of the tribal princes as well.) – do not read it as kaarat but rather as akeret; this is Adam the first man, who was the root [ikaran] of the people. Rabbi Shemaya said: From where do you say that it is regarding Adam the first man that kaarat kesef is stated? It is because the tally of the years of Adam the first man was nine hundred and thirty years, and the numerical value of kaarat kesef is nine hundred and thirty. (Kof – 100; ayin – 70; resh – 200; tav – 400; together they sum to 770. Kaf – 20; samekh – 60; peh – 80; together they sum to 160. The two sums together equal 930.) From where is it derived that Adam the first man lived nine hundred and thirty years? It is as it is stated: “All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died” (Genesis 5:5). Why was it of silver? It is because he gave him six mitzvot, (The prohibitions against idolatry, forbidden relations, bloodshed, cursing God, and robbery, and the command to establish courts.) as it is stated: “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…” (Genesis 2:7) (The Etz Yosef explains that the midrash brings the first verse, which leads to the verse (Genesis 2:16) from which the six commandments are learned (see Bereshit Rabba 16:6).) , and the Torah is called silver, as it is stated: “[The words of the Lord are pure words,] like silver purified in the furnace of the earth” (Psalms 12:7). Why is “one” stated in his regard? It is due to Eve, who was created from him, as it is stated: “He took one of his sides” (Genesis 2:21). “Its weight one hundred and thirty” – it corresponds to the one hundred and thirty years during which he withdrew from the woman and ultimately begat Seth, who was the first of his offspring, as it is stated: “Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth [Shet]” (Genesis 5:3), as from him the world was established [hushtat], as Abel and Cain were driven from the world. “Basin [mizrak]” (Numbers 7:13) – it corresponds to Noah, who was cast [shenizrak] out of the generation of the Flood. Why silver? It is because he was righteous in his generation, as it is stated: “As I have seen you to be righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). Another matter: Because of the mitzvot that he was commanded he was called “silver,” as it is stated: “But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat” (Genesis 9:4). Rabbi Shemaya said: Corresponding to the years of Noah’s age when he produced offspring are equal to the total of “mizrak eḥad kesef” (Numbers 7:13). (Mem – 40; zayin – 7; resh – 200; kof – 100; together they sum to 347. Alef –1; ḥet – 8; dalet – 4; together they sum to 13. Kaf –20; samekh – 60; peh – 80; together they sum to 160. The three sums together equal 520. Mizrak eḥad kesef is “one silver basin.”) Go out and calculate their letters, and they total five hundred and twenty, corresponding to the five hundred years of Noah’s age when he produced offspring, as it is stated: “Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot…” (Genesis 5:32). This is the reason that he delayed procreating; it was due to the iniquity that he saw in his generation, until the Holy One blessed be He revealed to him the matter of the ark. At that moment he married a wife and produced offspring, and it was one hundred years from that year until the Flood. And that zayin (In the word mizrak.) and the word eḥad that total twenty beyond the five hundred are an allusion to the twenty years prior to Noah’s producing offspring that the decree of the Flood was decreed, just as it says: “Its days will be one hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). “Seventy shekels in the sacred shekel” (Numbers 7:13) – it corresponds to the seventy nations that emerged from him. Alternatively, why seventy? It corresponds to the beginning of the book of Genesis until the curse of the serpent, seventy verses. Rabbi Pinḥas said: Two enemies were not cursed until it completed seventy verses in their regard: The serpent and the wicked Haman. The serpent from “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1) until “accursed are you beyond all the animals” (Genesis 3:14), seventy verses. Haman, from “after these matters, King [Aḥashverosh] promoted [Haman]” (Esther 3:1) until “they hanged Haman” (Esther 7:10), seventy verses. At the end of seventy, he was hanged at fifty. (This is a passage from the liturgy for Shabbat Zakhor composed by Rabbi Elazar HaKalir. The reference is to seventy verses and gallows fifty cubits high.) Another matter: It corresponds to the seventy holy names from “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1) until the portion of the serpent. If you say that there is one more, “you will be like the great ones [elohim]” (Genesis 3:5) is not sacred. (It means in that verse that they will be important. See Targum Onkelos on the verse.) Another matter: It corresponds to the seventy years of age that Teraḥ was when he begot Abraham, as it is stated: “Teraḥ lived seventy years, [and he begot Abram]” (Genesis 11:26). There were two in two generations of seventy years: Kenan in one generation, “Kenan lived seventy years” (Genesis 5:12), and Teraḥ in a second generation. (Each of them was seventy years old when he begot his first child.) Another matter: It corresponds to the seventy days that they wept for Jacob the pious, as it is stated: “Egypt wept for him seventy days” (Genesis 50:3). Another matter: It corresponds to the seventy holidays that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel: Seven days of Passover, eight days of the Festival, (Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.) Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur, the festival of Shavuot, and there are fifty-two Shabbatot in the solar year; that is seventy. Another matter: It corresponds to the seventy names of the Holy One blessed be He, the seventy names of Israel, the seventy names of the Torah, and the seventy names of Jerusalem. Another matter: It corresponds to the seventy years that Adam deducted from his years and gave to David son of Yishai, as he was supposed to have lived one thousand years, as it is stated: “For on the day that you eat of it you will die” (Genesis 2:17), and the day of the Holy One blessed be He is one thousand years, as it is stated: “For one thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday as it passes, like a watch of the night” (Psalms 90:4). “Both of them full” (Numbers 7:13) – as both Adam and Noah received mitzvot and were righteous. That is “high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:13). “One gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense” (Numbers 7:14) – it corresponds to the ten sayings with which the world was created; and corresponds to the ten fundamental spheres; and corresponds to the ten generations from Adam to Noah, and the ten generations from Noah to Abraham; and corresponds to the Ten Commandments; and corresponds to the ten rulers over a person; (See Kohelet Rabba 7 (verse 19).) and corresponds to the ten “generations [toledot]” (Genesis 6:9) (Toledot appears ten times in reference to people in the Torah.) in the Torah; and corresponds to the ten miracles that were performed on behalf of our ancestors in Egypt, and the ten miracles at the sea; and corresponds to the ten covenants mentioned in the portion of circumcision. (see Genesis17:2–14). “Filled with incense” (Numbers 7:14) – the verse is speaking corresponding to circumcision, as at the moment that Israel were circumcised in Egypt, as it is stated: “[I passed you,] and saw you wallowing in your blood, and I said to you: In your blood, you shall live; I said to you: In your blood, you shall live” (Ezekiel 16:6), the odor of the blood and the foreskin was as pleasant before the Holy One blessed be He as spices. Likewise, when Joshua circumcised them, the odor was, likewise, pleasant before the Holy One blessed be He. In that regard it is stated: “I will go to the mountain of myrrh” (Song of Songs 4:6) – this is the circumcision of Egypt, as they made a mountain of the foreskins, because they all needed to be circumcised, and it was pleasant before the Holy One blessed be He like the fragrance of pure myrrh, which was the first of the spices. “And to the hill of frankincense” (Song of Songs 4:6) – this is the circumcision of the arrival in the land of Canaan, as they made a hill of the foreskins, as it is stated: “At the hill of the foreskins” (Joshua 5:3), and their odor was as pleasant before the Holy One blessed be He as the fragrance of frankincense. That is, “filled with incense” – myrrh, which is the first of the spices of the incense, and frankincense, which was the last of spices of the incense. It mentioned both of them in the verse. “One young bull” (Numbers 7:15) – it corresponds to “He sent the young men of the Israelites, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to God” (Exodus 24:5). “One ram” (Numbers 7:15) – it corresponds to “It was the portion for Moses [from] the ram of investiture” (Leviticus 8:29). “One lamb” (Numbers 7:15) – it corresponds to the two daily offerings: “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, [and the second lamb you shall offer in the afternoon]” (Exodus 29:39). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:16) – it corresponds to the scapegoat that carries the iniquities of Israel. Another matter: “One young bull, [one ram, one lamb…as a burnt offering]” (Numbers 7:15) – there are three types of burnt offerings here, corresponding to the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and corresponding to them, the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were blessed: “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens” (Genesis 26:4); “I will render your descendants like the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16); “like the sand that is on the seashore” (Genesis 22:17). “One goat [use’ir]” (Numbers 7:16) – it corresponds to the Torah, in whose regard it is stated: “Like rainstorms [kisirim] on the grass” (Deuteronomy 32:2), to teach you that the entire world was created due only to the merit of the Torah. (Since the Torah is being compared to rain which is critical for the existence of the world.) Another matter: Why did they sacrifice three species as a burnt offering? It corresponds to Noah, who took from all the animals and sacrificed burnt offerings, as it is stated: “He took from every pure animal, and from every pure bird, and offered up burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). Why did they not sacrifice birds? It is because there is no poverty in a place of wealth. Why a goat as a sin offering? It is because Noah sacrificed those burnt offerings only to atone for the curse of the earth (A sin offering was brought in order to show that the burnt offerings correspond to burnt offerings which were brought as atonement.) , just as it says: “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, and the Lord said in His heart: I will not continue to curse the ground anymore on account of man…” (Genesis 8:21). Another matter: Why three species of burnt offering and one of sin offering? It corresponds to the four components of nature from which the Holy One blessed be He created the world; three are supernal, one above the other, and the fourth is earthly, the heaviest of them all. These are: The earth; it is the heaviest of them all, and corresponding to it, the goat is prepared. The water is above the earth. The atmosphere, from which the wind is formed, is above the water. And the fire is above the atmosphere, as the fire is the lightest of them all, as it ascends to the firmament. A mnemonic for this matter (That the fire ascends.) is: When the flame separates from the coal it gradually floats upward. Likewise, they say: Fire surrounds the entire world up until the firmament. Corresponding to the fire, the wind, and the water, which are supernal, three types of burnt offering were prepared. “And for the peace offering, two bulls” (Numbers 7:17) – it corresponds to the two altars that Jacob crafted, one in Beit El and one in Beersheba. “Five rams” (Numbers 7:17) – it corresponds to the five mighty ones of the world, and they are: “The sons of Zeraḥ: Zimri, Eitan, Heiman, Kalkol, and Dara; all of them were five” (I Chronicles 2:6). (See Yalkut Shimoni, I Chronicles 10:74.) “Five goats, five lambs in their first year” (Numbers 7:17) – it corresponds to the altar; its width five cubits and its length five cubits. Alternatively, it corresponds to five senses and five perceptions. (These are the matters perceived by the senses.) “This was the offering…” (Numbers 7:17) – that it says at the end of the offering of each and every prince is to say to you: Once they presented their offerings according to this order, the Holy One blessed be He began lauding their offerings and saying: This was the offering of each and every one. “This was the dedication of the altar, on the day that it was anointed, from the princes of Israel: Twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins, twelve golden ladles” (Numbers 7:84). “This was the dedication of the altar, on the day that it was anointed” – was the entire dedication of the altar performed on the day that it was anointed? In fact, the dedication of the Temple was not completed until the completion of twelve days. Rather, the verse comes to teach you that all the tribes were equal and beloved as one before the Holy One blessed be He, as the Torah ascribed to them as though they all presented their offering together on the first day, to realize what is stated: “You are all fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you” (Song of Songs 4:7).
Another interpretation (of Lev. 26:3, 4, 14, 19:) IF YOU WALK IN MY STATUTES…, THEN I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR RAINS IN THEIR SEASON…. BUT IF YOU DO NOT HEED ME…. I WILL MAKE YOUR HEAVENS LIKE IRON. It also says so (in Hag. 1:10): FOR THAT REASON THE HEAVENS OVER YOU HAVE WITHHELD DEW, AND THE EARTH HAS WITHHELD ITS PRODUCE. Because of your sins, the nations are also afflicted. R. Joshua ben Levi said: If the nations had known that, when Israel sinned, they also would be afflicted, they would have raised two armies (Gk.: stratiai.) in order to keep each and every person of Israel [from sinning. (The bracketed portion continues to the end of the section. Since the passage is lacking in Buber’s main Oxford ms., he has drawn on Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34.) However, it was not enough for the nations that they were not watching over Israel, but in addition they stopped them from < fulfilling > the commandments. Thus because Israel sins, all the whole world is afflicted, as stated (in Hag. 1:10): FOR THAT REASON THE HEAVENS OVER YOU HAVE WITHHELD DEW. But if < the Israelites > do not sin, all the world is blessed on their account, as stated (in Gen. 26:4): AND THROUGH YOUR SEED SHALL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED. The Holy One said to Moses (in Exod. 20:19–20 [22–23]): YOU YOURSELVES HAVE SEEN THAT I SPOKE WITH YOU FROM THE HEAVENS. ALONG WITH ME YOU SHALL NOT MAKE GODS OF SILVER, NOR SHALL YOU MAKE FOR YOURSELVES GODS OF GOLD. So if you sin and pray to me, I will not answer you, as stated (in Zech. 7:13): AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT, AS {I} [HE] CALLED, AND THEY DID NOT HEED; SO LET THEM CALL, AND I WILL NOT HEED, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. Therefore (according to Exod. 20:20 [23]): ALONG WITH ME YOU SHALL NOT MAKE GODS OF SILVER….]
(Lev. 26:3:) “If you walk in My statutes….” This text is related (to Hos. 9:17), “My God will reject them because they did not heed Him….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I have said that you would be set in security, as stated (in Amos 9:15), ‘And when I plant them in their land, [they shall never again be uprooted]….’ When? (Lev.: 26:3, 5:) ‘If you walk in My statutes […] You shall eat your fill of bread.’ But you did not so act.” Instead (according to II Kings 17:9), “The Children of Israel attributed things which were not right to the Lord.” [So] I have also set upon you things which I did not write in My Torah. [It is so stated] (in Deut. 28:61), “Moreover [the Lord will bring upon you] every disease and every plague which is not written [in this book of the Torah].” Now what were the “things they attributed, which were not right to the Lord?” As Isaiah said (in Is. 1:4), “They have forsaken the Lord […];” do not say, “They have forsaken ('zbw) [Me],” but “They,” as it were, “have made me worth forsaking ('yzbw) (i.e., caused me to be cruel).” Now I was called (in Exod. 34:6), “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God.” But through their sins, they have made Me cruel and changed My trait of mercy to cruelty, as stated (in Lam. 2:5), “The Lord has become like an enemy, He swallowed Israel.” It also says (in Is. 63:10), “But they rebelled, and grieved His holy spirit; then He became their enemy, and Himself made war against them.” Therefore, Hosea said, “Who has brought this about for you? [It was] because you did not heed Him, (in Hos. 9:17), ‘My God will reject them because they did not heed Him.’” It is also written (in Deut. 28:65), “And among those nations you shall find no peace. Another interpretation (of Lev. 26:3, 4, 14, 19) “If you walk in My statutes…, then I will give you your rains in their season…. But if you do not heed Me…. I will make your heavens like iron”: It also says so (in Hag. 1:10), “For that reason the heavens over you have withheld dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.” Because of your sins, the nations are also afflicted. R. Joshua ben Levi said, “If the nations had known that they are afflicted because of the sins of Israel, they would have raised two armies (Gk.: stratiai.) to guard each and every person of Israel in order that they keep the Torah and not sin. However, it was not enough for the nations that they were not watching over Israel, but in addition they stopped them from [fulfilling] the commandments.” As when Israel sins, all the whole world is afflicted, as stated (in Hag. 1:10), “For that reason the heavens over you have withheld dew.” But if [the Israelites] do not sin, all the world is blessed on their account, as stated (in Gen. 26:4), “and through your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses (in Exod. 20:19-20), “You yourselves have seen that I spoke with you from the heavens. Along with Me you shall not make gods of silver, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.” So if you sin [and pray to me], I will not answer you, as stated (in Zech. 7:13), “And it came to pass that, as He called, and they did not heed; ‘So let them call, and I will not heed,’ [says the Lord of hosts].” Therefore (according to Exod. 20:20), “Along with Me you shall not make gods of silver.”
(Devarim 1:11) "May the L-rd, the G-d of your fathers, add to you, such as you, a thousand times!" They said to him: Our teacher, Moses, we do not want you to bless us. The Holy One Blessed be He promised Abraham our father (Bereshith 22:17) "… and multiply, will I multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and I will make your seed like the sand on the seashore" — and you set a limit to our blessing! He answered: This is my (blessing). An analogy: A king had many possessions and a young son, and he (the king) had to go abroad. He said: If I leave my possessions in the hand of my son, he will squander them. So saying, he appointed a caretaker (for his possessions) until his son would grow up and he (the caretaker) gave him (his son) enough of his own for his sustenance — whereupon the son cried: Is this all the silver and gold that my father has left me? And the caretaker: Everything I have given you is mine. What your father left for you is in keeping for you. Thus did Moses say to Israel: "May the L-rd, the G-d of your fathers, add to you, such as you, a thousand times." This is my (blessing to you). As far as yours is concerned, (Ibid.)_ "and may He bless you as He spoke to you" — as the sand of the seas, and the dust of the earth, and as the fish of the ocean, and as the stars of the heavens, in abundance.
"cities great and fortified in heaven": R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: Scripture (here) speaks hyperbolically, as it does in (Ibid. 9:1) "Hear, O Israel, you are crossing over the Jordan this day." But when the Holy One Blessed be He says to our father Abraham (Bereshith 26:4) "And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven," and (Ibid. 13:16) "I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, so will your seed be numbered" — this is not hyperbole. (Devarim, Ibid.)
"and He will grant you mercy and multiply you." R. Gamliel Berebbi says: All who are merciful to others are accorded mercy by Heaven.
We need to appreciate that the name יעקב is in fact ישראל. The name יעקב alludes to an exalted position on earth, i.e. in this world; it reflects observance of Torah in this world, not expecting to be rewarded in this world, but being content היום, לעשותו, מחל לקבל שכרם, as we have explained earlier. The name ישראל is the direct outcome of יעקב having been what he was here on earth. Our sages have taught us that שכר מצוה מצוה, that the reward of performing a commandment is the מצוה itself (Avot 4,2). This means that the spiritual element of the מצוה one performs on earth becomes the glue with which one attaches oneself to G–d in the Hereafter. When David refers to the great reward in store as a result of observing the commandments, i.e. בשמרם עקב רב (Psalms 19,12), he points to the seemingly insignificant commandments people are in the habit of ignoring. The word Eikev means סוף, end. The word סוף also means תכלית, the ultimate purpose of life as defined by Solomon in Kohelet 12,13 in the words: סוף דבר את האלוקים ירא ואת מצותיו שמור כי זה כל האדם. "To sum up: Fear the Lord, observe His commandments, for this is what man is all about." This סוף which Solomon speaks about in Kohelet is the latter part of Jacob's name עקב, heel, itself the tail-end of a person. This יעקב was alluded to earlier in the Torah when G–d said to Isaacs, “I shall multiply your seed like the stars of the heaven" (26,4). G–d goes on to say that inheritance of the land of Israel will be due to Abraham having listened to G–d's voice and having observed His commandments, עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי. The word עקב refers to that part of יעקב's name.
והקימותי את בריתי אתכם, “I will maintain My covenant with you.” This is the covenant I established with your forefathers that I will multiply you to become as numerous as the stars in heaven and the dust on the earth. (Genesis 26,4 and Genesis 28,14, Ibn Ezra)
HATH MULTIPLIED YOU. In Egypt, and the blessing which your father blessed you was fulfilled.
I will bless those who bless you And curse the one who curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.”
You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven, and brought them to the land which You told their fathers to go and possess.
I will make your descendants [as numerous] as the stars of the heavens, and I will give your descendants all these lands. Through [Because of] your descendants shall be blessed all the nations of the world.
And I will multiply thy sons as the stars of the heavens, and will give to thy sons all these lands, and through thy sons shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
| עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥ע אַבְרָהָ֖ם בְּקֹלִ֑י וַיִּשְׁמֹר֙ מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֔י מִצְוֺתַ֖י חֻקּוֹתַ֥י וְתוֹרֹתָֽי׃ | 5 J | inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.” |
“Guest” – Oreach (אורח) is Or Chet – the Light of Eight (אור ח'). Thus, Abraham received guests, for chet is the World that is Coming, (The number seven represent the completion of creation, as in the seven days of the week. The number eight (chet) represents one level above the creation, which is the transcendent World to Come. It also corresponds to the sefirah of Binah, which is the eighth sefirah when counting up from Malchus.) like a guest that is coming. And this is the World of Binah. Therefore, Abraham was the attribute of Kindness (Chesed), “the day of all days.” (See Be’er Mayim Chayim, on parashas Yisro 19:6.) Because the light of Chesed goes in all the Sefiros. (See the writings of the Arizal in the laws of Succah). Therefore, Abraham would bring the Light of Chet, [which is] the Binah, into all the Sefiros. Thus, he merited the entire Torah by means of the letter hey added to his name. (The Sages say that Abraham knew and observed the entire Torah, as the verse says: “Because Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5). According to the Baal Shem Tov, this is because G-d added the letter hey to his name, changing it from Abram to Abraham. The first letter hey in the Tetragrammaton corresponds to the sefirah of Binah, which is the source of the Torah.) For this is the World of Binah, from where the Torah issues forth. Degel Machane Ephraim, in the section: “Things I heard from my Grandfather”
And behold they of blessed memory stated "'Inasmuch as Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge..." to teach us that our father Abraham, peace be upon him, kept even [the mitzvah] of Joining the Cooked Foods" which on the surface is confusing for how could he have known to do so? And if we say that he perceived [himself] the actions of the Commandments and the Laws to which the [human] intellect can bind, nevertheless its difficult [to understand] how he could have perceived the Decrees which have no reasoning [behind them] to which the [human] intellect cannot bind, like the Red Hefer and other such Decrees. Our discussion will be understood according the the words of our blessed Sages who stated, "to you I will reveal the reason behind the Red Hefer and the others will be Decrees (without reason)" for all the Decrees do [in fact] have a reason and a source above in the order of the creation, for the creation occurred in accordance with the Torah, its just that 'no [human] mind can contain it' - and [this is the meaning of] "...the others will be Decrees". However, the Torah does not speak to 'great ones' such as Moshe or our father Abraham, peace be upon them, before whom nothing stood as a Decree [without reason]; rather all the Decrees to them were Commandments in their understanding and they perceived their reasoning and source.
עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, “as a consequence of Avraham having listened to My voice;” a reference to the binding of Yitzchok. The same formulation occurs also in Genesis 22,18: עקב אשר שמעת בקולי, “(G-d to Avraham) “as a consequence of your having listened to My voice.”
וישמור משמרתי, “he observed My commandments;” this is a reference to the commandment of circumcising himself which he immediately accepted as recorded in Genesis 7,10: 'זאת בריתי אשר תשמרו וגו, “this is My covenant that you are to observe;”
מצותי, “My directive;” a reference to circumcision to be performed on the eighth day after the baby’s birth, as is recorded: וימל אברהם את יצחק בנו בן שמונת ימים כאשר צוה אותו אלוקים, “Avraham circumcised his son Yitzchok on the eighth day as G-d had commanded him.”
חקותי, “My statutes,” a reference to his commanding his children to continue the tradition he had commenced of circumcising himself, as is recorded: והיתה בריתי בבשרכם לברית עולם, ”My covenant shall be on your flesh as an eternalcovenant.” (17,13) Also compare Psalms 105,10: ויעמידיה ליעקב לחוק, “He confirmed it in a decree for Yaakov.”
ותורותי, “and My teachings;” this is a reference to the beginning of chapter 12 where G-d instructs Avraham to leave home and to proceed to a land that He will show him. As proof that this interpretation is correct, the author quotes Psalms 32,8: אשכילך ואורך בדרך זו, “Let me enlighten you and show you which way to go.” [The subject speaking in that verse is the Holy Spirit. (Alshich) He quotes a similar verse from Psalms 32,8.] Whenever the word תורה occurs, it refers to teaching [as a prelude to commanding the listener to conduct himself in accordance with it.] But the plain sense of the verse is that it refers to the 7 universal laws that apply to all of mankind.
AND KEPT MY CHARGE. Mishmarti (my charge) is a general term for all that Abraham was obligated to observe from the commandments (mitzvot), statutes (chukkim) and laws (torot). It is possible that the commandments spoken of in our verse refer to Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred etc. (Gen. 12:1), and Take now thy son…even Isaac…and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains etc. (Gen. 22:2). (I.E. explains that My commandments refers to Gen. 12:1 and Gen. 22:2, as these were commandments. Statutes pertain to Abraham’s emulating God’s ways and laws. It should be noted that I.E. explains chok to mean a logical law. This is in contradistinction to Rashi, who explains chukkim as irrational laws. I.E seems to imply that Abraham did not observe all the laws, statutes and commandments contained in the Torah. This is contrary to the Rabbinic sage Rav, who held that Abraham observed the entire Torah, as seen from the verse because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge etc. (Yoma 28b).)
The statutes spoken of in our text pertain to the works of God that a man should uphold. These statutes are based on logic. (The point is that Abraham, before the revelation on Mt. Sinai, was able to ascertain God’s statutes.) I will elaborate on this term (chukkim) in my comments on the verse dealing with the prohibition of wearing a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together (Lev. 19:19). The torot (laws) mentioned in our verse relate to Abraham’s circumcision of himself, his children and his servants. I will fully explain the meaning of the terms torah and mitzvah in my comments on the verse and the law and the commandment (Ex. 24:12).
שמע אברהם בקולי, "Abraham hearkened to My voice." He successfully passed all the tests I subjected him to; וישמור משמרתי, he was careful not to transgress anything l had commanded him even unintentionally, through momentary carelessness. וחוקותי, these are the commandments that appear to be without logical foundations. תורתי, "he studied My commandments in order not to forget them," just as Moses commanded Israel in Deut. 4,9.
עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, "“because Avraham was obedient to Me.” This is the source of our sages in Nedarim 32 claiming that Avraham recognized his Maker when only three years old. He had lived for 175 years. When you add up the numerical value of the letters in the word עקב, you get 172. If you deduct this number from 175, the resulting number 3 is the number of years when Avraham was not yet obeying G’d’s commandments because he had not yet recognized Him as such.
וישמר משמרתי, מצותי, חוקותי ותורותי, “he observed My safeguards, My commandments, My statutes and My moral/ethical instructions.” If we follow the approach of interpreting these nuances as the plain text, we must assume that G’d spoke of the seven Noachide laws which are applicable to all of mankind. The word מצותי then applies to the prohibition of robbery and bloodshed; the word חוקותי applies to the law not to eat tissue or blood from a living creature, as well as not to mate different species of animals with one another or to do the same with trees by crossbreeding. The word תורותי refers to the prohibition of all kinds of idolatry as well as to the positive commandment to establish a judiciary. People observing these laws are considered as doing G’d’s will. Finally, וישמר משמרתי “keeping G’d’s safeguards,” is a reference to “fences” around Biblical commandments to ensure that even if a “fence” had been violated, the Biblical commandment itself would remain inviolate. According to Bereshit Rabbah 64,4 Avraham was familiar even with such concepts as making an עירוב in private property to avoid becoming guilty of transferring property from one domain to another on the Sabbath. There is a view expressed in the same Midrash that the tractate Avodah Zarah dealing with idolatry and its sub-categories studied by Avraham was comprised of 400 chapters. The repetition of the word משמרתי after G’d had already said that Avraham observed, i.e. וישמר, is a reference to secondary incestuous relationships which were not even spelled out in the legislation concerning forbidden (sexual) marital relationships in the written Torah. The opinion of our sages is that the words וישמור משמרתי refers to Avraham observing voluntarily all the laws of the Torah which had not yet been legislated. According to this opinion it would be inappropriate for the Torah to commence the list with subordinate rabbinical ordinances before mention had been made of Biblical commandments. The verse divides these 613 commandments into specific categories each with its own heading. Basically, there are three categories of commandments. The first are called עדות, ”testimonies,” and comprise commandments which the mind can readily understand and which are therefore easy to fulfill. The second category is called חוקים. They are in the nature of Royal decrees which are usually incomprehensible to the human being, the subject of the King, as they are based on a superior intelligence. Finally, there is the category called משפטים, social laws, which are generally readily understandable. We find that the Torah quotes future generations of Israelites as dividing the Torah into these three categories when the Torah writes: מה העדות והחוקים והמשפטים, “what is the respective significance of these three categories of laws in the Torah?” (Deut. 6,20) The division in our verse is similar except that the social laws are referred to as תורותי, “My moral/ethical imperatives.” Furthermore, the reason for that word (and two others) appearing in the plural is that it refers to both the written as well as the “oral” Torah. The Talmud Yuma 28 states that Avraham even observed the various rabbinical ordinances such as עירובי תבשילין and עירובי תחומים. [The former involves preparing food for the holiday before the holiday if the Sabbath occurred immediately after the holiday, in order that it would not appear that the holiday was used to prepare for the Sabbath. עירובי תחומים, on the other hand, is a device employed to change the radius of one’s habitat prior to the Sabbath by means of depositing food at the centre of the new radius in order to fulfill duties such as welcoming Torah scholars who did not reach that area prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. Ed.]. In illustrating the fact that our patriarchs taught their children all these aspects of Torah which had not been legislated as yet, they quote Genesis 45,21 in which the Torah refers to the wagons Joseph sent to transport his father Israel down to Egypt. The choice of the word עגלות for such wagons [which is less appropriate than, say, מרכבה, Ed.] is interpreted as Joseph reminding his father that the last subject in their Torah study they had learned prior to his going on his ill-fated mission, was the one called עגלה ערופה, the heifer which needs to be killed in order to atone for a murder committed near a Jewish community when the murderer has not been found. Joseph hinted to his father that during the 22 years he had not seen him he had maintained his custom to study Torah. The meaning of the word משמרתי according to this approach would be “the safeguards erected by the rabbis against violating Biblical injunctions on the Sabbath.” When we reflect on these opinions offered by the Talmud and subsequent scholars that the patriarchs observed even minutiae of later rabbinical ordinances, the question comes to mind how Yaakov could ignore a Biblical injunction and marry two sisters while both were alive, or how he could erect a מצבה, a monument, or how Amram could marry his aunt Yocheved? Not only that, but Moses himself, after the Ten Commandments had been revealed, erected 12 monuments as spelled out in Exodus 24,4. In answering these questions Nachmanides (in his commentary on Leviticus 18,28) points out that the principal function of the laws of the Torah is that they be observed within the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael. When the patriarchs did observe them, they did so in an entirely voluntary fashion. Seeing that the “so-called” infractions we mentioned occurred outside of Eretz Yisrael they were no infractions at all. The patriarchs had decided in each of these instances that the reasons for not observing these laws at that time and in that place were stronger than that they should voluntarily observe them.
עקב אשר שמע אברהם, the reason why I have given him the land is because he heeded my voice even to the extent of offering his only son as a burnt-offering.
משמרתי, מצותי, חוקותי, ותורותי, G’d included all the commandments, hinting that all the commandments, i.e. chukotai, contain elements of which the rationale has been revealed and some which have not. Even the seven Noachide laws, applicable universally, contain elements the reason for which has not ever been revealed to the people but whose rationale is familiar only to the wisest scholars. Examples of such commandments are: the prohibition of grafting or crossbreeding, eating (amputated) limbs of a living animal אבר מן החי. To describe such laws, the Torah here mentions the word חוקותי, “My statutes,” whereas the description מצותי refers to commandments which the human mind understands or even applauds. It matters not that these commandments be performed by different parts of the body, i.e. the mouth, the hands, or merely the heart. Similarly, it matters not whether they are positive commandments, requiring action, or negative commandments requiring self-restraint. Some commentators (compare Torah Shleymah 25) claim that Avraham was only 3 years old when he recognised the existence of G’d and began to worship him, so that the numerical value of the letters in the word עקב=172 would comprise the number of years which Avraham carried out G’d’s commandments. Other commentators place the time when Avraham became convinced of monotheism as the only religion as being when he had completed his fortieth year. (Bereshit Rabbah 30,8) This appears to be more probable. Our sages claim that Avraham observed all the commandments spelled out in the written and the oral Torah including such rabbinic ordinances as Eyruv Tavshilim (Yuma 28). They base this on the word משמרתי, seeing this word refers generally to the type of “security fence” סיג, introduced by the Rabbis to safeguard us against violating Biblical injunctions. What the rabbis meant therefore was that Avraham invented such safeguards for himself in order not to violate the basic prohibitions.
AND HE KEPT MY CHARGE. Rashi comments: “As a reward that Abraham hearkened to My voice when I tested him. And he kept My charge — these are the precautionary decrees instituted by the Sages, which are intended to make us avoid the violation of Biblical laws, such as Second Degrees of forbidden marriages and certain prohibited acts on the Sabbath. My commandments — these are precepts which, had they not been written in the Torah, were requisite to have been written, such as robbery and murder. My statutes — these are matters against which the evil inclination and the heathen nations argue, such as the prohibitions against eating the swine and the wearing of garments woven of wool and linen, there being no apparent rationale for them except that they are decrees of the King imposed on His subjects. And My laws — the plural is intended to include, [besides the Written Law], the Oral Law as well as those rules given to Moses from Sinai.” [Thus far the words of Rashi.] Now if so, all this interpretation is posited on the opinion that Abraham fulfilled and observed the Torah before it was given on Sinai. This is indeed what the Sages of the Midrash said in connection with the verse, And Joseph gave them ‘agaloth’ (wagons), (Ibid., 45:21. The word agaloth (wagons) may also mean “heifers,” thus suggesting that as a mark of identification to his father, Joseph gave his brothers a reference to the law of the Heifer (Deuteronomy 21:6) which he studied with his father just before he became separated from him. The Midrash referred to is in Bereshith Rabbah 95:2.) thereby indicating to his father that when he left him they were studying the section dealing with Eglah Arufah. (See Deuteronomy 21:1-9.) Thus Joseph occupied himself with Torah just as his fathers did. Though the Torah had not yet been given, it is still written of Abraham, And he kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. (Thus far the Midrash in Bereshith Rabbah, 95:2.) There the Sages also said (Bereshith Rabbah, ibid.) that Abraham observed the details of the Torah, which he taught to his children, etc. (To his children, as it is said, For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, etc. (Above, 18:19.) Bereshith Rabbah, ibid.) The question presents itself: If it be the case [that the laws of the Torah were observed by our ancestors before the Torah was given on Sinai], how did Jacob erect a pillar (Further, 28:18. This is forbidden in Deuteronomy 16:22.) and marry two sisters in their lifetime, (Forbidden in Leviticus 18:18.) and, in the opinion of our Rabbis, four sisters. (According to Bereshith Rabbah 74:11, Bilhah and Zilpah were also daughters of Laban. Thus Jacob married four sisters: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah.) Also, Amram [Moses’ father] married his aunt, (Exodus 6:20.) and Moses our teacher erected twelve pillars. (Ibid., 24:4.) How then was it possible that they should be permissive in matters of Torah which Abraham their ancestor had prohibited on himself, and for which G-d appointed him reward, when he [Abraham] was wont to command his children and his household after him (Above, 18:19.) to walk in His ways? In the case of Jacob the Sages taught that he observed the Sabbath and established borders for Sabbath distances. (Bereshith Rabbah 79:7.) In this matter of the Sabbath it is possible though that Jacob observed it because it is equal in importance to the entire Torah since it testifies to the act of Creation. Perhaps then we should say that My charge refers to the Second Degree of marriages which were forbidden to the Sons of Noah; (See Seder Bereshith, Note 222, and Seder Vayishlach, Note 148.) My commandments applies to robbery and murder; My statutes refers to the laws against eating a limb torn off from a live animal, as well as breeding mixed kinds of cattle or grafting together different species of trees; and My laws refer to civil statutes and the prohibitions against idol worship. The Sons of Noah were commanded concerning all of these matters, and Abraham observed and fulfilled the Will of his Creator, observing even the details and the strictures of their commandments, even as the Sages mentioned: “The tractate of idolatry of our father Abraham contained four hundred chapters.” (Abodah Zarah 14b.) They further expounded [on the verse referring to Isaac, which says], And he found in that year a hundredfold, (Further, Verse 12.) that he measured the produce for the purpose of tithing, (Bereshith Rabbah 64:6.) since the patriarchs were the generous ones of the peoples, (Psalms 47:10.) giving tithes to the poor or the priests of G-d, such as Shem and Eber and their disciples, just as it is said, And he was a priest of the most high G-d. (Above, 14:18. Reference is to Melchizedek, whom tradition identifies as Shem, the son of Noah. See Ramban, ibid.) Now it appears to me from a study of the opinions of our Rabbis that Abraham our father learned the entire Torah by Ruach Hakodesh (See Note 90.) and occupied himself with its study and the reason for its commandments and its secrets, and he observed it in its entirety as “one who is not commanded but nevertheless observes it.” (The concept of “one who is not commanded but observes” is found in the Talmud (Kiddushin 31 a). His reward is less than that of “one who is commanded and observes.” (Ibid.) The reason for it, as explained in Tosafoth, is that he who is commanded to do a certain mitzvah (commandment) is under tension lest he might not properly fulfill it, while he who is not commanded therein has no responsibility in the matter and may leave it at his will. Consequently, his reward is less.) Furthermore, his observance of the Torah applied only in the Land of Israel, whereas Jacob married two sisters only when outside the Land, (See Leviticus 18:25 where Ramban extends the explanation further by saying that the reason Rachel died as they entered the Land of Israel (35:16-19) was that she was the sister whom Jacob married last.) and similarly with Amram who married his aunt. For the Commandments are the ordinance of the G-d of the land, (II Kings 17:26.) even though we have been charged with personal duties in all places. Our Rabbis have already alluded to this secret, and I will yet call your attention to it with the help of G-d. (See Ramban on Leviticus 18:25.) And the matter of the erection of the pillar [by Jacob and Moses referred to above] was a commandment that was innovated at a certain time, as the Sages expounded from the verse, “Neither shalt thou set up a pillar which the Eternal thy G-d hateth, (Deuteronomy 16:22.) He hated it although it was pleasing to Him in the days of the ancestors.” (Ibid., Sifre. The reason for the change being that the Canaanites afterward had made it an ordinance of idol worship.) And with respect to Joseph concerning whom the Sages expounded that he observed the Sabbath even in Egypt, (Bereshith Rabbah 92:4.) it was because it is equal in importance to all the commandments, constituting, as it does, a testimony to Creatio ex nihilo. (In Hebrew, chiddush (new), thus implying that G-d created a new world out of an absolute void.) Therefore Joseph would do so in order to teach his children faith in the Creation of the world, to remove from their hearts the false doctrine of idolatry and the opinion of the Egyptians. This then is the intent [of the Sages when speaking of the patriarchs and their children observing the Torah]. In accordance with the literal meaning of Scripture, you may say that My charge means faith in the Deity, implying that Abraham believed in the unique Divine Name and kept vigilant guard over it in his heart, differing thereby with the worshippers of idols, and calling by the name of the Eternal to bring many to His worship. My commandments refers to all that G-d commanded Abraham: Go out of thy land, (Above, 12:1.) the bringing of his son as a burnt-offering, and the expulsion of the maid-servant and her son. (Ibid., 21:12.) My statutes refers to walking in the paths of G-d by being gracious and merciful, doing righteousness and judgment, (See Maimonides, “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 11-12 Soncino edit. Positive Commandment 8.) and commanding his children and his household concerning them. (Above, 18:19.) And My Laws refers to the circumcision of Abraham himself and his sons and his servants, as well as all Commandments of the Sons of Noah (See Seder Bereshith, Note 222, and Seder Vayishlach, Note 148.) which constitute their Law.
בקולי , a reference to the binding of Yitzchok where the Torah had used the expression (22,18) עקב אשר שמעת בקולי, “as a consequence of your heeding My instructions.
וישמור משמרתי, a reference to the circumcision, where G’d had used this expression (את בריתי תשמור) describing the command in 17,9 to circumcise himself.
מצותי, the command to perform circumcision when the baby is eight days old; as in 21,4.
חוקותי ותורותי, basically these include all the laws known to mankind prior to the giving of the Torah, such as not murdering, not stealing, etc. They include virtues such as extending hospitality. At the time the Torah was revealed, these were renewed and elaborated on. At that time the covenant to keep these laws forever was concluded with the Jewish people.
שמע אברהם בקלי ABRAHAM HEARKENED TO MY VOICE when I put him to the test.
וישמר משמרתי AND KEPT MY CHARGE — This refers to precautionary measures which are intended to make us avoid the infringement of Biblical prohibitions: such are the Rabbinical inhibition of marriage between relatives in the second degree and the Rabbinical regulations regarding not doing certain acts on the Sabbath (cf. Yevamot 21a).
מצותי MY COMMANDMENTS — those matters which, had they not been written in the Torah, we would nevertheless hold that they are fitting matters to be the subject of a commandment, such as robbery and murder (cf. Yoma 67b).
חקותי MY ORDINANCES — matters which our evil inclination and the heathen nations argue against the necessity of prohibiting, such as the eating of swine’s flesh and the wearing of garments made of a mixture of wool and linen — things for which there are no apparent reasons but which are the King’s decrees and enactments imposed on His subjects (Yoma 67b).
ותורתי AND MY LAWS — The plural serves to include with the written Law also the Oral Law which prescribes commands that are an ancient institution given by God to Moses from Sinai (cf. Genesis Rabbah 64:4).
עקב, siehe voriges Kap. V. 26. - שמר ,וישמר משמרתי die allgemeinste Bezeichnung dessen, was von uns hinsichtlich des uns von Gott übergebenen Gesetzes erwartet wird. Es ist uns ein anvertrauter Schatz, dem gegenüber wir שומרים sein sollen, den wir hüten und nach dem Willen des Eigners verwenden sollen, über den wir aber nicht nach eigenem Willen disponieren können.
Die Pflicht des Hüters involviert zunächst zwei Tätigkeiten; 1) stete Aufmerksamkeit, das Anvertraute muss ihm immer präsent sein; daher die gewöhnliche Erläuterung: ת"כ) ושמרתם זו משנה an vielen Stellen): Hüten heißt Lernen, denn eben "Lernen" ist ja nichts als das stete Gegenwärtighalten des geoffenbarten göttlichen Willens in allen seinen Beziehungen. 2) Schutz: den Schatz mit solchen schützenden Veranstaltungen zu umgeben, daß er in seiner Integrität erhalten bleibe; daher jene jüdische Nationalgewissenhaftigkeit, die sich in der Selbstüberwachung durch תקנות und גזרות betätigt. Die Gewissenhaftigkeit, die sich nicht nur vor dem Unrecht, sondern auch vor allem hütet, was an das Unrecht grenzt und leicht zu ihm führt, hat auch Abraham betätigt. —
צוה ,מצותי verwandt, wie schon Kap. 2, 1 bemerkt, mit צבא: auf einen Posten stellen, wodurch der Wille des Befehlenden in weitesten Kreisen gleichsam durch seine Stellvertreter verwirklicht wird, und dadurch gleichsam dessen Persönlichkeit den weitesten Umfang (צבה) gewinnt, durch צַוֵה bildet er sich ein צבא. Daher מצות im engeren Sinne zunächst solche Aufträge, durch welche die göttlichen Zwecke des Rechts und der Milde, משפט וצדקה, die Gott in seiner Welt gepflegt wissen will, also die Pflichten der Gerechtigkeit, Barmherzigkeit, Milde, Liebe etc. zur Verwirklichung kommen.
חקותי von חקק (siehe Jeschurun VIII. S. 436): die die sinnliche Willkür beschränkenden Normen, die Gesetze der Sittlichkeit und Heiligung des leiblichen Lebens. תורתי, wie wir glauben, nicht von ירה, sondern von הרה, wie הוליך von הרה ;הלח: einen Keim in sich aufnehmen, Hiphil הורה: einen Keim in jemanden legen, daher: den Keim des Wahren und Guten, den Keim des Geistigen und Sittlichen in den andern legen: lehren. תורתי somit: die von Gott geoffenbarten Lehren des Wahren und Guten, die von uns in Geist und Gemüt aufgenommen werden sollen, die Erkenntnis des Wahren und die Entschlüsse zum Guten zu erzeugen. מצוה ist die zu lösende Aufgabe, חוק schafft den zu dieser Lösung fähigen Menschen, תורה gibt die Erkenntnis dazu.
Es dürften die hier von Abraham bezeugten Pflichterfüllungen dem (Bereschit 18, 19) ausgesprochenen Inhalte seiner Bestimmung parallel sein. מצותי entspricht dem חקתי ,עשות צדקה ומשפט ist das ׳שמר דרך ד׳ לעשות וגו, ist der Weg zu solcher Erfüllung, und תורתי ist das צוה את בניו ואת ביתו, die Belehrung und Erziehung zu solchem Leben. (Siehe daselbst.)
עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, in accordance with all that I commanded him;
וישמור משמרתי, he also did the very things which I Myself am in the habit of doing, such as to perform deeds of loving kindness. (compare Psalms 25,10 כל ארחות ה' חסד ואמת, “all the paths of the Lord are love and truth, etc.”) Also, Avraham warned the potential sinners to improve their ways, something that is of utmost importance to Me. This is what he did every time the Torah records him as קרא בשם ה', “he proclaimed the name of the Lord.” He also observed My revealed commandments מצותי, חוקותי, ותורותי, “the seven laws I laid down for all of mankind.” As a result of all this, he did not only preach to his fellow man but he practiced what he preached. Due to his possessing this virtue he became a model human being for others to emulate. At this particular stage in Yitzchok’s life, G’d did favours to him which were the result of the merits of others, i.e. the merit of his father. This theme is repeated once more in verse 24 when the Torah attributes the promise of the increase in Yitzchok’s seed to the merit of Avraham, i.e.בעבור אברהם עבדי “for the sake of My servant Avraham.” Neither Yaakov nor Avraham had ever been told that G’d’s promises to them was on account of a third party’s merit. The reason G’d’s promises to Yitzchok had been due to other people’s merits was that at that time he had not yet emulated his father’s practice of proclaiming the name of G’d, i.e. calling his fellow man to improve their lifestyles and to abandon idolatry. Once Yitzchok had begun to do this we find that even an Avimelech is in awe of him and recognises that he is the recipient of G’d’s blessings in his own right. (compare verse 26, as well as verses 28-29. All this was due to the fact that in verse 25 he is reported as emulating his father, building an altar and proclaiming the name of the Lord. Yaakov, as opposed to his father Yitzchok, has been described as being a יושב אהלים from his earliest youth, i.e. devoting himself to promoting matters spiritual, studying as well as teaching in the academy of Shem and Ever, (primarily those of the seven Noachide commandments which regulate inter personal relations.)
To include the Oral Law — laws given by God to Moshe at Sinai. You might ask: Since they fulfilled the entire Torah, why did Yaakov marry two sisters, (and Shimon his sister Dinah), and Amram his aunt Yocheved? The answer is: They only accepted upon themselves to fulfill the mitzvos in the Land of Israel, but they were outside the Land [when these events occurred]. (Ramban)
However, your right to the land is not due exclusively to your own merit; rather, it originated because Abraham heeded My voice, and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.
עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי וישמר משמרתי, “as a result of Avraham heeding My instructions and observing My directives.” Rashi understands the word בקולי as referring to such instructions as offering his son as a sacrifice, whereas the word משמרתי is supposed to refer to rules governing incest with blood relations of the second tier of relatives, and such rules as adding a few minutes to the Sabbath before it actually begins, and similar Rabbinic prohibitions ensuring the sanctity of the Sabbath will not be violated inadvertently, i.e. שבות. Nachmanides queries this, writing that if it were correct, then, if indeed Avraham kept not only the 613 commandments but also Rabbinic regulations, how could Yaakov have been allowed to marry two sisters while both were alive? How could he have erected a מצבה, seeing that the Torah prohibits the erecting of such monuments? How could Amram have married his aunt Yocheved the daughter of Levi? If the fathers and grandfathers of these people had already adopted these Rabbinic rules, surely their children and grandchildren would have been obligated to observe them also? After all G’d specifically revealed certain aspects of His manner of meting out justice “in order that Avraham teach his descendants to emulate the ways of the Lord!?” (Genesis 18,19) One could answer that the word משמרתי refers to the 7 Noachide commandments, laws to which all of mankind is committed. and that the additional words חקות, refer to the prohibition of crossbreeding, and the word מצוותי to finer points of the law, as well as the word תורתי referring to the establishment of courts, the banning of idolatry, etc. The fact is that according to our sages, the wagons Joseph sent to transport his father on his journey to Egypt, were to symbolically remind his father that he had not forgotten the law of עגלה ערופה, the last lesson his father had instructed him in before his fateful journey to Shechem. (compare Deuteronomy 21,1-9) It is clear from what our sages have described that they all agreed that Avraham observed the Sabbath meticulously with all its details, as he had divined G’d’s intention through his holy spirit. However, he did so as something voluntary; He therefore observed these commandments revealed in the Torah later only while he was on Holy Soil, in the land of Israel. The statement that someone kept all the mitzvoth such as Joseph in Egypt, is most likely to be understood as Joseph observing the Sabbath, and thus observing the whole Torah, as in the parlance of our sages Sabbath observance is equivalent to observance of the entire Torah. From the perspective of the plain meaning of the text, the peshat, the word משמרתי refers to basic belief in the sole Creator, something that drove him to preach monotheism publicly, and to decry all forms of idolatry. He was the first “evangelist” preaching G’d’s attributes since Chanoch, emphasizing the benevolent nature of G’d, and His love for His creatures. The word מצותי refers to Avraham’s suppressing his own feelings when carrying out G’d’s command to offer his only son Yitzchok as a total burnt offering to this G’d.. He expelled his maidservant Hagar against his own better judgment, in order to comply with G’d’s orders. The word חוקותי refers to his emulating G’d’s attributes, being hospitable, charitable, etc, to the deserving and the not so deserving. Finally, the word תורותי, refers to his performing circumcision on himself and all members of his household, and teaching this rite as a condition of calling oneself a true descendant of Avraham.
“Inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me” [26:5]. Our sages learn from here that Abraham was three years old when he recognized the Holy One. Abraham lived for one hundred and seventy-five years and ekev has the numerical value of one hundred and seventy-two. That is to say, for one hundred and seventytwo years Abraham recognized the Holy One, minus the three years that he did not recognize God. He was a child of three years. Abraham observed the whole Torah on his own before the Torah was given. Bahya asks a question. The Patriarchs observed the whole Torah, so why did Jacob marry two sisters? The Torah forbade this, or why did Amram marry his aunt and the Torah forbade this? The Ramban gives an explanation. The primary aspect of fulfilling the commandments was in the land of Israel. Therefore, Jacob married two sisters outside the land, and Amram married his aunt outside the land. Joseph observed the Sabbath in Egypt even though he was outside the land. This is because the Sabbath is the greatest commandment in the Torah. It was compared to the whole Torah. (Bahya, Genesis, 26:5.) The Toldot Yizhak also writes this. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 26:5.) Rabbi Isserl gives another explanation. Jacob married two sisters because Jacob thought that the reason was that one is not allowed to marry two sisters, because when a person has two wives, there is jealousy and hatred between them. Therefore, the Torah forbade marrying two sisters. However, Jacob thought, I know well that there would be no jealousy or hatred between them. (Be’ure Maharai, Genesis, 26:5.) Amram married his aunt. He thought that one is not allowed to marry her is because he was not allowed to hit his wife and it is customary for the husband to hit his wife. However, a woman can marry her uncle because if the uncle would hit his wife, it is no transgression. Amram thought, I will not hit my aunt and therefore I can marry her.
We consider an uncircumcised person as a human being with a severe physical defect as is evident from many verses in Scripture. Our sages describe Bileam's inability to stand in the presence of the Shechinah as due to his being uncircumcised. On the two occasions that G-d appeared to Abraham prior to his being circumcised, he is reported as having fallen down on his face. On the other hand, when he has subsequent visions or visitations by G-d, he was able to remain seated or even standing such as when the angels approached him after the circumcision. When we find conflicting opinions among the sages regarding the age at which Abraham first recognized his Creator, namely whether at the age of three or at the age of forty-eight, the conflict may be due to the mitzvah of orlah being a three-year concept in the Torah (Bereshit Rabbah 64 and Nedarim 32). Trees that are less than three years old are considered uncircumcised, their fruit is forbidden. Since man has been compared to trees, i.e. "for man is like the tree of the field" (Deut. 20,19), it may be that our sages meant that although Abraham recognized G-d while still physically an arel, uncircumcised, the number three being merely a symbolical age, the nature of his philosophical and ethical progress underwent such a change after his circumcision that anyone who referred to Abraham by his original name "Abram" is guilty of a misdemeanor, since that name had applied to a totally different personality. (1+2) All the communications between G-d and Abraham prior to his being circumcised involve a relationship short of the level of prophecy. Such communications we find addressed to others, such as Avimelech and Laban. Even the fish that swallowed Jonah received this kind of communication from G-d. Since Abraham had attained recognition of his Creator by means of his intellect, G-d wanted to remove him from an environment which was so hostile to his further moral and philosophical progress. (3) Since Sarah, Abraham's wife, had been described as barren already in Parshat Noach, the promise that Abraham would not only become a father but a founder of nations in another country, is indeed a special blessing.
Since becoming a morally perfect personality is impossible unless one is in possession of all possible virtues, it is almost impossible to encounter a morally perfect human being, since no one has been endowed with all these virtues. The only way to progress towards moral perfection then is to refine and and constantly purify one's personality. First, impure elements in one's personality have to be eliminated, then the remaining acceptable raw material has to be brought to a state high polish. Just as a mirror which has been silvered with faulty material and the backing of which has not been polished properly, cannot reproduce a true image, so a person cannot reflect Torah and truth in a proper manner unless he has perfected himself in the aforementioned fashion. In Deut. 4,9-10, Moses warns the Jewish people that if they allow the purity they had enjoyed at Mount Sinai to become tainted, they will be headed down the path of corruption. Our soul is like a mirror which reflects the images it has absorbed. Unless the mirror is kept in perfect condition, it will reflect distorted images. Even marginal failings in a person's character distort his whole personality. Maimonides points this out in Chapter seven of his introduction to the tractate Avot. Prophetic visions departed from the prophets when they were angry, i.e. when they suffered personality lapses. A perfect character can also not be attained unless it is accompanied by a high level of intellectual accomplishments. Similarly, true wisdom cannot be attained without accompanying moral accomplishments. Since we come across many people who possess either moral or intellectual accomplishments but rarely both, we must assume that what we observe are the results of natural endowment only. These endowments do not reflect the results of their owners having refined them in order to attain the maximum achievements they are capable of in either field. Only when morality is the outgrowth of one's intellect can we be sure that such morality is comprehensive and extends to a person's entire personality. This in spite of the fact that certain traits are not necessarily observable by outsiders unless the need arises to demonstrate that their owner indeed possesses such good traits. In Proverbs 20,5-12, Solomon points out that it is a common error to attribute a virtuous personality to someone who has merely displayed a few virtues, without our probing if these virtues are natural or have been acquired, i.e. developed. If these virtues are natural, they are quite meaningless in an ethical sense. Only the Lord can pronounce judgment about whose virtue has been acquired and whose constitutes a natural trait. One way of realizing that it is natural is if one sees a person practice one particular virtue, whereas in all other areas of life that person disregards most virtues. This would prove that such an individual did not come by the virtue he did practice thanks to his own efforts, but that he was fortunate enough to have been born with it. Our sages in Kiddushin 39 tell us that "He who performs one mitzvah is given credit, his lifespan is extended, and he inherits the land of Israel. He, however, who neglects to perform one mitzvah will experience the reverse." Obviously, the performance of one single mitzvah cannot qualify for all that much reward, something which is normally made contingent on the fulfilment of all mitzvot. It is equally obvious that a person who fails to perform a single mitzvah does not need to be told that he does not rate a reward for that failure. The meaning of the passage then is that he who performs one mitzvah in all its ramifications, qualifies for this great reward, because in order to do what he did, all his virtues had to be involved. The manner in which we relate to the that we have an opportunity to perform, reveals the attitude we have towards all mitzvot if we were able to perform them. The Talmud, when questioning the special reward offered those who perform the commandment of honoring father and mother, answers that anyone who performs a commandment thereby exceeding his natural inclination to do so, is in line for such special reward. Since it is natural for a person to honor his father and mother, the Torah, and subsequently the Talmud, use this mitzvah as the example to illustrate the principle involved. Similarly, when the Talmud (Sotah 3) says that if someone has commenced performing a mitzvah, one urges him to complete it. The word "a mitzvah,” is the same as "any mitzvah" or all mitzvoth. The attitude displayed when performing a mitzvah signals whether such an act would lead to the performance of other mitzvoth. The famous principle of "mitzvah gorreret mitzvah," that performance of one good deed leads to the performance of other good deeds, reflects the same thought. If any of these good deeds have been performed because of natural inclinations, such performance is no guarantee of the performance of other good deeds in the future; therefore, no credit is given to the one performing it. The Talmud in Horiot 10 tells us that the verse "The ways of the Lord are straight, the righteous can walk therein, whereas the wicked will stumble therein" (Hoseah 14,10), means that he who eats the Passover because he is hungry and wants to stuff himself is called a sinner though he complies with the ritual; this teaches us the same lesson. Abstention from pork should not be dictated by one's natural revulsion to eating pork, but should be due to the Torah having prohibited it (compare Torat Kohanim Parshat Kedoshim 89). Rabbi Akiva in Sofrim 4 relates how it happened to him that even preoccupation with a mitzvah due to a pure motivation, involved him in a sinful act, because he did not have his priorities right. He had dragged a body for six miles on the Sabbath in order to bring it to proper burial. He had been unaware that such a body, if there are no relatives whose duty it is to perform the burial rites on it, automatically acquires the ground it lies on. This would make the act of moving it on the Sabbath unnessary and a transgression against the law of carrying in the public domain on the Sabbath. The Rabbis chided Rabbi Akiva, saying that he had been guilty of a transgression every step of the way. Aristotle in Ethics Chapter four, also argues that the validity of, say, generosity as a virtue derives from the nature and personality of the donor. Therefore, he who gives to the wrong cause or for the wrong motive, cannot be described as "liberal" or "generous." This trait of "generosity of heart" was an essential ingredient in Abraham's personality, which is always in evidence in conjunction with other virtues, all of which contributed to refinement of his personality even further. No doubt, Abraham had recognized that the acquisition of material wealth could not be the ultimate purpose in life, that there had to be higher values than that. Not only that, but such knowledge could only be attained through prophetic insight. In his search for truths, of which Isaiah 64,3 has said, "No human eye has beheld them without the help of G-d," the term machazeh, vision, is most appropriate at this point. Maimonides in his Moreh, chapter forty-five section two, already pointed out that the lowest level of such prophetic insight is comprehension by means of the parable. Indeed, most of the message Abraham receives during the revelation at the "covenant between the pieces" is by means of the parable. Concerning man's natural fear of the day when the strange union of body and soul is dissolved, the day of death, G-d reassures Abraham that he should not entertain any fear. Concerning all his other worries, G-d reassures him of His continued support. He also tells him that the reward will be of quite a different calibre than is normally understood by the term "reward." G-d’s promise regarding future possession of the land by Abraham's descendants is believed. Abraham, aware of the great difficulties faced by any human being who tries to live up to these lofty principles, asks for a sign to reassure him that his heirs will be able to muster the moral strength to qualify for the fulfilment of these promises. The answer, couched in terms of the sacrifice and what it symbolized, is in accordance with both the views of Rabbi Nechemyah and those of Rabbi Chiyah as stated in Bereshit Rabbah 44. The divided animals represent the nations and their respective leaders, all headed for eventual destruction. The undivided bird, by contrast, represents the Jewish people who will endure and withstand the attack by the vultures, thanks to the merit of their ancestor Abraham. But over and above that, there are inherent values that guarantee the fulfilment of G-d’s promise in due course.
The kind of tolerance G-d displays depends on who He needs to relate to. In the first instance there are the spiritual, completely disembodied beings inhabiting the "upper" world, who are closest to Him. Since these beings by their very nature are close to perfection, tolerating them does not require a major effort on G-d’s part. Also the bodies in outer space whose regular and constant orbit represent service of G-d on a non-stop basis, do not require a great deal of tolerance on the part of G-d. These heavenly bodies, which provide the four basic raw materials for our physical universe, in a sense support this earth. At the time of the garden of Eden being at man's disposal, G-d had a home in the material universe because His spirit was present within man. This was the connection between the worlds above the rakiyah, firmament, and the world "below." Both harbored the Divine spirit. The commandment, "Do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil," meant "do not become engrossed in the material world except to the extent of doing good. Engrossing yourself in evil will make you part of this finite world, make you mortal." Since we have defined mavet, death, as being equal to ra, evil, and chayim, life, as being equal to tov, good, it is quite clear that contact with ra is contact with death (Deut. 30,15, compare our Chapter 7). Breaking this commandment, then, had to result in the Shechinah, G-d’s Presence withdrawing. Shechinah cannot associate with death; since there did not remain any immortal human beings on earth, there was no alternative but to withdraw to a level further removed from earth. At this point, the author describes successive withdrawals of G-d from different planets in outer space as being connected with the individual functions of these planets in our world. Abraham made up for the commandment that Adam had transgressed, by taking upon himself to command his offspring to observe the commandments of the Lord. G-d acknowledged this when He said, "As a result of Abraham having listened to My voice etc." (Genesis 26,5). Isaac repaired the damage done by Cain who had committed murder, when he voluntarily submitted to the command of His Creator, in contrast to Cain who had acted as if there were no judge or judgment in the world. His deed was acknowledged when the angel instructed Abraham, "Do not lay a hand on the lad, do not touch him" (Genesis 22,12). Jacob, who had been able to prevail on all his children to remain loyal to G-d and to proclaim His Unity when they said, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d is One," enabled G-d to return His Presence still closer to earth. Jacob had thus repaired the damage done by Enosh who had been the first to introduce the concept of G-d not being One. When Levi appeared, risking his life to avenge the shame of the rape of his sister Dinah, he repaired the damage done by the generation of the deluge, who had practiced immorality, incest etc. Kehot was the leader of the Jewish people when the latter were forced to commence performing slave labor for the Egyptians. The Jews who had been singled out for this cruel treatment, because they had failed to assimilate to the Egyptians, maintained a profile of being different by keeping their Hebrew names, language, and religion in spite of persecution suffered. This fact enabled G-d to move still closer to earth, as the damage done by the collective insubordination of the generation that built the tower of Babel had now been repaired. Amram in turn repaired the damage done by the people of Sodom, who through lack of concern for their fellow man, had driven the Shechinah still further away. Amram demonstrated his concern for the future of his nation when he responded to the admonition of his daughter not to stop having children, even at the risk of a baby boy being drowned by the Egyptians. When Moses finally made his appearance, and instead of persecuting the just, stood up against terror, injustice, and "might is right," he repaired what Nimrad/Amrafel had destroyed when he made war against the weak who had not provoked him. G-d was thus able to feel at home again on earth since the counterweight to everything the serpent had helped ruin had appeared on earth, and had made its impact. The Talmud Yevamot 112 says that when Israel stood at Mount Sinai, their "filth" departed from them. What is meant is that they reverted to the state of innocence that existed when Adam had just been created. The book of Exodus deserves to be called the book of redemption, since it tells of the redemption of the Jewish people from a cruel and barbaric fate at the hands of a cruel and barbaric nation. Apart from the physical redemption from slavery, the promise of being given the land of Israel with all its abundant natural wealth, would enable the Jewish people to live a life of ease and to be tested if they would indeed prove obedient to G-d, so that He could allow His Presence to dwell amongst them. Moses’ss accomplishment in restoring G-d’s Presence to earth, made him the intermediary between G-d and His people. To be a good intermediary requires that the intermediary himself feels in harmony with the objectives and methods of the one who has made him intermediary. Such rapport can exist either naturally, or in spite of one's natural inclinations. When Moses was shown a kind of wood that sweetens the waters at Marah (Ex. 15,25), our sages are in two minds about the nature of this wood. Some say that it was sweet wood, and that the resultant sweetening of the waters was a natural process. Others maintain that the wood itself was bitter, in which case the transformation of the waters was miraculous (Mechilta Beshalach). We find that G-d employs both kinds of agents as leaders of the Jewish people at different times. Gideon, who abandoned his preoccupation with salvaging his harvest, and who challenged the angel about G-ds apparent abandonment of His people, demonstrated selflessness and lack of concern with his private business to such an extent that the angel could say to him "go forth with this strength of yours and save the Jewish people." (Judges 6,14) He succeeded because he possessed the major ingredient needed for leadership. The reverse may be the case when the emissary of G-d is motivated by a feeling of obedience to G-d, but lacks the characteristics that put him in harmony with the purpose of his Sender. When attacking Amalek, Saul allowed considerations of economic gain to persuade him not to kill the best of the herds; he also displayed pity just when G-d had forbidden pity. This led to tragic results for his dynasty (Samuel I Chapter 15). His downfall can be traced not to lack of basic obedience, but to internal conflict between his own aims and methods, and G-ds aims and methods. Therefore, G-d looked for another man, David, who would be in tune with His objectives heart and soul, and who is held up as a model human being whose inner strivings coincide with G-d’s. When Jerobam is chastised by Achyah (Kings I 14,8-9), the point emphasized is that he failed to be with G-d "like My servant David, who observed My commandments, who followed Me with his whole heart to do only what is right in My eyes." This same David describes his own world outlook in Psalms 139,20 in the following words, "Those who hate You O G-d, I hate, and those who rebel against You, I quarrel with." When the Messiah is described, three characteristics are described as essential (Psalms 72,12-14). "For he will deliver the defenseless man who cries, and the poor who has no helper; he will care for those who have been brought low." "He will redeem their souls from malice and violence, and their blood will be precious to him." Our Parshah tells us that Moses possessed the qualities enumerated in Psalms and that therefore he was the ideal intermediary and saviour for Israel. When Moses, on his first outing to his brethren, saw an Egyptian torture a Jew, he could not stand this and he slew the Egytian. This corresponds to the line, "He will deliver the defenseless man who cries out." On the second day, when he observed injustice being perpetrated among his Jewish brethren, he stood up for the victim, the defenseless, as he did when he helped the daughters of Yitro at the well. In each case he risked his life or safety. Despite his disappointing experiences, he continued to involve himself in other peoples' problems. It is clear then that with the advent of Moses, G-d had found the person who was likely to lead the Jewish people successfully.
Maimonides, in his Moreh Nevuchim Chapter 32, Section 4, points out that the attitude of people to the institution of prophecy is similar to their attitude to creation ex nihilo. Those who cannot accept the latter, cannot accept the former either. They cannot accept that G-d is free to grant the status of prophet to whom He wants. The believers in creation ex nihilo, however, face no such difficulty and can accept that the gift of prophecy is bestowed by G-d on whom He chooses whenever He chooses. According to the Greek philosophers, if the necessary moral and other qualifications are present, prophecy status follows automatically. According to Jewish belief, G-d’s freedom to grant prophecy to a person who possesses the proper qualifications remains unimpaired. It is a little difficult to understand Maimonides who says that the failure of a person with the right qualifications to be elevated to the status of a prophet is a rare occurrence. Let us accept the premise then that prophecy is something most exquisite, unique, and belongs to the wonderful endowments that are beyond natural law. It is granted by G-d as a reward for the highest degree of closeness to G-d, which the person selected as a prophet had attempted to establish. This is the reason why original Adam already needed to observe commandments, by means of which he could attain that relationship with his Creator both qualitatively and quantitatively. We find this in increased measure with Noach, and in still greater measure with Abraham, of whom G-d said "for I know him, so that he will command his sons and his household to observe the ways of the Lord and to practice righteousness and justice" (Genesis 18,19). G-d related to Abraham via the institution of prophecy not because of his superior mental faculties, but because "Abraham listened to My voice" (Genesis 26,5). This is why we find the same characteristic amongst Israel and not other nations. As we say in Psalms 147, "He has not done so for any other nation." However, the prophet and his stature is interdependent with the people amongst whom he lives. The people influence his own stature either positively or negatively. The Talmud Sukkah 25 tells that all the students of Hillel deserved the same degree of Divine inspiration as had been granted Moses, but since their peers did not deserve it, it was withheld from them. The presence of a prophet in a given society is itself a gift for that generation. G-d explained to Jeremiah, when the latter was despondent because his prayer for rain had not been answered, that if he could lead his people to prayer before the Lord, he himself could prevail also. Under the existing conditions however, even the intercession of a Moses or Samuel would be quite ineffective, (compare chapter 15 in Jeremiah) As a concession to Jeremiah, G-d lowered the ante, saying that if Jeremiah could at least separate the relatively good people from the thoroughly rotten and corrupt ones, he would have some degree of success. “you will be My mouthpiece." (Jeremiah 15,19) All this means that the people amongst whom Jeremiah laboured, had an impact on his ability to be close to G-d. At the same time, G-d exhorts Jeremiah not to slacken in his efforts and to persevere in his mission. The point made is that as long as Jeremiah is seen to be involved with the people, there is a chance that they will turn to him; should he allow himself to become remote however, there would be no chance whatsoever. For these reasons, prophets throughout the ages have not been of equal stature, each having operated in a different environment from that of his colleagues. Each respective environment left its imprint on the respective prophet's personality. Many of the qualities and attributes that a person lacks, can be compensated for by devotion and dedication, which in turn leads to the gift of prophecy from G-d. This is proven conclusively by the experience of the Jewish people when they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and said the famous words "we shall do and we shall listen." (Exodus 24,7) The Talmud in Nedarim 38, says that prophecy does not reside within a person who is not strong, wise, wealthy, etc., which suggests that G-d confers the gift of prophecy only on those who demonstrate their eagerness to translate theory into practice, either by way of their minds or their physical endowments. "Wisdom" helps to create wholesomeness of form in matters requiring study and contemplation of religious truths. In the words of Kohelet 7,12, "wisdom makes its owners come truly alive." Without this "wisdom," everyone is like a corpse, and it is not the corpse who can sing the praises of the Lord, (compare Pslams 115) Once man has achieved this relative level of perfection, he can go on ascending by degrees and will become endowed with prophetic powers as a reward for and result of his own efforts. Daniel chapter 8 from verse 15 onwards, describes this process. "When I, Daniel had seen the vision and I sought understanding, then, behold there stood before me the likeness of a man." He explains that because of his intense desire to gain greater insights, the vision was granted to him. The word "man" implying an intermediary, refers to the angel Gabriel whom Daniel mentions first of all. The Talmud Berachot 25, explains that G-d grants wisdom to those who are intelligent already. This is illustrated by a parable in Kohelet Rabbah I, about the wealthy merchant who would display his wares only before the well to do, not before those who would not squander their money. Similarly, G-d does not bestow the gift of prophecy on shallow minded individuals on whom such a gift would be wasted. Therefore, we find in Exodus 31,6, "and in the heart of every wise-hearted person have I given wisdom." Divinely inspired wisdom would be paired with natural intelligence to help in constructing the materials needed for building the tabernacle in the desert. The Mechilta tells that anyone who lacked sight on one eye could not experience giluy shechinah, the revelation at Mount Sinai. This is what Daniel meant (chapter 10,7) when he said: "I, Daniel alone saw the vision; the people who were with me did not see the vision, but a great fear overcame them and they fled into hiding." Although Ralbag describes all this as being part of the vision, no one else having in fact been present with Daniel at the time, he does not cite any proof in support of his thesis. We will therefore assume that the verse is to be understood literally, i.e. as an actual occurrence. Daniel describes the progress of how prophets receive direct communication from G-d. First, it is received by the brain alone; it does not spread to the other faculties. On the contrary, it confuses them so that Daniel says "I had no strength left," standing on hands and knees. Later he stood on his feet but trembled; still later he stood on his feet but was dumbfounded. Finally, he was told chazak vechazak, grow stronger and stronger! (verse 19) At that point Daniel was able to reply and invite verbal communication. All this proves that proper prophetic insight and communication from G-d, requires physical strength and health. The relationship between body and mind is described like the relationship between the brain and the men who were with Daniel at that time. The latter symbolise the physical attributes. Wealth also belongs to the matters that help prepare perfection in one's external needs. Food, drink, clothing are all prerequisites for study and contemplation in an atmosphere of serenity. In Deuteronomy chapter 29, Moses stresses that during all the forty years Israel had been in the desert, G-d had not only provided food and water, but ensured that the people had adequate clothing, shoes etc. This proves that the provision of one's physical needs is a prerequisite for the successful pursuit of spiritual attainments. These three points were appreciated by the king of Babylon when he ordered to have Jewish children of aristocratic parentage brought to his Court, children who had no physical blemish, were intelligent and able to absorb the most intensive training in the Chaldean language. The king ordered these children to be given daily rations of food. He mentioned two specific physical attributes that were required in order that these children would qualify for that program, but stressed three additional mental attributes. The words va-yeman hamelech, the king provided, sound very similar to the word man, the food the Israelites ate in the desert. (Daniel 1, 3-6) In this connection it is interesting to note the instructions given to king Saul by the prophet Samuel immediately after he had anointed Saul. We read in Samuel I 10,2-6, "when you depart from me this day, you will meet two men at the grave of Rachel, in the territory of Benjamin, at a place called Tzeltach. They will say to you... the she asses you have come to search for, have been found. Your father has stopped worrying about the matter of the she asses and worries instead about you, saying "what can I do about my son?" Go from there quickly, you will come to Elon Tabor where three men seeking the Lord at Bet El will meet you. One of them carries three young goats, one of them carries three loaves of bread, and one of them carries a hose filled with wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you should accept from them. After that, you will come to the hill of G-d where the Philistine representatives are stationed. When you arrive at the town, a band of prophets will encounter you from the altar. They are carrying musical instruments and prophesy. The spirit of the Lord will come over you also, and you will join them in prophesying. You will be turned into a different person." The reference to the she asses symbolises material wealth. (Jacob had said "I have acquired oxen and donkeys," Genesis 32,6) The second symbol, physical well being, is represented by the two loaves of bread Saul was to accept and consume. This was in order to give him physical strength. The third sign, that of the musical instruments, is symbolic of the medium that would enable him to receive Divine inspiration. We see this point confirmed in Kings II 3,15, when the music put the prophet Elisha in the mood to receive Divine communication. These three otot, signs, enable a person who is so equipped to become capable of receiving Divine inspiration. A causal relationship definitely exists here. Once one has received such Divine inspiration, definitely exists here. Once one has received such Divine inspiration, one becomes a person of different stature. The prophet Samuel had told Saul something of great importance when he said to him "do for yourself whatever you think yourself capable of, for the Lord is with you." (verse 7) The message is that Saul should not be satisfied with what he had achieved up to that point, but see it as a link in a chain to still greater achievements he should strive for. Jeremiah expresses a similar thought (Jeremiah 9,23) when he calls out "let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, nor the wealthy of his riches etc., but if he must boast, let him boast about the degree of closeness to Me he has attained." The lesson is that we are never to consider the possession of any attribute as an end in itself, but only as an aid towards realising our task in life. Another interpretation of that verse in Jeremiah could be that G-d says "I, the Lord, find the performance of deeds of loving kindness, justice etc. appealing, as distinct fom the splendid isolation in which philosophers like to wrap themselves, ignoring the supposedly "lower" masses." When Elijah departed this world and Elisha was consecrated as his successor, the former describes three journeys he had to undertake. A great deal can be learned from that. (Kings II chapter 2) It is worthwhile noting that the destinations of the three journeys are progressively further away from the center of the land of Israel. Since the Shechinah resides in Israel, one would have expected these journeys to focus progressively on sites nearer the heart of Israel, the holy Temple etc. It appears that Elijah was desirous of matching the stature of Moses. Therefore, G-d sent him to the area where Moses had been buried. His first journey to Bet El was to signal that he should not use his physical attributes to traverse the length and breadth of the country and to enjoy such a trip physically, but he should go to Bet El and benefit from the wisdom of Torah and Avodah. Just as the physical exuberance and strength of children tends to be sapped in school when they apply all their energies to their studies, so the concentration on spiritual values would sap the physique of Elijah. He hinted to Elisha that his mission was merely to walk to Bet El, to the presence of the Shechinah, and to remain on the threshold of the house of G-d. He asked Elisha to consider seriously if he was able to subjugate his whole body so that it would be employed only in pursuit of spiritual values. Elisha's reply, of course was "by your life, I will not abandon your path." Afterwards Elijah said to Elisha that G-d had ordered him to go to Jericho. We know from the book of Joshua that all the captured loot from the captured city of Jericho had been declared "holy to the Lord," the metal going to the temple treasury, the balance being burned. (Joshua chapter 6) This was a hint to Elisha that all material wealth is useful and permitted only when it is put in the service of the Lord, if such a person wants to attain the perfect character that leads to the gift of prophecy. Here too, Elisha responded that he would remain at Elijah's side, and he accompanied him to Jericho. After that, Elijah said to Elisha that G-d had sent him to the river Jordan, which must be symbolic of the intense longing for wisdom. Our sages paraphrase the thought by saying "eyn mayim ela Torah", the only water that really quenches thirst is true Torah knowledge. Solomon expresses it in Proverbs by saying "drink water from your true fountain," i.e. your Creator. (Proverbs 5,15) Elijah impresses upon Elisha the importance of clinging to wisdom with the utmost tenacity, never to be satisfied with what had already been achieved. Elisha was tested to see if indeed he could walk on the waters of the river, thereby displaying an achievement surpassing that of Elijah's other disciples. Elijah gave of his spirit to him and not to the others, some of whom had not even reached the level of going to Bet El. Whereas Bileam is a prime example of the misuse of natural endowments and wealth, Moses is an example of someone who was endowed with all the attributes mentioned, employing them all exclusively in the service of G-d and his great mission. For this reason, he merited to rise to the highest level of prophecy possible. G-d explained this when Miriam and Aaron discussed Moses in a disparaging manner. (Numbers chapter 17, see details on this in chapter 76). It is this subject matter that our sages had in mind when they quote Rabbi Samuel son of Nachman in Vayikra Rabbah 1, as saying that the eighteen commandments involving erection of the tabernacle corresponded to (a) the eighteen vertebrae in our spine, (b) the eighteen benedictions in our central prayer the amidah, (c) the eighteen remembrances in the keriyat shema and the eighteen remembrances in Psalm 29. We need to understand why the number eighteen is so central to this statement. It will be demonstrated that all eighteen relate to the physical and material attributes needed to achieve the goal of perfection. None are to be used except in the service of G-d given directives. The attributes of physical beauty, strength, health and dignity of bearing, are symbolised by the eighteen spinal cords which are the backbone of all that is important physically, without which even upright posture is impossible for man. The eighteen commandments involving the erection of the tabernacle mean that we must serve the Lord by employing all our physical endowments when constructing the tabernacle, the prefabricated equivalent of the Temple. Concerning the use of one's health in an approved manner, this is expressed by prayer, seeing that all these matters are the subjects of the requests we make in our central prayer the amidah. As the Mishnah in Avot expresses it, "we temporarily abandon eternal life in favour of the prerequisites of life on this planet." This statement was made concerning those who indulge in unduly long prayers, stressing their requests for material blessings. Concerning attributes of mind and spirit, all of which are subsumed under the heading "wisdom," our sages say that these are symbolised by the eighteen remembrances contained in the Keriyat Shema. It is obvious that all paragraphs deal with aspects of faith in one way or another, as well as knowledge of, love and reverence for G-d. The ultimate perfection, the goal of which is understanding of G-d to the maximum extent that it is given to humans to achieve, is found symbolised in the eighteen remembrances contained in Psalm 29. This Psalm beautifully describes both maasseh merkavah and ma-asseh bereshit, i.e. esoterics and the story of Creation. As we discussed in the previous chapter, perfect praise can be bestowed only by one who is himself perfect to the extent that such perfection is attainable by his species. Anyone who conducts himself perfectly in these four areas, (the 4-times 18) and leads a saintly life, qualifies for being called upon by G-d, is called EL, an elevated being. After having completed the tabernacle, G-d called Moses EL, i.e. "vayikra el Moshe (Leviticus 1,1). This was in reward for having performed "ka-asher tzivah hashem et Moshe,” exactly as G-d had commanded Moses. After Moses had built the palace for the King, as it were, he was invited to come into the palace. From all the foregoing we have potent proof that prophecy resides only within those who possess the qualifications discussed, and who use those qualifications properly. If a Moses who had been endowed with outstanding natural attributes, required all these preparations to achieve his highest stature, how much more so must others not so generously endowed at birth labour before they can qualify! The Midrash Shocher Tov on Psalm 19, goes to some length to explain how Moses, while he was in Heaven "for forty days and forty nights," could distinguish between day and night. The point, of course, is to make us aware that even a man who had risen to the level of Moses, could never become completely oblivious to conditions of life as they are on earth. The Torah needed to tell us only that Moses remained on or above Mount Sinai for forty days, and we would have concluded that the nights were included. The emphasis on the word "nights" then suggests that he remained aware of the difference even when in a world where such differences do not exist. (Jonah's having remained inside the whale for three days and nights is a different situation).
The instructions concerning the details of the appearance of the menorah which are given before its construction, then again while its construction was in progress, and finally- at least partially- in Parshat Beha-alotcha when the lighting of the menorah is commanded, pose the problem "why all this emphasis on the details?" Since none of the legislation in the Torah contains superfluous detail, it must be that the details are very important if they concern nothing more than a vessel that serves as the vehicle of a mitzvah, not the mitzvah itself. Why do we need to be told at that point that the construction of the menorah conformed to its blueprint? Who was it that carried out its construction? The craftsman who made it is referred to only by the words "he made it." The subject is nowhere mentioned by name, however. Why does Aaron need to be praised for not making any changes? Were the problems of cleaning the menorah so extraordinary that changes in its construction seemed to have been called for? Even stranger is the Midrash Tanchuma in Parshat Beha-alotcha, according to which Aaron was told that lighting the menorah was a commandment which would never become redundant, whereas offerings on the altar would cease with the destruction of the holy temple. Did not everything cease at that time, including the lighting of the menorah? Maimonides' answer that the Midrash refers to the lighting of the Chanukah lights seems far fetched. Aaron's mind would hardly have been put at rest by being told that a minor Rabbinic ordinance in the future would compensate him for not participating in the offerings that had been brought by the princes in which his entire tribe had not been represented. This is especially so, since even during the seven days of the inaugural service in the holy tabernacle, when Moses himself performed the sacrificial rites, Aaron's mind had already been troubled. This in spite of the fact that he would perform many more such sacrificial rites in the future. We therefore have to look further in order to understand that particular Midrash. There is a basic difference between the way man looks at things and in the way G-d looks at things. Man begins with the phenomena that he sees and hears, and proceeds by means of those phenomena to comprehend or assume the existence of other less familiar phenomena. Such unfamiliar phenomena may exist only in the abstract, never to be perceived visually or aurally. G-d, on the other hand, proceeds in the opposite fashion. Sof ma=asseh bamachashavah techillah, the final product had been envisaged at the very outset. This is the way He operates. Every manifestation of any phenomenon represents merely a step planned and necessary to lead to the ultimate total structure. Having planned the final product, He comprehends the significance of every step, every constituent part, even if it is apparently unrelated to the whole. He is aware that such a phenomenon is indispensable, an integral part of the whole to be revealed later. On his way to the inner sanctuary, man, observing the sacrificial rites of the burning of animals which symbolise removal of sin etc., begins to comprehend that the inner sanctuary must be approached only in a state of purity, after washing himself from the copper basin placed in front of the sanctuary. Inside the sanctuary are found the holy vessels of which the menorah represents the concept of enlightenment, wisdom, which though one, seeing the menorah has been hammered out of single chunk of gold, nevertheless contains seven arms, branches. These seven arms suggest seven different disciplines of wisdom and knowledge. Indeed, the wisdom that Solomon (Proverbs 9, 1) refers to, is the Torah itself. We find this also in chapter six of Proverbs, where we read "a mitzvah is a light, whereas Torah is the source of enlightenment." The menorah of the spiritual forces in our world is represented by Torah. It guarantees meshivat nefesh, (Psalms 19,8-11), the return to eternal life by the soul. The six arms are mentioned alternatively left and right, representing the physical forces, (left) and the spiritual forces (right). The words "testimony, mitzvot and judgments," refer to the three arms on the left, whereas the words "mandates, reverence and more desirable than fine gold," refer to the three arms on the right of the stem of the menorah. Simple man does not dream of, or aspire to greatness- even in this physical world. "The testimony of G-d is faithful," teaches that this does not hold true in Judaism. An inferior position in this physical world, does not constitute a barrier to reaching one's perfection, Divinely inspired goals. Machkimat peti,” it makes even the fool become wise." Torah promotes that kind of inspiration. The princes which govern this physical world are the willpower and freedom of choice which enable man to aspire to lofty heights in spite of lowly physical surroundings. Since man may have suffered corruption due to other material forces that interact with him, pikkudim, mandates are needed to counteract the inroads made by the aforementioned forces. The purpose of these pikkudim, is to make the positive character traits the norm rather than the exception. mitzvah, are those commandments which ennoble our lives on earth by constituting a symbolic link with our destiny, our relationship with G-d. Examples are tefillin, (phylacteries), tzitzit (fringes), mezuzah, lulav and others. "Enlightening the eyes," refers to the thoughtful performance of the commandments. Yir-ah, refers to the reverence which we demonstrate when we perform commandments which we are unable to rationalise. We demonstrate our obedience to G-d whose superior wisdom we acknowledge by performing these mitzvot. Omedet la- ad, endures forever, means that part of the Torah remains an eternal moral and intellectual challenge. Mishpatim, judgments, refers to the penalties in store for those who choose not to observe the legislation of G-d as revealed in the Torah. This reference is made especially to past generations whose failure in this respect resulted in their being punished in a manner that fitted their crimes. Tzadku, were just. The justness of the punishment suffered by those generations is apparent to the student of history, i.e. the history described in the Torah. Hanechemadim, that are more precious than fine gold, refers to the statutes whose purpose it is to assure us a reward in the world to come, a reward far greater than any material possessions in this world. The symbolism contained in the merit, the right to kindle the menorah which represents man's attempt to perfect himself, becomes clear then. Keeping to the exact order in carrying out this task is laudable since so much depends on its outcome. Just as the name menorah for the whole candelabra suggests enlightenment, its parts, i.e. stem, arms, chalices, and flowers suggest their respective functions. The stem is used to acquire wisdom; the chalice to be the receptacle of such wisdom; the flower suggests additional wisdom sprouting forth once the fundamentals have been observed properly. The height of eighteen tefachim, handsbreadths, represents the height of a man of average height. The number eighteen is symbolic of the word chay, alive, i.e. its numerical value. Man's intellect is divided into two categories, each of which is subdivided into three parts. There is practical as well as speculative reason. The practical reason deals in the first instance with man's personal concerns, in the second instance with the concerns of his household, and in the third instance with matters affecting the society in which he lives. Similarly, speculative reason. In the first instance, man identifies his own feelings and senses. In the second instance, he learns to determine the validity of all these sensations, whether the information they convey to him is true. (i.e. can one trust one's senses?) In the third instance, man acquires the ability to understand the interrelationship between all these phenomena. This third stage is generally known as beenah, insight. The three arms on the right side of the menorah represent the three kinds of speculative reason, whereas the three arms on the left side of the menorah represent the three levels of practical reason. The "knobs" on the stems are to be seen as "way stations." Since attainment of insights is achieved only gradually, step by step, these knobs represent the steps in man's intellectual progress.
Rabbi Levy is quoted in Leviticus Rabbah 20 as saying "if the heel of man outshines the sun, will not his face outshine it even more?" This means that if the reward man receives as a result (eykev, heel) of using his free will for constructive purposes elevates him to a status exceeding that of the planets (which are performing G-d’s will in an involuntary manner), this is proof that man himself, i.e. "his face," the seat of his faculties, outranks the planets. An artist who fashions two plates, one for himself, the other for an outsider, will surely take greater pains with the plate he intends for himself. Similarly, G-d. Man who is to serve Him, was fashioned with more care than the sun which is merely to serve man and G-d’s other creatures. Planets do not require intelligence to carry out their functions. The duties of man however, are such that he requires intelligence as well as other faculties to carry them out, something the planets are not equipped with.
Bereshit Rabbah 8 tells that the Torah was created two thousand years prior to the universe. This means that until Abraham began to observe Torah laws, only a few people had walked with G-d, hence the real world did not start until then (approx. two thousand years after Adam was created). The years preceding the birth of Abraham are called tohu, empty. (Sanhedrin 97) Similarly, the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish concerning Psalms 139,5 "You have created me first and last" means that I was first in Your planning, but last in execution. As the stage was prepared for man during the creation of the universe, so the history of mankind up until the time the Torah was given at Mount Sinai is the setting of the stage for a world in which Torah can reign supreme.
Our Parshah addresses itself to this very problem. The way to salvation is the straight and narrow, whereas the alternative is threefold. "The blessing, that you listen to the commandments of the Lord your G'd." (11,26) However, the curse "you do not listen, you depart from the path- to follow other deities whom you have not known." (11,28) At Sinai we were given three imperatives. " anochi, I am the Lord; lo yihyeh, have no other deities; zachor et yom hashabbat lekadsho, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It is these three commandments that remind us that there is a hashgachah peratit, personal Divine Providence that guides our lives here on earth. Ever since Eve had sinned, true freedom has been denied man since the yetzer hara, evil temptation has gained entry into man through her to all subsequent generations, leaving us with less than a fifty-fifty chance to totally defeat the temptation to do evil. But now, after Sinai, that chance had been restored. This is the meaning of Rabbi Eleazar who said that from now on we are the architects of our own evil if we choose the wrong path. Between the time of Eve and Sinai, men were fatalists to whom doing good made no sense, since they were convinced that history was decreed and the future unalterable. As long as the belief existed that all had been pre-ordained, all good and evil emanated from Heaven. Only when the Jewish people were disabused of the idea that all had been pre-ordained, did good and evil, reward and punishment truly become man's choice. The reversal in man's fatalistic outlook on life began with Abraham, of course. In our Parshah, G'd not only offers the choice, but almost makes sure that we make the right choice by telling us to choose life. (chapter 30) All of mankind may be viewed as guests at G'ds table. Because of the special relationship that exists between Israel and G'd, the former is offered a choice portion by having its attention directed towards it without depriving Israel of the ultimate decision of what to opt for. "You shall choose!" (Deut.30,19) The public declaration at Mount Gerizim and Mount Eyvol immediately following the conquest of the land, point to the urgency of assimilating this lesson especially in the land of Israel, which, since it is under the unceasing surveillance of G'd will not long tolerate non observance of the mitzvot. This is in contrast to Egypt, where pursuit of a hedonistic way of life went unpunished for long periods of time. The first task is destruction of all vestiges of idol worship remaining. Therefore, (12,2) "destroy utterly all the places that served as centres of idol worship." Next comes the need to establish a central place of worship, to minimise the opportunities for any deviationist movements within Judaism. At any rate the message is that it is not man who chooses where he wants to worship, but G'd determines where and when He can be successfully prayed to. After that, the Torah limits sacrificial service to the central site of worship, and states that only certain types of animals will be acceptable as potential sacrifices. In this way, many abominations practiced by the pagans were eliminated as a form of worship, foremost among them child sacrifice. Since a great part of the animal offerings were concentrated on the various holy days that involved pilgrimage to the temple by all males, the Torah stresses that on such joyous occasions the less fortunate must not be forgotten, and must be made to share in these expressions of joy. For that reason, the Levite, the stranger, (convert to Judaism), the widow and the orphan are especially mentioned. Since the true measure of acknowledging G'd lies in one's appreciation of G'ds tremendous generosity to man, man can reflect this pious feeling only by extending his own generosity towards the less fortunate in his society. In order to underscore the serious nature of the sin of idol worship, the Torah reminds us once more that the former inhabitants of Canaan were dispossessed and destroyed because they indulged in these abominable practices. Not only was their philosophy faulty, even their deeds were corrupt, involving sacrificing their own children. We are asked not even to investigate their actions or to enquire into the reasons underlying their philosophy. A second danger the Jewish people may be faced with in their new home, is the call of the false prophet to deviate from the path of tradition. Coming as it does from someone who may have acquired the reputation of being a prophet, such danger is very real indeed. The Torah warns that the surfacing of such people advocating practices inimical to normative Judaism is a test of our faith in G'd, our loyalty, and must be reacted to a such. The third danger, and by far the most difficult to combat, is seduction by one's intimate friends and relatives. (13,7) "When your brother, son or daughter tries to seduce you, privately, saying let us worship other deities that you have not known." We are warned to ignore sentiments of protectiveness for the welfare of family in such cases, and to bring such people to justice. We must not corrupt our sense of pity by applying it to the undeserving. Only when we do not abuse feelings of mercy, pity etc. can we in turn expect the Almighty to employ His sense of pity, mercy etc. when we are in need of it. When G'd sees that we deal with cities in which idol worship has become rampant, according to Torah law, then His wrath that such things have been allowed to happen can be assuaged. Actually, display of sympathy for the corrupt few is equivalent to subjecting the majority to their evil machinations. Cruelty,- if such it be- must be reserved for use against unrepentant sinners. G'ds purpose in educating us, is to eliminate negative character traits and elevate us to a level of banim attem tashem elokeychem, you are true children of the Lord your G'd. We would almost cease to be beney adam, "sons of man," and become "sons of G'd" instead. The fact that the Jewish people or G'd are referred to as children, daughter, mother and sister in their reciprocal relationship in various places in the Bible, indicates that the intimacy of such relationship undergoes changes. Psalms 45,11, speaks of "hearken daughter and see!." Song of Songs 3,11, speaks of "the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding." Song of Songs 4,12 speaks of "My sister is like a fenced in garden." The relationship between Israel and its G'd is one that should become progressively more intimate. For these reasons, "do not make incisions on yourselves," is to remind us that the loss of human relatives notwithstanding, the continued presence of G'd, who represents to us all the above listed human relationships, must help us put any personal grief over the loss of dear ones into its proper perspective, and not to "cut ourselves up" over such loss. When members of one's family die,- seeing that theirs was the same relationship with G'd as ours-, He has suffered a loss similar to ours, and it is not fitting therefore for us to disfigure ourselves as a sign of mourning. "Do not make a bald spot on your forehead." (14, 1)This is the true meaning of the verse "for you are a holy nation to the Lord your G'd." (14,2) See our commentary in Parshat Emor. The reason this legislation follows that of the ir hanidachat, the city of idol worshippers that has to be destroyed, is to remind us that inflicting wounds upon one's body in mourning, for people who died as a result of punishment for such sins as idol worship, is just as wrong as treating such people with less than the full force of the law. Finally, to reinforce the holy character of the Jewish people, and to insure their continued adherence to Torah standards, the legislation concerning forbidden foods is appended.
And though our sages (OBM) stated that the Patriarchs fulfilled the entire Torah (See RaSh”Y on Bereshit 26:5, Yuma 28b and Kiddushin 82a) , and similarly they stated in Va-yikra Rabba (chapter 2 (See Va-yikra Rabba, parsha 2, siman 10) ) deriving that Noakh learned Torah, it’s not that they were commanded and then responded, and that they had the specific Halakha and the prescribed law (Heb.: ha-halakha v’ha-din) . Rather it’s as I wrote previously at the end of Gate 1 (chapter 21), that they fulfilled the Torah as a result of their grasping via their wondrous understanding of how the worlds are rectified, and [also] the arrangement of the supernal powers that are rectified with each and every commandment. However they were also given permission to worship Him even using other actions and situations beside the commandments. And they could even transgress a specific commandment, not doing per the Torah’s prescribed actions, according to their own perception and grasp that this situation and specific behavior was necessary then to rectify the worlds. (And on this matter refer to the book Sefer Ha-eh-moonote by Rav Sheim Tov, and similarly he cited there in the name of Rabbeinu Chooshiel Gaon (OBM), only that he greatly condensed his account in accordance with the Rishonim’s (OBM) manner in matters of holiness, that they greatly concealed and hid these matters.)
And similarly, they said in Chapter 2 of Yevamot (24b:8): The sages taught, "Converts are not accepted in the days of the Messiah. Similarly, they did not accept converts in the days of King David or in the days of King Solomon." Rabbi Eliezer said, "What is the verse [it is based upon]? Behold, they may gather together [gor yagur], but without Me; whosoever shall gather together [gar] with you shall fall on yours (Isaiah 54:15). He who dwells [gar] with you in your poverty, he is the one who shall fall on yours. But not another." Behold, you see that we do not accept converts when times are good [for the Jews]. For a beginning should not be made from good days. Since a person will certainly serve God, may He be blessed, because of this, when he sees good. Hence, it is necessary for him to have his start before [the good times]. Then he will [merit it to] acquire the world to come even during the good days.
Behold I saw fit to expand a bit in this way in order to resolve the question that Ramban, may his memory be blessed, raised in Parashat Toledot about their midrashic statements (Bereishit Rabbah 95:2) that the forefathers kept all of the Torah. It is, as they, may their memory be blessed, expounded on [the verse]: Inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, etc. (Genesis 26:5). And there Ramban wrote, "And one can ask, 'If so, how did Jacob set up a pillar (Genesis 28:18), and marry sisters; and Amram marry his aunt (Exodus 6:20); and Moses set up twelve pillars (Exodus 24:4)? And how is it possible that they should act [as if what is forbidden] in the Torah is permissible, which Abraham, our father, forbade upon himself; and that God, may He be exalted, [gave] him reward upon the matter — and that is that he commanded his children and his household after him to walk in His ways? And with Jacob, they expounded (Bereshit Rabbah 79:6) that he kept the Shabbat and established boundaries (within which he would be allowed to walk on Shabbat).'" And Ramban answered that "Abraham only kept the Torah in the land [of Israel], and Jacob [accordingly only] married sisters outside the land, and likewise Amram, etc." — as he wrote at length there. But I wonder about this since we do not find that Jacob divorced his wives upon coming to the land. And after Rachel died, he remained with Bilhah and Zilpah, who were also sisters according to the opinion of our rabbis, may their memory be blessed (Bereishit Rabbah 74:13:14).
However according to what we have indeed written about the matter of change in the commandments, everything is resolved. As it is possible that the prohibition of two sisters was not yet a sin at all during the time of the patriarchs, but was rather innovated afterward when the divine wisdom saw that a great catastrophe can come from this, given the jealousy of the children of Leah towards Joseph, the son of Rachel, the sister of their mother. Also [due to] the jealousy Leah and Rachel towards each other. As given that Leah and Rachel were Jacob's main wives, [their children] were jealous towards each other, which was not the case with the children of the maidservants. And that is why it is stated about Joseph: and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and the sons of Zilpah (Genesis 37:2). Behold it was from the angle of Leah and Rachel being sisters, and the jealousy of their children towards each other, that our ancestors went down to Egypt. And that is why [marrying] two sisters was subsequently forbidden. That is the reason for the need for the content of these stories: To make us aware of the reason for one of the commandments. And the Guide [for the Perplexed], Part III, Section 50 wrote something similar to this about the story of These are the kings, etc.. And it is possible that just like the law of sisters was changed, so too was marrying an aunt changed. And that is why Amram was permitted to marry his aunt. And our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded similarly to this concerning the prohibition of a sister, as it is stated about it:it is kindness (Leviticus 20:17). And our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded (Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin 9:1), "What I permitted to Cain and Abel, etc." And that is why these sexual prohibitions were not yet forbidden during the time of the patriarchs until the time of the giving of the Torah when this law was innovated. And Ramban himself, may his memory be blessed, wrote like this concerning pillars, and these are his [words]: And the [prohibition of setting up a] pillar is a commandment that was innovated at a certain time, as they expounded (Sifrei, Deuteronomy 146) about that which is stated: in that the Lord, your God, hated it (Deuteronomy 16:22) — "He hated it, after it was beloved in the time of the forefathers." To here are his [words]. And since it is [the case] here, it is also [the case] there. For one should learn from what is revealed about what is hidden.
The fundamental commandments that are not dependent on place, time, or any other factor are deeply rooted in the heart. They are the precepts, such as the charge that is entrusted to someone who is appointed to fulfill it. Therefore, King David said (Psalms 19:10), "The precepts of the Lord are upright, causing joy to the heart." These commandments were already known and weighed in the minds of the people before the giving of the Torah by the hand of Moses. They are numerous, like the Ten Commandments, except for the observance of the Sabbath, which was altered by Moses. Concerning these commandments, it is said (Genesis 26:5), "Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." If Jacob, our forefather, had known the prohibition of all incestuous relationships, he would not have married two sisters simultaneously. Therefore, it is stated (Leviticus 18:27), "For all these abominations, the people of the land who were before you have done, and the land became defiled." This includes engaging in same-sex relations, which is contrary to the will of God and is abhorred in its entirety. Similarly, engaging in intercourse with other kinds and bestiality are prohibited. Therefore, it is appropriate to interpret (Leviticus 20:17) "The near kinswoman" as referring to a person who has a close familial connection with his sister, who is the daughter of his father and mother. In the same manner, it is said (Exodus 14:30), "And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." Consequently, Abraham said (Genesis 20:12), "Besides, she is truly my sister, my father's daughter, though not my mother's daughter." This serves as evidence that there is no punishment from the court for such cases. If one objects and asks why the prohibition is against the sister and not the brother, one might similarly ask why the distinction is made between a virgin and a non-virgin. However, this is not the proper legal argument to make in these cases.
Now, from where do we know that Avraham repaired and adorned the quality of Kingship-Malchut? From the verse that states, (Genesis 26:5) “Because Avraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My decrees, and My Torahs.” It also is written, (Genesis 21:23) “He planted a Tamarisk-Eshel-אשל in Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.” That is, he began replanting what Adam, the first man, had severed. Where did he plant them? In the Well of Seven-Beer Sheva-באר שבע. About this the verse states, (Genesis 17:22) “God-Elohi”m-אלהי״ם ascended from upon Avraham,” and it states, (Genesis 12:8 and elsewhere.) “And he built an altar there to HaShem-יהו״ה.”
{Elijah} opened and said, 'Faithful Shepherd, the Holy One, blessed be He gave this bride of yours, [ this refers to Malchut/Kingship] to Abraham to bring up for you. And since he kept her she is called his daughter. This is what is meant by the saying that Abraham had a daughter whose name was 'Bakol (Eng. 'in all')'. By her he observed the whole Torah even the Eruv Tavshilin (an action allowing one to cook on holiday for Shabbat). This is the meaning of, "and kept My charge" (Genesis 26:5). And he brought her up, as written, "And he brought up Hadassa" (Esther 2:7). And the Holy One, blessed be He, blessed him for her sake, as it is written, "and Hashem had blessed Abraham in all things (בַּכֹּל)" (Genesis 24:1). He brought her up with every good virtue and was charitable to her. He raised her to greatness, with the quality of kindness (Chesed) of Abraham. His house was, for her sake, wide open to do kindness to all the people of the world.
Chapter 13: Torah [1] After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying (Genesis 15:1). "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright" (Proverbs 2:7). Before the world was created, the Torah was hidden by God until Abraham would come and take it, as it is said: "Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). This teaches that Abraham our father fulfilled all the commandments and all the laws, as it is said: "And My laws" (Genesis 26:5). Rabbi Yonatan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai that even the laws of cooking were upheld by Abraham, as it is said: "Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). Therefore, Solomon said, "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright." Another interpretation: The Holy One, blessed be He said to Abraham, "You are engaged in the study of the Torah, I assure you that I will be your shield. Just as a person holds a shield and even if arrows or stones are thrown at it, the shield receives them, so I will be a shield for you and not only for you, but also for your children if they engage in the study of the Torah. Just as you engage in the study of the Torah, I will be a shield for them, as it is written, 'The word of the Lord is a tested shield to all who take refuge in him' (2 Samuel 22:31). Therefore, it is said, 'He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity' (Proverbs 2:7)."
Chapter 33 Writings: [1] "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord" (Psalm 112:1). This means that in the end, everything will be heard by God: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). How does one ultimately succeed? Nothing is more beloved than one who fears the Almighty, as it is written, "In the end, everything will be heard," etc. In the custom of the world, one person says to his friend, "I am rich and have plenty of wheat, oil, and wine." His friends tell him, "You have everything, where will you put it? If you have no storage, you have nothing." Similarly, one who is rich and wise in knowledge, but does not have fear of sin, has nothing, as it is written, "In the end, everything will be heard," etc. For this reason, David said, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." This refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Now I know that you fear God" (Genesis 22:12). "He delights greatly in His commandments" (Psalm 112:1). This refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). "His descendants will be mighty on earth" (Psalm 112:2). This refers to Isaac, as it is written, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Genesis 21:12). What is written afterwards? "And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great" (Genesis 26:13). "The generation of the upright will be blessed" (Psalm 112:2). And Abraham was old and well-stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Similarly, God blessed Isaac after Abraham's death, as it is written, "And after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). Therefore it is said, "The generation of the upright will be blessed."
Chapter (55) 56: Prophets. [1] The vision of Obadiah (Obadiah 1). May the memory of the righteous be for a blessing. When Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said (Job 4:1), Rabbi Berachiah said, "Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, exact punishment from Esau in a vision? Rather, it was to teach us how God repays both a hater and a lover according to their deeds. When Job was afflicted, Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, was his friend, and Eliphaz was righteous and rebuked Job only in a vision. The verse says, "Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 'If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended? But who can keep from speaking?'" (Job 4:2). It is like a parable of a man who had two wives, one whose dowry was ten thousand and one whose dowry was four thousand. The one whose dowry was four thousand said to him, "Why don't you treat me with the same respect as your other wife?" He said to her, "Your dowry is four thousand, and your friend's dowry is ten thousand." Similarly, Job said, "Why don't you treat me with the same respect as Abraham?" He said to him, "Have you been tested like Abraham?" He who is tested will be afflicted by what is said to him. And only Abraham was tested, as it says, "God tested Abraham" (Genesis 22:1). He said to them, "But I did not bring in four wreaths." "He was whole-hearted and upright, and he feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1:1). They said to him, "Abraham was tested with ten, and he had ten wreaths." He was called Ethan, as it says, "A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite" (Psalms 89:1), and similarly, "The mighty men are foundations of the earth" (Micah 6:2). And why was he called Ethan? Because he strengthened himself to do the will of his Creator. He who believed in God was called Heman, as it says, "And he believed in the Lord" (Genesis 15:6). And why is Eitan called Heman, who strengthened himself to do the will of his Creator, called Heman, because he believed in the Almighty, as it says "And he believed in the Lord" (Genesis 15:6). Abram was originally called Abram, and then the Lord added to his name, and he became Abraham. Why did the Lord add to his name? Because he fulfilled the five books of the Torah even before they were given, as it says "Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). Therefore, he is called Abraham. He is also called "Ayit" (Falcon), as it says "One calls from the east a bird of prey" (Isaiah 46:11), referring to the hen that protects her chicks from the wolves and the ravens. Similarly, Abraham risked his life by being thrown into the furnace for his beliefs. He is called "Tzur" (Rock), as it says "Look to the rock from which you were hewn" (Isaiah 51:1). Just as a rock has no [עיים ruins or eyes], so Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac when commanded to do so. He is called "Nasi" (Prince), as it says "For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones'" (Isaiah 57:15). He is called "Adon" (Lord), as it says "And he said, 'Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham'" (Genesis 24:27). And if you ask why he was called Adon, was it not because he was his servant? Others also called him Adon, as it says "And we said to my lord" (Genesis 44:19), because he made the Almighty Lord over all of His creatures. He is called "Elohim" (God), as it says "The prince of God" (Genesis 23:6). This is because he made known the fear of the Almighty in his world, as it says "You are God-fearing" (Genesis 22:12). He is called "Navi" (Prophet), as he first revealed the power of the Holy Spirit, as it says "And you return the wife of the man, for he is a prophet" (Genesis 20:7). "And he shall be called a God-fearing man, as it is said, 'Now I know that you are a God-fearing man' (Job 22:12), for he was in awe of the Lord and called a lover, as it is said, 'the seed of Abraham, my friend' (Isaiah 41:8). Behold, ten trials were given to correspond to the ten qualities. Eliphaz said to him, 'Do you possess these qualities? If so, then trouble will come upon you. Behold, you have comforted many' (Job 4:3-4). Those who suffer came to you, and you comforted them. The blind one came and said to you, 'God already knows what I am going to do, for He made me blind from my mother's womb.' And you said to him, 'Do not say that.' And you said to him, 'My son, if you built a house and did not want to make windows, who would have forced you?' You are a linchpin of the Almighty, and He did not do this out of hatred, but to praise you in the future, as it is said, 'Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened' (Isaiah 35:5). "So shall Hashem of Hosts be a protecting wall to the remnant of Israel; to them shall they deliver from captivity and return. And the Passover [Haggadah] says, 'Do not say thus, "If I were there, I would have built pillars for myself." Whoever says this, God praises him for the future, as it says, "Then shall leap as a hart the lame" (Zechariah 8:4). And also, the [Haggadah] says, 'The deaf-mute one says to him, "If you were a skilled craftsman and did not want to make ears for your friend, who could compel you?" Thus, God praises you for the World-to-Come, as it says, "And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped" (Isaiah 35:5). You comforted all who were afflicted, "The tottering one will be restored by you" (Job 4:4). And now, when afflictions have befallen you, you are confused, as it says, "Now it shall come upon you and you will be broken" (Job 4:5). "Is not your fear of God your confidence?" (Job 4:6) Because you said, "I am pure and upright," if not for the fact that God acted towards you as one does towards a human being, and brought the Flood, your righteousness would have been before you. Remember now, who being innocent has ever perished?" (Job 4:7). Eliphaz said to Job, "Even if Abraham the righteous had been in your place, he would not have been spared," as it says, "I am the Lord Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans" (Genesis 15:7). "If you are righteous, He will have mercy upon you, for He does not destroy the righteous, as it is said, 'Remember now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?' (Job 4:7-8). When I saw those who plow iniquity (Job 4:8), I envied the wicked who were at ease, who sow mischief and reap calamity. But lo, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi 3:19) He who roars like a lion and the voice of the fierce lion is heard no more (Isaiah 31:4), it was said to him, 'Israel will eventually sin before the Lord who is called a lion, as it is said, 'The lion has roared, who will not fear?' (Amos 3:8). He elevated them to Nebuchadnezzar who was called a lion, as it is said, 'The lion has come up from his thicket' (Jeremiah 4:7), and in the month of Tammuz, whose sign is the lion, he destroyed the Temple, which is called the lion, as it is said, 'Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt' (Isaiah 29:1), and he who rules over Judah is called a lion, as it is said, 'Judah is a lion's whelp' (Genesis 49:9). Here, he explains five names, all of them called a lion. The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, and the two young lions have been silenced. The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. (Job 4:10-11) Elihu said to him, 'It was not I who spoke, but the Spirit of God who dwells in me' (Job 32:8). And how were all of these proven in a vision? As it is said in the visions of the night (Job 4:13), the Lord said to him, 'You have proved My servant Job in a vision; even so I will send a prophet who will prove and punish the house of your father in a vision, as it is said, 'The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard tidings from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!" (Obadiah 1:1) Why should you serve us? Even I will unsheathe My sword and come down upon him, as it is said, 'For My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed to destruction' (Isaiah 34:5).
Mem, nun, tzadi, peh, kaf, the double letters, (These letters are written differently when they appear as the last letter of a word.) were stated by the prophets. Kaf kaf alludes to Abraham: “Lekh lekha” (Genesis 12:1) – he will beget a son at the age of one hundred. (The letter kaf appears twice in lekh lekha. Lamed – 30 + kaf – 20 = 50 x 2 = 100. Mem mem) is for Isaac: “For you have grown much mightier than we [mimenu]” (Genesis 26:16). (The letter mem appears twice in mimenu. An alternative term meaning “than we” could have been employed, but wasn’t.) He alluded to him that he and his descendants would be mighty in two worlds. Nun nun for Jacob: “Deliver me, please [hatzileni na]” (Genesis 32:12); deliver in two worlds. Peh peh to Israel, [when God said] to Moses: “I have remembered you [pakod pakadeti]” (Exodus 3:16). Tzadi tzadi – “Behold a man, Tzemaḥ is his name, [and he will sprout [yitzmaḥ…]” (Zechariah 6:12). And it says: “I will establish for David a righteous offshoot [tzemaḥ tzadik] and he will reign as king and succeed, and he will perform justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5). “A leader of fifty” (Isaiah 3:3) – twenty-four books; add to them eleven of the twelve minor prophets, excluding Jonah, which stands alone, six orders of Mishna, and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim (The Torat Kohanim is a midrash halakha on Leviticus. At the time that this midrash was written, the Torat Kohanim was apparently divided into nine large chapters.) – that is fifty. “They are sixty queens” (Song of Songs 6:8) – sixty tractates; “and eighty concubines” (Song of Songs 6:8) – eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem, corresponding to its entrances; “and young women without number” (Song of Songs 6:8) – external Mishna. (Tannaitic statements which were not incorporated into the Mishna.) “Behold the bed of Solomon: There are sixty valiant men around it” (Song of Songs 3:7) – sixty letters of the Priestly Benediction. (Numbers 6:24–26.) “Three hundred and eighteen” (Genesis 14:14) – it is Eliezer. (The number of members of his household whom Abraham took to recover Lot corresponds to the numerical value of Eliezer: alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + yod –10 + ayin – 70 + zayin – 7 + reish – 200 = 318.) “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice, and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5) – at the age of three he recognized Him. (Abraham heeded God’s voice for ‘ekev’ years: ayin – 70 + kof – 100 + beit – 2 = 172. He lived a total of one hundred and seventy-five years. He recognized God at age three.) HaSatan – three hundred and sixty-four, (Heh – 5 + sin – 300 + tet – 9 + nun – 50 = 364.) the number of days in the solar year that he [the Satan] has license to inform on all of them, excepting Yom Kippur. Rav Ami said in the school of Rabbi Abba: Abraham, as long as he was not circumcised and had not begot a son, was lacking a heh. The heh was added, he became whole, and he begot a son at the sum of his letters. (Alef – 1 + beit – 2 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 + mem – 40 = 248, the number of limbs in a person’s body.) “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4) – this is Sarah. Sarai was her name; two amora’im have a dispute regarding this: One said: The yod was split in two, heh for Abraham and heh for Sarah. (Yod is ten and heh is five.) And one said: The yod that was taken from Sarah objected, until Joshua [Yehoshua] came and Moses added a yod (Yehoshua's name, originally, was Hoshea.) – may the Lord rescue you [Ya yoshiakha] from the counsel of the spies. (Yehoshua is a portmanteau of ya yoshiakha.) The yod of Isaac [Yitzḥak] corresponds to the ten ordeals; tzadi,to the ninety years of age that Sarah was when he was born; ḥet, to the eight days [of age] at which he was circumcised; kof, Abraham was one hundred years of age. (When Isaac was born.) Jacob [Yaakov] was named for himself. Yod corresponds to the tenth. Calculate from Benjamin until Levi; (Counting backwards from Benjamin, Levi is the tenth.) he is the tenth. Ayin – “with seventy people” (Deuteronomy 10:22); (This is the number of people with whom Jacob descended to Egypt. kof) – corresponding to the letters in the blessing of: “May God give you” (Genesis 27:28). Beit remains. It is corresponding to the two angels that ascended. (When Jacob left Canaan to go to Aram.) The tablets contained six hundred and thirteen mizvot, corresponding to the letters from “I am” (Exodus 20:2) until “that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:14), no more and no fewer. All of them were given to Moses at Sinai, among them statutes, ordinances, Torah, Mishna, Talmud, and aggada. “Fear of the Lord, that is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). Among all the attributes, there are none greater than fear and humility (Since humility is not mentioned elsewhere in this portion of the midrash, Matnot Kehuna and Etz Yosef write that it should be erased.) – “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The numerical value of yirat is six hundred and eleven, (Yod – 10 + reish – 200 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 611.) and of Torah is six hundred and eleven. (Tav – 400 + vav – 6 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 = 611.) Add fear and Torah to them; (When a gematria is used, sometimes the word or words being discussed are used to add 1 to the gematria. Thus, 611 + Torah + yirat = 613.) the result is six hundred and thirteen. Tzitzit – the Rabbis taught: Eight strings that are drawn and five knots, two above (Adjacent to the corner of the garment.) and three below, that is six hundred and thirteen. (Tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tav – 400 = 600 + 8 strings + 5 knots = 613.) The days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years; Isaac, one hundred and eighty years; Jacob, one hundred and forty-seven years. When you add them together, the result is five hundred and two years. That is, likewise, the distance between the heavens and earth: “Like the days of the heavens over the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21). (The preceding phrase is: “regarding which the Lord has taken an oath to your forefathers.” And "the days of the heavens over the earth" is interpreted as the time that it would take to walk from the earth to the heavens.) “[These are David’s last words: The utterance of David son of Yishai, and the utterance of the man] raised on high [al]” (II Samuel 23:1) – this corresponds to one hundred blessings. (The numerical value of al is 100: Ayin – 70 + lamed – 30 = 100.) Each day one hundred men of Israel would die. David came and instituted for them one hundred blessings. Once he instituted them, the plague was halted. Al – the yoke [ol] (Both al and ol are written with an ayin and lamed.) of Torah and the yoke of suffering. “Forgive all iniquity, and accept good [tov], and instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips” (Hosea 14:3). Israel said: ‘Master of the universe, when the Temple was extant, we would sacrifice an offering and gain atonement; now, we have nothing in our hand other than prayer.’ The numerical value of tov is seventeen; prayer contains nineteen blessings? (The Amida.) Exclude from there the blessing of the heretics, (This refers to the twelfth blessing in the Amida.) that they instituted it in Yavne, and “the offshoot of David” (This refers to the fifteenth blessing of the Amida.) that they instituted after him because of: “Examine me, Lord, and test me” (Psalms 26:2). (See Sanhedrin 107a, where David fails the test of Bathsheba.) Rabbi Simon says: On the basis of a numerical cypher, “and accept good [tov]” equals the value of nefesh [person]. (With the atbash cypher, the distance of a letter from the beginning of the alphabet is measured, and it is replaced bythe letter that is the same distance from the end of the alphabet. Tet – nun; vav – peh; beit – shin: tov becomes nefesh.) Israel said: ‘When the Temple was extant, we would burn fats and the other portions on the altar and gain atonement. Now, here are our fats, our blood, and our souls. May it be Your will that they will serve as atonement on our behalf’ – “instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips.” “The Lord granted her pregnancy [herayon]” (Ruth 4:13). Its numerical value is two hundred and seventy-one. (This is the number of days in nine full months, plus the first day of the tenth month.) The measure of water in a ritual bath is forty se’a, which corresponds to the number of times that the water of a well [be’er] is written in the Torah. How many egg bulks are in a ritual bath? There are five thousand seven hundred and sixty. Each and every se’a is one hundred and forty-four egg-bulks. Ḥalla is forty-three and one-fifth egg-bulks. From where is it derived that one requires forty se’a for a ritual bath? “The water of Shilo’aḥ that flows slowly [le’at]” (Isaiah 8:6), whose numerical value is forty. One who is separating ḥalla must, by Torah law, separate one from forty-three and one-fifth [egg-bulks], in accordance with the numerical value of ḥalla. (Ḥet – 8 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 43.) The primary categories of labor are forty less one, as it is written: “These are the matters [eleh hadevarim]…” (Exodus 35:1). (The following verse begins: “Six days labor shall be performed…” Eleh) – thirty-six, (Alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 36. devarim) – two, (Devarim (matters) is written in the plural. The minimum plural possible is two. hadevarim) –three; (Deriving an additional one from the heh prefix.) that is forty less one. “Forty he shall flog him, he shall not add” (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponding to the forty curses that the serpent, Eve, Adam, and the ground were cursed. The Sages deducted one due to “he shall not add.” Those who recommended acquittal would have a majority of one, and thus the iniquities are fewer. (Iniquities can refers to people who the court puts to death by mistake. According to that explanation, the midrash here explains that in order to prevent the iniquity of mistakenly killing somebody, for acquittal a majority of one is sufficient, but a majority of two is required for a guilty verdict.) It is preferable when convicting that at least a majority of two will prevail, rather than one. “Sheshakh” (Jeremiah 25:26, 51:41) is Babylon [Bavel] in the atbash cypher. “[Son of] Tave’al” (Isaiah 7:6) according to the albam (Alef becomes lamed. The alphabet is divided in two in the middle, with eleven letters in each group. The first letter in the first group – aleph – is replaced by the first letter in the second group – lamed. The second letter – bet – is replaced by mem, etc.) cypher is Remala. (The son of Tave’al, mentioned in the verse, is a reference to Pekaḥ ben Remalyahu, king of Israel.) “With this [bezot] shall Aaron enter the Sanctum: with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering” (Leviticus 16:3), bezot is an allusion to the first Temple, that would stand four hundred and ten years. (Beit – 2 + zayin – 7 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 410.)
“Because Abraham heeded My voice, and observed My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My Torahs” (Genesis 26:5). “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Ḥanina, both of them say: Abraham was forty-eight years old when he acknowledged his Creator. Reish Lakish said: Abraham was three years old when he acknowledged his Creator, the numerical value of ekev, (Ayin – 70 + kof – 100 + bet – 2 = 172. Abraham died at age one hundred and seventy-five, which means that he heeded God’s voice for one hundred and seventy-two years – from age three.) Abraham heeded the voice of his Creator. “And observed My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My Torahs” – Rabbi Yonatan said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Abraham knew even the laws of Eiruv Hatzerot. (If there are several houses which open to a joint courtyard which is fenced in, an Eiruv Hatzerot is required to allow moving objects from the houses to the courtyard. See Rambam Hilkhot Eiruvin 1:1–7.) “My Torahs” – two Torahs; he fulfilled even minor mitzvot of the Oral Law. Rabbi Simon said: Abraham knew even the new name that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to call Jerusalem, as it is written: “Abraham called the name of that place The Lord will see” (Genesis 22:14), and it is written: “The name of the city from that day shall be: The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35); and it is written: On that day (The language of the verse is: “At that time” despite the fact that the midrash cites it as “on that day.”) “they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:17). Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda: There is no day that the Holy One blessed be He does not introduce a new halakha in the supernal court. What is the source? “Hear the fury of His voice, the sound [vehegeh] that emerges from His mouth” (Job 37:2) – and hegeh means nothing other than Torah, like the matter that is stated: “You shall ponder [vehagita] it day and night” (Joshua 1:8).
Another matter, “he sent Judah before him.” Rabbi Ḥanina son of Rabbi Aḥa, and Rabbi Ḥanina, one said: To arrange a residence for him. And one said: To arrange an academy in which he would teach Torah matters and in which the tribes would study. Know that it is so; when Joseph departed from him, he knew at which chapter that he was teaching him he left him. When Joseph’s brothers came to him and said to him: “Joseph is still alive… his heart was faint [because he did not believe them]” (Genesis 45:26). He remembered at which chapter he left him, and said to himself: I know that it was at the chapter of the beheaded calf [egla arufa] that Joseph left me. He said to them: ‘If you know at what chapter Joseph left me, I will believe you.’ Joseph, too, knew at what chapter he left him. What did Joseph do? He gave them wagons [agalot], as it is stated: “Joseph gave them wagons by Pharaoh’s order” (Genesis 45:21). This is to teach you that everywhere Jacob would settle he would study Torah, just as his fathers would. At this point, the Torah had not been given, but it is written of Abraham: “[Because Abraham heeded My voice,] and he kept My charge, [My commands, My decrees, and My Torahs]” (Genesis 26:5) – from where did Abraham learn the Torah? Rabban Shimon says: His two kidneys became like two jugs of water and they would gush Torah. From where is it derived that it is so? As it is stated: “Even on nights [my kidneys] instruct me” (Psalms 16:7). Rabbi Levi said: He studied Torah on his own, as it is stated: “The dissembler in his heart shall have his fill from his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied from himself” (Proverbs 14:14). Rabbi Yonatan Sar HaBira said: Abraham knew even the joining of cooked foods, as it is stated: “Because Abraham heeded…” (Genesis 26:5). (The end of the verse mentions “My Torahs,” in plural, implying both the written and oral Torahs. The oral Torah includes even rabbinic laws, like the joining of cooked foods [eruv tavshilin]. The rabbis forbade cooking on a festival day for Shabbat unless one prepares two cooked items for Shabbat before the festival day (see Beitza 15b).) How old was Abraham when he recognized his Creator? He recognized his Creator at the age of forty-eight years old. Reish Lakish said: At the age of three years old, as “ekev” is written, the numerical value of ekev, and Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years. (The verse states “because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice…” The numerical value of the word ekev is one hundred and seventy-two, implying that Abraham heeded God’s voice for one hundred and seventy-two years. ) You learn from this that at age three, he recognized his Creator. He would observe the details of the Torah and would teach his children, as it is stated: “For I have loved him, [so that he will command his children and his household after him and they will observe the way of the Lord]” (Genesis 18:19). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You taught your children in this world, but in the World to Come, I, in My glory, will teach all of you the Torah,’ as it is stated: “All your children will be students of the Lord” (Isaiah 54:13).
“Was [haya] [a Judean man in the Shushan citadel]….” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Everyone about whom “haya” is stated, it is he at the beginning and it is he at the end. ( He was righteous from beginning to end.) They objected to him; but isn’t it written: “One was [haya] Abraham” (Ezekiel 33:24)? ( Abraham began his life as an idolater; he wasn’t the same at the beginning and the end.) He said to them: That is not, in fact, a refutation, as Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At age three Abraham identified his Creator. That is what is written: “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice” (Genesis 26:5). The number of years that Abraham heeded the voice of his Creator is the equivalent of ekev (172), (Ayin – 70, kof –100, beit – 2) and he lived one hundred and seventy-five years. [If one does not accept this explanation,] how do I find expression for haya about him? It means that he was fated from the beginning to guide the entire world to repent. (Although Abraham was not a believer in God his whole life, he had the potential from the beginning.) “[The Lord God said:] Behold, the man has become [haya] [like one of us, knowing good and evil]” (Genesis 3:22) – he became fated to die. “The serpent was [haya] more cunning” (Genesis 3:1) – he was fated for punishment. “Cain was [haya] a cultivator of the ground” (Genesis 4:2) – he was fated for exile, as you say: “Cain departed from the presence of the Lord” (Genesis 4:16); saying that he would be “restless and wandering” (Genesis 4:12). “There was [haya] a man in the land of Utz” (Job 1:1) – he was fated for suffering. “Noah, a righteous man, was [haya] faultless” (Genesis 6:9) – he was fated to acknowledge his Creator. “Moses was [haya] herding (Exodus 3:1) – he was fated for salvation. Mordekhai was fated for redemption. Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis: Rabbi Levi said: Anyone about whom haya is stated witnessed a new world. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: They are five. Noah – yesterday “Water eroded stone” (Job 14:19), as Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Even millstones were dissolved during the flood, and now [after the flood] it says: “The sons of Noah who emerged from the ark…” (Genesis 9:18), (Immediately following this verse, the Torah relates how the earth was repopulated by Noah’s sons while Noah was alive.) indicating that he witnessed a new world. Joseph – yesterday “they tortured [his feet] with chains” (Psalms 105:18), and now “And Joseph was [haya] was the ruler over the land” (Genesis 42:6); that is, he witnessed a new world. Moses – yesterday he was fleeing from Pharaoh and now he is drowning him in the sea; that is, he witnessed a new world. Job – yesterday “He spills my bile onto the ground” (Job 16:13), and now “and the Lord gave Job double what he had had” (Job 42:10); that is, he witnessed a new world. Mordekhai – yesterday “he wore sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:1), and now “he emerged from before the king in royal garments” (Esther 8:15). “And his name was Mordekhai” (Esther 2:5). Just as myrrh [mor] is first of all the spices, (It is first on the list of ingredients of the sacred oil of anointment (Exodus 30:23).) so was Mordekhai first among the righteous in his generation.
(Lev. 25:14:) AND WHEN YOU MAKE A SALE TO YOUR NEIGHBOR, [OR BUY FROM YOUR NEIGHBOR'S HAND,] LET NONE OF YOU DECEIVE HIS FELLOW. Thus you shall not deceive one another, for I also have sold. When? When Abraham observed the commandments of the Holy One. Before the Torah was given, our father Abraham kept it [and observed all the commandments that are in the Torah. R. Samuel bar Nahman said in the name of R. Alexandra: Abraham even observed the eruvim of cooked foods. (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 3:1, and the notes there.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ('QB 'ShR) ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE AND KEPT MY CHARGE: < MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY TORAHS >. What is the meaning of 'QB? (Gen. R. 95:3; Cant. R. 5:16:1; PR 21:12; cf. Ned. 32a.) R. Simeon ben Laqish said: At the age of three years Abraham recognized the Holy One. (So also Numb. R. 18:21. According to other traditions Abraham recognized his creator at the age of forty-eight (Gen. R. 30:8; 46:2; Cant. R. 5:16:1), at the age of fifty (PR 21:12), or at the age of one (Gen. R. 95:3).) 'QB is a number. ' (i.e., 'ayin) is seventy, Q (i.e., Qof) is one hundred, < and > B (i.e., bet) is two, for a total of one hundred seventy-two. Now (according to Gen. 25:7) Abraham lived one hundred seventy-five < years >. Deduct from them. < The result is > three, when he was little. Ergo: At the age of three years Abraham recognized the Holy One.] When the Holy One saw how Abraham loved the commandments, he began buying heavenly and earthly < places > for him, as stated (in Gen. 14:19): BLESSED BE ABRAM OF GOD MOST HIGH, [BUYER (Qoneh. A more traditional rendering of this word here would be MAKER.) OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. So also it says (Gen. 13:15): FOR ALL THE LAND WHICH YOU SEE, TO YOU I WILL GIVE IT.] The Holy One said: All the world is wholly mine; and I bought it for Abraham, because he has observed my commandments. But you [through your sins] have cause me to be [like] an alien who rents a house from its owners, for so Jeremiah has said (in Jer. 14:8): WHY ARE YOU LIKE A FOREIGNER IN THE LAND? When you sinned before me, I sold you, as stated (in Ps. 44:13 [12]): YOU SHALL SELL YOUR PEOPLE FOR NO MONEY…. For that reason, if someone has to sell a house, a field, or < some > article, you shall not deceive one another. It is therefore written (in Lev. 25:14): LET NONE OF YOU DECEIVE HIS FELLOW. (Ibid., vs. 17) AND LET NO ONE DECEIVE HIS NEIGHBOR.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 15:1): AFTER THESE THINGS. This text is related (to Prov. 2:7): HE RESERVES UNDERSTANDING FOR THE UPRIGHT. (Tanh.,Gen. 3:11.) [What is the meaning of HE RESERVES UNDERSTANDING FOR THE UPRIGHT?] Before the world was created, the Holy One reserved the Law for Abraham, as stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE < AND KEPT MY CHARGE: MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY TORAHS >. < This > teaches that Abraham kept all the commandments and all the Torahs. R. Samuel bar Nahmani said: R. Jonathan said: Our father Abraham also maintained the 'eruvim of cooked foods. (Thus the use of torah in the plural indicates that Abraham knew even the oral Torah. See above, 3:1; below, 11:12. For a full description of the ‘eruvim of cooked foods, see Maimonides, Yad, Yom Tov 6:1-3.) Thus it is stated (ibid.): BECAUSE ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE. For that reason, Solomon stated (in Prov. 2:7): HE RESERVES UNDERSTANDING FOR THE UPRIGHT, [A SHIELD FOR THOSE WHO LIVE BLAMELESSLY]. The Holy One said to Abraham: You have been occupied with my Law. By your life, I am a shield for you, as stated (in Gen. 15:1): FEAR NOT, ABRAM! [I AM A SHIELD FOR YOU]. Just as, when one grasps the shield, even if darts and stones are thrown at him, he is not afraid; [so I am doing for you], as stated (in Gen. 15:1): I AM A SHIELD FOR YOU; YOUR REWARD SHALL BE VERY GREAT—not for you alone, but also for your children, if they are occupied with my Law just as you have been occupied. Thus it is stated (in Prov. 30:5): [EVERY] UTTERANCE OF GOD IS PURE, A SHIELD FOR {ALL} WHO TAKE REFUGE IN HIM. It is therefore stated (in Prov. 2:7): HE RESERVES UNDERSTANDING FOR THE UPRIGHT, [A SHIELD FOR THOSE WHO LIVE BLAMELESSLY].
(Gen. 12:1:) NOW THE LORD SAID UNTO ABRAM: GO…. {Let our masters teach} [Let our master instruct us]: What does it mean for one to take upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven (i.e., recite the Shema' while he is walking? (yBer. 2:1 (4a); cf. Ber. 13b; Tanh., Gen. 3:1.) Rav Idi and Rav Huna in the name of R. Jose bar Judah said in the name of R. Samuel: (Since R. Jose bar Judah flourished somewhat earlier than R. Samuel, the text here presents a chronological problem. Variant readings to this text represent attempts at a solution.) It is forbidden for a person to take upon oneself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven while he is walking. Rather let him stand < still > upon his feet and give the recitation of the Shema'. Then, when he arrives at "Blessed be the name of his glorious majesty forever and ever," let him immediately begin to walk < while > reciting the We'ahavta (= Deut. 6:5) with no fear (of sinning). You find that whoever is meticulous about the commandments receives much reward. Now Abraham was meticulous about the commandments. (On Abraham keeping the Mosaic Law, see Syriac Baruch 57:1-2; cf. Jubilees 23:10; Damascus Document (CD) 3:2; Qid. 4:14; Yoma 28b; Ned. 32a (bar.); Gen. R. 49:2; 95:3; also below, 3:14.) R. Aha said in the name of R. Alexandri and R. Samuel bar Nahmani in the name of R. Jonathan: They even kept eruvim of cooked foods in Abraham's house, (Yoma 28b; Gen. R. 49:2; 64:4; M. Pss. 1:13.) as stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE [AND KEPT MY CHARGE: MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY TORAHS]. But is there not a single Torah? < The plural usage here > simply < indicates > that he was meticulous with all commandments which are in < oral and written > Torah. (See below, 3:14; 11:12.) The Holy One said: You are meticulous with my commandments; so should you dwell with those who serve idols? Go out from among them. {Thus it is stated} [Where is it shown? Where they read on the matter] (in Gen. 12:1): NOW THE LORD SAID UNTO ABRAM: GO.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 12:1): GO (LK LK). The Holy One said to him: I sought (rt.: ShHR) you (LK) early. Thus R. Joshua ben Qorhah said: David said (in Ps. 110:3): YOUR PEOPLE ('MK) OFFER THEMSELVES WILLINGLY IN THE DAY OF YOUR WARFARE (rt.: HYL)… < FROM THE WOMB OF THE DAWN (rt.: SHHR). > YOURS (LK) IS THE DEW OF YOUR YOUTH. (Cf. Gen. R. 39:8.) The Holy One said to him: I was with you ('MK) on the day that you armed your forces (rt.: HYL). What is the meaning of THE DEW OF YOUR YOUTH? R. Aha said: R. Hanina said: At the age of three years Abraham recognized his Creator. (See Gen. R. 30:8; 46:2; 64:8; 95:3; Cant. R. 5:16:1; PR 21:12; below, 5:6.) Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ('QB) ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE. By gematria (Gk.: geometria or grammateis. Gematria is an exegetical method in which an interpretation is reached from the sum of the numerical value of the letters in a word.) 'QB = 172 < years >, and all the days of Abraham are 175 < years >. Hence (By understanding Gen. 26:5 to mean: 172 YEARS ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE.) you learn that at the age of three years Abraham knew his Creator. The Holy One said to him: I am making all the evil deeds which you did in those three years like this dew. Ergo (in Ps. 110:3): THE DEW OF YOUR YOUTH.
(Gen. 25:19:) THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISAAC BEN ABRAHAM. (Except for most of the last section (# 24), Toledot is not found in Buber’s Oxford MS. Buber has filled in the gap mostly from Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34.) This text is related (to Prov. 17:6): GRANDCHILDREN ARE A CROWN FOR ELDERS, AND THE GLORY OF CHILDREN IS THEIR PARENTS. (Cf. Gen. R. 63:2; Tanh., Gen. 6:4.) Who caused Abraham to be magnified? Jacob, as stated (in Is. 29:22): THUS SAYS THE LORD UNTO THE HOUSE OF JACOB, WHICH REDEEMED ABRAHAM. Why? Because, if one is meritorious as a Torah scholar together with his son and his grandson, it will never again be cut off from him. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 4:9f.): AND MAKE THEM (the statutes and ordinances) KNOWN TO YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN AS ON THE DAY THAT YOU STOOD < BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD AT HOREB >. Just as the gift of < the > Torah did not become cease on the day it was given; so for one who teaches his son and his grandson Torah, it shall never again depart from him. And so it was when the Holy One saw Abraham was busy with the Torah. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE < AND KEPT MY CHARGE: MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY LAWS >. It is also written (above, in 18:19): FOR I HAVE KNOWN HIM. Then Jacob arose up and did not move from the Torah, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): BUT JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN WHO SAT IN THE TENTS (i.e., in the academies). (For this interpretation, see Gen. R. 63:10; Targum Onqelos, Gen. 25:27; PRK 5:7.) What stipulation did the Holy One make with them? (According to Josh. 1:8:) < THIS > BOOK OF THE LAW SHALL NOT DEPART < FROM YOUR MOUTH >…. It is also written (in Prov. 10:1): A WISE SON SHALL MAKE A FATHER GLAD. This is Isaac, since it is stated (in Gen. 21:12): FOR IN ISAAC SHALL YOUR SEED BE NAMED. (Prov. 10:1, cont.:) BUT A FOOLISH SON. This is Ishmael. Thus it is written (in Gen. 25:12): NOW THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISHMAEL BEN ABRAHAM. There are children who suffer disgrace through their parents. Josiah suffered disgrace through his father, as stated (in II Chron. 33:23): FOR AMON INCURRED A LOT OF GUILT. Hezekiah suffered disgrace through < his father > Ahaz, as stated (in Is. 8:16): BIND UP THE TESTIMONY. (According to Gen. R. 42:3; Lev. R. 11:7; Ruth R., proem 7; and Esther R., proem 11, this verse alludes to Ahaz, who had seized (ahaz) the synagogues and the academies.) There are also parents who suffer disgrace through their children. Eli suffered disgrace through his sons, [as stated (in I Sam. 2:12): NOW ELI'S SONS WERE SCOUNDRELS. And Samuel also suffered disgrace through his sons], as stated (in I Sam. 8:3): BUT HIS SONS DID NOT WALK IN HIS WAYS. It did not, however, turn out in this way for Abraham. Instead he was magnified through Isaac, as stated (in Gen. 25:19, cont.): ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC. Did he sire no one but Isaac? Now look, it is written {(in Gen. 25:19): THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF ISHMAEL.} [(in Gen. 16:15): SO HAGAR BORE A SON TO ABRAM.] And in addition < there are > the sons of Keturah: Zimran and Jokshan, < etc. > (cf. Gen. 25:2). But it does not say that Abraham sired anyone but Isaac, simply because Isaac was righteous. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 25:19): ABRAHAM SIRED ISAAC.
(Gen. 46:28:) NOW HE HAD SENT JUDAH AHEAD OF HIM UNTO JOSEPH TO TEACH BEFORE HIM. (This interpretation is assumed in the midrash.) What is the meaning of < TO TEACH BEFORE HIM >? R. Nehemiah said: To establish an academy for him where he would teach Torah so that the tribes might study Torah. (Gen. R. 95:3; Tanh., Gen. 11:11; also Gen. R. 94:3.) You know that this is so; < for >, when Joseph had left him, Jacob knew at what chapter he had left him because he had taught him. When Joseph's brothers came and said to him (in Gen. 44:26): JOSEPH IS STILL ALIVE < … > HIS HEART GREW FAINT, because he did not believe it, as stated (ibid.): FOR HE DID NOT BELIEVE THEM. Jacob recalled at what chapter Joseph had left him. He said to them: Did he give you a sign (Gk.: semeion.) < indicating > at what chapter Joseph left me? Jacob said in his heart: I know that he left me at the chapter on the heifer ('GLH, i.e., Deut. 21:1-9). He said to them: Say at what chapter he left me, and I will believe you. Joseph also recalled at what chapter he had left him. What did Joseph do? He gave them wagons ('GLH in the singular), as stated (in Gen. 45:21): SO JOSEPH GAVE THEM WAGONS. < This verse is > to teach you that in every place that he went he was busy at Torah, just as his ancestors had been, even though the Torah had not yet been given. Ergo, it is written of Abraham (in Gen. 26:5): AND HE KEPT MY CHARGE: MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, AND MY TORAHS. From where did Abraham learn the Torah? R. Simeon ben Johay says: < His > two kidneys became like two full vessels which spouted forth Torah. And where is it shown? Where it says so (in Ps. 16:17): EVEN IN THE NIGHTS MY KIDNEYS ADMONISH ME. R. Samuel bar Nahman said in the name of R. Jonathan ben Eleazar Ish haBirah: Our father Abraham even knew the eruvim of cooked foods. (See above, 3:14; also 3:1.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:5): BECAUSE ('QB 'ShR) ABRAHAM HEEDED MY VOICE, < AND KEPT MY CHARGE >…. Now at the age of three Abraham recognized his Creator, as stated (through the first word of this verse): 'QB (with a numerical value of 172). Since all the days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five, from here (Gen. 26:5) you learn (by simple subtraction) that at the age of three he had recognized him and that he was even keeping the fine points of Torah. He also taught his children, as stated (in Gen. 18:19): FOR I HAVE CHOSEN HIM SO THAT HE MAY CHARGE < HIS CHILDREN AND HIS HOUSEHOLD AFTER HIM TO KEEP THE WAY OF THE LORD, TO PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE >…. The Holy One said to him: You have taught your children Torah in this world, but in the world to come I in my glory will teach them the Torah, as stated (in Is. 54:13): AND ALL YOUR CHILDREN SHALL BE TAUGHT BY THE LORD, AND GREAT SHALL BE YOUR CHILDREN'S PROSPERITY.
(Lev. 25:14:) “When you sell property to your kinsman.” This text is related (to Prov. 28:22), “An evil-eyed person moves quickly after wealth, [and he does not know that loss will come to him].” This verse speaks about many people. “An evil-eyed person moves quickly after wealth.” This was Cain. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “You moved quickly to inherit the world. By your life, you shall have a loss [in the matter].” Ergo (in Prov. 28:22), “and he does not know that loss will come to him.” And what happened to him? That he wandered about the world, as stated (in Gen. 4:12), “you shall become a ceaseless wanderer on the earth.” Another interpretation (of Prov. 28:22), “An evil-eyed person moves quickly after wealth”: This was Ephron the Hittite. (See Tanh. (Buber), Exod. 6:5; and the parallels listed there; and Tanh. (Buber), Deut. 4:4.) When Abraham's wife Sarah died, Abraham went to Ephron for him to sell him the cave. Ephron said to him, “Give me its price.” He said to him (in Gen. 23:15), “What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between you and me?” Abraham began piling up the silver for Ephron, as stated (in Gen. 23:16), “So Abraham heeded Ephron, and Abraham weighed out […].” Ben Ma'ma said, “Although R. Hanina has said, ‘All the shekels in the Torah are sela'im,’ these [shekels] are an exception, since they are centenaria. (The word is Latin. One centenarium was worth 100,000 sesterces. According to a fourth-century inscription of northern Africa, a centenarium was a hundred pieces (e.g., of gold). See A. Souter, A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 A.D. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1957).) [So it was] four hundred centenaria [that] Abraham piled up before Ephron.” When Ephron saw the silver, he moved quickly and hastily, as stated (in Gen. 23:6), “bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You have moved quickly after money. By your life, you shall have a loss in the matter.” And what was his loss? R. Judah bar Shallum the Levite said, “Every [mention of] Ephron which is written here [in Scripture], before he took the silver from Abraham, is written plene as 'prwn (i.e., with the vowel o represented by the Hebrew consonant w); but this [usage] (in Gen. 23:16) is deficient (hsr), ‘and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron ('prn). It is written with the w missing (hsr).” Another interpretation (of Prov. 28:22), “An evil-eyed person moves quickly after wealth”: This is the one who lends at interest, because he is anxious to become wealthy. He lends in order to receive interest from the borrower and becomes wealthy from the interest. But a curse is given through his riches, as stated (ibid., cont.), “and he does not know that loss will come to him.” Another interpretation (of Prov. 28:22), “An evil-eyed person moves quickly after wealth”: This represents those who engage in business in the sabbatical year, in that they move quickly to become rich. They do not observe the sabbatical year, and think they will become rich. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “By your life, you shall have a loss in the matter.” Since he did not observe the sabbatical year, the curse began entering into his money, and he sells [all that he had]. What is written above the matter (in Lev. 25:2), “the land shall observe a Sabbath for the Lord.” And after that it is written (in vs. 14), “When you sell property.” R. Eleazar Haqappar said, “It is written (in Cant. 5:15), ‘His legs are pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold.’ This column has a capital above and a pedestal (Gk.: basis.) below.” (See Lev. R. 25:8.) R. Samuel ben Guriah said, “You have no section in the Torah which does not have a capital above and a pedestal below. (The parallel in Lev. R. 25:8 explains that each section can be expounded with reference to what precedes and follows it.) What is written above of the matter (in Lev. 25:1-2)? ‘Then the Lord spoke unto Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak unto the Children of Israel [….] ‘the land shall observe [a Sabbath for the Lord].’”’ Then after that [comes] the section on the jubilee (in vs. 8), ‘And you shall count seven [Sabbaths of years].’ If one has not observed the sabbatical year and the jubilee, or [even] one of them, in the end, I will make it that he will sell his land, [as stated] (in vs. 14), ‘When you sell property to your kinsman.’ (T’Arakh. 5:9; below, 9:8.) [If] he repents, [all] is well; but if not, he will end up selling his field, as stated (in vs. 25), ‘When your relative becomes poor and sells some of his property.’ [If] he repents, that is preferable; but if not, he will end up selling his house, as stated (in vs. 29), ‘And when someone sells a dwelling house.’ [If] he repents, that is preferable; but if not, he will end up going around [begging] at doorways, as stated (in vs. 35), ‘And when your relative becomes poor [… you shall maintain him as a foreigner and sojourner and let him live near you].’ [If] he repents, that is preferable; but if not, he will end up being sold to you, as stated (in vs. 39), ‘And when your relative becomes poor] near you and is sold to you.’ [If] he repents, that is preferable; but if not, he will end up being sold to the gentiles, as stated (in vs. 47), ‘And when a foreigner and a sojourner near you becomes wealthy, [while your relative near him becomes poor and is sold to a sojourning foreigner near you….].’ Now it is not merely the individual himself [at issue here], but that person and all Israel; for so you find in the days of Jeremiah, because they profaned the sabbatical year, they were sold to the gentiles, as stated (in II Chron. 36:17-18), ‘So He brought up the king of the Chaldeans upon them [….] And all the vessels of the house of God […] and the treasures of the house of the Lord […].’ Behold the case of [all] Israel.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “See how they will be sold to the gentiles because they profaned the sabbatical year.” He said to him, “Master of the world, did You not say this (in Lev. 25:35), ‘And when your relative becomes poor, and his strength fails near you, [you shall maintain him as a foreigner and sojourner and let him live near you]?’ Fulfill what You said to them and called them, ‘My relatives (ah) and friends,’ as stated (in Ps. 122:8), ‘For the sake of My relatives (ah) and friends’: (Lev. 25:35:) ‘And when your relative becomes poor, and his strength fails near you,’ [i.e.,] when their strength fails before Nebuchadnezzar, the Divine Presence, as it were, will be with them. It is so stated (in Is. 43:14), ‘for your sake I have sent to Babylon.’ (Lev. 25:35, cont.:) ‘You shall maintain (literally, hold on to) him.’ Hold them (i.e., Israel), lest they perish. But how? (Lev. 25:35, cont.:) ‘As a foreigner and sojourner and let him live near you.’ Although they became foreigners and sojourners in Babylon, if You do not give them grace, they will perish, [so just] ‘let him live near You.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Because of their sins I have sold My house to the Chaldeans.” It is so stated (in Lev. 25:29), “And when someone sells a dwelling house.” This is the house of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Ps. 132:13), “For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for His dwelling.” And what happened [to it]? (II Kings 25:9 = Jer. 52:13:) And he burned the house of the Lord [...].” (Lev. 25:29, cont.:) “A walled city.” This is the city of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated] (in II Chron. 36:19), “and they broke down the wall of Jerusalem […].” That is what the Holy One, blessed be He, says (in Lev. 25:47), “And when a foreigner and a sojourner [near you] becomes wealthy.” This wealthy foreigner is Nebuchadnezzar, and this sojourner is the Median Empire. (Ibid., cont.:) “And is sold to a sojourning foreigner.” This [sojourning foreigner] is the Greek Empire. (Ibid., cont.:) “Or to a foreigner's family.” This is the Edomite Empire (i.e., Rome). Moses said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the world, why were they sold to these empires?” He said to him, “Because they profaned the sabbatical year.” It is so stated (in II Chron. 36:20–21), “Then he carried off unto Babylon those left from the sword,” and the end of the Scripture is “[until the land made up] its Sabbaths; as long as it lay desolate, it observed Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses at the end of all of these sections, “Is it your wish that they do not go into exile? [Then] warn them concerning the sabbatical years and the jubilees.” That is what He has said at the end of all the sections (in Lev. 26:2), “You shall observe My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord.” What is the meaning of “I am the Lord?” I am the one who is going to give you a good reward, if you observe them; but if not, I am going to exact retribution from them through the Empires. Therefore, say to them to be careful about the sabbatical year. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 25:2), “the land shall observe a Sabbath for the Lord,” so that they do not attain [the punishments in] those sections written below (in Lev. 26:14-45). (Lev. 25:14:) “When you sell property to your kinsman or buy from your neighbor's hand, do not deceive.” [Thus] you shall not deceive one another. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “For I also sold the whole world to Abraham and did not deceive him. He [then went back and sold it to Me,” as stated (Genesis 14:19), “the Buyer (Qoneh. A more traditional rendering of this word here would be MAKER.) of heaven and earth.” When? When Abraham observed the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He. Before the Torah was given to Israel, our father Abraham kept it [and observed all the commandments that are in the Torah]. R. Samuel bar Nahman said in the name of R. Alexandra, “Abraham even observed the [rabbinic precept of] eruvim of cooked foods.” (See Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 3:1, and the notes there.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:5), “Because ('qb 'shr) Abraham heeded [My voice and kept My charge: My commandments, My statutes, and My Torahs].” What is the meaning of 'qb? (Gen. R. 95:3; Cant. R. 5:16:1; PR 21:12; cf. Ned. 32a.) R. Simeon ben Laqish said, “At the age of three years Abraham recognized the Holy One, blessed be He.” (So also Numb. R. 18:21. According to other traditions Abraham recognized his creator at the age of forty-eight (Gen. R. 30:8; 46:2; Cant. R. 5:16:1), at the age of fifty (PR 21:12), or at the age of one (Gen. R. 95:3).) How is this shown? 'Qb is a number. (I.e., 'ayin) is seventy, q (i.e., qof) is one hundred, [and] b (i.e., bet) is two, for a total of one hundred seventy-two. Now (according to Gen. 25:7) Abraham lived one hundred seventy-five [years]. Deduct from them. [The result is] three, when he was little. Ergo, at the age of three years Abraham recognized the Holy One, blessed be He. When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw how Abraham loved the commandments, He began buying heavenly and earthly [places] for him, as stated (in Gen. 14:19), “Blessed be Abram of God most high, Buyer of heaven and earth.” So also it says (Gen. 13:15), “For all the land (or earth) which you see, to you I will give it.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “All the world is wholly Mine; and I bought it for Abraham, because he has observed My commandments. But you, through your sins, have caused him to be [like] an alien who rents a house from its owners, for so Jeremiah has said (in Jer. 14:8), ‘why are you like a foreigner in the land […]?’ When you sinned before Me, I sold you, as stated (in Ps. 44:13), ‘You shall sell Your people for no money […].’ For that reason, if someone has to sell a house, a field, or [some] article, you shall not deceive one another.” It is therefore written (in Lev. 25:14), “shall not deceive his brother.” (Lev. 25:15-18:) “According to the years after the jubilee […]. According to the multitude of years, you shall increase […]. A man shall not deceive his brother […]. So you shall carry out my statutes and judgements.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “Just as I sold my people and returned again to reinstate them, as stated (Jer. 3:14), ‘”Turn back, faithless children,” says the Lord; “for I am a master to you.”’ It is also written (in Is. 52:3), ‘For thus says the Lord, “You were sold for free, and you shall be redeemed for no money.”’ So too you should not sell the land absolutely, as stated (in Lev. 25:23), ‘[it] shall not be sold permanently.’ The Land [of Israel] is dear to me because I have made it holier than all the [other] lands in the world.” You yourself know, when the Land of Israel was distributed to the tribes, it did not pass from tribe to tribe. Rather [it was distributed] to each tribe separately. You yourself know. Look at how many lawsuits the daughters of Zelophehad brought, so that their inheritance would not pass from one tribe to another. Moreover the Holy One, blessed be He, conceded to their words, as stated (in Numb. 27:7), “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right.” (Numb. 36:9:) “Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another.” Therefore, if a redeemer is found for it, fine; but if not, whoever buys it acquires it until the jubilee. Then on the jubilee he releases it. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 25:41), “Then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him and he shall return to his family.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “When the year of the redemption draws near, I will redeem you, as stated (in Is. 63:4), ‘For a day of vengeance was in My heart, but there came My year of redemption.’”
(Deut. 7:12:) “And it shall come to pass if you heed [these statutes].” What is written above the matter (in Deut. 7:7)? “It is not because you are the most numerous of all the peoples [that the Lord desired you and chose you. Rather you are the least of all the peoples].” It is not because you are the most numerous of all the nations,” and it was not because you fulfilled more commandments than they; for the nations do more commandments that they were not commanded than you, and they magnify My name more than you. Thus it is stated (in Mal. 1:11-12), “For from the rising of the sun until its setting My name is great among the nations, [and in every place incense is offered to My name, even a pure oblation; for My name is great among the nations]…. But you desecrate it when you say the table of the Lord is defiled, and its special food is treated with scorn [like ordinary] food.” (Deut. 7:7:) “Rather you were the least of all the peoples.” Rather, because you diminish yourselves for Me, therefore I love you.’ And so it says (in Mal. 1:2-3), “’I have loved you,’ says the Lord …. ‘But I have hated Esau….’” It also says (in Hos. 14:5), “I will heal their veering and love them voluntarily….” My soul has volunteered to love them, even though they were not worthy; and so it says (in Deut. 7:8), “Because the Lord loves you […].” It is written (in Is. 2:2), “And it shall come to pass that in the latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains….” This text is related (to Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), [your end shall greatly flourish].” [This verse is here] to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: ts'r) from his beginning will have it well at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: ts'r) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings pursued him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest, as stated (Gen. 24:1), “Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord blessed [Abraham in all things].” So too was Isaac troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16), “And Abimelech said unto Isaac, ‘Go away from us, [for you have become have become too powerful for us].’” But in the end they begged him [for mercy], as stated (in vs. 27-28), “And Isaac said unto them, ‘Why have you come unto me…?’ And they said, ‘We have clearly seen….’” Jacob also was troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1), “’They have harassed me greatly from my youth,’ let Israel now say.” While he was in his mother’s belly, Esau sought to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22), “But the children struggled [within her].” [Moreover,] when he received the blessings (according to Gen. 27:41), “Then Esau hated Jacob …, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, [and I will kill my brother Jacob]’.” So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: ts'r) over his daughters, and after that Laban sought to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5), “An Aramean would have destroyed my ancestor.” (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1), “Now Jacob raised his eyes and saw Esau coming….” There came upon him the trouble over Dinah, the trouble over Rachel and the trouble over Joseph. But in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12), “And Joseph sustained his father [and his brothers]….” Ergo (in Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), your end shall greatly flourish.” Another interpretation (of Is. 2:2), “the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains… and Mount Tabor shall become very tall.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the palace (Palterin. Gk.: praitorion; Lat. praetorium.) children of a king. They went down from the city and killed lions, tigers, and bears in the forest. Then they brought them and hung them opposite the city gate, so that all the people in the city were amazed from those lions. The Holy One, blessed be he, did so with Sisera. [When] Sisera came against Israel on Mount Tabor; (according to Jud. 5:20), “The stars fought from the heavens; from their courses they fought with Sisera.” (Cf. Pes. 118b, according to which the stars descended and heated the iron implements in Sisera’s army.) All began to be amazed, for there had never been an event like this, when the stars came down from the heavens to make war with flesh and blood. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “In this world the stars have fought on your behalf, but in the world to come (according to Zech. 14:3-4), ‘Then the Lord will come forth and fight with those nations [as when He fights in the day of battle]. And His feet shall stand in that day [upon the Mount of Olives]….’ And [so on through] all that section (of Zechariah).” Then everyone will see and point Him out with the finger, as stated (in Is. 25:9), “In that day they shall say, ‘See, this is our God; [we waited for Him, and He delivered us. This is the Lord; we waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation].’”
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram (Gen. 15:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shield to them that walk in integrity (Prov. 2:7). What is the meaning of He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous? It means that the Holy One, blessed be He, stored the Torah away, prior to the creation of the world, until Abraham came to fulfill it, as it is said: Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My Laws (Gen. 26:5).
You find that anyone who observes the commandments meticulously is rewarded fully. For example, because Abraham observed the commandments meticulously, he was called the beloved of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: The seed of Abraham, My beloved (Isa. 41:8). R. Samuel the son of Nahmani quoted R. Jonathan as saying that in Abraham’s home, even the commandment prohibiting the preparation of the Sabbath meals on a holy day that occurred on a Friday was carefully observed, (A dish prepared on Thursday is allowed to lay over until eaten on the Sabbath. By this legal fiction all the cooking for the Sabbath performed on a Friday that is a holy day is considered a continuation of the preparations started on Thursday.) as it is said: Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws (Gen. 26:5). Are there a variety of laws that Scripture should say My laws? Has it not already been stated: One law shall be to him that is home born, and to the stranger that sojourns among you (Exod. 12:49), and was it not previously written: One law and one ordinance (Num. 15:16)? The word My laws employed in the above verse refers (solely) to the minutiae of the law which Abraham observed meticulously. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Though you do observe My laws scrupulously, yet you dwell amongst idolaters; Get thee out of thy country.
R. Levi stated: Abraham’s first trial was similar to his last. The first trial began with the words Get thee out of thy country, and the last began with the words Get thee into the country of Moriah (Gen. 22:2). R. Hanina said: Come and see how much Abraham loved his Creator. When he was only a child of three, (Abraham was forty-eight years old according to Nedarim 32a; Buber Tanhuma, Lekh Lekha 4. Cf. Bereshit Rabbah 30:8.) he recognized his Creator, as it is said: Because Abraham hearkened to my voice (ibid. 26:5). The letter ayin in the word akeb (“because”) equals seventy, the letter kaf equals one hundred, and the letter bet equals two, totaling one hundred and seventy-two in all. Since Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, you learn from this fact that he must have been only three years old when he first recognized the Creator.
And he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Prov. 13:24). This alludes to Abraham, who punished Isaac, taught him the law, and guided him in his ways, as it is written of him: Because that Abraham harkened to My voice, and kept My charge (Gen. 26:5). And it is also written elsewhere: And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (ibid. 25:19). This teaches us that he resembled his father in every respect; in beauty, wisdom, strength, riches, and (the performance of) good deeds. You know this to be so from the fact that though Isaac, at the time of the sacrifice, was thirty-seven years of age, and Abraham was an old man, yet he bound him and tied him as though he were a sheep, and Isaac did not resist. Scripture states: And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac, but unto the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts (ibid., v. 5); that is to say, he distanced them from Isaac (so that he would have undisputed possession of the land). Hence, And he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). Jacob sent Judah before him to establish an academy wherein he might teach the Torah as he had previously done for the tribes. You know that he taught his sons earlier from the fact that Jacob remembered the chapter of the Torah that Joseph was studying with him at the time of his disappearance. When Joseph’s brothers returned and told him: “Joseph is yet alive” … his heart fainted, for he believed them not (Gen. 45:26). Jacob recalled the chapter of the Torah that Joseph was studying at the time of his departure, and he said to himself: “I know that he was studying the portion devoted to the beheaded heifer.” (See Deut. 21:1–9.) Whereupon he turned to them and said: “If he gave you something to indicate the chapter he was studying when he departed from here, I will believe you.” Joseph had also remembered the chapter he was studying when he was separated from his father. What did Joseph do? He gave them wagons (ibid., v. 21). When Jacob saw the wagons (‘agalot), the spirit of their father revived forthwith. (Word-play relating ‘agalot (“wagons”) to kelayot (“kidneys”), stated in the next paragraph to be the organ through which Abraham learned and retained the law.) This teaches us that wherever Joseph went, he devoted himself to the law, as his ancestors had done before him, even though the Torah itself had not yet been given. And thus it is written: Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice and kept My laws (Gen. 26:5).
Hallelujah! Praiseworthy is the person who fears the Lord. As it is written, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30). The Lord does not require beauty or wealth from us, but rather the fear of sin, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:24). Abraham did much before the Lord, but he only boasted in his fear of the Lord, as it is written, "Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son" (Genesis 22:12). It is also said, "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:22-23). And this is only the Torah, as it is written, "And this is the Torah" (Deuteronomy 4:44). Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah from Aleph to Tav, as it is written, "Because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions" (Genesis 26:5). Therefore, the psalm of ascent is said about him, from Aleph to Tav, along with the psalm of his wife, from Mem to Tav, "Praiseworthy is the woman who fears the Lord" (Proverbs 31:30). And both of them fulfilled the entire Torah from Aleph to Tav. Praiseworthy is the person who fears the Lord, and why is he praised? Because he did not perform the commandments with anguish, but with joy and with great desire. God said to him, "Go forth from your land" (Genesis 12:1), and he did not hesitate in anguish, but immediately fulfilled the commandment, "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him" (Genesis 12:4). God said to him, "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised" (Genesis 17:13), and he did not hesitate, but immediately fulfilled the commandment, "On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him" (Genesis 17:23). God said to him, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love--Isaac--and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you" (Genesis 22:2), and he did not hesitate, but immediately fulfilled the commandment, "Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about" (Genesis 22:3). "And Abraham rose early in the morning." He was eager to fulfill the mitzvah. And when Isaac was born, on the eighth day they brought him for circumcision, as it is written (Genesis 21:4), "And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old." They then brought him for the afternoon prayer, and made a feast and celebration. From here the sages said that a person is obligated to make joy and celebration on the day that he circumcises his son, just as our forefather Abraham did, as it is written (Genesis 21:8), "And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned." One should greatly desire to fulfill this mitzvah.
Another matter: Blessed is the man. This refers to Abraham, as it is said (Genesis 20:7), "Now therefore, restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet." He did not follow the counsel of the wicked. This refers to the generation of the dispersion, as it is said (Genesis 11:4), "Come, let us build for ourselves a city." "Come, let us build," refers to counsel, as it is said (Judges 9:29), "Give ear, and listen to my voice, and let this be the counsel." "A city," refers to an idol, as it is written (Daniel 4:10-11), "The tree grew and became strong, and its height reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it." They divided into three groups: one said, "Let us ascend and dwell there"; one said, "Let us make war with him"; and one said, "Let us ascend and serve there as idolaters." And all three were punished with one punishment: they became like apes, demons, and wandering spirits. This is what is written (Proverbs 13:21), "Evil pursues sinners." They did not stand in the path of sinners. This refers to the people of Sodom, as it is said (Genesis 13:13), "Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." And in the dwelling of the scorners, this refers to Abimelech, as it is said (Genesis 20:15), "Here is my land before you; dwell wherever it pleases you." But Abraham sought only the will of God, as it is said (Genesis 18:19), "For I have known him, because he commands his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice." And in His law he meditates day and night. Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani said: Abraham had no father to teach him Torah, yet Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, summoned his kidneys, which were like two rabbis, and they flowed and taught him wisdom all night long. This is what is written (Psalms 16:7), "I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; even at night my kidneys instruct me." And Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani, in the name of Rabbi Jonathan, said: Abraham our father fulfilled even the laws of combining cooked dishes and combining courtyards [on Shabbat]. This refers to (Genesis 26:5), "Because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." And the Lord took them and planted them in the Garden of Eden. Its fruit will be given in due time; this refers to Isaac. "And its foliage will not wither," this refers to Ishmael. And whatever he will do…
... “He does the will of those who fear Him…” (Tehillim 145:19) Meaning that Gd does not annul his prayers and gives him what he requests. This refers to David, of whom it is written “I am a companion to all who fear You…” (Tehillim 119:63) at the time when he was troubled over the Holy Temple, as it is written “Remember, O Lord, onto David all his affliction. That he swore to the Lord, he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob; That I shall not come into the tent of my house, and I shall not go up on the bed that was spread for me. I shall not give sleep to my eyes nor slumber to my pupils, Until I find a place for the Lord, dwellings for the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Tehillim 132:1-5) Since the Holy One saw that he stood there, troubled over the Holy Temple, He immediately sent Gad the prophet to him and showed him the place of the Holy Temple, as it is written “And Gad came to David on that day, and said to him, ‘Go up to erect an altar to the Lord in the threshing-floor of Aravnah the Jebusite.’” (Shmuel II 24:18) David went there immediately, as it says “And David went up according to the word of Gad, as the Lord had commanded. (Shmuel II 24:19) He found there the altar where Adam, the first man, made offerings, where Noach made offerings, where Avraham made offerings. Once he found it he began to measure, saying ‘from here to here will be the Courtyard, from here to here will be the Holy of Holies’ as it says “And David said, ‘This is the House of the Lord God…” (Divre HaYamim I 22:1) And how could he declare “…and this is the altar for burnt offerings for Israel” (ibid.)? This is what is meant that the Holy One does not nullify the desire of the righteous, but rather gives them what they seek in order to fulfill “He does the will of those who fear Him…” (Tehillim 145:19)
THE BINDING OF ISAAC ON THE ALTAR THE tenth trial was (as follows): "And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham" (Gen. 22:1). He tried Abraham each time in order to know his heart, whether he would be able to persevere and keep all the commandments of the Torah or not, and whilst as yet the Torah had not been given, Abraham kept all the precepts of the Torah, as it is said, "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my Torah" (Gen. 26:5). And Ishmael went repeatedly from the wilderness to see || his father Abraham.
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
“His palate is sweet and all of him is delightful. This is my beloved, and this is my companion, daughters of Jerusalem” (Song of Songs 5:16). “His palate is sweet” – it is written: “For so said the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live” (Amos 5:4). Is there a palate that is greater and sweeter than that? (Is there any statement sweeter than this statement by God?) It is written: “As I live – the utterance of the Lord God – I do not desire the death of the wicked, [but that the wicked repent from his way and live]” (Ezekiel 33:11). Is there a palate that is greater and sweeter than that? “For I do not desire the death of the one who dies, the utterance of the Lord God; facilitate repentance and live” (Ezekiel 18:32). Is there a palate that is greater and sweeter than that? “If the wicked man turns away from his wickedness [that he did] and performs justice and righteousness, he will cause his soul to live” (Ezekiel 18:27). Is there a palate that is greater and sweeter than that? Reish Lakish said: This is only if one has remorse for his previous actions. How so? Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai taught: If there was a person who was completely wicked all his days and ultimately he became completely righteous, in his regard the verse states: “The wickedness of the wicked person, he will not stumble over it on the day of his repentance from his wickedness…” (Ezekiel 33:12). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Moreover, all the transgressions that he performed, the Holy One blessed be He tallies them for him as merits. That is what is written: “Myrrh, aloe, and cassia were on all your garments [bigdotekha]” (Psalms 45:9). All the betrayals [begidot] that you betrayed Me, they are like myrrh and aloe before Me. It is taught: How old was Abraham when he recognized his Creator? Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yoḥanan both say: At the age of forty-eight Abraham recognized his Creator. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: He was three years old, as it is stated: “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice” (Genesis 26:5) – the numerical value of ekev. (Ayin – 70, kof –100, bet – 2 = 172. He died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five and heeded God’s voice for one hundred and seventy-two of them. Thus, he recognized God at the age of three.) Rabbi Levi said: When he was able to lift his heel [ikva] off the ground.
“From the herd or from the flock” – blessed is the Omnipresent who reckoned Himself with the first righteous ones. Adam sacrificed a bull upon the altar, as it is stated: “It will please the Lord more than a bull” (Psalms 69:32). (This verse is understood to refer to an offering by Adam, as above, Vayikra Rabba 2:7. ) Noah fulfilled what is written in the Torah, as it is stated: “Noah built an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 8:20). Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah, as it is stated: “Because Abraham heeded [My voice, and observed…My Torah]” (Genesis 26:5), as he prepared an offering and sacrificed a ram. Isaac fulfilled what is written in the Torah and cast himself before his father like a lamb to slaughter. Jacob fulfilled what is written in the Torah, as it is stated: “They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods [that were in their possession…and Jacob buried them]” (Genesis 35:4). Judah fulfilled what is written in the Torah, as it is stated: “Consort with your brother's wife, [and consummate levirate marriage with her]” (Genesis 38:8). Joseph fulfilled what is written in the Torah: “Honor your father…you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear [false witness], you shall not covet” (Exodus 20:12–13). They did so before the Torah was given to them, and they performed it at their own initiative. That is why the Holy One blessed be He loved them with an absolute love and paralleled their name to His great name. In their regard it says: “Happy are those whose path is flawless, [who follow the Torah of the Lord]” (Psalms 119:1), and it says: “The Rock, His actions are flawless” (Deuteronomy 32:4), and it says: “God’s way is flawless” (Psalms 18:31).
Rabbi Yehuda says: A bachelor may not herd cattle, nor may two bachelors sleep with one covering, lest they transgress the prohibition against homosexual intercourse, but the Rabbis permit it. Anyone who has professional dealings primarily with women may not be secluded with women. There is more of a concern that such a man might sin due to his familiarity with the women. And a person may not teach his son a trade that necessitates frequent interaction with women, for the same reason. With regard to teaching one’s son a trade, Rabbi Meir says: A person should always teach his son a clean and easy trade and pray for success to the One to Whom wealth and property belong, as ultimately there is no trade that does not include both poverty and wealth, since a person can become rich from any profession. Poverty does not come from a particular trade, nor does wealth come from a particular trade, but rather, all is in accordance with a person’s merit. Therefore, one should choose a clean and easy trade, and pray to God for success. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Have you ever seen a beast or a bird that has a trade? And yet they earn their livelihood without anguish. But all these were created only to serve me, and I, a human being, was created to serve the One Who formed me. Is it not right that I should earn my livelihood without anguish? But I, i.e., humanity, have committed evil actions and have lost my livelihood. This is why people must work to earn a living. Abba Guryan of Tzadyan says in the name of Abba Gurya: A person may not teach his son the trades of a donkey driver, a camel driver, a pot maker, a sailor, a shepherd, or a storekeeper. The reason for all these is the same, as their trades are the trades of robbers; all of these professions involve a measure of dishonesty and are likely to lead to robbery. Rabbi Yehuda says in Abba Gurya’s name: Most donkey drivers are wicked, since they engage in deceit, and most camel drivers, who traverse dangerous places such as deserts, are of fit character, as they pray to God to protect them on their journeys. Most sailors are pious, since the great danger of the seas instills in them the fear of Heaven. The best of doctors is to Gehenna, and even the fittest of butchers is a partner of Amalek. Rabbi Nehorai says: I set aside all the trades in the world, and I teach my son only Torah, as a person partakes of its reward in this world and the principal reward remains for him in the World-to-Come, which is not true of other professions, whose rewards are only in this world. Furthermore, if a person comes to be ill, or old, or undergoes suffering, and is unable to be involved in his trade, behold, he dies in hunger. But with regard to the Torah it is not so, since one can study it under all circumstances. Rather, it preserves him from all evil and sin in his youth, and provides him with a future and hope in his old age. The mishna explains: With regard to his youth, what does it say about a Torah scholar? “But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). With regard to his old age, what does it say? “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age” (Psalms 92:15), and it likewise states with regard to Abraham our forefather: “And Abraham was old, well stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1). We found that Abraham our forefather fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given, as it is stated: “Because that Abraham listened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5), which indicates that Abraham observed all the mitzvot of his own accord and was rewarded in his old age as a result.
How pleasant is the Musar of Love. Anyone whom Hashem loves, God brings down upon them suffering. You find three good gifts that God gave to Israel; and they were only given by way of suffering. These are them: Torah, the Land of Israel, and the World to Come.
Since a man occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake, and troubles himself and exhausts himself for the sake of Heaven, his two kidneys (his very vitals) will be like two fountains, and he will bring forth meanings and new laws from within himself — truths which he never learned from another and which were not given even to Moses at Sinai. As we find in the case of Abraham, our father (Gen. Rabbah 95:3), that he never studied in the presence of any man (who served as his teacher), but he himself would sit and think about the commandments, and he learned from his own heart all of the Torah and the commandments, until Scripture testified of him, "And (he) kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My Law (Gen. 26:5). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said that Abraham knew even the laws of Eruvei Tavshilin. (* The laws governing the preparation of food for the Sabbath on a holiday which falls on Friday.) And our Sages also said, "Abraham our father learned four hundred chapters, and who was there to teach him all of this? It must therefore be that his two kidneys became like two fountains, and flowed forth bringing to him wisdom and Torah.
Now, when these three powers are gathered within a man, his soul is drawn by its very nature to love the Creator, blessed be He. When he loves Him, his service will be completely perfect. For from that love there will come fear, for whomsoever a man loves, he also fears. It is also possible for a man to fear someone he does not love. Therefore, I say that fear is contained within love, but love is not contained within fear. Now, we have found that the service of our father, Abraham, peace be upon him, was completely perfect, for it says concerning him (Genesis 18:19), “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord.” This is clear proof of his great righteousness. Moreover, the Creator, blessed be He, testified concerning him after his death, when he said (ibid., 26:5), “Because Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws,”.
This is the meaning of: ושמרתם את המצות, אל תקרי המצות אלא המצוות. This statement is not a suggestion to read the text differently, but when reading this verse, not to restrict its meaning to the particular מצוה of unleavened bread, but to use the example of how we fulfil this מצוה as a model for the way we relate to all מצוות.
Rashi tells us in Genesis 26,5, that the term חק is used in the Torah when the legislation is such that it offers Satan an opportunity to challenge its logic. He quotes the prohibition of eating pork as an additional example.
The overwhelming number of מצות recorded in this portion of the Torah do not apply in our times and can be fulfilled only during periods when the Temple is functioning. Even such commandments as פתוח תפתח, "keep opening your hand, to the poor," can only be fulfilled by people who are economically capable. A person who hardly has enough to get by cannot even fulfill this commandment. Even when the Temple was standing one could not fulfill the directive to give tithes and consume the second tithe in Jerusalem unless one owned a farm and grew crops. How then can a person attain his perfection when we have said that fulfillment of the 613 commandments of the Torah is the key to such perfection? When the Torah begins this portion by saying in 11,32: "Observe all these statutes and social laws which I place before you this day," and goes on to say in the same breath: "These are the statutes, etc., which you are to observe to do in the land," the Torah clues us in to the answer. In 11,32 the Torah mentions first שמירה and עשיה of the respective statutes and social laws, whereas in 12,1 the Torah mentions the statutes and social laws before the directive to observe and perform them. This is similar to the way the Torah (Genesis 26,5) describes Abraham as having observed G–d's various types of commandments. Clearly, Abraham could not have done this (in the form of fulfilling an obligation) as the commandments had not yet been revealed.
The word שמירה has two meanings. One is that one "keeps" i.e. observes commandments which have been given. The second meaning is "waiting." One is constantly looking forward to a certain event occurring. Abraham waited for an opportunity to observe these various מצות, The expression ושמרתם לעשות means that a person should be in a frame of mind where he looks forward to fulfilling the various commandments which he has not yet had an opportunity to fulfill. In the meantime, he observes those commandments which he has found an opportunity to observe. When he relates to all of G–d's commandments in this way, the Torah promises him an equal reward for the commandments which he has not had an opportunity to fulfill. Chapter 11,32 refers to the commandments which can be fulfilled, whereas 13,1 refers to all those that cannot yet be fulfilled for one reason or another.
The reason that the wine saved from גן עדן is called משומר, is that its dregs, its yeast has been removed. When Eve squeezed the grapes and gave her husband to drink she had not removed those dregs first. The Torah (Numbers 18,8) writes of Aaron, who was the rehabilitation of Adam, that he was to be the recipient of what G–d calls משמרת תרומתי, "The residue of My gifts." It is also said of Abraham (Genesis 26,5) וישמר משמרתי. Some of our sages interpret the repetition of the expression שמר in this verse as meaning that Abraham introduced "fences," preventive measures around G–d's laws so as to ensure that the laws themselves could not easily be violated. This would be similar to the Mishnah in Shabbat 20,1 permitting the suspension of a sieve i.e. meshameret on the holiday in order to catch the shemarim, sediments, yeast, of the wine.
We are taught in Chulin 91a that the choice of that word, i.e. אבק, dust, indicates that the dust stirred up during this struggle rose all the way to the throne of Glory -which is not complete, as we shall set out to show. The meaning of the word "he touched," is similar to the English "he touched a sore point." Samael had found something in Jacob's lifestyle which he thought he could turn into an accusation against him. This was the fact that Jacob had married two sisters while both were alive. He should not have done so, since the patriarchs had accepted for themselves the laws of the Torah which had not yet been officially formulated. Nachmanides writes about this at length in his commentary on Genesis 26, 5 where the Torah credits Abraham with having observed all of G–d's statutes. According to Nachmanides the patriarchs assumed this obligation as valid only while they resided in the land of Israel; the word מפשט used in the verse is by definition legislation that varies from country to country. G–d's משפטים apply only in G–d's country, ארץ ישראל. When Jacob married two sisters he did not live in the land of Israel. Samael's accusation was by necessity based on the yardsticks that Jacob claimed to live by. He argued that a man of Jacob's stature whose features were engraved on G–d's throne should not have taken advantage of the fact that technically he was allowed to marry two sisters, for did he not carry the atmosphere of ארץ ישראל with him wherever he went? We are familiar with such expressions as אבק רבית, something not actually an interest payment but nonetheless giving the impression that someone rendered a service for free which would have been charged for had the recipient of the service not been a lender to the person rendering the service. We have a similar expression when dealing with the laws of לשון הרע, evil gossip. The Tosephta Avodah Zarah 1, 10 describes four areas in which the term אבק is used halachically. All of them are not transgressions that are dealt with by the Courts, but are matters of individual piety. When the Talmud described the "dust" of the struggle between Jacob and the guardian angel of Esau as having risen to the throne of G–d, what is meant is that the issue was such a paralegal impropriety committed by Jacob as marrying two sisters outside the boundaries of ארץ ישראל.
In any case, this is not the only apparent contradiction between Genesis and later law. There are others, not least the very fact that Jacob married two sisters, something categorically forbidden in Leviticus 18:18. Nahmanides’ solution – an elegant one, flowing from his radical view about the connection between Jewish law and the land of Israel – is that the patriarchs observed the Torah only while they were living in Israel itself (commentary to Gen. 26:5). Jacob married Leah and Rachel outside Israel, in the house of Laban in Haran (situated in today’s Turkey).
Rabbi Nehorai says: I will abandon every profession in the world and I will not teach my son anything but Torah, for a person enjoys its reward in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come. But all other professions are not so; for when a man comes to sickness or old age or suffering and cannot engage in his profession, he must die of starvation, whereas the Torah is not so, for it guards him from all evil in his youth and gives him a future and hope in his old age. Of his youth what is said? “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Of his old age what is said? “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age” (Psalms 92:15). And it is also said of our father Abraham, “And Abraham was old … And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything” (Genesis 24:1). We find that Abraham our father observed the whole Torah before it was given, for it is said, “Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5). Rabbi Nehorai’s statement is perhaps as extreme of a statement as can be found on the issue of work versus Torah study. It is not a vision that many rabbis shared, at least not in a practical sense. Nevertheless, there are some elements that in my opinion strike a deep chord. The first is that in a society without a system to provide for its elderly and in which people cannot save up large sums of money, a life of work does not leave one with enough to live on later in life. While there are some safeguards that exist today that didn’t exist in the ancient world, care of the elderly is still one of the most difficult and important issues facing society. The second is that when a person is older, nearer to the end of life, they usually judge their lives not based on how much work they have done, but what good deeds they have done, how well they have treated their families and what kind of a spiritual/moral legacy they will leave behind. I think that that is partly what Rabbi Nehorai is speaking about: when a person is older, all the work they did will not matter as much as the quality of the lives they led, and for the rabbis, the quality of life was measured by the amount of Torah studied. The mishnah, the tractate and the entire seder end with a midrash on Abraham. Abraham’s strength stood for him until very late in life. Indeed, he had Isaac when he was nearly 100 years old! The final midrash on Abraham states that he kept the whole Torah before it was given. In this context, this means that Abraham’s blessing came to him because of his observance of the Torah and not merely because of his faith in God (as the Christians taught). Congratulations! We have finished Kiddushin. It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us to finish learning this tractate and this entire Seder and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning them, so that we may not forget them and so that their lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. By now, if you have been learning with Mishnah Yomit from the beginning, you have finished two entire Seders of Mishnah. This is a tremendous accomplishment and you should feel satisfied with your hard work and devotion. Seder Nashim began with Yevamoth, a tricky tractate with many difficult laws concerning levirate marriage, worked its way through a tractate on marriage contracts (Ketuboth), two tractates on vows (Nedarim and Nazir), one on adulterous women (Sotah), neared completion with a tractate on divorce and finally, after all this learning, a tractate on how one enters marriage. So you had to wait until the end for the best part, but I’m sure it was worth the effort. So congratulations on making it through another tractate and seder. May you have the strength and time to keep on learning more Mishnah! Tomorrow we begin the first tractate of Seder Z’manim (appointed times), tractate Shabbat.
Seeing his molten image having proved deceitful, the human repented, and conceived Seth in his image and likeness. Seth conceived Enosh; from them came Enoch who walked before God, knowing and cognizing Him in truth. As it says: “And Enoch walked with God” [Gen. 5:22]. Generations passed until Noah’s arose, the tenth in count since Adam’s. He too knew God with a perfect knowledge, prudence dwelling with Wisdom. Thus Noah found favor in God’s eyes, as it is written: “And Noah found favor” [Gen. 6:8]. Among Noah’s three sons, Shem was chosen, for he was the first born, recognizing his Creator, knowing and cognizing Him in faith. His descendent Ever grasped hold of God’s path, upheld its steps, was chosen from his entire generation to be singled out for fame and praise. By means of a knowledge complete, lucid and pure, Shem and Ever comprehended the rational commandments and statutes divine, setting right the branches on high. And they charged the multitudes to walk in God’s paths. The generations progressed. The tenth after Noah’s was distinguished by the man chosen from the womb since the dawn, our father Abraham. He perceived a knowledge of his Creator transcending his predecessors’, comprehending God’s reality in a manner formerly unknown. He began to call upon God’s name among all of the nations and kingdoms, as it is written: “And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon God’s name” [Gen. 12:8]. And it says: “He planted an oak in Be‘er Sheva and invoked the name of the Lord, the God of the world” [Gen. 21:33]. Since he took possession of the attribute of divine love, his son Isaac was chosen from among all of his sons and offspring. As it is written: “God said to Abraham: ‘Do not be distressed over the boy or your handmaid; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that your offspring will be continued’” [Gen. 21:12]. Isaac attained knowledge of his Creator, he too exhorting his sons to walk in God’s ways, as it is written: “he built an altar there and invoked the Lord by name, pitching there his tent” [Gen. 26:25]. He took divine justice as his portion. When his son Jacob was born, the image of the likeness of the blessed Holy One, engraved on the Throne of Glory, manifested itself in the world. For Jacob grasped the attributes of justice and mercy a path equalized and balanced, so that his ways were imbued with truth and the paths of peace. For fourteen years he studied in Ever’s school and from his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham, he received the knowledge of God. Thus, shekhinah’s glory was revealed to him. Then the three patriarchs formed a chariot-throne for Him who rides the ancient highest heavens [Ps. 68:34]. They fulfilled the Teaching and commandment, serving their Creator by knowing Him; their worship lacking nothing. “For Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws and My teachings” [Gen. 26:5].
In the stories of Jacob, however, the Torah always uses “Lord,” for he was more complete than was Isaac. Thus, unlike Isaac, who had not been as | complete as Abraham, (36. Kaspi says that in the following verses, which refer to Isaac, the memory and merits of Abraham are invoked in order to increase the well-being of Isaac. This indicates that Abraham was the greater of the two.) it is not said of Jacob, “because that Abraham hearkened to my voice,” (37. Gen. 26:5.) or “for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (38. Gen. 26:24.) The exception (where “God” appears in the stories of Jacob) is “the house of God,” (39. Gen. 28:17.) and that is on account of its being followed by “and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob said that because he recognized that the place was conducive to prophecy and perception because of the celestial cause that predominated there, as Ibn Ezra noted. (40. Ibn Ezra says on this verse: “This is the house of God—in which a person can pray in time of need, for his prayer will be heard on account of its being a special place.”) He continued to say, “If God will be with me …” (41. Gen. 28:20.) (using ’Elokim) in accordance with the opinion of our Torah that the world of Separate Intelligences is the first cause. (42. As explained above, ’Elokim refers to the upper two worlds, which are here referred to by Kaspi as ha-sekhel ha-nifrad (“the separate intellect”), which as an entity influences the events of the sublunar world below them.) The proof of this is provided by the opening verse of the Torah, “In the beginning God created …” as I have explained. (43. See above chap. II, n. 1.) When Jacob’s wives speak, and when Jacob speaks to them, they mention “God,” (44. Gen. 31:5, 9, 11, 16.) for that is appropriate for them, as we have already mentioned. This is especially the case as they are the daughters of (the pagan) Laban, as is proved by Rachel when she coveted the teraphim. (45. Gen. 31:19.) When on occasion they do mention “Lord,” (46. Gen. 29:32–33, 30:24.) it is only because they learnt this from Jacob. Notice the precision regarding Laban when the Torah says, “and God came to Laban,” (47. Gen. 31:24.) similar to what was written of Abimelech, (48. Gen. 20:3.) in accordance with his confused belief in the power of the Heavenly Sphere and that of the imagination. Laban said to Jacob, “the God of your father spoke unto me yesternight saying …,” (49. Gen. 31:29.) for how could the god of Laban assist Jacob when (Jacob) did not believe in him. Similarly he said, “the Lord watch between me and thee,” (50. Gen. 31:49.) in accordance with Jacob’s belief. Furthermore Laban made Jacob swear by the Lord, for Jacob feared Him, and not God. In summarizing in conclusion, Laban said, “The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor … judge betwixt us …” (51. Gen. 31:53.) whereas “Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.” (52. Ibid.) Jacob uses “God” when saying “and the angels of God met him,” (53. Gen. 32:2.) and “this is God’s camp,” (54. Ibid.) as well as “I have seen God face to face” (55. Gen. 32:28.) and “for thou hast striven with God,” (56. Gen. 32:20.) for all of them are in a prophetic use of the imagination. (57. He means that they take place in a prophetic vision, which with the exception of Moses, necessarily involves the imaginative faculty.) It is similar with “And God said unto Jacob,” (58. Gen. 35:1.) | and “there God was revealed unto him,” (59. Gen. 35:7.) as well as “and God appeared unto Jacob again” (60. Gen. 35:9.) and “where God spoke with him.” (61. Gen. 35:15.)
And when Abraham was forty years old etc. There is an Agadah (folktale) that he was three years old, as it is said: 'Because that Abraham hearkened unto My voice' (Gen. 26.5.). Hebrew for "Because" is 'EKB, which in numerals represent 172. Thus God says: 'EKB, or 172 years, that Abraham hearkened unto My voice. Abraham lived 175 years; deducting the three years before he recognized God, leaves 172. (This is no criticism at all, as Maimonides herein outlines that Abraham commenced thinking of God as soon as he was weaned; at forty he had mastered the subject and commenced proclaiming it to the world. C.G.)
תורות The laws. The laws which are dictated by common sense, in which all agree. (חּוֹרה and חֹק are generally distinguished by saying that the former refers to those laws which society would make even without revelation; the latter, to such laws as would not be made without direct command in Scripture. This distinction is not applicable here, because the prophet speaks in this passage of laws that concern all nations. The explanation, however, given here by I. E., does not agree with his remark on Gen. 26:5, where תורה is explained to refer to the law of circumcision. What I. E. means by the laws contained in the natural order of things or by the covenant of the universe is more clearly stated in his commentary on Gen. 26:5, namely, שילך אדם אחרי מעשיו Man shall follow the ways of God displayed in his works. Comp. I. E. on Lev. 19:19.) (חּוֹרה and חֹק11A. V., Changed. are generally distinguished by saying that the former refers to those laws which society would make even without revelation; the latter, to such laws as would not be made without direct command in Scripture. This distinction is not applicable here, because the prophet speaks in this passage of laws that concern all nations. The explanation, however, given here by I. E., does not agree with his remark on Gen. 26:5, where תורה is explained to refer to the law of circumcision. What I. E. means by the laws contained in the natural order of things or by the covenant of the universe is more clearly stated in his commentary on Gen. 26:5, namely, שילך אדם אחרי מעשיו Man shall follow the ways of God displayed in his works. Comp. I. E. on Lev. 19:19.)
WITH A DIVERSE KIND. Kilayim (a diverse kind) means two kinds. I will yet explain the meaning of kilayim. (I.E. apparently never got around to this (Weiser).) The reason for the law regarding a field and a garment is that they serve as reminders, (They remind us not to alter the species, which God has created, by crossbreeding or cross-planting.) for many commandments serve as reminders. Examples of the latter are: the festival of unleavened bread, (The unleavened bread serves as a reminder of Exodus. See Deut. 16:3.) Sukkot, (The sukkot serve as a reminder of booths in which the Israelites dwelled during their sojourn in the desert (Lev. 23:43).) tzitzit, (The tzitzit serve as a reminder of God’s commandments (Num. 15:39).) shofar, (Scripture speaks of Rosh Ha-Shanah as being a memorial proclaimed with the blast of the horn. The commentaries offer various interpretations of what the sounding of the shofar is to serve as a reminder, among them, God’s revelation, to repent.) mezuzah, (To study and to teach Torah to one’s children. See Deut. 6:4-9; 13-21.) and tefilin. (The tefilin serves a reminder of the Exodus (Ex. 13:9) and of our obligation to study and to teach Torah to our children (Deut: 6:4-9; 13-21). See Yesod Mora, Chapter 5.) I will hint to you here at a secret. Know that “the complete is very complete.” (A person who is spiritually perfect does not need any reminder of what God desires of him, for on his own he knows God’s will.) Scripture therefore says with regard to Abraham, (Who was complete.) and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws (Gen. 26:5). (Abraham on his own knew and kept God’s charge, commandments, statutes, and laws)
אל תקרב הלום, של נעליך, "Do not come closer; remove your shoes, etc." G'd gave two instructions. 1) not to come closer. 2) to remove his shoes because even the site on which Moses was standing at that moment was already holy ground. Why did G'd not instruct Moses to remove his shoes before he had accidentally stepped on holy ground wearing shoes? At that time G'd could have warned Moses not to step on holy ground (even without shoes).
In this instance G'd commanded Moses both something negative, i.e. "do not come closer!" as well as something positive, i.e. "remove your shoes!" Our sages in Eyruvin 96 state that wherever the Torah uses the expression פן or אל such as here, what follows is a negative commandment. The words "remove your shoes," are a positive commandment, however. If Moses were to cross the invisible dividing line by approaching closer to the burning bush (as he had intended to) he would be violating a negative commandment. Were he to fail to remove his shoes, however, this would imply a lack of respect for G'd but it would not constitute transgression of a negative commandment because the commandment had been phrased positively, though it implied that no shoes were to be worn there. The Torah always speaks about שמירה, i.e. care not to violate a negative commandment, before demanding עשיה, performance of a related positive commandment (compare Deuteronomy 4,6; 15,5, Genesis 26,5 et al). This is why the sequence in which G'd commanded Moses at this point is no departure from the Torah's norm.
And by way of hint, the Rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded (Bereishit Rabbah 1:4) [that by the] word bereishit (In the beginning), He, may He be blessed, intended to say, [that He created the world] for the sake of the Torah, which is called reishit; and the explanation of the [letter] bet (which is the first letter in bereishit) is that it is a bet [that indicates] causation. And from this [is implied that] anyone who merits [to know the] Torah, merits the whole world and anyone who does not merit [to know the] Torah should not benefit from this world - even for him to set foot on it - unless he provides assistance to those who toil in [the study of] Torah. And they also said (Vayikra Rabbah 36:4) [that He created the world] for the sake of Israel, which is called reishit, as it is written [about Israel] (Jeremiah 2:3), "reishit tevuato" ("the first of His produce"). And this statement does not contradict the first, since the very reason that Israel is called, first is from the angle that they accepted the Torah; and through this were they separated from the [other] nations for fame and praise. And they also said (Bereishit Rabbah 1:4), [that He created the world] for the sake of Avraham and (Vayikra Rabbah 36:4) for the sake of Ya'akov; and it all follows the first reason [for creating the world], 'because Avraham listened to my voice, etc.' They also said (Shabbat 36b) [that He created the world] for the sake of [the] awe [of God], which is called reishit, as it is written (Psalms 111:10), "reishit chocmah, yirat, etc." ("the beginning of wisdom is the awe of God, etc."); since it too is a fundamental principle of the Torah, since if there is no wisdom, there is no awe, and if there is no awe of God, there is no Torah, for [awe of God] is a beautiful storehouse for the Torah.
Before commencing to explain these verses we need to understand why Jacob did not honour the Torah's commandment of not showing preference (in terms of inheritance) to the firstborn son of the wife he loved when the true firstborn was the son of the wife he hated (Deut. 21,16)? Jacob treated Joseph the firstborn son of his beloved wife Rachel, as entitled to the privileges that are accorded to the son of the wife he hated when the latter had been born earlier. The question also arises whether the patriarchs were obligated to accept the norms of the Torah, seeing that the Torah did not become the law of Israel until the revelation at Mount Sinai. After all, we find that Jacob married two sisters while both were alive, something that contravenes Torah law. Abraham too did not perform circumcision on himself until he was advanced in years whereas Torah law stipulates circumcision on the eighth day or as soon as possible thereafter. We can find numerous other instances of the patriarchs not acting in accordance with Torah law. In view of the two examples we have quoted about the patriarchs not complying with what became Torah law thereafter, the whole question of why Jacob treated Joseph as his firstborn seems irrelevant. I have found that Nachmanides (Genesis 26,5) explains that the reason Jacob did marry two sisters while both were alive was that he was not in the Holy Land at the time. His words do not sound convincing. Who told Jacob that Torah legislation applied only within the boundaries of ארץ ישראל? The fact is that the commandments which the patriarchs did not observe apply equally in ארץ ישראל and outside it.
The patriarchs made a point of observing all these commandments as an expression of their love for G'd. This is what G'd had told Isaac in Genesis 26,5. Yuma 28 states that Abraham not only observed all the commandments of the Torah but even such Rabbinic ordinances as Eyruv Tavshilim. No doubt Abraham instructed his children in these matters as he wanted them to qualify for the reward in store for those who observed all these commandments. Whenever the patriarchs observed that by not observing one of these commandments they would achieve something important immediately, they decided to opt for the immediate benefit. This is what happened when Jacob decided to marry Rachel in addition to Leah. He wanted to have children by Rachel, i.e. that at least some of the tribes should be her offspring. Jacob was especially entitled to do so since he was a prophet and acted in accordance with instructions received from G'd directly. We can understand this better when comparing what Maimonides wrote in chapter 9 of his Hilchot Yesodey Torah. He states that if a properly accredited prophet instructs the Jewish people to violate one of the Torah's commandments on a temporary basis, he is to be obeyed. Maimonides quotes the incident when Elijah rebuilt a private altar and sacrificed on it on Mount Carmel as a case in point. The same applied to Jacob's having married two sisters. According to Bereshit Rabbah 85,8, an angel exploited Yehudah's desire to have sexual intercourse by guiding him to Tamar, thereby ensuring that the kings who would come out of him had a matriarch who was both of suitable ancestry and of high moral calibre. At any rate, there are instances when it was obviously preferable not to apply the strictures that would become anchored in law at a later time in Jewish history.
Remember that the numerical value of the word שירה is the same as that of תפלה, i.e. 515. Both words appear in the same verse and are compared to one another, to wit: יומם יצוה ה' חסדו ובלילה שירה, עמי תפלה לאל חי, ”By day may the Lord vouchsafe His fanciful care, so that at night a song to Him may be with me, a prayer to G’d my life” (Psalms 42,9). In this verse the psalmist speaks of שירה, (noun) when in fact he should have spoken of שירו, an imperative of the verb “to sing.” When the Torah writes in our paragraph that the Israelites sang את השירה הזאת, you are already aware of the meaning of the word זאת, that in kabbalistic terms it is a reference to the emanation מלכות, the link between the עולם העשיה, our terrestrial world and the next higher kind of “world” the emanation יסוד, lowest level of the עולם היצירה. The terrestrial world we live in is directly “inspired,” נאצלת, from this emanation known as מלכות or זאת. The mystical dimension of Lamentations 2,19: קומי רני בלילה לראש אשמורות שפכי כמים לבך, is that the prophet does not speak of בראש אשמורות, which would mean that the supplication discussed in that verse takes place during the early part of morning, but he said לראש אשמורות, “to the head of these watches of the night”. The speaker addresses celestial forces of the emanations. He appeals to the ראש, the head, i.e. the highest of these forces, the tenth emanation, to Hashem Himself. In the song offered by the people of Israel here, the words עלי באר ענו לה are also an appeal in the first instance to the באר, the well, the lowest of the emanations. By saying עלי באר, they encourage that force to rise up to the highest emanation, the source of all blessing whence their prayers will be answered, i.e. ענו לה. The reason they called the emanation זאת or מלכות by the name באר, well, is that a well collects water, the essence of all blessings on earth. This lowest emanation is the receptacle of G’d’s outpourings of blessing. The simile of באר as a vessel collecting G’d’s bounty recurs again and again in the Sefer Habahir of Rabbi Nechunyah ben Hakanah. In his book the terms באר and כסא represent the lowest and the highest (כתר) emanations respectively. [The author proceeds to trace the journey of such prayers (songs) through the various emanations until they reach the highest emanation as represented by similes in our text. I have contented myself with providing you, the reader, with an outline of his approach. Ed.]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS ‘EIKEV’ YE HEARKEN. Eikev means “because.” So also, ‘eikev’ (because) that Abraham hearkened to My voice. (Genesis 26:5.) And Rashi wrote: “If you will hearken even to the lighter commandments which a person usually treads upon with his ‘heels’ [i.e., those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly] then G-d will keep His promise to you.” (Rashi thus explains eikev as meaning “heel, footprint.” — The term “lighter commandments” thus means “lighter” in the sense that people regard them lightly because they think that the reward for their observance is of minor significance, and therefore, “they tread upon them with their heels,” so to say. But, as Scripture continues, these people are mistaken, since the reward for even these commandments is boundless.) Now Scripture mentions the ordinances [And it shall come to pass ‘eikev’ ye hearken to these ‘ordinances’] (In other words, according to Rashi, that the verse is speaking of the “lighter commandments,” the question arises why are the ordinances mentioned here? It must be that the sense of the verse is as follows: “If you will hearken to those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly, such as the ordinances about monetary matters — then etc.” Thus, the reason ordinances are singled out more than statutes and testimonies is that Scripture wants to teach us that we should not hold them in disdain despite the fact that they deal merely with monetary matters.) perhaps because he admonishes them not to be disdainful of the lightly-esteemed ordinances such as the laws pertaining to monetary matters. And the commentators (Ibn Ezra and R’dak.) have said that the meaning of the word eikev is that “in the end” there will be reward. Similarly, in keeping them [the ordinances of G-d] ‘eikev rav’ (there is [in the end] great reward). (Psalms 19:12.) The verse here is thus stating: “and the end [the ultimate consequence] of your hearkening to the ordinances and your observing them is that G-d shall keep the covenant and the mercy, and He will love thee. ” (Verse 13.) This is correct, for in the Sacred Language the beginning of anything is called rosh [literally: “head”], as it is said, ‘rosh’ (the beginning of) Thy word is truth. (Psalms 119:160.) So also is the leader of the generation called “the head of the people,” and the best of spices is called rosh. (Exodus 30:23. Take also unto thee ‘b’samim rosh’ (‘the chief’ spices).) Similarly, the conclusion of any matter is called akeiv (heel) as the Sacred Language adopts these figurative expressions from the human body; and thus “the head” is the beginning while “the heel” is the conclusion and end of the body. Scripture also speaks of the head and the tail (Further, 28:13: And the Eternal shall make thee the head and not the tail.) [with reference to people], figuratively using the body of the animal. And Onkelos rendered the word eikev as chalaf (“in exchange for”), like ‘cheilef’ (in return for) your service. (Numbers 18:31.) Onkelos thus made it an expression of “roundabout” [the end result of a series of events], derived from the verse, and ‘he’akov (the crooked) shall be made straight (Isaiah 40:4. — I.e., the return of the exiles to Jerusalem will be unimpeded.) — that is, the circuitous road which goes roundabout [will become a straight, level path]. So also ‘akubah’ of blood (Hosea 6:8.) means “it is surrounded and encircled” [with blood]. The verse here is thus stating [according to Onkelos]: “and it shall come to pass that the effect caused by your hearkening to the ordinances and your performing them will be that G-d will keep His covenant with you.” He has explained it well. A similar expression is ‘biglal’ (for the sake of) this thing (Further, 15:10.) which means “on account of,” from the word ‘v’gal’lu’ (and they roll) the stone. (Genesis 29:8.) Similarly it is my opinion that every expression of akeivah is a term denoting “circle” or “circuit.” Thus: ‘akov haleiv’ (the heart is deceitful); (Jeremiah 17:9.) ‘vaya’akveini’ (and he hath gotten the better of me) these two times; (Genesis 27:36.) but Jehu did it ‘b’akbah’ (in subtlety) (II Kings 10:19.) — all these being expressions of “rolling” and “circling.” Therefore they called Jacob “Jeshurun” (Further, 33:5. See also above, 2:10 (towards the end).) [from the root yashar (straight and upright)] because the opposite of “the deceitful one” is he who is “upright” [as indicated by the name “Jeshurun”]. Similarly, the end-part of the foot, called akeiv — as it is said, and his hand seizing ‘ba’akeiv (the heel) of Esau (Genesis 25:26.) — is so called because of its roundness, just as the [Sacred] Language calls the middle part [palm and sole] of the hand and foot kapoth, (Ibid., 4:11: And I gave the cup into ‘kaph’ (the hand of) Pharaoh. Ezekiel 1:7: ‘v’kaph’ (and the sole) of their feet.) because of their being shaped like golden kapoth (spoons). This usage [of the term akeiv] is common in the [Sacred] Language, just as the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: (Sifre, V’zoth Habrachah 343.) “At His right hand was a fiery law unto them. (Further, 33:2.) When the word came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it would go by way of the right hand of the Holy One to the left of Israel, v’okeiv (and it encircled) the camp of Israel twelve miles by twelve miles.” So also is the expression: (Baba Kamma 113a.) “they come upon him ba’akifin,” meaning “with circuitous and subtle arguments,” like the word akeivin as these two letters [the veth and the fei] were considered by the Sages to be interchangeable, as I have already explained. (Leviticus 19:20. See also Exodus 15:10 — Vol. II, p. 198.) He mentioned these ordinances (According to Rashi who explained that the word eikev suggests “the lighter commandments” [as explained above] we understand why the verse singles out only these ordinances [and not the statutes etc.] because the ordinances, applying as they do to monetary matters, are often treated lightly by people; hence the need by Scripture to warn against it. But according to the interpretation of Onkelos and Ramban that eikev means “in return for,” and the verse refers to the reward for observing the commandments, the question arises why did Scripture single out only the ordinances? Ramban proceeds to answer this question: “He mentioned these ordinances in order etc.”) in order to warn exceedingly concerning the ordinances [i.e., judgments], for it is impossible that of a large nation, everyone be heedful of all commandments so as not to transgress any of them, and it is only through the judgments [of the court] that they establish [the firm authority of] the Torah, just as it says of them, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Further, 21:21.) Moreover, many people will have pity [and refrain from] stoning a man or burning him after the transgression had been committed, as it is said, Thine eye shall not pity him. (Ibid., 19:13.) Then also they might fear the mighty ones as well as those who lead astray, as it is said, ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man, for the judgment is G-d’s, (Above, 1:17.) and in the case of the false prophet it says, thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Further, 18:22.) He mentioned all these in the case of an inciter [to worship idols] saying, thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shalt thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, (Ibid., 13:9.) warning nor hearken unto him (Ibid., 13:9.) because of his misleading [you], neither shalt thine eye pity him (Ibid., 13:9.) because of the pity that compassionate people show towards the condemned, and neither shalt thou conceal him (Ibid., 13:9.) by remaining silent [and not presenting testimony against him] because of his might and fear of members of his family.
for in observing them there is great reward I was careful in its observance because of Your great good that You have hidden away, and according to this usage, עקב is like (Gen. 26:5): “because (עקב) Abraham hearkened to My voice.” Another explanation of עקב רב: The end of the Torah scholars is that they will come to greatness. עקב is an expression of the end, and there is a similar expression in the language of the Mishnah (Sotah 9:15): “At the end (בעקבות) of the exile, prior to the coming of the Messiah.”
If, even the lesser commandments, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written עקב, which means “because of,” and implies they will definitely heed these laws, as we find regarding Avraham. There it is written (Bereishis 26:5), “Because (עקב) you have heeded My voice etc,” and Avraham definitely listened to His voice and wished to slaughter his son. If so, here also it implies they will definitely listen. But it says (Megillah 25a), “Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven.” Therefore Rashi explains that עקב means [“heel,” referring to] the lesser commandments (i.e., those commandments that people do not regard as being worth much reward). Therefore Rashi also says, “If, even the lesser commandments,” meaning, it is not definite. Additionally, because משפטים here refers to all the commandments and not just to monetary matters — since monetary matters are not mentioned here — then how can the verse say האלה (these)? Therefore, Rashi changes [the meaning of] the word משפטים [usually referring to monetary laws] to מצות [commandments, in general]. (Re”m). Another explanation is that Rashi is answering the question: The verse should say, “If you will heed the commandments,” as it is written in Parshas Ki Savo (below 28:1), “If you will heed,” and (ibid v. 15), “If you will not heed.” Therefore it is written עקב, to imply “the lesser commandments etc.”
Because Satan. Rashi is answering the question: Why are both the words “statute” and “Torah” written [for surely one of them would suffice]? Rashi is not asking why either term is used altogether, for in many instances it is written in the Torah [only] “statute,” for example, “This is the statute of the Pesach offering” (Shemos 12:43) and “If you follow my statutes” (Vayikra 26:3). Also “Torah” appears in, “This is the Torah for the burnt-offering, the meal offering, the sin-offering” (Ibid., 7:37) and, “This is the Torah for the sin-offering” (Vayikra 6:2). But here it is written, “This is the statute of the Torah” so why are both [terms] necessary? Furthermore, “statute” is juxtaposed to “Torah” implying that one term defines the other. It is as if Scripture said that the Torah of the [red] cow is a statute. And it is not similar to, “My statutes and My Torah” (Bereishis 26:5) for there “statutes” is an independent term, not modifying [the word] “Torah.” Now, even though the entire Torah is the King’s edict [and we cannot know the reasons for the mitzvot], nonetheless here it serves to notify that there is no reason at all [for this commandment], rather it is an [absolute] edict and it is worthy of acceptance by Yisroel without any known reason for it. This is what Rashi explains [when he says], “Because Satan, etc.” You might [challenge this and] note that in the episode dealing with Midyan’s utensils it is [also] written, “This is the statute of the Torah” (Bamidbar 31:21). The answer is that there too it is referring to the ashes of the [red] cow for it is written, “However, it must be purified with sprinkling water” (Ibid. v. 23). According to the Midrash (see Rashi there) that the verse, “However, it must be purified with sprinkling water” refers to immersion, for the Torah requires the immersion of metal utensils to purify them from the forbidden [foods absorbed within], one must say that the [act of] immersion itself is among those [statutes] that have no reason. [For one may wonder] why one thousand seah of non-mikvah water cannot accomplish [i.e., purify] what forty seah of mikvah water accomplishes. Re”m
In any case, this is not the only apparent contradiction between Genesis and later law. There are others, not least the very fact that Jacob married two sisters, something categorically forbidden in Leviticus 18:18. Nahmanides’ solution – an elegant one, flowing from his radical view about the connection between Jewish law and the Land of Israel – is that the patriarchs observed the Torah only while they were living in Israel itself. (Nahmanides on Genesis 26:5.)
[130] So in another place He says, “Abraham did ‘all My law’ ” (Gen. 26:5): “Law” being evidently nothing else than the Divine word enjoining what we ought to do and forbidding what we should not do, as Moses testifies by saying “he received a law from His words” (Deut. 33:3 f.). If, then, the law is a Divine word, and the man of true worth “does” the law, he assuredly “does” the word: so that, as I said, God’s words are the wise man’s “doings.”
[8] The loyalty of Abraham’s service and ministry is shewn by the concluding words of the oracle addressed to Abraham’s son, “I will give to thee and thy seed all this land, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in thy seed, because Abraham thy father hearkened to My voice and kept My injunctions, My commands, My ordinances and My statutes” (Gen. 26:3–5).
There were ten generations from Noah to Avraham. And why was it necessary to bring all those people into the world? But this is to teach us that all those generations continued to anger God, and there was not one among them who walked in the ways of the Holy Blessed One until Abraham our forefather came along, and he walked in the ways of the Holy Blessed One, as it says (Genesis 26:5), “Because Abraham heeded My call [and kept My charge, My commandments, My rules, and My Torahs.]” (But there is only one Torah! How could he have kept Torahs, plural?) This teaches that the Holy Blessed One planted two inner voices in Abraham, like two wise men, who helped him understand, advised him, and taught him wisdom all night long, as it says (Psalms 16:7), “I will bless the Eternal who has advised me. Even at night, the voices inside of me [lit., my kidneys] have admonished me.” Moreover, Abraham our forefather would always give charity first, and only after would he execute justice, as it says (Genesis 18:19), “For I have singled him out, in order that he command [his children and his household after him, and they will keep the way of the Eternal, doing charity (lit., righteousness), and justice].” Whenever two parties to a conflict would come before Abraham our forefather seeking justice, and one would say about the other: He owes me money, Abraham our forefather would take his own money and give it to the claimant. Then he would say to them: Make your cases before me. So they would argue their cases. When he found that it was actually the first one who owed the money, he would say: Take the money in your hand, and give it to your fellow. And if no one owed money, he would say: Split (what you have), and go in peace. But King David did not do it like this. Rather, he executed justice first, and only afterward gave charity, as its says (II Samuel 8:15), “And David would execute justice and charity [lit., righteousness] for all of his people.” Whenever two parties to a dispute came before King David, and one would say: This one owes me money, he would say to them: Make your cases. So they would argue their cases. Then, when one was found to be liable to the other, [David] would take out his own money and give it to him. If no one owed money, he would say to them: (Split what you have and) go in peace.
MISHNAH: Rebbi Nehorai says: I am leaving aside all trades in the world and teach my son only Torah (This really is frowned upon, Mishnah Avot 2:2, 4:5.) , for a man eats from its rewards in this world and the capital remains for the future world. But with other trades it is not so, for if a person is afflicted with sickness, or old age, or a measure of suffering, and cannot continue in his trade, he dies, abandoned, from hunger. But the Torah is different, it guards him from all evil in his youth and gives him a future and hope in his old age. What does it say about his youth? “Those who trust in the Eternal will renew strength, they rise on wings like an eagle, they run without effort, they walk without tiring. (Is. 40:31.) ” What does it say about his old age? “They still bear fruit in old age, fat and invigorated they will be. (Ps. 92:15.) ” So it says about our father Abraham, peace on him: “Abraham was old, came into days, and the Eternal blessed Abraham with everything. (Gen. 24:1.) ” We find that our father Abraham kept the entire Torah before it was given, as it is said: “As a reward because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My watch, My commandments, My laws, and My teachings. (Gen. 26:5.) ”
HALAKHAH: (Tosephta 5:16–17; a shortened version in the Babli, 82b, and Masekhet Sopherim 17:1.) “Rebbi Nehorai says: I am leaving aside all trades in the world and teach my son only Torah.” For all trades support a person only in his youth as long as he is in possession of his powers. But if a person is afflicted with sickness or a measure of suffering, and cannot continue working, he dies from hunger. But the Torah is different, it honors him and guards him from all evil in his youth and gives him a future and hope in his old age (G has here an amplification that looks redundant.) . What does it say about his youth? “Those who trust in the Eternal will renew strength, they rise on wings like an eagle, they run without effort, they walk without tiring. (Is. 40:31.) ” What does it say about his old age? “They still bear fruit in old age, fat and invigorated they will be. (Ps. 92:15.) ” So you find about the patriarch Abraham who kept the Torah before it came into the world (G lacks “into the world”. The text of L should be interpreted as “came into this world”, not excluding the doctrine of pre-existence of the Torah in the abstract prior to Creation.) , as it is said: “As a reward because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My watch, My commandments, My laws, and My teachings. (Gen. 26:5.) ” Also it made him great and blessed him in his youth and gave him a future and hope in his old age. What does it say about his youth? “Abraham was very wealthy with livestock, silver, and gold.” And about his old age, what does it say? “Abraham was old, came into days, and the Eternal blessed Abraham with everything. (Gen. 24:1.) ”
The mishna explains: With regard to his youth, what does it say about a Torah scholar? “But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). With regard to his old age, what does it say? “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age” (Psalms 92:15), and it likewise states with regard to Abraham our forefather: “And Abraham was old, well stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1). We found that Abraham our forefather fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given, as it is stated: “Because that Abraham listened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5), which indicates that Abraham observed all the mitzvot of his own accord and was rewarded in his old age as a result.
And Rabbi Ami bar Abba said: Abraham recognized his Creator at the age of three years, as it is stated: “Because [ekev] Abraham hearkened to My voice” (Genesis 26:5). The numerical value of the letters of the word ekev is 172, indicating that he observed the halakha for this many years. If Abraham lived until 175 then his first recognition of the Creator must have been at the age of three.
Rav said, and some say Rav Ashi said: Abraham our Patriarch fulfilled the entire Torah, even the mitzva of the joining of cooked foods, a rabbinic ordinance instituted later, as it is stated: My Torahs. Since the term is in the plural, it indicates that Abraham kept two Torahs; one, the Written Torah, and one, the Oral Torah. In the course of fulfilling the Oral Torah, he fulfilled all the details and parameters included therein.
Apropos the previous statement, the Gemara cites that Rav said: Abraham our Patriarch fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given, as it is stated: “Because [ekev] Abraham hearkened to My voice and kept My charge, My mitzvot, My statutes and My Torahs” (Genesis 26:5). Rav Shimi bar Ḥiyya said to Rav: And say that the verse means that he fulfilled only the seven Noahide mitzvot and not the entire Torah. The Gemara asks: But isn’t there also circumcision that Abraham clearly observed, which is not one of the Noahide laws? Apparently, Abraham fulfilled more than just those seven. The Gemara asks: And say that he fulfilled only the seven mitzvot and circumcision. Rav said to him: If so, why do I need the continuation of the verse, that Abraham kept: My mitzvot and My Torah? That is a clear indication that he fulfilled mitzvot beyond the seven Noahide mitzvot, and apparently fulfilled the entire Torah.
God further said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant.
And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.
All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.”
[All this is] because Avraham listened to [accepted] My voice [Word], and minded My mandate [the mandate of My Word], My commandments, My decrees and My teachings.
on account that Abraham obeyed My Word, and kept the keeping of My word, My statutes, My covenants, and My laws.
(Translated from the Ehrfurt manuscript:) Rabbi Nehorai says: I abandoned every trade in the world and taught my children only Torah, for they eat the reward of its labour in this world but the principal remains for them in the world to come, because every trade in the world only stands for a man in his youth when his strength is upon him, but if he becomes sick, old or has troubles, he will not be able to do work and in the end will die in famine. But Torah keeps him from all evil in his youth and gives him a future and hope in his old age. In his youth, what does it say? "Those who hope in God, He will exchange for him strength, make his limbs rise like eagles" (Yeshayahu 40:31). In his old age, what does it say? "In old age they produce fruit" (Tehilim 92:15). And so too you find regarding Avraham our father, who God blessed in his old age more than in his youth, as it is said, "The time came when Avraham was old, and God blessed Avraham with everything (ba-kol)" (Bereishit 24:1). Rabbi Meir says: [The blessing was] that he didn't have a daughter. Rabbi Yehudah says: That he had a daughter. Rabbi Elazar ha-Moda'i says: This is the large sangenon (a kind of magical precious stone) that was in the hand of Avraham our father. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: This is the beautiful jewel that hung around the neck of Avraham our father, that any sick person who saw it would immediately be healed. When Avraham our father died, God took it and hung it in the daytime. A second thing [that was his reward]: that Esav didn't rebel during his [grandfather's] lifetime. A third thing: that Yishmael did teshuvah during his [father's] lifetime. Others say: Avraham had a daughter and her name was Bakol. God blessed him in his old age more than in his youth because he did the Torah before it came, as it is said, "Because Avraham heard My voice and kept My charge, My commands, My laws, My instructions (torot)" (Bereishit 26:5)—it doesn't say "My Torah" (in singular) but "My instructions" (in plural), this teaches that the words of Torah and the words of scribes were revealed to him.
| וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב יִצְחָ֖ק בִּגְרָֽר׃ | 6 J | So Isaac stayed in Gerar. |
AND ISAAC DWELT IN GERAR. Isaac did as God had commanded him. (Sojourn in this land (v. 3).)
וישב יצחק בגרר. Isaac settled in Gerar. He observed G'd's directive and cancelled his previous plans.
וישב, he accepted G’d’s instruction to remain within the boundaries of the land promised to his father Avraham.
(6-11) Siehe Kap. 12, 10 f. und Kap. 20. — Daß die Besorgnis nicht ungegründet war, beweist der Umstand, daß, da Rebekkas wahres Verhältnis zu Jizchak bekannt zu werden schien, Abimelech es für nötig erachtete, sie durch ein bei Todesstrafe ergangenes Verbot in Schutz zu nehmen. כי ארכו לו שם הימים, durch die Länge der Zeit wurde er wieder unvorsichtiger. — אחר העם: der König.
Isaac lived in Gerar. Since he was prohibited from leaving for Egypt, Isaac remained in Gerar.
“Isaac stayed in Gerar” [26:6]. Isaac stayed in Gerar and the people of the city asked about Rebecca. Who was she? He said: she is my sister. She was very beautiful and he feared that they would take her and kill him.
[(Gen. 37:1:) NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >.] This text is related (to I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU [AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS]. So are the righteous. The Holy One had made them the essential thing, but they make themselves subordinate. In the case of Abraham, the Holy One had magnified him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): I WILL BLESS YOU AND MAGNIFY YOUR NAME. And so (in Gen. 13:17): ARISE, WALK ABOUT THE LAND < THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH AND BREADTH, FOR I AM GIVING IT TO YOU >. < Yet > he says to the children of Heth (i.e., to the Hittites, in Gen. 23:4): I AM AN ALIEN AND A TRANSIENT AMONG YOU. So also with Isaac, the Holy One magnified him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND < AND REAPED IN THAT YEAR A HUNDREDFOLD, FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM >. It also says (in Gen. 26:6): SO ISAAC {SOJOURNED} [DWELT] IN GERAR. And so with Jacob (according to Gen. 36:6): NOW JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND WHERE HIS FATHER HAD SOJOURNED. It is therefore stated (in I Chron. 29:16): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS.
פן ינחם העם ושבו מצרים, “lest the people would reconsider and turn back to Egypt;” (if they would have to fight for their freedom with lethal weapons) The Philistines being so closely related to the Egyptians would take up arms in support of the Egyptians and they would push back the Israelites to Egypt. Rabbi David, grandfather of Rabbi Moshe, said that legally the land of the Philistines was a part of Palestine, as we do not find that Yitzchok ever left the land of Israel although he sojourned in the section populated by the Philistines for many years. (Genesis 26,6) Rabbi Moshe claims that a narrow tongue of land emanating in the land of the Philistines extended deep into the land of Israel. He concluded this, seeing that the Torah called the land: “the land of the Philistines.” An alternate approach: as soon as the Canaanites heard that the Israelites had left Egypt they reminded themselves of G–d’s promise to Avraham that the fourth generation of his descendants would return to the land of Canaan. (Genesis 15,16). In the event, the fourth generation had not yet been born and raised. In fact, G–d was forced to make the Israelites wander in the desert for 40 years so that they would not invade the land of Canaan prematurely, and without support from Hashem. Instead, they would spend their time studying the Torah, and receive their sustenance by way of miracle, bread from heaven, and water by means of a well which traveled alongside them all the time till the death of Miriam. Nonetheless, the Canaanites were now afraid that the Israelites would try to dispossess them of their country; in order to deny the Israelites the advantages of possessing their land they started a policy of systematically ruining the soil of their land. When G–d saw this, He was faced with a dilemma, seeing that He had promised to bring Avraham’s descendants to a land of bountiful fruit, ample rainfall, etc., if He waited with making good on His promise He could not keep that part of it. This dilemma is what the prophet Hoseah referred to when he wrote in Hoseah 7,15: ואני יסרתי זרועותם ואלי יחשבו רע; “but I braced, I strengthened their arms, and they plot evil against Me!”
That Kehos lived after Amram’s birth ... Also, [you must subtract] Kehos’s years before he descended to Egypt. Since the enslavement itself was not 400 years, we are forced to say that “for four hundred years” refers to “your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs,” rather than to “they will enslave them and oppress them.” Indeed, from the time Yitzchok was born, they were as foreigners in various lands, as it is written (Bereishis 26:6): “Yitzchok settled in Gerar.” [And there are many verses that] use the term ויגר, which connotes being a foreigner. Although the enslavement was only for 210 years, they were foreigners from the time Yitzchok was born.
Genesis 26:1-6
As we have suggested, there is no true collection of stories about Yitzhak. That is, virtually nowhere does Yitzhak appear in a tale where, as a distinct individual, he is a central character. And unlike Yaakov and Yosef, Yitzhak never directly receives his father’s blessing. This is bestowed by God, and one gets the impression that even Avraham does not deal with his son as an individual. This is not surprising, given Yitzhak’s function in his father’s life. For the narrative, his main purpose, as we have stressed above, is simply to remain in the land (note the repetition of the word “land” in this section). It is almost as if Avraham, the man who lives in the shadow of sacred trees, plants one in the person of his son. In this chapter Yitzhak is forbidden to go beyond the borders of Canaan. Even his death, so seemingly out of place in Chap. 35, occurs after Yaakov has returned home from his wanderings: only when it is assured that there will be continuity in the land is he allowed to die—despite the fact that as a result the text must leave him blind and dying for twenty years.
Yitzchok [thus] settled in Gerar.
And Izhak dwelt in Gerar.
| וַֽיִּשְׁאֲל֞וּ אַנְשֵׁ֤י הַמָּקוֹם֙ לְאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֑וא כִּ֤י יָרֵא֙ לֵאמֹ֣ר אִשְׁתִּ֔י פֶּן־יַֽהַרְגֻ֜נִי אַנְשֵׁ֤י הַמָּקוֹם֙ עַל־רִבְקָ֔ה כִּֽי־טוֹבַ֥ת מַרְאֶ֖ה הִֽוא׃ | 7 J | When the local leaders (local leaders Or “locals.” Heb. ’anshe ha-maqom; NJPS “the men of the place.” Cf., e.g., Gen. 34.20; Judg. 8.15–17. See the Dictionary under ’ish.) asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, “The local leaders might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” |
I also learned from my Master how to tell if a foreign though comes from the side of Chesed (“Love”), having fallen in the Breaking of the Vessels and that now needing to be rectified and uplifted. Whereas, on the other hand, there are also sinful thoughts. When these enter one’s the mind, a person should realize that there are Judgments upon him that want to punish him. In such a case, he should be extremely concerned and make a unification between “fear” and “awe.” Then “all the workers of iniquity will disband” (Psalms 92:10). Thus, he explained the verses: “And it came to pass, when [Abraham] approached to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife: I know now that you are an attractive woman” (Genesis 12:11), and “When the local men asked [Isaac] about his wife, he said: ‘She is my sister’; for he was afraid to say: ‘My wife’; ‘lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebecca, because she is fair to look upon.’“ (ibid. 26:7). For the fact that they thought about female beauty was a sign of impending punishment. (The Sages explain that before these occasions, neither Abraham nor Isaac recognized their wive’s beauty. According to the Baal Shem Tov, the fact that these Tzaddikim suddenly becoming attracted to physical beauty was a sign that there were Supernal Judgments upon them, as reflected in the Egyptians and the Philistines who threatened to kill them.) Ketones Passim, p. 42d
“And the men of the place asked of his wife, and he said, she is my sister .…” (Bereshit, 26:7) It is written in the Gemara (Bava Metsia, 59a), “Rava said to the men of his city Machoza, honor your wives, for in the merit of this you will become rich.” This is hinted at with Adam haRishon, where it says (Bereshit, 3:20), “and Adam called his wife Chava,” and then follows it immediately by saying, “and God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and dressed them.” The meaning is, after God’s influence was reduced through the snake, His influence then returned by means of the garments of skins, since the man proclaimed the preciousness of Chava and called her the mother of all life. Similarly we find with Avraham who said of Sarah, “she is my sister” (in an effort to protect her) when he went to Egypt, and afterwards left with great wealth. It is also so of Yitzchak, who said of Rivka, “she is my sister,” that immediately after it is said, “and Yitzchak sowed in that land, and found a hundredfold in return, and God blessed him.”
וישאלו אנשי המקום לאשתו, “The inhabitants of that place enquired about the marital status of the woman accompanying him.” The reason why Rivkah was not abducted immediately, as had been Sarah when Avraham had stayed in Avimelech’s country, is that Avraham had at the time warned the Philistines by saying to them at the time: “since when is the first thing you ask a stranger about the status of the people who accompany him?” Compare Talmud Baba Metzia 92.
פן יהרגוני, “lest they kill me;” Avraham at the time had ultimately not been afraid to tell Avimelech that Sarah was his wife as it had become known how he and a few men had defeated Amrafel and his mighty armies in battle. At this point they had no reason to be afraid of Yitzchok[, seeing he had not performed any deeds of valour]. This is why he was afraid to tell the people [there that Rivkah was his wife].
כי טובת מראה היא, “for she was goodlooking;” the word מאד, “very much,” is absent here whereas it had appeared in connection with Rivkah before she had mothered twins. (Compare 24,16)
He said "she is my sister" and Yitzhak did not request from her that she also say this as Avraham did in a similar situation because Rivkah was exceedingly submissive to Yitzhak as I wrote earlier at the end of Chapter 24 and for this reason did not deviate from his will in any way.
OF HIS WIFE. The word le-ishto (of his wife) should be rendered: about his wife. (The lamed here means about. See I.E.’s comments on Gen. 20:13. Le-ishto might be rendered to his wife, hence I.E.’s comment.) We find a similar meaning for this word in that men say not of me (li) (Jud. 9:54). (Here too the lamed means about. Thus li should be rendered about me, not to me.)
FOR HE FEARED. Yare (he feared) is a perfect, (Yare can also be a participle, hence I.E.’s comment.) as is the word zaken (old) in And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (zaken) (Gen. 27:1). (Zaken can also be a participle. However, in this verse it cannot be so, for the verse opens with a perfect viz., va-yehi (and it came to pass).) The words “because he said” have been omitted before lest the men of the place should kill me. (The verse reads: for he feared to say ‘My wife:’ lest the men of the place should kill me. According to I.E. this is an abridged verse and should be read as if written: for he feared to say my wife, “because he said” lest the men of this place, etc.) We find this phrase similarly omitted in for God hath made me fruitful (Gen. 41:52). (It should be read: “because he said” for God hath made me fruitful.)
וישאלו...לאשתו, an inquiry regarding his marital status, especially the woman in whose company he had been seen. We find a parallel construction in 20,13. There are numerous such constructions, and I have dealt wit them in my commentary on 12,12.
AND HE SAID: SHE IS MY SISTER. They did not ask concerning the children for he would say, “They are my children from another woman.”
לאשתו means CONCERNING HIS WIFE, just as (20:13) “Say about me (לי), He is my brother”.
Concerning his wife. [Rashi explains this] because [the word לאשתו in] the verse makes it sound as if they asked Rivkah, and Yitzchok answered. But this is not plausible. Perforce, [it means they asked him, concerning his wife].
The men of the place asked him with regard to his wife. He said: She is my sister. Isaac thereby followed Abraham’s example (12:13, 20:2). In a sense his claim was justified, as Rebecca was related to him. It is possible that Isaac and Rebecca were similar enough in appearance that this contention would be accepted. As he was afraid to say: She is my wife, for he said to himself: Lest the men of the place kill me over Rebecca, because she is of fair appearance. An earlier verse already mentioned Rebecca’s beauty as a young girl (24:16), but her age at the time of this incident is not stated. Perhaps due to the negative experience of the residents of Gerar during Abraham’s earlier visit (20:1–18), they accepted Isaac’s claim at face value, and were careful not to take a woman from his tribe.
ויאמר אחותי היא, He said: “she is my sister.” The local people did not enquire as to the maternity and paternity of the children (Esau and Yaakov.) They might have been children from a former wife, for instance.
In point of fact, it appears to this writer that there does exist an alternate method not subject to the aforementioned objections and deficiencies. In every marriage, the husband, by virtue of the conditions of the ketubah and of rabbinic legislation, is obliged to provide for the needs of his wife. The style in which a husband is obligated to support his wife and the extent of this obligation are carefully spelled out in Shulḥan Arukh, Even haEzer 70:1–3. However, there is nothing to prevent the husband from voluntarily obligating himself to a more generous level of support. Rashi, Genesis 26:7, cites the midrashic comment which points out that the food brought by Jacob to his father was not stolen but was the lawful property of his mother. The Midrash declares that Isaac included a clause in Rebeccah's ketubah obligating him to provide her with a daily allowance of two goats.
It is well known that the meaning of the word yir-ah, is twofold. One meaning is the instinctive unreasoning fear of a physically stronger phenomenon, a fear common to both man and beast. Jacob, fearing defeat at the hands of Esau, prays to G'd for help, lest Esau smite both him an his family. (Genesis 32,10-13) Isaac, who is afraid to be murdered on account of his wife, indulges in a white lie. (Genesis 26,7) Another kind of fear is that which recognises superior moral or intellectual qualities in someone whom one confronts. In effect, this fear is reverence. When Miriam and Aaron discussed Moses' marital relationship, (Numbers 12,2) G'd takes them to task for having failed to display that degree of reverence that is due a prophet of Moses' calibre. The Mishnah in Avot 4,15, urges that reverence for one's teacher should be on a level similar to that accorded the Almighty Himself. Whereas the former kind of fear is common both to the sinner and the devout person, the latter, i.e. reverence is a form of fear that sinners do not know. Proverbs 10,24, states: "the fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted." The thing that the wicked is afraid of will happen to him, the pious however, will not be denied, since his adversary can sense his moral superiority. G'd promises that the Canaanites will be awed by the Jewish people in this fashion when the latter are about to invade their land. "The fear of you and the reverence for you, the Lord will implant on all the face of the earth." (Deut 11,25) The most interesting example we find of this phenomenon is the account of Saul, who tries to kill David. (Samuel I chapter 18) He tried to make David's death (intended) appear like an accident, and that is why David did not run for his life at once. Twice, during the playing of the harp, David had turned his head at the precise moment Saul had thrown his spear at him. Saul, who realised that David's escape was not accidental, had previously only feared David as a formidable warrior. Now, however, he also developed reverence for him, seeing G'd had so obviously protected him. (verses 12-15) Verse thirteen refers to the reverence, verse sixteen to the fear of an adversary of known superiority. Saul had experienced similar feelings when his efforts to trick David into being killed by the Philistines had failed. At that time he had let it be known that he would give David his daughter in marriage in return for a dowry of one hundred Philistine foreskins, (ibid, especially verse nine) Other examples of fear and terror are found in Psalms 33,8 and 9. Psalms 68,4, and Jeremiah 5,22. On the other hand, the reverence of the righteous is not based on terror. Compare Psalms 34,10 as well as Psalms 145 and 147. The yereyim are not full of terror, but await G'ds kindness with confidence. We must now examine what kind of fear is referred to in our Parshah in chapter 10,22. It is unlikely that Moses would refer to the fear common to man and beast, since one would then have to assume that G'ds main purpose is for man to relive experiences that would remind him of moments of fear and terror. His service of the Lord then would be based only on man's terrifying awareness of G'ds superior power, His ability to punish man. When under the influence of such terror, truthfulness can easily be turned into falsehoods told because one hopes to escape detection of one's sins. Such untruths would then not even be sinful. We find Abraham calling his wife his sister. Isaac does so likewise, each one having feared for his life at the time. (Genesis 12,10 and 20,6) Joseph's brothers told him of a supposed statement by their father Jacob. They too had been motivated by fear that Joseph would revenge himself now that their father had died. Aaron had agreed to make the golden calf after having seen Chur killed. (Sanhedrin 7) It is therefore quite unthinkable that this is the kind of "fear" that G'd asks of the Jewish people. In fact the whole concept of free will would be demolished if that were to be the basis of our relationship with G'd. The statement of Rabbi Abdima ben Chana (Shabbat 88) that G'd had threatened the Jewish people with annihilation should they fail to accept the Torah at Mount Sinai, is used as evidence that contracts entered into under duress are not binding. Also, it would not make sense if the Talmud in Berachot 33, had described the attainment of fear as a minor accomplishment for the likes of Moses. Surely, any person could possess that kind of fear without even half trying. One certainly would not have to be a Moses to live in terror of G'ds power. On the other hand, if what is meant in our Parshah is reverence inspired by awareness of G'ds many attributes, then such a demand would seem to be the ultimate demand that can be made of any human being. Certainly such a demand ought not to be described as a very modest request. Intellectual awareness of the need for such reverence vis a vis G'd and all He stands for, may indeed be relatively easy to attain, but a lifetime filled with constant awareness of this reverence seems more than can be reasonably expected from any individual. Even of Moses himself it is said: "He turned his face away since he was afraid to look upon G'd." The Torah compliments Moses on this yir-ah, reverence. If a Moses deserves special mention for displaying such reverence, it cannot be come by easily by lesser mortals. (Exodus 2,6)
"And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, 'She is my sister" (Gen. 26:7), that is, just like Abraham said. For the Shechinah was with Isaac and his wife, and he said of the Shechinah, as it is written, "Say to wisdom, 'you are my sister'" (Mishlei 7:4). Thus, he was strengthened and said, "She is my sister." Abraham and Isaac deserved (to say this). This is assuredly so because of the verse "My sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled" (Shir Hashirim 5:2). (They) were therefore worthy of saying "She is my sister." Thus, the Righteous were strengthened by the Holy One, blessed be He.
On all three occasions, the men fear that they will be killed so that their wives can be taken into the royal harem. On the first occasion Abram says to Sarai, “When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live” (Gen. 12:12). On the second he says, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife’” (Gen. 20:11). On the third, Isaac says, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebecca, because she is beautiful” (Gen. 26:7).
אמרי לי means say regarding me (the ל of לי signifies על); similar are: (26:7) “And the men of the place asked לאשתו” where לאשתו is the same as על אשתו regarding his wife; (Exodus 14:3) “And Pharaoh will say לבני ישראל” where לבני is the same as על בני ישראל; (Judges 9:54) “That men say not (לי) regarding me, a woman slew him”.
the song of my beloved about his vineyard This is the song of my beloved that he sang for his vineyard, about his vineyard, as (Genesis 26:7): “And the people of the place asked about his wife (לְאִשְׁתּוֹ), about his wife [not ‘to his wife’].”
about my master Heb. לאדני, about my master, as (Exod. 14:3): “Then Pharaoh will say concerning the children of (לבני) Israel”; (Gen. 26:7), “The people of the place asked him about his wife (לאשתו).”
What is true of Leah and Yaakov is really true of all our Biblical heroes. The predicaments they faced did not come with facile solutions. When Avraham and Yitzchak vulnerably came to foreign nations accompanied by unusually beautiful wives (Bereshit 12:10-15, Bereshit 20:1-2 and Bereshit 26:6-7), there were no easy solutions. When Yosef had to deal with the jealousy of his holy brothers, there were also no easy solutions. The more we think about it, the more we will see that most of the choices faced by our ancestors were quite complex.
וללוי אמר, “and concerning Levi, Moses had said” Rashi understands the letter ו at the beginning of the word וללוי, as meaning על, i.e. “about.” Similar use of that letter in that sense is found in Genesis 26,7 וישאלו אנשי המקום לאשתו, “the people of that place enquired about his wife.” There are other examples of that kind of usage made of the letter ו in the Scriptures. Nachmanides writes that seeing Moses had addressed Reuven and Yehudah in his blessings by name both in the introduction and as an integral part of the blessing, he hastens to face each tribe separately when blessing them, so that they do not feel slighted. In other words, each time we find the introductory letter ו before the tribe’s name, this means that at that moment Moses had taken up position directly in front of the members of that tribe. After positioning himself opposite the members of the tribe of Levi, he commenced with the words תומיך ואריך וגו'.
So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the public place (public place Lit. “gate.”) of their town and spoke to their town council, (their town council Heb. ’anshe ‘iram; NJPS “their fellow townsmen,” trad. “the men of their city.” Cf. Ruth 3.11; 4.1–2. See the Dictionary under ’ish.) saying,
Then he came to the people of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you mocked me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, (Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands See note at v. 6.) that we should give your famished men bread?’” And he took the elders of the city and, [bringing] desert thorns and briers, he punished (punished Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “threshed”; cf. v. 7.) the people of Succoth with them. As for Penuel, he tore down its tower and killed the townspeople.
The local men asked about his wife, and he said, She is my sister. He was afraid to say, [she is] my wife, lest the local men kill me for Rivkah, for she is so good looking.
And the man of the place inquired concerning his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he reasoned in his heart, Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rivekah, because she was of beautiful appearance.
| וַיְהִ֗י כִּ֣י אָֽרְכוּ־ל֥וֹ שָׁם֙ הַיָּמִ֔ים וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים בְּעַ֖ד הַֽחַלּ֑וֹן וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה יִצְחָק֙ מְצַחֵ֔ק אֵ֖ת רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ | 8 J | When some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines, looking out of the window, saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. |
ויהי כי ארכו לו הימים, “it happened that his days were lengthened” seeing that Yitzchok had to abstain from marital relations for an extended period; it had become permissible for him to indulge in such relations even in daytime [to prevent involuntary ejaculation.] (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 64,5);
וישקף אבימלן בעד החלון, “Avimelech took a look through the window;” according to some commentators the window had not been open but had in fact been securely locked. This fact led Avimelech to conclude that Yitzchok and his wife were engaged in activities that were extremely private. Even when marital intercourse is permitted in daytime, the room in which it takes place must be dark. Yizchak was permitted to engage in marital relations [which are generally prohibited in times of famine] because there was no famine in this country.
וירא, והנה יצחק מצחק את רבקה, “he looked and here he saw that Yitzchok was engaged in intimacies with Rivkah.” This expression for describing intimacies with the opposite sex is found when the wife of Potiphar tells the servants in her husband’s household that this is what the Hebrew slave tried to do to her. (Genesis 39,14). In that verse the next words are: לשכב עמי, “to sleep with me;” from this we are able to deduce that Avimelech did not witness actual intercourse but only foreplay. Yitzchok most certainly would not have engaged in marital relations unless he was sure that no peeping Tom could witness this.
מצחק את רבקה אשתו. making sport with his wife Rebeccah. He indulged in the kind of affectionate behaviour customary between man and his wife. If we are to accept the interpretation of Bereshit Rabbah 64,5 that Avimelech observed Isaac making love to his wife, we must assume that this took place under circumstances when marital intercourse is permitted even during the day, such as for therapeutic purposes (compare Maimonides Hilchot Deyot 40, or the example quoted in Ketuvot 65 about the widow of Abbaye who inadvertently caused Rava to become aroused so that he had to go home in the middle of the day in order to have marital relations with his wife). The righteous endeavour not even to commit the semblance of an unbecoming act.
ויהי...וישקף, compare our commentary on 18,16 on the word וישקיפו.
ויהי כי ארכו לו שם, after a while Yitzchok was no longer careful to conduct himself in a manner that the suspicion that Rivkah was his wife could not be aroused. The reason was that he did not think that she would be abducted.
מצחק, engaging in marital intimacy. The same word was used for intimacy by the wife of Potiphar in Genesis 39,17 when she accused Joseph of trying to rape her. [the author brings this example as in Genesis 21,9 this word could not have had the same meaning. Ed.] Potiphar’s wife elsewhere used to word לשכב עמי, “to sleep with me,” to describe Joseph’s supposed conduct (39,14).
וישקף אבימלך וגומר AND AVIMELEKH OBSERVED, ET CETERA — He saw him having sexual relations (Genesis Rabbah 64:5).
He thought, “From now on I have no need to worry... The explanation of וישקף is that Yitzchok unconcernedly left open the place where people could look in. Consequently, “Avimelech looked.”
He saw him having marital relations. [Rashi knows this] because otherwise, how did Avimelech know she was his wife? But [Rashi’s proof] is not readily understood, as Avimelech could [have known this by just] seeing an embrace and a kiss. (Re’m) [Another approach:] It seems that Rashi deduced this from the superfluous word אשתו, which implies that Yitzchok was amusing himself in a way pertaining to his wife, i.e., marital relations. [Another approach:] Rashi makes his comment on “Avimelech looked,” not on “Avimelech saw,” so we will not say that Avimelech actually saw him having marital relations. Heaven forbid that a tzaddik like Yitzchok would leave the window open! Rather, Yitzchok closed the window — and that led Avimelech to understand [that she was his wife]. “Avimelech looked” means he observed and understood. And the phrase בעד החלון [does not mean “through” the window. It] means “facing the window,” as this is the general meaning of בעד that appears in Scripture. (Nachalas Yaakov) See there for his proof against Re’m.
Yet, it was when the days he was there were extended, and Isaac was less careful; Avimelekh king of the Philistines looked out through the window, as he presumably lived in a palace that was taller than the surrounding buildings, and behold, he saw Isaac in his house playing, engaging in sexual activity, with Rebecca his wife.
והנה יצחק מצחק את רבקה אשתו, “and lo, Yitzchok was fondling his wife Rivkah.” Even though, according to Jewish law, marital relations between husband and wife during daylight hours are forbidden, and there is no reason to assume that Yitzchok’s house was in darkness at the time, seeing that Avimelech could see what was going on. One may resolve the problem by saying that when a saintly and learned person such as Yitzchok wraps himself in his Tallit at the time, it is as if he was wrapping himself in darkness, so that he may indulge in marital relations in such conditions. However, this does not answer the question how he could indulge at a time when famine was raging, and we have a long standing rule that in conditions of famine marital relations are to be shunned. Possibly, the fact that he, personally, was not suffering famine, and no other Jew was suffering from famine at that time either, this consideration would suffice to waive the rule not to sleep with his wife during famine.
“When some time had passed, Abimelech looked out” [26:8]. Isaac had been in Gerar for a number of days and the king was looking through his window and saw Isaac playing with Rebecca, his wife. Here one asks a question. How is it possible that Isaac should lie with his wife publicly, that the king should have seen that, and particularly during the day? Another question. Why does Scripture have to say that he saw it through the window? The explanation is that Isaac closed the window during the day and slept with Rebecca. Thus, the king asked, what is it that Isaac closed the window during the day? He must be sleeping with his wife. Another question is asked. How was Isaac allowed to sleep with Rebecca; there was a famine? The explanation is that there was no famine where Isaac lived. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 26:8.)
Additionally, immersion is meant to separate between the different realms of a person’s life. Torah must be studied with the appropriate gravitas, with a sense of fear and awe, whereas the mitzva of ona is fulfilled with a spirit of playfulness, liberation, and unbounded joy, as it is written: “Yitzḥak was being playful with Rivka his wife” (Bereishit 26:8). Rashi explains that “being playful” is a euphemism for sexual relations. This is similar to the Sages’ ordinance that men wear belts while they are speaking holy words, to separate the heart from the genitals, lest the urges emanating from the genitalia confound the head and heart and make it difficult to engage in spiritual matters with the requisite purity. Ultimately, the mind and emotions can become enslaved to the realization of lustful fantasies. Therefore, in order to fortify his spiritual world, one must study Torah with awe, fear, trembling, and trepidation, as is becoming of its sanctity and seriousness. Then, when he later returns to physicality, he will be able to direct it properly. This explains why the Sages instituted a blessing to be recited upon putting on a belt in the morning: “Who girds Israel with strength” (Ozer Yisrael bi-gevura). The strength to separate between the heart and the genitals liberates a person from being enslaved by his urges and enables him to sanctify them through the mitzva of ona.
Having spoken of similes, I proceed to make the following remark:—The key to the understanding and to the full comprehension of all that the Prophets have said is found in the knowledge of the figures, their general ideas, and the meaning of each word they contain. You know the verse: “I have also spoken in similes by the Prophets” (Hosea 12:10); and also the verse, “Put forth a riddle and speak a parable” (Ezek. 17:2). And because the Prophets continually employ figures, Ezekiel said, “Does He not speak parables?” (xxi. 5). Again, Solomon begins his book of Proverbs with the words, “To understand a proverb and figurative speech, the words of the wise and their dark sayings” (Prov. 1:6); and we read in Midrash, Shir ha-shirim Rabba, 1:1); “To what were the words of the Law to be compared before the time of Solomon? To a well the waters of which are at a great depth, and though cool and fresh, yet no man could drink of them. A clever man joined cord with cord, and rope with rope, and drew up and drank. So Solomon went from figure to figure, and from subject to subject, till he obtained the true sense of the Law.” So far go the words of our Sages. I do not believe that any intelligent man thinks that “the words of the Law” mentioned here as requiring the application of figures in order to be understood, can refer to the rules for building tabernacles, for preparing the lulab, or for the four kinds of trustees. What is really meant is the apprehension of profound and difficult subjects, concerning which our Sages said, “If a man loses in his house a sela, or a pearl, he can find it by lighting a taper worth only one issar. Thus the parables in themselves are of no great value, but through them the words of the holy Law are rendered intelligible.” These likewise are the words of our Sages; consider well their statement, that the deeper sense of the words of the holy Law are pearls, and the literal acceptation of a figure is of no value in itself. They compare the hidden meaning included in the literal sense of the simile to a pearl lost in a dark room, which is full of furniture. It is certain that the pearl is in the room, but the man can neither see it nor know where it lies. It is just as if the pearl were no longer in his possession, for, as has been stated, it affords him no benefit whatever until he kindles a light. The same is the case with the comprehension of that which the simile represents. The wise king said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in vessels of silver” (Prov. 25:11). Hear the explanation of what he said:—The word maskiyoth, the Hebrew equivalent for “vessels,” denotes “filigree network”—i.e., things in which there are very small apertures, such as are frequently wrought by silversmiths. They are called in Hebrew maskiyyoth (lit. “transpicuous,” from the verb sakah, “he saw,” a root which occurs also in the Targum of Onkelos, Gen. 26:8), because the eye penetrates through them.
"And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time with Rivkah his wife" (Beresheet 26:8): "with (Heb. et) Rivkah his wife," precisely, which alludes to the Shechinah that was with Rivkah, because Et ('with'), as we know, is the name of the Shechinah. Another explanation asks if we could possibly conceive of Isaac performing his marital duties during the daytime. We have learned that the children of Yisrael are holy and abstain from cohabitation in the daytime. Therefore, how could Isaac, who was holy, cohabit during the day?
Assuredly Abimelech was wise and looked at the wisdom of the stars, that is called a 'window', as it is written here, "out at a window" (Beresheet 26:8), and elsewhere, "The mother of Sisra looked out at a window" (Shoftim 5:28). As there (refers to) astrology, so here to astrology. And he saw there that it was not as Isaac said, but that he surely was sporting with her, and she was his wife. Then, "Abimelech called Isaac" (Beresheet 26:9) Rabbi Yosi said that it would have befitted Abimelech to do this to Isaac, as he did to Abraham, were it not for the Holy One, blessed be He, who reproved him earlier.
Chapter 40: Torah [1] And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). Twenty generations passed until Abraham, in which old age is not mentioned except for him, as it says, "Now Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And Isaac also stood [before God] and it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). And Jacob also stood [before God], as it says, "And the eyes of Israel were dim with age" (Genesis 48:10). The verse (Psalms 102:17) says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The only way [to achieve this level of prayer] is through old age, as it says, "The beauty of young men is their strength, and the glory of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29). Abraham merited his son through five things, as our Rabbis taught: the father merits a son through five things: through his [the father's] name, through his [the father's] good deeds, through his [the father's] wealth, through his [the father's] strength, and through his [the father's] wisdom. Similarly, Isaac [merited his son through five things], and similarly Jacob [merited his son through five things]. Similarly, Jacob merited Joseph [through these five things], who resembled him in appearance and in title, as it says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Genesis 39:6). [He resembled him] in wisdom, as it says, "Behold, he is the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). He had beauty, appearance, and wisdom. And in Isaac's case, it is written, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with wisdom. And just as Joseph stood up to his brothers in strength, so did Isaac stand up in strength against all the men of Gerar. Just as Joseph was wealthy, so was Isaac wealthy, as it says, "And the man became great and went forward and became very great" (Genesis 26:13). The verse (Genesis 26:8) explains [the word] "wisdom" as meaning "the greatness of his children." From where do we learn that Isaac was handsome like Joseph? It is written about Joseph, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," and when he went to his brothers, what did they say? "Behold, the master of dreams is coming!" (Genesis 37:19). And it is said about Isaac, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with strength, as it says, We know this from the fact that he dug many wells, as it says, "Isaac dug again the wells of water" (Genesis 26:18), and "Isaac's servants dug in the valley" (Genesis 26:19), and "they dug another well" (Genesis 26:21). He had strength in his hands. From where do we know that he was wealthy? It says, "The man became great, and he grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy" (Genesis 26:13). And from where do we know that he lived to a ripe old age of 180 years? It says, "And Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years" (Genesis 35:28). Abraham was the son of Terah, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. Why does the Torah mention this? Because God said to Isaac, "You have merited these five things, so I will add another five years to your life, like your father Abraham." That is why it says, "Look upon your servants" (Psalms 119:16). Anyone who has merit will receive these five things, and anyone who does not have merit will receive five calamities in return. And who was this? Joab, as it is said: "Let Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their bloodshed. May they be afflicted with leprosy, jaundice, and starvation." (2 Samuel 3:29) Leprosy corresponds to strength; one who has leprosy has no strength. Jaundice corresponds to beauty; even if someone is young and jaundiced, there is no beauty in them. Starvation corresponds to wealth, as it says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live" (Proverbs 9:5-6). One who is starving has no leisure to engage in Torah study. Falling by the sword corresponds to the five aspects of praise. These are five calamities corresponding to five aspects of praise. One who does not merit praise inherits these five kinds of calamities, like Joab. But one who does merit praise receives them like Isaac, as it is said, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old" (Genesis 27:1), and David cries out, "May your children be like your ancestors" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore, it says, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old."
“It was when the time he was there was extended, Avimelekh king of the Philistines looked through the window, and behold, he saw Isaac playing with Rebecca his wife” (Genesis 26:8). “It was when the time he was there was extended” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: A bad dream, a harsh prophecy, and disproportionate mourning are nullified by the passage of extended time. A harsh prophecy, from where is it derived? It is as Israel would say to the prophet: “The days will lengthen, and every vision will be void” (Ezekiel 12:22). Disproportionate mourning, the passage of extended time nullifies, from Isaac, (Isaac had been mourning for Abraham.) as it is written: “It was when the time he was there was extended,” and immediately, “behold…Isaac was playing.” Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: Because extended time had passed, you began engaging in this matter? (A reference to conjugal relations. This is the way the midrash interprets "playing.") Did Rabbi Yoḥanan not say: One who engages in conjugal relations during the day, it is indecent, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Conjugal relations are only at night, as it is stated: “In the evening she would come and in the morning she would return” (Esther 2:14). Job cursed the day of his birth and the evening of his conception. That is what is written: “Perish the day I was born, and the night it was said: [A man has been conceived [hora gaver]]” (Job 3:3). Rabbi Marinos bar Hoshaya said: Job said: ‘If only my mother had been a menstruant when he came to consort with her, as it is stated: “Hora gaver” – this is not the time to be impregnated [hora] by a man [gaver].’ Jeremiah curses the day of his birth and the day of conception, as it is stated: “Cursed be the day on which I was born” (Jeremiah 20:14) – this is the day of birth; “the day on which my mother bore me” (Jeremiah 20:14) – this is the day of conception. Is it possible that Ḥilkiyahu, (The father of Jeremiah. See Jeremiah 1:1.) a righteous man, would engage in conjugal relations during the day? It is, rather, because Jezebel was killing prophets, he came and engaged in conjugal relations during the day, and fled.
המשקוף, the upper lintel which is visible to all when one enters though the door. The word appears in a context of viewing something in Genesis 26,8 וישקף אבימלך, when the King of the Philistines, acting like a peeping Tom, found out that Yitzchok and Rivkah were man and wife. Commentators who consider the word משקוף as relating to sounds made when the door hits the frame owe us other proof of such uses of the word in classical Hebrew texts. [a swipe at his grandfather Rashi. Ed.]
For the sacred sporting of the soul is a sight not permissible to an ordinary citizen, but it is open to a king, with whom wisdom was for a very long time a guest, if indeed she did not make him her permanent abode. The name of this king is Abimelech. He looked out at the window, the mind’s eye wide-opened and admitting light, and saw Isaac sporting with Rebecca his wife (Gen. 26:8). [170] What other occupation is seemly for a wise man rather than bright sportiveness and making merry in the company of one who waits patiently for all that is beautiful? Hence it is evident that he will get drunk also, seeing that drunkenness benefits the character, saving it from overstrain and undue intensity.
Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to dance.
Once, after [Yitzchok] had been there a long while, Avimelech, king of the Philistines, looked at the window, and he saw, and behold, Yitzchok was amusing himself with Rivkah, his wife.
And he looked.
And it was when days had increased to him in abiding there, that Abimelek the king of the Philistaee looked from a window, and beheld, and Izhak was disporting with Rivekah his wife.
| וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְ לְיִצְחָ֗ק וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אַ֣ךְ הִנֵּ֤ה אִשְׁתְּךָ֙ הִ֔וא וְאֵ֥יךְ אָמַ֖רְתָּ אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֑וא וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ יִצְחָ֔ק כִּ֣י אָמַ֔רְתִּי פֶּן־אָמ֖וּת עָלֶֽיהָ׃ | 9 J | Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is your wife! Why then did you say: ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.” |
ויקרא...אך הנה אשתך, the word אך in this verse means the same as the word אבל, “but, however.” It also appears in this sense in Exodus 31,13 אך את שבתותי תשמורו, “but you must observe My Sabbath days,” (even when engaged in building the Tabernacle) In Exodus 21,22, when speaking about someone dying as a result of an injury deliberately inflicted upon him, the Torah writes אך אם יום או יומים יעמוד, “but if the victim can stand on his feet for a day or two days, etc.” (his death is not directly attributable to the injury described). In our verse, Avimelech challenges Yitzchok who had presented his wife as being his sister by saying: “but I have seen with my own eyes that she is your wife!” He used the fact that he had observed Yitzchok being intimate with Rivkah as proof that therefore she must be his wife, as no one sleeps with a woman who is not his wife.
ואיך אמרת, the Avimelech mentioned in our chapter here was not the same one that lived in the days of Avraham. Had he been the same it is inconceivable that he could have asked Yitzchok such a question. He had, after all, had experience with Sarah and Avraham concerning the same subject. The Kings of the Philistines generally assumed the title “Avimelech,” just as the Kings of Egypt generally assumed the title “Pharaoh.”
Avimelekh summoned Isaac and said: Behold, I have seen that she is your wife; how did you say: She is my sister? Why did you deceive me? Isaac said to him: Because I said, or I thought to myself: Lest I die over her. If I reveal that she is my wife, they might kill me and take her.
Assuredly Abimelech was wise and looked at the wisdom of the stars, that is called a 'window', as it is written here, "out at a window" (Beresheet 26:8), and elsewhere, "The mother of Sisra looked out at a window" (Shoftim 5:28). As there (refers to) astrology, so here to astrology. And he saw there that it was not as Isaac said, but that he surely was sporting with her, and she was his wife. Then, "Abimelech called Isaac" (Beresheet 26:9) Rabbi Yosi said that it would have befitted Abimelech to do this to Isaac, as he did to Abraham, were it not for the Holy One, blessed be He, who reproved him earlier.
Understanding Yitzchak as someone removed from the world can also help us understand a seemingly shocking, though quite likely, understanding of the text, wherein Yitzchak and Rivka appear to have marital relations in front of an open window (Bereshit 26:8–9). We are not told exactly what Avimelech saw through the window, yet we are told that it made him understand that Yitzchak and Rivka were really husband and wife and not brother and sister as he was previously told. That he saw them involved in physical relations clearly seems to be suggested by the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 64:5) and subsequently endorsed by Rashi (Rashi on Bereshit 26:8). Understandably, many of the commentaries on the Midrash and on Rashi (Mizrachi, Levush haOrah, et al.) try to explain that this is not really what transpired. Nonetheless, if we understand that Yitzchak was never really focused on matters pertaining to this world, the Midrash’s reading of this story makes sense. Just as Yitzchak doesn’t pay attention to other details of his physical existence, so too when it comes to conjugal relations he is not completely focused.
Similarly, when challenged by Avimelech about his plot to conceal his wife’s true identity, Yitzchak is basically silent except to say that he was scared for his life (Bereshit 26:9): He saw no need to use this as an opportunity to engage Avimelech in a protracted discussion about ethics. In contrast, Avraham, being much more interested in the spiritual education of others, makes sure to explain that he felt compelled to conceal his wife’s true identity because of the low moral level of the Philistines (Bereshit 20:11–12). Avraham also explains the linguistic justification of calling Sarah his sister to make sure that Avimelech understands Avraham’s own punctilious concern with ethics – even though from a normative halachic perspective, Avraham would certainly have been allowed to lie in order to save his life. Avraham wanted to make a point about Avimelech and his followers’ need to grow religiously. From Yitzchak’s very limited response, however, we see that such a point did not appear to be part of his agenda. Yitzchak’s focus simply did not lay in his interactions with others.
Avimelech called Yitzchok and he said, But she is your wife. How could you have said, She is my sister? Yitzchok said to him, Because I said, I might die because of her.
And Abimelek called Izhak, and said, Nevertheless she is thy wife; and why hast thou said, She is my sister? And Izhak answered him, Because I said in my heart, Lest they kill me on her account.
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ מַה־זֹּ֖את עָשִׂ֣יתָ לָּ֑נוּ כִּ֠מְעַ֠ט שָׁכַ֞ב אַחַ֤ד הָעָם֙ אֶת־אִשְׁתֶּ֔ךָ וְהֵבֵאתָ֥ עָלֵ֖ינוּ אָשָֽׁם׃ | 10 J | Abimelech said, “What have you done to us! One of the men (men NJPS “people.” See the Dictionary under ‘am.) might have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” |
אחד העם, “one of the people;” whether an important person or a commoner; the word occurs in this sense in Samuel I 26,15.
והבאת עלינו אשם, “and you would have brought guilt upon us.” He referred to the pact of friendship between Avraham and Avimelech’s father.” [The name “Avimelech,” presumably is a title, just as Pharaoh was a title for every King of Egypt. Ed.] Violating an oath requires a guilt offering in Jewish law, compare Leviticus 5, 2425.
ויאמר.. כמעט שכב, he meant that it had been very likely that someone among his people would have slept with Rivkah seeing that Yitzchok had represented her as being his sister. They would not have considered such a sexual encounter as something sinful and therefore Yitzchok would have been to blame for any guilt arising from such an encounter.
אחד העם ONE OF THE PEOPLE — the one singled out from the people — viz., the king (cf. Targum).
והבאת עלינו אשם AND YOU WOULD HAVE BROUGHT GUILT UPON US — If he had lain with her already, YOU WOULD HAVE BROUGHT GUILT UPON US.
כמעט שכב אחד העם, the person described here as אחד העם, a euphemistic expression, was the king himself, who was after all, אחד העם, in a unique position compared to the common people. He had considered himself above the law doing whatever he pleased; or he had imagined that seeing that he was the king no one would dream of refusing to sleep with him, on the contrary every woman would be pleased to have been chosen for such an experience and that Yitzchok would be highly honoured to have his sister marry the king.
והבאת עלינו אשם, by misrepresenting who Rivkah was, you, Yitzchok, almost made us guilty of a sin, for if the outstanding citizen of this land would have taken her, this would have caused also his subjects to be punished. This is the reason why he said: עלינו, “upon us,” instead of עליו, “upon himself.”
The one singled out amongst the people, meaning, the king. Rashi knows this because it is written, “You would have brought guilt upon us.” It is understandable if it refers to the king, as a king is referred to in the plural form, as is a prominent man. [Another approach:] It seems to me that Rashi knows this because otherwise it should say אֶחד rather than אַחד. And similarly Rashi explains the verse דן ידין עמו כאַחד (49:16). (Nachalas Yaakov)
Had he had relations, you already would have brought guilt upon us. והבאת cannot be future tense because it says שכב which is [clearly] past tense. A further reason [it cannot be future tense]: Avimelech had them announce that she is Yitzchok’s wife [and that whoever touches her shall die]. As a result, no one would sleep with her. (Nachalas Yaakov)
Avimelekh said: What is this that you have done to us, by cheating us? One of the men of the people almost lay with your wife; you would have brought guilt, sin, upon us. Whether this is the same Avimelekh as in the days of Abraham or a different individual, 11 what unfolded when Sarah was taken (see chap. 20) had not been forgotten in Avimelekh’s household. Therefore, Isaac did not rely on the moral probity of the residents of Gerar.
“Abimelech said, what have you done to us” [26:10]. Abimelech said: what have you done to us that you said she is your sister? Perhaps someone had slept with Rebecca? Abimelech immediately commanded that whoever would touch Isaac and his wife should be put to death. Toldot Yizhak asks a question here. Why did Abimelech say to Isaac: what have you done to us? Pharaoh said to Abraham: what have you done to me, alone? Concerning Abimelech, it is written, “what have you done to us” [25:10]. This means, what have you done to us? The explanation is that Pharaoh said that all the Egyptians engaged in illicit sexual relations. Therefore, I am not upset that you consider my people to be evildoers. If you had said that she was your wife, they would still try to have sexual relations with her. However, with regard to me, Pharaoh said, you are unjust, that you should say that she is your sister. I would have slept with her. If you had said that she is your wife, I would not have touched her. Abimelech said to Isaac: my people and I are righteous. Therefore, what have you done to us? You have done ill to us. If you had told us that she was your wife, we would not have touched her. However, Abimelech ordered them to announce that whoever would touch her would be put to death, and they all became fearful. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 26:10 –11.) Ramban asks a question. Did Abimelech not see that Isaac had two children with him, Jacob and Esau? How could Abimelech not know that Rebecca was his wife? The explanation is that he thought that Isaac had the children with another wife. (Ramban, Genesis, 26:7.)
“Speak to the children of Israel” (Numbers 6:2), those who take the vow of the nazirite. “And say to them,” to caution the court regarding this, that they should not allow the nazirite to violate his naziriteship. If they see that he seeks to violate his naziriteship, they shall compel him to fulfill his statement. This is to teach you that the great are cautioned regarding the lesser, and they will be punished due to them if they do not rebuke them. Likewise it says: “They will stumble over one another” (Leviticus 26:37); one due to the iniquity of another. This is to teach you that the entire Jewish people are guarantors for one another. “When a man or a woman will articulate [to take the vow of a nazirite]” – that is what is written: “There was [vayhi] a certain man from Tzora…” (Judges 13:2). (This is the beginning of the chapter dealing with the birth and naziriteship of Samson.) Rabbi Levi said: Every place that vayhi is stated, it is nothing other than an expression of suffering: “Vayhi in the days of Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:1) – there was Haman. “Vayhi in the days when the judges [judged]” (Ruth 1:1) – there was a famine. “Vayhi when man began [to increase]” (Genesis 6:1) – “the sons of the great [saw the daughters of man]” (Genesis 6:2). (This eventually led to the Flood. See Genesis 6:1–3.) “Vayhi in the days of Amrafel” (Genesis 14:1) – “they waged a war” (Genesis 14:2). “Vayhi when Joshua was in Jericho…” (Joshua 5:13) – “[a man was standing before him] and his drawn sword was in his hand” (Joshua 5:13). (Joshua was confronted by the commander of the host of the Lord.) “Vayhi the Lord was with Joshua” (Joshua 6:27) – “the children of Israel committed trespass regarding the proscribed thing” (Joshua 7:1). “Vayhi when Samuel aged” (I Samuel 8:1) – “his sons did not follow his path” (I Samuel 8:3). “Vayhi David was successful in all his endeavors” (I Samuel 18:14) – “Saul was hostile to David” (I Samuel 18:9). “Vayhi a certain man from Tzora…” (Judges 13:2) – “Manoaḥ said to his wife, we will die” (Judges 13:22). Vayhi, Rabbi Yudan said: Every place that this expression is stated regarding the righteous, he is the equivalent of thirty-one righteous men, the numerical value of vayhi. (Vav – 6, yod – 10, heh – 5, yod – 10 = 31.) “A certain [eḥad] man,” a great man. Wherever ehad is used it indicates greatness. With regards to the Holy One Blessed be He, one is said as it it written "God is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4); there is no one in the world who is His equal. Likewise, regarding Abraham: “Abraham was one [eḥad]” (Ezekiel 33:24); there was no one in those days who was his equal. Regarding Israel, it is written: “Who is like Your people, Israel, one [eḥad] nation on the earth” (I Chronicles 17:21); there is none among the nations that are its equal. Likewise, regarding Avimelekh it says: “One of [aḥad] the people almost lay with your wife” (Genesis 26:10); because he was king. Likewise regarding Elkana it says: “Eḥad” (I Samuel 1:1), as there was no one in his generation who was his equal. “[There was a certain man] from Tzora [from the family of the Danite]” (Judges 13:2), anyone whose name and the name of his city are stated, it is known that he is from that city. His name, but not the name of his city, it is known that he is from Jerusalem. “From the family of the Danite,” because Tzora belonged to Judah, as it is written: “Eshtaol, Tzora, and Ashna” (Joshua 15:33), and Tzora belonged to Dan, “the border of their inheritance was Tzora, Eshtaol…” (Joshua 19:41), it was necessary to state that he was “from the family of the Danite.” It does not say “from the tribe,” but rather, “from the family of the Danite.” It teaches that his [Manoaḥ’s] father was from Dan and Manoaḥ’s mother was from Judah. In this regard, Jacob said: “Dan will judge his people, [as one of [ke’aḥad] the tribes of Israel]” (Genesis 49:16), like the most elite of the tribes; this is Judah. That is why Jacob juxtaposed him to Judah, as he was from the land of Judah and his mother was from Judah. Likewise Manoaḥ was from Dan and his wife was from Judah; consequently Samson emerged from the tribe of Dan and the tribe of Judah, as they said: The name of Samson’s mother was Hatzlelponi, and her lineage is ascribed to the tribe of Judah, as it is stated: “And the name of their sister was Hatzlelponi” (I Chronicles 4:3). “And his name was Manoaḥ” (Judges 13:2). The wicked precede their name: “Naval was his name” (I Samuel 25:25); “Goliath was his name” (I Samuel 17:4); “Sheva ben Bikhri was his name” (II Samuel 20:21). But the righteous, their name precedes them: “And his name was Elkana” (I Samuel 1:1); “And his name was Yishai” (I Samuel 17:12); “And his name was Boaz” (Ruth 2:1); “And his name was Mordekhai” (Esther 2:5); “And his name was Manoaḥ.” They are similar to their Creator: “But My name, the Lord…” (Exodus 6:3). They raised an objection to it: But is it not written: “Rebecca had a brother and his name was Lavan”? (Genesis 24:29). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He was conspicuous. (Lavan was not his name, but rather, his whiteness was a conspicuous attribute of his.) Rabbi Berekhya said: He was obvious [meluban] in his wickedness. They raised an objection: “And his name was Mikhaihu” (Judges 17:1) – because he received guests, his name was written like the names of the righteous. They raised an objection from the [verse regarding the] sons of Samuel: “The name of his firstborn son was Joel and the name of his second was Aviya” (I Samuel 8:2). The Rabbis said: Just as this one was wicked, so, too, that one was wicked. Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Simon: Ultimately, they repented. That is why he [Samuel’s firstborn, Joel] is called: “Vashni” (I Chronicles 6:13), as they changed [shenishtanu] to good deeds. (The full verse reads: “The sons of Samuel: his first-born, Vashni, and Aviya.”) That is why they merited the Divine Spirit. That is what is written: “The word of the Lord that was to Joel son of Petuel” (Joel 1:1). This is Samuel. Why is he called Petuel? It is because he enticed [pita] the Holy One blessed be He with his prayer. (See Psalms 99:6.) Manoaḥ, why is he called Manoaḥ? It is because he was privileged to speak with an angel, and prophecy is called rest [menuḥa], as it is stated: “Seraya was the minister of Menuḥa” (Jeremiah 51:59). It teaches that Barukh ben Neriya (He was Seraya’s brother and a disciple of the prophet Jeremiah. According to another opinion, Seraya was another name of Barukh.) merited the Divine Spirit, just as it says: “The spirit of the Lord will rest [venaḥa] upon him (Isaiah 11:2). “His wife was barren, she had not given birth” (Judges 13:2). This teaches that there was a dispute between Manoaḥ and his wife. He said to her: ‘You are barren; that is why you have not given birth.’ She said to him: ‘You are sterile and that is why I have not given birth.’ Manoaḥ was not sterile. “An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman” (Judges 13:3). From here you learn that Manoaḥ’s wife was a righteous woman who merited having an angel speak with her, to introduce harmony between her and her husband and to inform her that she was barren and it was she who was preventing the pregnancy, not her husband; that is why he spoke with her. Because she saw the angel, she is called Hatzlelponi, because she addressed [pona] the angel. Tzelal is nothing other than an angel, just as it says: “As it is for this that they entered beneath the shelter [betzel] of my roof” (Genesis 19:8). (Lot is referring to the angels who came to rescue him from the destruction of Sodom.) There, because Lot was more righteous than his wife, the angels came to the shelter of his house and not the shelter of her house. However, here, where the angel came to her because she was righteous, that is why she is called Hatzlel. Why is it stated: Hatzlel, and it did not say Hatzel? It is because he appeared to the woman twice, once in the city and once in the field. “Behold now, you are barren and have not given birth” (Judges 13:3); he informed her that she was barren and that is why she had not given birth in order to introduce harmony between her and her husband, as she had been angry at her husband Manoaḥ because she was not giving birth. “But you will conceive, and you will bear a son,” (Judges 13:3), from here on you will conceive and you will bear a son. “Now, please beware” (Judges 13:4); he cautioned her not to drink vinegar of wine and vinegar of intoxicating drink and the water in which grapes were soaked (See Numbers 6:3.) . These are nothing other than precautions for wine, so that the nazirite will not come to drink wine, that is why the verse prohibited them for him. “And do not drink wine or intoxicating drink" (Judges 13:4), just as it says: “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain” (Numbers 6:3), “…and do not eat any impurity” (Judges 13:4). Impure is nothing other than prohibited, as the Torah cautioned the nazirite not to eat anything “that may be derives from the grapevine,” (Numbers 6:4), just as it says: “…and grapes, fresh or dried, he shall not eat. [Throughout his days as a nazirite] he may not eat from anything that may be derived from the grapevine” (Numbers 6:3–4). “For behold, you will conceive and bear a son” (Judges 13:5). From here, the semen from the night was kept in her womb and she had not expelled it. When the angel said to her: “For behold, you will conceive and bear a son,” the womb absorbed that drop. “A razor [umorah] shall not come upon his head” (Judges 13:5), just as it says: “A razor shall not pass on his head” (Numbers 6:5). Why is a razor called morah? It is because the hair fears [mityareh] nothing other than the razor as it shaves a shave of destruction, just as it says: “Do not destroy the corner of your beard” (Leviticus 19:27). “For the lad will be a nazirite to God from the womb” (Judges 13:5). It was revealed before the Holy One blessed be He that Samson was one who would follow his eyes. That is why He cautioned him as a nazirite that he should not drink wine, because wine leads to licentiousness. If, when he was a nazirite, he followed his eyes, had he drunk wine there would have been no rehabilitation for him as he would have constantly been pursuing licentiousness. What is it that is said: “From the womb”? It is to realize what is stated: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). However, regarding the wicked what does it say? “The wicked are corrupt from the womb; liars go astray from birth” (Psalms 58:4). Likewise it says: “I was formed in iniquity; [in sin my mother conceived me]” (Psalms 51:7). “He will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5). In him will be fulfilled the prophecy of Jacob , who said: “Dan will judge his people…Dan will be [a serpent]…[I await your deliverance, Lord]” (Genesis 49:16–18). “The woman came and she told her husband, saying: A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome…” (Judges 13:6). From here [we derive that] the Divine Presence would rest only upon those with a striking appearance. “He said to me: Behold, you will conceive [and give birth to a son]” (Judges 13:7), but what he said to her: “Behold now, you are barren” (Judges 13:3), she did not reveal to him, as she did not wish to reveal her inadequacy. “As the lad will be a nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death” (Judges 13:7). She added [the phrase]: “Until the day of his death,” as she did not know what was in the future. But the angel, who knew that he was going to lose his naziriteship by means of Delilah, that was why he did not say: “Until the day of his death.” “Manoaḥ entreated [vayetar] the Lord, and said: Please, my Lord, the man [of God whom You sent, let him come again to us]” (Judges 13:8). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Why is the prayer of the righteous analogized to a pitchfork [eter]? It is to say to you: Just as the pitchfork overturns the grain in the field from place to place, so the prayer of the righteous overturns the attribute of cruelty to the attribute of mercy. “God heeded the voice of Manoaḥ, [and the angel of God came again to the woman]” (Judges 13:9). Why did the angel of God return to the woman and did not come to Manoaḥ? It was in order to avoid invalidating his initial statements that he said to the woman. Alternatively, it was to endear her in his eyes. “The woman hurried, ran, [and told her husband]” (Judges 13:10). It teaches that all actions of the righteous are with alacrity. “[Behold, the man] who on that day [bayom] came to me, [appeared to me]” (Judges 13:10). It does not say “today [hayom],” but rather, bayom. It teaches that the angel did not appear to her until the following day, because Manoaḥ did not pray until the morning prayer of the following day, just as it says: “Lord, in the morning hear my voice…” (Psalms 5:4). It teaches that the righteous seek clarity regarding their actions. “[Are you the man who spoke to the woman?] He said: I am” (Judges 13:11); I am initially and I am ultimately, as I am not changing my words. “Manoaḥ said: Now, let your words come” (Judges 13:12). Manoaḥ said to him: ‘Until now, I have heard from the woman, and women are not qualified to instruct, and one may not rely on their statements. But, “now, let your words come,” I would like to hear from your mouth, as I do not believe her statements; perhaps she made changes in her statement, or subtracted or added.’ “What will be the guidelines for the lad?” (Judges 13:12); what naziriteship must he observe after he is born? “…and his actions?” (Judges 13:12); what shall his mother do all the days that she is pregnant with him? “The angel of the Lord said to Manoaḥ: “From everything that I said to the woman [let her beware]” (Judges 13:13), in order to accord honor to the woman and endear her to him. “Let her beware” (Judges 13:13), he said to him regarding vinegar of wine, vinegar of intoxicating drink, and the water in which grapes were soaked: “She shall not partake of anything that may be derived from the grapevine and she shall not drink wine or intoxicating drink” (Judges 13:14), in its plain sense. “And she shall not eat any impurity” (Judges 13:14), just as it says: “And grapes, fresh or dried, he shall not eat” (Numbers 6:3). “Everything that I commanded her, she shall observe” (Judges 13:14); what he said to her: “A razor shall not come upon his head” (Judges 13:5). “Manoaḥ said to the angel of the Lord: Please let us detain [naatzera] you” (Judges 13:15). Manoaḥ said to him: ‘We had been obstructed, just as it says: “For the Lord had obstructed all wombs of the house of Avimelekh” (Genesis 20:18), and you brought us tidings of relief. Let us make a festival with you, just as it says: “On the eighth day it shall be an assembly [atzeret] for you” (Numbers 29:35). “And we will prepare a young goat before you” (Judges 13:15); you caused us to rejoice and we will rejoice with you with a goat, as rejoicing is only with meat.’ “The angel of the Lord said to Manoaḥ: If you detain me, I will not eat of your food” (Judges 13:16). The angel said to him: ‘It is not the way of the prophets of the Lord to receive payment for their prophecy.’ Regarding false prophets, what does it say? “You profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for crumbs of bread, to kill…” (Ezekiel 13:19). But regarding true prophets, what does it say? “He (Elisha.) said: As the Lord before whom I have stood lives, I will not accept” (II Kings 5:16). “If you would prepare a burnt offering, offer it up to the Lord” (Judges 13:16). The angel intimated to him that he needed to offer up a burnt offering to the Lord in response to the good tidings, just as Abraham did when the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “To your offspring, I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). Immediately, Abraham built an altar in response to the good tidings, as it is written: “He built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7), and an altar is for nothing other than an offering. “For Manoaḥ did not know that he was an angel of the Lord” (Judges 13:16). Why is it stated? It is because his wife said to him: “His appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome” (Judges 13:6); she was under the impression that Manoaḥ identified that he was an angel, but, nevertheless, he invited him to eat, as he was mistaken, believing that there is eating on High. That is why it is stated: “For Manoaḥ did not know that he was an angel of the Lord.” That is why he invited him to eat. But had he known that he was an angel, he would not have said to him to eat, as he was well-versed in the fact that there is no eating on High. Why did he not identify him? From here you learn that when prophets would go on a mission of the Holy One blessed be He, the Divine Spirit that would rest upon them would confer awesomeness upon them in the eyes of their beholders, as everyone feared them, as they resembled angels. Why, then, did the angels who came to inform Sarah regarding pregnancy eat, but this one did not want to eat? It is because those angels, when they first appeared to Abraham, they appeared to him in the image of wayfarers, and he brought them into his house as he was accustomed to, and invited them to eat. They did not want to deprive him of the exercise of hospitality and they ate with him. After they ate, they stated their mission. It did not appear as though they received payment for their mission. But this angel, initially he stated his mission. Had he eaten with him, it would have appeared as though he received payment for his mission. That is why he refrained from eating. “Mano’aḥ said to the angel of the Lord: What is your name?” (Judges 13:17). It is because he did not identify him as an angel, that is why he asked him regarding his name. “So that when your words come to pass we will honor you [vekhibadnukha]” (Judges 13:17); Manoaḥ said to him: ‘Tell me your name so that I will ask where I might find you when your prophecy comes to pass, and we will give you a gift.’ Vekhibadnukha is nothing other than a gift, just as it says: “For I will honor you [ki khabed akhabedkha]” (Numbers 22:17). (Balak sought to convince Bilam to curse Israel on his behalf, and said he would honor him, meaning he would shower him with gifts of silver and gold.) “The angel of the Lord said to him: Why do you ask my name?” (Judges 13:18). The angel said to him: ‘You need not ask my name, as ultimately, you will never see me again.’ That is what is written: “It is inscrutable [vehu feli]” (Judges 13:18). Regarding himself, he said to him that he will be obscured from him, that he will never see him again, just as it says: “This knowledge is inscrutable to me. [It is sublime; I cannot reach it]” (Psalms 139:6). Alternatively, “It is inscrutable [vehu feli]” – the angel said to him: ‘I do not know to tell you my name as, in accordance with the mission upon which the Holy One blessed be He sends us, He calls us a name.’ That is: Vehu feli; in accordance with each and every wonder [pelia uflia] that He performs through us, He calls us a name. Alternatively, vehu feli, it is a name. The name of the angel is feli, based on his mission to render Samson a nazirite, just as it says: “For the lad will be a nazirite to God” (Judges 13:5). This is why He called him feli, like the matter that the verse said: “When a man or a woman will articulate [yafli] [to take the vow of a nazirite]…” (Numbers 6:2).
“His offering was one silver dish, its weight one hundred and thirty; one silver basin of seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel; both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:49). “His offering was one silver dish [kaarat]….” – this is the offering that he presented in the name of Jacob, who had him precede Manasseh, and in the name of Joseph, who, because of his love, Jacob blessed him all those blessings, just as it says: “He blessed Joseph and said: The God [before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked…]” (Genesis 48:15), and it says: “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh…” (Genesis 48:20). “Dish [kaarat]” – this is Jacob; do not read it as kaarat, but rather, as akeret, who uprooted [akar] the right hand from Manasseh in favor of Ephraim. “Silver” – after, “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver” (Proverbs 10:20); what he said to Joseph: “His father refused, and said: I know, my son, I know; he too shall become a people…” (Genesis 48:19). “Its weight one hundred and thirty” – corresponding to the one hundred and thirty words that there are from “he laid it on Ephraim’s head” (Genesis 48:14) until “he placed Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). “One silver basin [mizrak]” – this is Joseph, who was cast away [shenizrak] from his father and sold to Egypt. “One” – as he was king in Egypt, just as it says: “One of the people (Avimelekh said this referring to himself.) almost lay [with your wife]” (Genesis 26:10). Likewise it says: “Joseph was the ruler over the land…” (Genesis 42:6). “Silver” – after “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver,” as due to his wisdom he was privileged to achieve kingship, just as it says: “After God has disclosed all this to you.… You will be in charge of my house…” (Genesis 41:39–40). “Seventy shekels in the sacred shekel” – as Gabriel came and added one letter from the name of the Holy One blessed be He to his name and taught him seventy languages, as it is stated: “He established it as a precept for Joseph [bihosef] (He added a heh, changing Joseph [Yosef] to Yehosef.) when he went out over Egypt; I learned a language I had not known” (Psalms 81:6), as were it not so, the Egyptians would not have accepted Joseph to rule over them. “Both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” – Jacob and Joseph were both full-fledged righteous men, and the two of them resembled one another. This accords with what Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph” (Genesis 37:2). It should have said nothing other than: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Reuben.” Why is it stated: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph”? It is to teach you that Joseph resembled his father in every respect. Just as Jacob was born circumcised, so too, Joseph was born circumcised. Just as this one, his mother was barren, so too, that one, his mother was barren. Just as this one, his mother suffered from the pain of her pregnancy, so too that one, his mother suffered during birth. Just as this one, his mother bore two, so too that one, his mother bore two. Just as this one, his brother seeks to kill him, this one, too, his brothers seek to kill him. This one, his brother hates [soneh] him, and that one, likewise. This one is a shepherd and that one is a shepherd. This one is hated [nistam] and that one is hated. (See Genesis 27:41, 49:23.) This one was stolen from twice: “Stolen in the day and stolen at night” (Genesis 31:39); that one, there is a double expression of stealing: “For I was abducted [gunov gunavti] [from the land of the Hebrews]” (Genesis 40:15). This one was blessed with ten blessings, (See Genesis 27:28–29.) and that one was blessed with ten blessings. (See Deuteronomy 33:13–17.) This one departed and went outside of the Land of Israel, and that one departed and went outside of the Land of Israel. This one took a wife outside of the Land of Israel, and that one took a wife outside of the Land of Israel. This one begot children outside of the Land of Israel, and that one begot children outside of the Land of Israel. This one, angels accompanied him, and that one, angels accompanied him. (A midrash says that when Joseph went to his brothers at the behest of his father, three angels accompanied him.) This one ascended to greatness by means of a dream (See Genesis 28:10–16.) and that one ascended to greatness by means of a dream. This one, his father-in-law’s household was blessed on his account, and that one, his father-in-law’s (According to Bereshit Rabba 86:3, Joseph’s father-in-law Potifera was Potifar.) household was blessed on his account. This one descended to Egypt, and that one descended to Egypt. This one ended the famine and that one ended the famine. (See Bereshit Rabba 89:9.) This one administered an oath to his son, and that one administered an oath to his brothers. This one died in Egypt, and that one died in Egypt. This one was embalmed, and that one was embalmed. This one, his bones ascended, and that one, his bones ascended. Because Joseph resembled his father, that is why it is stated: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph”; and that is why it is stated: “Both of them full…” – regarding Jacob and Joseph. “One gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense” (Numbers 7:50). “One…ladle [kaf]” – it corresponds to the palm of his right hand, which he placed on Ephraim’s head. Why does it call it “one”? It is because it is more significant than the left. “Gold…ten shekels” – it corresponds to the ten words that there are from: “Israel extended his right hand” (Genesis 48:14) until “and he was the younger” (Genesis 48:14). “Filled with incense” – Jacob saw this matter through the divine spirit, that Ephraim was worthy for him to place his right hand on his head. Likewise it says: “Guiding [sikel] his hands, as Manasseh was the first born” (Genesis 48:14). His hands were guided [hiskilu] by the divine spirit, just as it says: “Maskil of Eitan the Ezraḥite” (Psalms 89:1). (This is a psalm stated by Eitan the Ezraḥite with divine guidance.) “One young bull, one ram, one sheep in its first year, as a burnt offering” (Numbers 7:51). “One young [ben bakar] bull” – corresponding to Abraham, as it is stated: “Abraham ran to the cattle [habakar]” (Genesis 18:7). “One ram” – corresponding to Isaac, in whose regard it is written: “[Abraham…] took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). “One sheep” – corresponding to Jacob, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob separated the sheep” (Genesis 30:40). Why did he sacrifice these three kinds of burnt offerings? It corresponds to the three patriarchs, corresponding to the blessing that Jacob blessed them: “Let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be called upon them” (Genesis 48:16). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:52). “And for the peace offering, two bulls, five rams, five goats, five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama son of Amihud” (Numbers 7:53). “One goat as a sin offering” – corresponding to Joseph, as it is written: “They slaughtered a goat” (Genesis 37:31). Why did he sacrifice this corresponding to Joseph? It is because when Jacob blessed them with the name of the three patriarchs, likewise, he blessed them with the name of Joseph and made them dependent upon him, as it is stated: “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). “And for the peace offering, two bulls” – corresponding to the two blessings that he blessed them: the former, “[may the angel…] bless the lads” (Genesis 48:16), and the latter, “by you Israel shall bless….” “Five rams, [five goats, five lambs]” – three species, corresponding to three generations that Joseph saw for Ephraim, who were attributed to Joseph, and they were patrilineal houses, as it is stated: “Joseph saw great-grandchildren from Ephraim” (Genesis 50:23). Likewise it says: “These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: Of Shutelaḥ.… And these are the sons of Shutelaḥ: Of Eran…” (Numbers 26:35–36). Ephraim, Shutelaḥ, Eran, these are three sons from three generations. Why were they five each? It corresponds to the five words (In the Hebrew phrase.) of “he placed Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20), as it is from there that Ephraim merited to present his offering first. “This was the offering…” – because he presented the offering in this order, the Holy One blessed be He began lauding his offering: “This was the offering of Elishama….”
“The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying” (Numbers 3:14). “In the wilderness of Sinai, saying” – that is what is written: “God settles individuals in a house” (Psalms 68:7). The Holy One blessed be He said: Even though people in this world were individuals, [I did not leave them as individuals]; rather, I made them fruitful and multiplied them and rendered them dynastic houses in which they would reside in this world. How so? David was an individual, and I rendered him a dynastic house, as it is stated: “House of David, so said the Lord” (Jeremiah 21:12). Aaron was an individual, and I rendered him a dynastic house, as it is stated: “House of Levi, bless the Lord” (Psalms 135:20); “house of Aaron, bless the Lord” (Psalms 135:19). Israel, too, were individuals, as it is stated: “Who is like your people Israel, one nation in the land…” (II Samuel 7:23), and God multiplied them, as it is stated: “The Lord your God has multiplied you” (Deuteronomy 1:10). That is, “God settles individuals in a house.” Another matter: “God settles [individuals in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – a certain noblewoman asked Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥalafta; she said to him: Everyone agrees that God created the world in six days. From six until now, what does He do? He said to her: He elevates ladders and lowers ladders. So-and-so, who was wealthy, will become poor, and so-and-so, who was poor, will become wealthy, as it is stated: “The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy…” (I Samuel 2:7). Rabbi Berekhya said: That is not what he answered; but rather, this is what he said to her: He makes matches in His world and says: So-and-so man will marry so-and-so woman, and so-and-so woman will marry so-and-so man, and He settles them in houses. She said to him: I can make one thousand matches in one day. Rabbi Yosei was silent and went on his way. What did she do? She brought one thousand slaves and one thousand maidservants and matched them with each other. She said to them: So-and-so man will marry so-and-so woman, and so-and-so woman will marry so-and-so man. When they entered with them at night, an altercation broke out between them, and they stood and struck each other. In the morning they went to her; this one’s head was wounded, and that one, his hand was injured. She sent for Rabbi Yosei and related the incident to him. He said to her: If this matter is insignificant in your eyes, it is as difficult before the Omnipresent like the parting of the Red Sea. That is what is written: “God settles individuals in a house.” What is “God settles individuals”? The Holy One blessed be He sits and judges them; He brings this one from this place and that one from that place and settles them in one house. “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – he takes them from their houses, bound against their will, and makes matches between them. “Bakosharot” – if they do not merit, they weep [bokhin], but if they merit, they sing [meshorerin]. (This is a portmanteau of the words bekhi and shirot – weeping and singing.) Another matter: “God settles individuals in a house” (Psalms 68:7) – that He makes a match for each and every one of them with a kindred soul. Another matter: “God settles [individuals in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – one who marries a wife suitable for him, the Holy One blessed be He renders them houses. Individual [yaḥid] is nothing other than an expression of greatness, just as it says: “One of [aḥad] the people (This is an allusion to Avimelekh, the king.) almost lay with [your wife]” (Genesis 26:10), and it says: “Who is like your people Israel, one [eḥad] nation in the land” (II Samuel 7:23). From them He produces sons, masters of Torah, who issue rulings to prohibit [osrim] and permit [umakhshirim]. That is, “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners [asirim]” (Psalms 68:7). “But the rebellious” (Psalms 68:7) – but one who does not marry a wife suitable for him, ignorant sons emerge from him. That is what is written: “Dwell in a parched land [tzeḥiḥa]” (Psalms 68:7). Tzeḥiḥa is nothing other than an expression of thirst, just as it says: “Parched [tziḥe] with thirst” (Isaiah 5:13). What the verse said, “parched,” is that they were thirsty, [meaning] without Torah, just as what is written: “Not famine for bread and not thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8:11). Another matter: “God settles individuals [in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – who was it? These are Amram and Yokheved, by virtue of whose merit “He joyously leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – these are Israel, who were enslaved in Egypt. What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He matched Yokheved with Amram, so that a redeemer would emerge from them and redeem Israel. Another matter: “God settles individuals [in a house]” (Psalms 68:7) – these are Israel, who descended as individuals with seventy people, and the Holy One blessed be He rendered them houses, as it is stated: “The children of Israel were fruitful and prolific…” (Exodus 1:7). “He joyously leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – because they distanced themselves from licentiousness, He took them out of Egypt. Likewise, Solomon says: “A locked garden is my sister, my bride; [a locked fountain, a sealed spring]” (Song of Songs 4:12). “A locked garden” – these are the virgins. “A locked fountain” – these are the married women. “A sealed spring” – these are the single women. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: Due to their merit, I am redeeming My children. That is what is written: “Your branches [shelaḥayikh] are a pomegranate orchard” (Song of Songs 4:13) – by merit of this, I have sent you out [shelaḥayikh]. “It was when Pharaoh sent out [beshalakh]” (Exodus 13:17) – that is, due to the upright [kesherot] women, Israel departed from Egypt. That is why it is stated: “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners.” Another matter: “He joyously [bakosharot] leads out prisoners” (Psalms 68:7) – what is bakosharot? When Israel departed from Egypt, they departed only at a propitious time [bakosharot]. Rabbi Akiva said: He took them out only in a month during which it was propitious to depart; not in Tamuz, due to the heat, and not in Tevet, due to the cold, but in Nisan, which is propitious for setting out on a journey, neither extreme heat nor extreme cold. If you say Tishrei, there are rainy seasons. (Tishrei is followed by the rainy season, when it is difficult to travel, whereas Nisan is followed by mild weather.) That is bakosharot. Another matter: Bakosharot – Rabbi Elazar said: Bakosharot: Those who were weeping [bokhin], these are Israel and Moses: “Behold, a boy weeping” (Exodus 2:6), and likewise, “The children of Israel sighed…” (Exodus 2:23). They are singing [meshorerin] now, as it is stated: “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang” (Exodus 15:1); that is bakosharot. Another matter: Bakosharot – Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: There are weeping [bekhiya] and singing [veshira] here. The Egyptians were weeping because they were despoiled, as Israel despoiled them and emptied their houses, as it is stated: “They stripped Egypt” (Exodus 12:36). Israel was singing, as they were loaded with the spoils of their enemies. That is, bakosharot. Another matter: The master of a slave weeps because his slave fled before him. A slave sings because he was extricated from slavery. So, the Egyptians wept because Israel fled, as it is stated: “It was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled” (Exodus 14:5). Israel was reciting song because they were extricated from slavery. That is bakosharot. Another matter: By virtue of what merit did Israel depart from Egypt? Rabbi Ḥilefai said: It is by virtue of the merit of Jacob, as it is stated: Bakosharot, as likewise, it says: “He strove [vayasar] with an angel and prevailed; he wept [bakha] and pleaded with him” (Hosea 12:5). Another matter: Bakosharot – our Rabbis say: It is by virtue of the women, the upright [hakesherot] matriarchs, as it is stated: Bakosharot. It is not written here bekhishron, but bakosharot, (In the feminine.) the fair and upright. Another matter: Bakosharot – due to the upright [haksherim] who were in their midst, they departed. Who were the upright among them? This is the tribe of Levi, as although Israel were idol worshippers in Egypt, the tribe of Levi would worship the Holy One blessed be He and circumcise themselves. That is why Moses lauds them before his death, as it is stated: “Because they observed Your saying, and they upheld Your covenant” (Deuteronomy 33:9). That is, due to the upright who were in their midst, Israel departed from Egypt. Another matter: Bakosharot – by virtue of what merit did Israel depart from Egypt? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is because the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that they are destined to craft a Tabernacle for Him, as it is stated: “They will know that I am the Lord their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 29:46) in order “that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 29:46). That is, it was only by virtue of the merit of the Tabernacle that Israel departed from Egypt. By virtue of what merit did the tribe of Levi depart? Was it, perhaps, by virtue of the Tent of Meeting that they, too, departed? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: No, it was by virtue of their own merit that they departed. Therefore, when he came to count Israel at the beginning of the book, He mentions the Tent of Meeting and the exodus from Egypt, as it is stated: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 1:1), and it mentions immediately, “[in the second year] of their exodus from the land of Egypt” (Numbers 1:1), to inform you that Israel departed from Egypt only by virtue of the merit of the Tent of Meeting. But the children of Levi, who departed by virtue of their own merit, when it came to count them, it does not mention in their passage the Tent of Meeting, nor the exodus from Egypt. That is what is written: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai…saying” (Numbers 1:1).
לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי, “I have not appropriated a single donkey from anyone of them;” this remark by Moses is relevant to verse three, when he and Aaron had been accused of having elevated himself above the people. The vocalization of the word חמור corresponds to the plain meaning of the verse, whereas according to Rashi’s interpretation the word echad should have been achad, “one of,” as in Genesis 26,10.
כי יהיה בך אביון, "If there will be a destitute person amongst you, etc." Why does the Torah have to write בך, "amongst you," when it already wrote "amongst one of your brethren?" Perhaps Moses alluded to something we have learned in Baba Batra 10 where the Talmud said that the reason G'd chooses to afflict some people with economic hardship in this life is to afford their wealthier fellow Jews the opportunity to assist such a destitute person to support himself in dignity. The words בך אביון may be read together meaning: "on your account, i.e. for your sake," there will be a destitute person." The Torah writes מאחד אחיך, "amongst one of your brethren" to remind you not to evaluate people on the basis of their economic prosperity. The fact that he is destitute does not make him a lesser person, He is still your brother. This is quite independent of the explanation of our sages (Baba Metzia 71) that the reason the Torah mentions different levels of poverty is to teach you to attend first to the local poor before tending to those elsewhere.
A moral/ethical approach to the whole paragraph sees in the words מאחד אחיך, "one of your brethren," an allusion to the one who is special amongst your brethren, the one to whose coming we all look forward to with longing, i.e. the Messiah. The Messiah has been portrayed as a poor man when the prophet Zachariah 9,9 describes him as riding on a donkey. The Torah also hints at the cause of his poverty when it says בך, "because of you," meaning that if the redemption would be orchestrated by G'd because the Israelites had attained spiritual maturity the Messiah would arrive in advance of G'd's final date for the redemption and he would be able to ride in style to show that the Israelites had qualified for redemption by their own efforts. As it is, by describing him as בך, Moses portrays him as a destitute person who waits anxiously for a handout. The story is told that when Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi once encountered the Messiah, the latter asked him what the Israelites were doing at that time. The Rabbi replied that they were awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. Upon hearing this the Messiah let out a long wail showing his anxious desire to reveal himself and to redeem the Jewish people. The Torah alludes to this when writing מאחד אחיך, "amongst one of your brethren," meaning "amongst the unique one of your brethren, the Messiah (compare Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel on Genesis 26,10 who renders the words אחד העם, "one of the people" as "a unique one, a king"). The words באחד שעריך may be understood as "one who is unique amongst the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court, as we know from Isaiah 11,4 that the Messiah will judge the poor fairly, not relying on external appearances. The word בארצך means that the arena for the Messiah's activities will be ארץ ישראל.
לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי, I have not even appropriated a single donkey of theirs (the entire people) as a form of taxation as do most others rulers from all of their subjects. Seeing that this is so, on what do they base their claim that I behave like a ruler, a despot? If the vowel pattern under the word אחד would not have been “segol” followed by “kametz,” but two successive vowels “patach,” the meaning would be: “I have not taken away a single one of their privately owned asses.” It would have been a construct mode as in Genesis 26,10 אחד העם, i.e. “one of the common people.”
Avimelech said, What have you done to us? One of the people [The unique one among the people] could have easily slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.
And Abimelek said to him, What is this that thou hast done to us? Very possibly might one of the young men have lain with thy wife, and there would have been great guilt brought upon us.
And Abimelek said, Why hast thou done this to us? It might have been that the king, who is the principal of the people, had lain with thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us.
| וַיְצַ֣ו אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ אֶת־כׇּל־הָעָ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר הַנֹּגֵ֜עַ בָּאִ֥ישׁ הַזֶּ֛ה וּבְאִשְׁתּ֖וֹ מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃ | 11 J | Abimelech then charged all the people, saying, “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall be put to death.” |
מות יומת, will be executed. The repetition of the word מות refers to death by human tribunal as well as by heavenly forces. The reason Avimelech used the word "whoever touches," was to warn his subjects that even conduct for which Gentiles normally are not punishable by death would become capital offences in this instance (compare what we have written on Genesis 20,4).
ויצו, after Avimelech had found out that Rivkah was Yitzchok’s wife, he had to inform the people of this fact to ensure that no one would touch her. Also, he had to warn the people not to harm Yitzchok, so that he would not be killed on account of his wife.
Avimelekh commanded all the people, saying: Anyone who touches this man or his wife, as it has now been established that Rebecca is Isaac’s wife, shall be put to death.
"And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, 'He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death'" (Beresheet 26:11). Come and behold, how long had the Holy One, blessed be He, refrained from avenging the wicked, for as a result of the good Abimelech did with the first Patriarchs, the children of Yisrael did not rule over the Philistines until generations later. Abimelech did well to act properly toward Isaac, as he said (to Abraham), "Behold, my land is before you, dwell where it pleases you" (Beresheet 20:15).
“Avimelekh commanded all the people, saying: Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death” (Genesis 26:11). “Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year one hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him” (Genesis 26:12). “Isaac sowed in that land” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: “In that land…in that year” – the land was harsh and the year was difficult; had it been favorable, all the more so. “And found in that year one hundredfold” – one hundred kor; (Kor is a measurement of volume which contains more than 200 liters.) “one hundredfold” – one hundred times. (The yield was one hundred times the seeds that he sowed.) “One hundredfold” – it teaches that it produced one hundred times more than they had estimated for it. Is it not so that blessing does not rest upon an item that is weighed, measured, or counted? Why, then, did he measure it? It was due to the tithes.
“Avimelekh commanded all the people” – Rabi Aivu said: No person should even cast a rock at them; that is what is written: “They lie in wait in their dwelling places; they watch my footsteps in hopes of taking my life” (Psalms 56:7). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow until he became very wealthy” (Genesis 26:13). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow” – Rabbi Ḥanin said: To the extent that they would say: The manure of Isaac’s mules, and not Avimelekh’s silver and gold. (The manure from Isaac's mules was worth more than the Avimelekh’s gold and silver.) “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household, and the Philistines envied him” (Genesis 26:14). “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household [vaavuda].” Daniyel the tailor said: Ve’avda is written – if a person does not render himself like a slave with his slave, he does not acquire it, (If he does not oversee the work of his slaves and workers, he will not see a benfit from the property he has.) as it is stated: “Better to be lightly esteemed with a slave” (Proverbs 12:9). (It is better to work like a slave when you have a slave, otherwise you will only lose from having a slave.) The way of the world is that a person must toil and seek the expenditures of his household, and they sit in his home. (The slaves sit idly at home.) Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown much mightier than we” (Genesis 26:16). “Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown…mightier than we” – he said to him: ‘All that growth that you have grown, did it not come to you from us? In the past you had only one flock and now you have many flocks.’
BESIDE THE FIRST FAMINE THAT WAS IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM. Perhaps (“Perhaps.” Since in Bereshith Rabbah 25:3, it is stated that there were ten famines in the world, the first one having been in the days of Adam, Ramban writes, “Perhaps,” meaning that a famine of such magnitude had never occurred before the days of Abraham, and this explains why Scripture uses it as a reference point.) there was no famine in the world until the days of Abraham. This is why Scripture counts from it, for otherwise, what need is there to mention it? In my opinion the correct reason why Scripture mentions it is to tell us that people remembered the first famine, mentioning that on account of it Abraham went down to Egypt and there G-d did him great honor. It was for this reason that Isaac wanted to go in his father’s footsteps by descending into Egypt until it was said to him, Go not down into Egypt. (Verse 2 here.) The reason for the prohibition has been stated by our Rabbis: “You [Isaac] are a perfect burnt-offering and residence outside of the Land of Israel does not befit you.” (Quoted by Rashi in this form. The source is in Bereshith Rabbah.) In my opinion, there is also included in this subject a reference to the future. Abraham’s exile into Egypt on account of the famine is an allusion to the exile of his children there. (See Ramban above, 12:10, for complete exposition of this subject.) His going to Abimelech (Chapter 20.) however was not an exile for he resided there of his own volition. But Isaac’s going [to the land of Abimelech, as recorded here in this verse, And Isaac went unto Abimelech] on account of the famine, does allude to an exile since he left his place against his will and went to another land. Now Isaac’s exile was from his own place to the land of the Philistines, which was the land in which his father had resided. This alludes to the Babylonian Exile, which took place in the land in which their ancestors had resided, namely, Ur of the Chaldees. (In view of the fact that Ramban, at the end of Seder Noach (11:28), states his opinion at length that Abraham’s birthplace was not Ur of the Chaldees, it is necessary to say that the author’s reference here is to the time when Terah, his father, took him there, and while being there his life was saved by a miracle. See Ramban there at the end of Verse 28.) Know further that this Babylonian Exile mentioned is mirrored in the events which befell Isaac in that they did not take his wife (As they did to Abraham in Egypt. (12:15).) in the land of the Philistines. Rather, his lot there was only exile and fear. At the beginning Abimelech said, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. (Further, Verse 11.) Later he regretted it and said, Go from us. (Verse 16 here.) Afterwards, he returned and made a covenant with Isaac (Verses 25-31 here.) Similarly, in the Babylonian Exile, they were exiled there because of the burning heat of famine, (Lamentations 5:10.) and while there, they were neither subjugated, nor were they treated harshly. On the contrary, their leaders were princes in the government. Later on, they said, Whosoever there is among you of all His people — his G-d be with him — let him go up, (Ezra 1:3.) even alerting the princes and governors beyond the River (Euphrates. The term “beyond the River” here applies to the region beyond the River westward from the standpoint of those in Babylonia or Persia.) to help them. Later on, they ceased work [on the House of G-d in Jerusalem] , and it ceased “for a season and a time.” (See Ezra 4:24 and Daniel 7:12.) Later, they again changed their policy and gave permission for the construction of the House of G-d, saying, That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savor unto the G-d of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. (Ezra 6:10.)
IF THOU WILT DO US HURT, AS WE HAVE NOT TOUCHED THEE. The king is saying: “If you will do us hurt [and we could do nothing against you], just as we have not touched you because thou art now the blessed of the Eternal and we do not have it in our power to harm you, the time will yet change on account of the violence you will do against us and you will need to return to our land. Then we will requite you accordingly.” The meaning of the phrase, We have not touched thee, is: “We did not persuade our hearts concerning your wife, causing her to be touched by one of them.” This is similar in expression to the verse, He that toucheth this man or his wife. (Verse 11 here.) “We have done thee nothing but good, guarding whatever you had, by our commanding the people to beware of you. And we have sent thee away in peace for even when we were jealous of you we took nothing of all the wealth you amassed with us, and we sent you away in peace with all you had.” The reason for their being fearful of him could hardly have been the apprehension of the king of the Philistines lest Isaac come to war against him. Instead, it was because Abraham had promised them a covenant, “to him, to his son, and his son’s son,” (Above, 21:23.) and now they thought, “Since we annulled our covenant with Isaac and sent him away from us, he too will annul his covenant with us, and his children will drive our children from the land.” This was why they made a new covenant with him, excusing themselves by telling him that they did not annul the first covenant, since they have done him nothing but good. And this is the meaning of their saying, Let there now be an oath between us: (Verse 28 here.) “We will now come with you in oath to express a ban upon whoever will transgress the covenant.” This is similar in meaning to the verse, That thou shouldst enter into the covenant of the Lord thy G-d, and into His oath. (Deuteronomy 29:11.) It is possible that Abraham was very great and mighty in power, having in his household three hundred men (Above, 14:14.) that drew sword, and also many confederates; and he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, (II Samuel 17:10. The verse refers to David, but Ramban uses it also in connection with Abraham, since as pointed out he was also mighty in battle.) and he chased after four powerful kings and subdued them. (Above, 14:14-15.) When they saw Abraham’s success which clearly was from G-d, the king of the Philistines was then fearful of him lest he conquer his kingdom, since this would be easier than the war against the four kings. Perhaps the king of the Philistines had also heard the matter of G-d having given the land to Abraham. Hence he made a covenant with him, making him swear that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son, (Above, 21:23.) it being considered an act of falsehood if Abraham were to rebel against the king, and considering it possible that Abraham might live until his grandson will rule, [he also mentioned my sons’s son]. And as the fathers are, so are the sons. Isaac was as great as his father, and the king therefore feared lest Isaac war against him because he had driven him from his land.
Genesis 26:7-11
Here is the final “Yitzhak version” of the tale, constructed around the same king whom Avraham had encountered in Chap. 20. Its individual coloring is supplied by the “laughing-and-loving” of v.8, playing on Yitzhak’s name. Otherwise, just as in the following episode, he is merely repeating his father’s experience.
2. When there was a famine in the land, Isaac resolved to go into Egypt, the land there being good; but he went to Gerar, as God commanded him. Here Abimelech the king received him, because Abraham had formerly lived with him, and had been his friend. And as in the beginning he treated him exceeding kindly, so he was hindered from continuing in the same disposition to the end, by his envy at him; for when he saw that God was with Isaac, and took such great care of him, he drove him away from him. But Isaac, when he saw how envy had changed the temper of Abimelech retired to a place called the Valley, not far from Gerar: and as he was digging a well, the shepherds fell upon him, and began to fight, in order to hinder the work; and because he did not desire to contend, the shepherds seemed to get the him, so he still retired, and dug another and when certain other shepherds of Abimelech began to offer him violence, he left that also, still retired, thus purchasing security to himself a rational and prudent conduct. At length the gave him leave to dig a well without disturbance. He named this well Rehoboth, which denotes a large space; but of the former wells, one was called Escon, which denotes strife, the other Sitenna, name signifies enmity.
Avimelech [then] commanded all his people, saying, Whoever touches [injures] this man or his wife, shall die.
And Abimelek instructed all the people, Whoever shall go near to injure this man or his wife, shall verily be put to death.
| וַיִּזְרַ֤ע יִצְחָק֙ בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַהִ֔וא וַיִּמְצָ֛א בַּשָּׁנָ֥ה הַהִ֖וא מֵאָ֣ה שְׁעָרִ֑ים וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ יְהֹוָֽה׃ | 12 J | Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold the same year. יהוה blessed him, |
Deuteronomy 28,12. “Hashem will open for you His bounteous store, the heavens.” Although we have a statement by our sages in B’rachot 33 that G’d’s only “possessions” in His treasure chambers are the four cubits of “halachah,” i.e. reverence for Him displayed by meticulous observance of the laws of the Torah, [a statement based on Deuteronomy 10,12, Ed.], we also have a rule that although man’s spiritual journey in this world commences with a dose of reverence and awe for Hashem, this is followed by a feeling of pleasure which proves to have been “hidden” within the folds of the garment called יראה, awe. The reason why this is so is that had service of the Lord commenced with feelings of pleasure, its ethical value would have been null and void, as “serving” the Lord would have been turned into an entirely pleasurable act, not something that is the result of choosing this option in the knowledge that the alternative appeared to offer more immediate rewards. This is the reason why the pleasurable aspects of practicing reverence and awe for the Lord need to be hidden during life on this earth. When man “tires himself out” during a lifetime of service to his Creator, then G’d will open His treasure chamber in the heavens so that he will enjoy pleasure. This has been alluded to in the words of Isaiah 33,6 where the prophet said: יראת ה' היא אוצרו,”reverence for the Lord –that was her treasure. (Zion’s) The word אוצר, usually translated as “treasure, or granary,” applies to something stored out of sight, hidden. This “treasure” normally concealed inside the attribute of יראה, “fear, awe,” will be released openly, i.e. in due course G’d will “open” these treasures previously kept hidden as a result of the recipient having served the Lord loyally. Our verse therefore concludes with the simile of beneficial rainfall, i.e. G’d’s treasures being openly revealed to the Jewish people as well as the world at large as His gift to them. [During early Jewish history, when Yitzchok, in a year of famine, and although not a farmer by vocation, could plant and his harvest was 100 fold the harvest in normal years, this convinced the Philistines to remain on good terms with him. (Genesis 26,12-14, and 26-31) Ed.] This is also the reason why the Torah once decrees that we observe the Sabbath by writing: זכור את יום השבת לקדשו, “remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy, (Exodus 20,8) and another time שמור את יום השבת לקדשו, “observe the Sabbath Day to keep it holy;” (Deuteronomy 5,12). The first time reference is made to serving the Lord by your actively observing the Sabbath; the second time it refers to the time when you will be passive, i.e. receive the reward for having observed the Sabbath here on earth.
Or say "these are the generations of Yitzchak etc" (Gen. 25:19) and let's begin by explaining the verse "and Yitzchak sowed in the land etc and found a thousand measures/gates" (Gen. 26:12). One needs to say the hint, that behold the service of the tzadik is always to raise the Holy Shechinah, which is the last letter hey [of the name Havayah], and this is the hint in the commentary of Rashi z"l: "this estimation is for tithing" (Rashi on Genesis 26:12:4) - meaning, Yitzchak estimated himself as tithing - which is terumah, since the Text calls Terumah as Tithing in many places. Terumah is explained as Terom Hey [lit. Raise the letter Hey], and the essence of the service to the Holy Blessed Name through love and fear is the hint [of] Terumah - two from one hundred [trei mimeah] meaning, a person is obligated to bless one hundred blessings every day and one needs to bless [those blessings] in love and awe. And this is called "sowing" regarding the tzadik, that through love and awe a great light is sown within the tzadik, and this is "a light is sown for the righteous" (Ps. 97:11). And through this immediately one hundred measures are found, meaning, through every blessing that the tzadik blesses they open one gate of those Upper Hundred Gates which are called one hundred blessings, meaning, the Upper Pools, and this is "Yitzchak sowed:, as explained, and "found a hundred gates", as explained.
מאה שערים, Rashi writes that our sages said that the meaning of the expression (שער(ים here is “estimate” for the sake of tithing. [Either, according to Onkelos,] Yitzchok’s harvest was 100 times as much as could be expected, or that he had to tithe 100 times as much as he had expected.
A HUNDREDFOLD. The word sha’ar means the same as the Rabbinic term shi’ur (estimate, reckon). The meaning of me’ah she’arim (a hundredfold) is that Isaac was blessed in that the earth produced one hundred times more than what he sowed was estimated to produce. The word she’arim comes from the same root as sha’ar in For as one that hath reckoned (sha’ar) within himself (Prov. 23:7).
מאה שערים, ויברכהו. one hundred fold; G'd blessed him. Since we have a general rule that anything that is measured does not qualify for a blessing, the Torah here informs us that G'd blessed Isaac's harvest even though the amount of his harvest had been measured. The Torah also wanted to tell us that despite the phenomenal success of Isaac as a farmer during a famine he did not suffer the effects of an evil eye of anyone who was jealous of his success.
ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא, “Yitzchak planted in that land, etc.” The reason the Torah emphasised “in that land,” is that it was hard ground, did not usually produce much. Considering the fact that the year was one of famine the achievement by Yitzchak in securing a hundredfold return on his seed was all the more remarkable. The place where he had planted the seed was Gerar. This is where these remarkable “hidden” miracles happened for him. The land was so parched that when the local people finally found some water, they exclaimed: “we have found water!” (verse 32) מאה שערים, “one hundredfold.” At the end of tractate Ketuvot (folio 112) our sages explain that when the land of Israel enjoys G’d’s blessing, one בית סעה, of earth will yield a crop of 50,000 כור of grain. In the period when Tzoan in Egypt was at the height of its development, the yield of a measure of earth of a בית סעה would be equivalent to 70 כור. This is documented by Rabbi Meir having personally observed that in the valley of Beit Shean (Jordan valley) one בית סעה produced 70 כור. He added that there is no soil which is reputed to be richer than that of Egypt, i.e. the region around Tzoan, which the Torah described as being “like a garden of G’d” (Genesis 13,10), and where the Egyptian kings were being raised. We know this from Isaiah 30,4 where the prophet mentions that Egypt’s princes and kings were in Tzoan, and that the fertile region extended a far as Chaness. On the other hand, there was no more rocky region in Eretz Yisrael than the region of Hebron and in spite of this the single cluster of grapes which were brought back by the spies from that region had to be carried by eight men. The Torah had reported that Hebron had been cultivated seven years earlier than Tzoan in Egypt (Numbers 13,22). This number is not to be taken at face value, as it would have no bearing on what the Torah was trying to tell us in that verse. The meaning is that even in a rocky place in the land of Israel such as Hebron, the yield is seven times that of the yield of similar produce planted in Tzoan, i.e. 490 כור. In an area which is not covered with rocks such as Hebron the yield may be presumed to be 500 כור. The Talmud concludes its discussion on the relative fertility of the best part of Egypt and the worst part of the land of Israel by saying that the reason why the Torah makes a comparison is to teach that the worst part in the land of Israel is seven times superior to the best part of Egypt even if that part of Eretz Yisrael does not enjoy a special blessing during the year in question. Our verse then points out that when G’d does send His blessing the result is 100 times as great as in normal years (which themselves are phenomenal by world-wide standards.)
ויזרע...מאה שערים, 100 times as much as they had expected to harvest from this planting.
'ויברכהו ה, He made him successful in all his undertakings.
בארץ ההיא, even though the soil of this land is exceptionally hard;
בשנה ההיא, a year of general drought and even famine.
מאה שערים, a field which if one plants one measure of seed it produces 100 measures of grain as a harvest.
בארץ ההוא IN THAT LAND although it (Gerar) had not the sacred importance of Erez Yisroel proper — i. e., as the territory of the seven nations, and is therefore not as fertile as the Holy Land (cf. Ketubot 112a).
בשנה ההיא IN THAT YEAR although it was not a normal year, being a year of famine.
בארץ ההיה בשנה ההיא In that land and in that year. — Why is there mention of the two — that land and that year? To tell you that that soil was hard and that year was a hard one (Genesis Rabbah 64:6).
מאה שערים AN HUNDREDFOLD — for they had estimated how much it should have yielded and it yielded one hundred for every measure which they had estimated. Our Rabbis said that the estimate was made for the purpose of the tithe (Genesis Rabbah 64:6).
In diesem Lande und in diesem Jahre, Land und Jahr waren ungünstig und doch fand er hundert שערים. Im Munde der Weisen heißt allerdings שער auch Maß, allein in תנ"ך kommt es nur als Tor und Marktplatz vor. So Kön. II. 7, 1. Daher heißt auch wohl das Zeitwort שעור: zu Markte sitzen, feilbieten, davon Prov. 26, 6 u. 7 ׳אל תלחם את לחם רע עין וגו׳ כי כמו שער בנפשו כן הוא וגו. Wenn der Geizige dich zu Tische ladet, so ist es ihm, als "ob er mit seiner Seele zu Markte sitze", als ob er ein Stück von seinem Leben feilbiete. תאנים שוערים (Jirm. 29, 17) sind "Markthüter", Früchte, die nicht vom Markte kommen, nicht verkäuflich sind, d. h. schlechte Früchte. שערוריה und שערורה in Jirmija und Hosea heißt: Feilheit. Demgemäß hieße hier מאה שערים: hundert Märkte. Es reichte der Ertrag nicht nur für seinen Bedarf aus, sondern er brachte das Hundertfältige gegen gewöhnliche Erträge davon auf den Markt. —
ויברכהו ד׳. So war er zuerst der Gottgesegnete. Indem er den Segen nicht wucherisch aufspeicherte, sondern auf den Markt brachte, kam in dem Hungerjahr sein Segen der allgemeinen Not zu gute, und zuerst erblickte man in ihm nur den von Gott gesegneten Mann.
ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא, in accordance with G’d’s instructions “גור בארץ הזאת” (verse 3)
מאה שערים. In accordance with G’d’s promise to Avraham in Genesis 12,2 ואהיה עמך ואברכך, “I will be with you and bless you,” i.e. with material blessings
ויברכהו ה, with money. He sold his crops for cash. According to our sages as quoted by Rashi, the estimate of the size of Yitzchok’s crops given here is to teach us something about tithing properly. [according to Bereshit Rabbah 64,6 the question is why Yitzchok, who must have been aware that blessing does not rest on items which have been measured or weighed, bothered to measure his crop. The answer is that one must not tithe by estimating, but by measuring. If he wanted to tithe correctly, he had to first measure the size of his crop. Ed.] G’d directed the blessing to Yitzchok on account of his concern to tithe correctly, something we also find reflected in Maleachi 3,10 “bring the full tithe into the storehouse and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test-said the Lord of Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour down blessings on you.”
Despite the fact that it is not as esteemed as Eretz Yisrael itself... Rashi is answering the question: Is not Gerar also in Eretz Yisrael, as Rashi explained above (v. 2)?
They had estimated the amount it ought to produce... מאה שערים means מאה שיעורים (a hundred amounts), as they had estimated it (שערה).
Our Sages said, the purpose of this estimate was for tithing. Rashi is answering the question: Why did they measure [the produce after the initial estimate]? It is stated in Bava Metzia 42a that only something hidden from the eye is blessed, not something that is counted and measured! Thus Rashi explains that Yitzchok wanted to give tithes, and one may not give tithes based on a mere estimate (Avos 1:16).
Up to this point, the incidents in Isaac’s life parallel events that occurred in Abraham’s life. The focus now turns to deeds performed by Isaac that were apparently not done by his father. It is likely that Abraham the nomad was occupied mainly with shepherding. In contrast, Isaac, who lived in Gerar, engaged also in agriculture. Isaac sowed in that land and found in that year one hundredfold. He reaped one hundred times what he sowed, a very respectable yield even nowadays. And the explanation for this unusually large crop is that the Lord blessed him.
At this point, the author discusses 12 symbolisms in connection with the moon's behavior, linking these to the twelve tribes of the Jewish people. The list is omitted in the interest of brevity. A different way of looking at the aggadah in Chullin 60 is this: Israel (moon) complained against Esau (sun) that it is impossible for both to wear the crown of spiritual success. The difference in their essence makes that impossible. G-d’s suggestion to the moon then was that the moon give up some of its claim to glory in this world, so as to merit the crown of success in the world to come. G-d’s message was that Jews could not expect to be both spiritually and materially successful in the present world as well as in the world to come. When the moon wanted to know why this was impossible, G-d said in effect, "Go ahead and try." Although a few Jews succeeded, it became clear that whatever measure of success they did attain, was viewed by the world as essentially belonging to the realm of the material world. They were not credited with being different from other gentiles. So G-d told the moon that in that case it must find its satisfaction in the recognition it would obtain in the eyes of the Almighty. Although it is true that the sun too, plays a part in calendar calculation, since the righteous achieve their status by claiming smallness, it behooves the moon to act likewise. Success in this world, though sometimes forthcoming, cannot be guaranteed; but to try for it with any chance of success, one must be prepared to be humble and unassuming. Proof that the Almighty Himself was not totally happy with the need to advise this path, is provided by the fact that He requested the he-goat offering as an act of atonement for having made this demand on the Jewish people. If we consider all the sufferings undergone by the Jewish people despite the fact that they were persuaded by G-d to reduce their claim to the enticements this world has to offer, imagine what greater suffering would have been in store for us had we not voluntarily agreed to this contraction in size. To sum up then, our Parshah has a threefold purpose: 1) To debunk theories about the moon that are idolatrous. 2) To rebut the argument about the accidental nature of the universe. 3) To strengthen Jewish faith in the ultimate fulfilment of our hopes.
They also say, the Patriarchs did not seek another life; and that Isaac only blessed Jacob with temporal goods. In everything, they are manifestly deceiving themselves. As Abraham felt the happiness of the soul well, he despised his life and that of his son Isaac, and all the temporal goods that God had promised him, to merit eternal life. Likewise, Isaac blessed his son Jacob with spiritual goods, and so it was written twice before the material blessing, ויברכהו and he blessed him (Genesis 26:12; 27:27) And although this is not explained so clearly, they were indeed spiritual blessings, and when the temporal blessings begin, it says, ויתן־לך and give you (Genesis 27:28) ויתן־לך האלהים מטל השמים and may God give you the dew of heaven (Genesis 27:28) with a conjunctive (ו) Vav as one following the period (marking the time), from which the ancients infer, those spiritual blessings are paused with that (ו) Vav which is the emphasis of that conjunction. For it is clearly seen how careful Jacob was to be buried with his parents, as was Yosef whose bones were taken from Egypt, all of which is a clear indication of immortality, because if everything ends with the body, such care would be ridiculous. With this, I think we have given this issue enough consideration.
there was great blessing in his crops. (See Bereishis 26:12, “And Yitzchok sowed in the land and received in that year a hundred-fold, and Adonoy blessed him.”)
[Yitzchak] was called his father's heir, and turned away the snares of evil. (He abandoned the company of Avimelech. See Midrash, Bereishis Rabba, 64:2) He cried, he pleaded, sparing no prayer, there was great blessing in his crops. (See Bereishis 26:12, “And Yitzchok sowed in the land and received in that year a hundred-fold, and Adonoy blessed him.”)
“Erecting the Tabernacle” – that is what is written: “Who ascended heavenward and descended? [Who gathered the wind in his fists? Who bound water in a garment? Who established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know]?” (Proverbs 30:4). “Who ascended heavenward?” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, in whose regard it is written: “God ascended with acclaim, the Lord…” (Psalms 47:6). “And descended” – “the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:20). “Who gathered the wind?” – “in whose hand is the life of every living being” (Job 12:10). “Who bound [tzarar] water in a garment?” – “He, who amasses [tzorer] water in His clouds” (Job 26:8). “Who established all the ends of the earth?” – “The Lord puts to death and brings to life” (I Samuel 2:6). “What is his name?” His name is Rock, His name is Almighty, His name is Lord of Hosts. “And what is his son’s name, if you know?” “My son, My firstborn, Israel” (Exodus 4:22). Another matter: “Who ascended heavenward?” (Proverbs 30:4) – this is Elijah, in whose regard it is written: “Elijah ascended heavenward in a storm” (II Kings 2:11). “And descended” (Proverbs 30:4) – “[the angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah:] Go down with him; do not fear” (II Kings 1:15). “Who gathered the wind?” (Proverbs 30:4) – “as the Lord, God of Israel, before whom I stand, lives, there shall be neither dew nor rain during these years” (I Kings 17:1). “Who bound [tzarar] water in a garment?” (Proverbs 30:4) – “Elijah took his mantle, [rolled it up, and struck the water]” (II Kings 2:8). “Who established all the ends of the earth?” (Proverbs 30:4) – “Elijah said: See, your son lives” (I Kings 17:23). Another matter: “Who ascended heavenward and descended?” (Proverbs 30:4) – who is it whose prayer ascends heavenward and causes rain to fall, and by his merit wind blows to grow the grass, as it is stated: “Who gathered the wind [in his fists]?” (Proverbs 30:4). It is the one who distributes tithes in his fists; that is “in his fists.” Likewise it says: “Bring all the tithe to the storehouse, and let it be food in My house. Test Me now with this, said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out an endless [ad beli dai] blessing for you” (Malachi 3:10), until your lips will be worn [yivlu] from saying enough [dai]. From where is it derived that winds are needed for grain? It is as it is written: “My lesson will fall as the rain, [my saying] will flow [like dew, like storm winds on grass, and like raindrops on vegetation]” (Deuteronomy 32:2). “Who bound water in a garment?” (Proverbs 30:4) – one who does not distribute his tithe with his fists, his prayers do not ascend heavenward and do not cause rain to fall; rather, it causes the water to amass in the clouds, and they do not fall to the ground. “Who established all the ends of the earth?” (Proverbs 30:4) – it is just as it says: “The Lord will render the rain of your land dust and dirt” (Deuteronomy 28:24). “What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?” (Proverbs 30:4). “What is his name?” – Abraham separated tithe first, as it is stated: “He gave him a tithe from everything” (Genesis 14:20), and the Holy One blessed be He granted him the heavens and earth. Why did he [Malkitzedek] bless him that God should grant him the heavens and earth? It was for his offspring. “And what is his son’s name?” – this is Isaac, who gave a tithe and was blessed, as it is stated: “Isaac sowed [in that land, and found in that year one hundredfold]” (Genesis 26:12). What is, “and found in that year one hundredfold [me’a she’arim]”? It teaches that he measured them in order to tithe them. “If you know” – likewise, the Holy One blessed be He exhorted Israel that if they tithe their grain, He will bless them with wealth, as it is stated: “You shall tithe [aser te’aser]…” (Deuteronomy 14:22); tithe [aser] so you will become wealthy [shetitasher]. Another matter: “Who ascended heavenward?” (Proverbs 30:4) – this is Moses, in whose regard it is written: “Moses ascended to God” (Exodus 19:3). “And descended” (Proverbs 30:4) – “Moses descended from the mountain to the people” (Exodus 19:14). “Who gathered wind in his fists?” (Proverbs 30:4) – “As I leave the city, I will spread [my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease and the hail will be no longer]” (Exodus 9:29). “Who bound water in a garment?” (Proverbs 30:4) – “flowing water stood upright like a wall” (Exodus 15:8). “Who established all the ends of the earth?” (Proverbs 30:4) – did Moses establish the ends of the earth? Rather, he established the Tent of Meeting, with which the world was established. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: It is not written here: Erecting a Tabernacle [mishkan], but rather, “erecting the Tabernacle [et hamishkan.]” (The extraneous word et is expounded to include a second Tabernacle.) A second Tabernacle was erected with it that is called a tent, just as the Tabernacle is called the Tent of Meeting, just as it says: “He stretched them like a tent in which to dwell” (Isaiah 40:22). Until the Tabernacle was erected, the world was unsteady. Once the Tabernacle was erected, the world was stabilized. That is why it is stated: “Erecting the Tabernacle [et hamishkan].”
“Take the Levites” – that is what the verse said: “The Lord assesses the righteous, but He hates the wicked and the lover of villainy” (Psalms 11:5). “The Lord assesses the righteous” – the Holy One blessed be He does not elevate a person to a position of authority until he first assesses and examines him. When he passes His ordeal, He elevates him to a position of authority. Likewise, you find regarding Abraham our patriarch. The Holy One blessed be He subjected him to ten ordeals and he passed them. Then He blessed him: “The Lord blessed Abraham with everything” (Genesis 24:1). Likewise, Isaac, He subjected him to the ordeal of Avimelekh, and he passed the ordeal. Then He blessed him, as it is stated: “Isaac sowed in that land and found in that year one hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him” (Genesis 26:12). Likewise, Jacob our patriarch, He subjected him to an ordeal with all those travails; with Esau, with Rachel, with Dina, with Joseph, and how he left his father’s house: “For with my staff I crossed this Jordan” (Genesis 32:11). And He blessed him: “God appeared to Jacob again, already upon his arrival from Padan Aram, and He blessed him” (Genesis 35:9). Likewise, Joseph with the wife of Potifera; he was incarcerated for twelve years and became king because he passed his ordeals. That is, “the Lord assesses the righteous.” The tribe of Levi, too, devoted their lives for sanctification of the name of the Holy One blessed be He. When Israel was in Egypt, they rejected the Torah and circumcision, as Ezekiel rebukes them: “So said the Lord God: On the day that I chose Israel, I raised My hand to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt” (Ezekiel 20:5). What is ultimately written thereafter? “They defied Me and did not want to heed Me…and I said to pour My fury upon them” (Ezekiel 20:8). What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He brought darkness upon the Egyptians for three days, during which he killed all the wicked of Israel, as it says: “I will purge the rebels and the transgressors against Me from among you” (Ezekiel 20:38). Likewise it says: “The fig tree formed its unripe figs” (Song of Songs 2:13), these are the wicked who were among Israel. “And the vines, budding, emitted fragrance” (Song of Songs 2:13), the survivors who repented were accepted. “Arise, my love, my fair one, and go” (Song of Songs 2:13), as the time of the redemption has arrived. But the tribe of Levi, all of them were righteous, and all of them would perform the Torah, as it is stated: “For they observed Your saying, and Your covenant they upheld” (Deuteronomy 33:9); this is circumcision. Moreover, when Israel crafted the calf, the tribe of Levi did not participate, as it is stated: “Moses stood at the gate of the camp…and all the sons of Levi gathered to him” (Exodus 32:26). When Moses said to them: “Each man, place his sword upon his thigh” (Exodus 32:27), what did they do? They placed it and showed no favor. Likewise, Moses said in his blessing: “Who said of his father and of his mother: I have not seen him” (Deuteronomy 33:9). When the Holy One blessed be He saw that they were all righteous, he subjected them to an ordeal and they passed the ordeal, as it is stated: “Whom you subjected to an ordeal at Masa” (Deuteronomy 33:8). Immediately, He said: “The Levites shall be Mine” (Numbers 8:14), to realize what is stated: “The Lord assesses the righteous” (Psalms 11:5). But the wicked, it is written in their regard: “But He hates the wicked and the lover of villainy” (Psalms 11:5). David said: “Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways” (Psalms 128:1).
“Avimelekh commanded all the people, saying: Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death” (Genesis 26:11). “Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year one hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him” (Genesis 26:12). “Isaac sowed in that land” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: “In that land…in that year” – the land was harsh and the year was difficult; had it been favorable, all the more so. “And found in that year one hundredfold” – one hundred kor; (Kor is a measurement of volume which contains more than 200 liters.) “one hundredfold” – one hundred times. (The yield was one hundred times the seeds that he sowed.) “One hundredfold” – it teaches that it produced one hundred times more than they had estimated for it. Is it not so that blessing does not rest upon an item that is weighed, measured, or counted? Why, then, did he measure it? It was due to the tithes.
“Laban said to him: If now I have found favor in your eyes, I have divined, and the Lord has blessed me on your account” (Genesis 30:27). “Laban said to him: If now I have found favor in your eyes, [I have divined]” – I attempted and examined, (“Divined” could not refer to divination, as that is abhorrent in the eyes of God and Jacob. The proper interpretation is that he examined the differences in his household between the pre-Jacob era and since Jacob arrived.) “and the Lord has blessed me on your account.” “He said: Stipulate your wages for me, and I will give them” (Genesis 30:28). “He said: Stipulate your wages for me” – calculate, quantify, and state . “He said to him: You know how I have served you, and how your livestock was with me” (Genesis 30:29). “For the little that you had before me has increased abundantly and the Lord has blessed you on my account and now, when will I, too, provide for my household?” (Genesis 30:30). “He said to him: You know…For the little [me’at] that you had…has increased abundantly” – Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Ḥizkiya: Me’at – seventy heads [of livestock]. Me’at is stated here and me’at is stated elsewhere: “[He went down to Egypt with] few in number [bimtei me’at]” (Deuteronomy 26:5). Just as there it is seventy people, (“All the people of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy” (Genesis 46:27).) so, too, here, it is seventy heads. “The Lord has blessed you on my account” – everywhere the righteous go, blessing is sent. Isaac descended to Gerar, blessing came on his account, as it is stated: “Isaac planted in that land and found in [that] year…and God blessed him.” (Genesis 26:12). Jacob descended to Laban and blessing came on his account, as it is stated: “The Lord has blessed you on my account.” Joseph descended to Potiphar, blessing came on his account, as it is stated: “The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian” (Genesis 39:5). “Now, when will I, too, provide for my household?” – Reuben requires a house, Simeon requires a house.
Our Rabbis were taught: During a prosperous year in Israel, a space wherein a S'ah of seed is sown would produce five myriad Khor of grain. In the tilled districts of Z'oan, one measure of seed produced seventy Khor; for we are taught that Rabbi Maier said: "I myself have witnessed in the vale of Beth She'an an instance of one measuse of seed producing seventy Khors." And there is no better land anywhere than the land of Egypt; for it is said (Gen. 13) As the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. And there is no better laud in all Egypt than Zo'an, where several kings resided; as it is written (Is. 30, 4) His princes were in Z'oan!" In all Israel there was no other stony soil than Hebron, for this reason it was devoted for a burying place: and yet Hebron was seven times more prolific than Zo'an, as it is written (Num. 13, 22), Now Hebron was built seven years before Zo'an in Egypt. What does that mean? Shall we assume that it means literally? How is it possible that one should build a house for his smallest son at first? Since it is said (Gen. 10, 6) And the sons of Ham, Cush, Mizriam (Egypt), Phut, and Canaan. It must therefore mean that it was seven times more prolific than Zo'an, This is only in the stony soil of the land of Israel, but in the suitable soil [the increase] is five hundred times. All this applies to a year of average return; but in one of special prosperity it is written (Gen. 26, 12) Then Isaac sewed in that land, and received in the same year a hundred-fold.
“For to the man who is good before Him, He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass, to give to one who is good before God. This, too, is vanity and herding wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:26). “For to the man who is good before Him…”: “For to the man who is good before Him” – this is Abraham our patriarch, [to whom] “He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy.” “But to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass” – this is Nimrod. And of whom is it stated: “To give to one who is good before God”? This is Abraham, as it is stated: “The Lord blessed Abraham with everything” (Genesis 24:1). Another matter: “For to the man who is good before Him” – this is Isaac, [to whom] “He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy.” “But to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass” – this is Avimelekh. And of whom is it stated: “To give to one who is good before God”? This is Isaac, as it is stated: “Isaac sowed in that land [and found in that year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him]” (Genesis 26:12). Another matter: “For to the man who is good before Him” – this is Jacob, [to whom] “He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy.” “But to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass” – this is Laban. And of whom is it stated: “To give to one who is good before God”? This is Jacob, as it is stated: “Because I saw everything that Laban has done to you” (Genesis 31:12). (The preceding verses described how a large number of Laban’s livestock were diverted to Jacob via divine intervention. See especially Genesis 30:43 and 31:9.) Another matter: “For to the man who is good before Him” – these are the Israelites who were in Egypt, [to whom] “He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy.” “But to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass” – these are the Canaanites. Rabbi Levi said: None of them would add even a drop of oil to his beans, and even if his egg would break, he would not taste it, but rather, he would sell it and turn it into money, so that the Israelites would enter the land and find it filled with blessings. (Instead of consuming their resources, the Canaanites would sell them to outsiders and amass treasure, which the Israelites then took possession of when they entered the land.) And of whom is it stated: “To give to one who is good before God”? These are the Israelites, as it is stated: “To these you shall distribute the land” (Numbers 26:53). Another matter: “For to the man who is good before Him” – this is Hezekiah, [to whom] “He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy.” “But to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass” – this is Sennacherib. And of whom is it stated: “To give to one who is good before God”? This is Hezekiah, as it is stated: “He was exalted in the eyes of all of the nations” (II Chronicles 32:23). Another matter: “For to the man who is good before Him” – this is Mordekhai, [to whom] “He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy.” “But to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass” – this is Haman. And of whom is it stated: “To give to one who is good before God”? This is Mordekhai, as it is stated: “On that day, King Aḥashverosh gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman…[ And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordekhai. And Esther set Mordekhai over the house of Haman]” (Esther 8:1–2).
Another interpretation (of Numb. 8:6): TAKE THE LEVITES. This text is related (to Ps. 11:5): THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS. The Holy One does not elevate a person to an office until he tests and examines him. (Tanh. Numb. 3:8; Numb. R. 15:12.) When he withstands his test, he elevates him to the office. And so you find in the case of our father Abraham, when the Holy One tested him with ten temptations, he withstood his trial. Then after that he blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 24:1): AND THE LORD BLESSED ABRAHAM IN ALL THINGS. So also in the case of Isaac, when he tested him in the days of Abimelech, he withstood the trial. Then after that he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND [ … FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM]. So also in the case of Jacob, when he tested him by means of all those tribulations with Esau with Dinah, with Joseph, and how he departed from the house of his father and his mother (in Gen. 32:11 [10]): FOR WITH …, he blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN, [WHEN HE CAME FROM PADDAN-ARAM, AND BLESSED HIM]. So also in the case of Joseph, he tested him with the wife of Potiphar, and he was imprisoned for twelve years. Then after that he came out and became king because he had withstood his trial. Ergo (in Ps. 11:5): THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS. So also in the case of the tribe of Levi, they laid down their lives for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One (i.e. for martyrdom), so that the Torah would not be set aside. Now when Israel was in Egypt, they had rejected the Torah and circumcision and all of them had become worshipers of idols as Ezekiel has demonstrated where it is stated (in Ezek. 20:5): AND YOU SHALL SAY UNTO THEM: THUS SAYS THE LORD GOD, IN THE DAY THAT I CHOSE ISRAEL…. Then what is written at the end (in vs. 8)? BUT THEY REBELLED AGAINST ME AND DID NOT COME TO HEARKEN UNTO ME. [INDIVIDUALLY THEY DID NOT CAST AWAY THE ABOMINATIONS OF THEIR EYES NOR DID THEY FORSAKE THE IDOLS OF EGYPT]. What did the Holy One do? He brought darkness upon Egypt for three days, and during those he killed all the wicked ones of Israel. For this reason it says (in Ezek. 20:36, 38): AS I BROUGHT YOUR ANCESTORS TO JUDGMENT IN THE DESERT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT….] SO WILL I REMOVE FROM YOU . So also it says (in Cant. 2:13): AND THE FIG TREE SHEDS (Heb.: hanetah. Although the biblical context suggests a translation such as “puts forth” or “ripens” the context understands this rare verb in a more negative sense. See above vol. 2, p. 62 Tanh. (Buber); Exod. 3:7).) ITS GREEN FIGS…. These are the wicked who are in Israel. (Ibid. cont.:) AND THE VINES IN BLOSSOM GIVE OFF FRAGRANCE. These are the rest who have repented and been accepted. (Ibid. cont.:) ARISE, MY BELOVED, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY, for behold the time of redemption has arrived. However all those in the tribe of Levi were righteous and carried out the Torah. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:9): FOR THEY OBSERVED YOUR WORD, i.e., the Torah; AND KEPT YOUR COVENANT, i.e., circumcision. And not only that, but when Israel made the calf, the tribe of Levi did not participate there as stated (in Exod. 32:26): SO MOSES STOOD UP ON THE GATE OF THE CAMP AND SAID: WHOEVER IS FOR THE LORD COME TO ME. THEN ALL THE CHILDREN OF LEVI GATHERED UNTO HIM. When Moses said (in vs. 27): EACH [PUT HIS SWORD ON HIS THIGH, they immediately did so. Moreover they did not show partiality. And so Moses blesses them, the one (according Deut. 33:9) WHO SAYS OF HIS FATHER AND MOTHER: I DO NOT CONSIDER THEM …, FOR THEY (the Levites) OBSERVED YOUR WORD AND KEPT YOUR COVENANT. When the Holy One saw that they all were righteous, that he had tested them and they had withstood their trial, as stated (of Levi in Deut. 33:8): WHOM YOU TESTED AT MASSAH, the Holy One immediately said (in Numb. 8:14): AND THE LEVITES SHALL BELONG TO ME to fulfill what is stated (in Ps. 11:5): THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS. In the case of the wicked, however, it is written of them (ibid. cont.:) BUT HIS SOUL (i.e. the soul of the Holy One) HATES THE WICKED AND THE LOVER OF INJUSTICE. David said (in Ps. 128:1): BLESSED IS EVERYONE WHO FEARS THE LORD AND WALKS IN HIS WAYS.
Another interpretation: What is the meaning of IN EVERYTHING? By virtue of the tithes. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 14:20): AND HE GAVE HIM A TITHE FROM EVERYTHING. Isaac also [was blessed] by virtue of the tithes. [Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND AND REAPED IN THAT YEAR A HUNDREDFOLD, FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM. He also says (in Gen. 27:33): AND I HAVE EATEN OF EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU CAME AND HAVE BLESSED HIM. Jacob also was blessed by virtue of the tithes.] Thus it is stated (in Gen. 28:22): AND OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME, I WILL SURELY SET ASIDE A TITHE FOR YOU. Ergo (in Gen. 21:1): AND THE LORD HAD BLESSED ABRAHAM IN EVERYTHING.
(Prov. 6:20:) MY CHILD, KEEP YOUR FATHER's {TORAH} [COMMANDMENTS], . Our earliest ancestors separated out terumot (I.e., the priestly tithes on produce, sometimes called “heave offerings.”) and tithes. (Tanh., Deut. 4:14, cont.; PRK 10:6; see PR 25:3, cont.) Abraham separated out a great terumah, as stated (in Gen. 14:22): I HAVE LIFTED UP MY HAND UNTO THE LORD, GOD MOST HIGH. A lifting up is nothing but a terumah (rt.: RWM), since it is stated (in Numb. 18:26): YOU SHALL LIFT (rt.: RWM) OUT OF IT A TERUMAH OF THE LORD, . Isaac separated out a second tithe, as stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND AND REAPED IN THAT YEAR A HUNDREDFOLD, . R. Abba bar Kahana said: Is it not true that a blessing does not rest on what is measured, on what is weighed, or on what is counted? So why did he measure them? In order to tithe them. This is what is written (ibid.): FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM. (See Deut. 14:24, which mentions a blessing in the context of the second tithe; therefore, the blessing of Gen. 26:12 must have been the result of Isaac’s second tithe.) Jacob separated out a first tithe, as stated (in Gen. 28:22): AND OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME, I WILL SURELY SET ASIDE A TITHE FOR YOU.
[(Gen. 37:1:) NOW JACOB DWELT < IN THE LAND >.] This text is related (to I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU [AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS]. So are the righteous. The Holy One had made them the essential thing, but they make themselves subordinate. In the case of Abraham, the Holy One had magnified him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): I WILL BLESS YOU AND MAGNIFY YOUR NAME. And so (in Gen. 13:17): ARISE, WALK ABOUT THE LAND < THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH AND BREADTH, FOR I AM GIVING IT TO YOU >. < Yet > he says to the children of Heth (i.e., to the Hittites, in Gen. 23:4): I AM AN ALIEN AND A TRANSIENT AMONG YOU. So also with Isaac, the Holy One magnified him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND < AND REAPED IN THAT YEAR A HUNDREDFOLD, FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM >. It also says (in Gen. 26:6): SO ISAAC {SOJOURNED} [DWELT] IN GERAR. And so with Jacob (according to Gen. 36:6): NOW JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND WHERE HIS FATHER HAD SOJOURNED. It is therefore stated (in I Chron. 29:16): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS.
(Numb. 8:6:) “Take the Levites.” This text is related (to Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” The Holy One, blessed be He, does not elevate a person to an office until He first tests and examines him. (Numb. R. 15:12.) When he withstands his test, He elevates him to the office. And so you find in the case of our father Abraham; when the Holy One, blessed be He, tested him with ten temptations, he withstood his trials. Then after that He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 24:1), “And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things.” So also in the case of Isaac, when He tested him with the days of Abimelech, he withstood the trial. Then after that He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 26:12), “So Isaac sowed on that land […] for the Lord had blessed him.” So also in the case of Jacob, when He tested him by means of all those tribulations with Esau, with Rachel, with Dinah, with Joseph, with Simeon, with Benjamin and [with the tribulation of] how he departed from the house of his father and his mother (in Gen. 32:11), “for with [only] my staff did I cross [this Jordan].” Then after that He blessed him. It is so stated (in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-Aram, and blessed him.” So also in the case of Joseph, He tested him with all of those tribulations, with the wife of Potiphar and he was imprisoned for twelve years. Then after that he came out and became king because he had withstood his trial. Ergo (in Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” So also in the case of the tribe of Levi, they laid down their lives for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, (i.e. for martyrdom), so that the Torah would not be set aside. Now when Israel was in Egypt, they had rejected the Torah and circumcision and all of them had become worshipers of idols, as Ezekiel has demonstrated where it is stated (in Ezek. 20:5), “And you shall say unto them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “In the day that I chose Israel […].”’” Then what is written at the end (in vs. 8)? “But they rebelled against Me and did not come to hearken unto Me; each man did not cast away [the abominations of their eyes nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt].” What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brought darkness upon Egypt for three days, and during those [days] he killed all the wicked ones of Israel. For this reason it says (in Ezek. 20:36-38), “[As I brought your ancestors to judgment in the desert of the land of Egypt….] So will I remove from you those who rebel and transgress against Me.” So also it says (in Cant. 2:13), “And the fig tree sheds (Heb.: hanetah. Although the biblical context suggests a translation such as “puts forth” or “ripens” the context understands this rare verb in a more negative sense. See above vol. 2, p. 62 Tanh. (Buber); Exod. 3:7).) its green figs…,” these are the wicked who are in Israel; (ibid. cont.) “and the vines in blossom give off fragrance,” these are the rest who have repented and been accepted; (ibid. cont.) “arise, my beloved, my fair one, and come away,” for behold the time of redemption has arrived. However all those in the tribe of Levi were righteous and carried out the Torah. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:9), “For they observed Your word,” i.e., the Torah; (ibid. cont.) “and kept Your covenant,” i.e., circumcision. And not only that, but when Israel made the calf, the tribe of Levi did not participate there, as stated (in Exod. 32:26), “So Moses stood up on the gate of the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for the Lord come to me,’ and all the Children of Levi gathered unto him.” When Moses said (in vs. 27), “Each [of you] put his sword on his thigh…,” they immediately did so. Moreover they did not show partiality. And so Moses blesses them, [namely (according Deut. 33:9)], “The one who says of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them’ and his brother….” When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that they all were righteous, that He had tested them and they had withstood their trial – as stated (of Levi in Deut. 33:8), “[Your faithful one,] whom You tested at Massah” – the Holy One, blessed be He, immediately said (in Numb. 8:14), “And the Levites shall belong to Me,” to fulfill what is stated (in Ps. 11:5), “The Lord tests the righteous.” In the case of the wicked, however, it is written of them (ibid. cont.), “but His soul (i.e. The soul of the Holy One, blessed be He,) hates the wicked and the lover of injustice.” David said (in Ps. 128:1), “Fortunate is everyone who fears the Lord and walks in His ways.”
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of speaking (Exod. 31:18). R. Tanhuma began the discussion with the verse: Unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth righteousness, but unto us confusion of face (Dan. 9:7). R. Nehemiah declared: Even though we believe that we have acted righteously before You, if we examine our actions we are abashed. There is no time at which we may come before You with confidence except when we bring our offerings to Your house, as it is said: When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase (Deut. 26:2). This entire subject is explained in the section Look forth from Thy holy habitation … and bless Thy people Israel (Deut. 26:15).
R. Simeon explained: A king never stands in his field while it is being sowed or plowed or hoed, he does so only while the grain is being stacked. Abraham hoed, as it is said: Arise, walk through the land (ibid. 13:17), and Isaac sowed, as it is said: And Isaac sowed in the land (ibid. 26:12). The King did not stand beside anyone until Jacob came, for he stacked the first fruits, as it is said: Israel is the Lord’s hallowed portion, and the first fruits of the increase (Jer. 2:3). Then the Holy One, blessed be He, stood beside him (Gen. 28:13). Therefore, Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God (Ps. 146:5). Resh Lakish declared: Whose hope is in the Lord his God refers to Joseph, who was the hope of the world while dwelling in Egypt. The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to Jacob that his hope was in Egypt, as it is said: Now Jacob saw that there was hope in Egypt (reading sever, “hope,” for shever, “grain”).
Another explanation (of Deut. 14:22), “You shall tithe, tithe.” This is related to the verse (in Is. 24:5), “And the earth was distorted under its inhabitants, because they transgressed Torahs; (Torot. Such a literal translation is required by the midrash. In the biblical context the word denotes something more general, such as teachings.) they violated a statute; [they broke an eternal covenant].” R. Isaac said, “You have already been false to it, and [so] it is distorted for you. It [may] show you standing grain, but it does not show you a shock of sheaves. It [may] show you [a shock of sheaves, but it does not show you a threshing floor]. It [may] show you a threshing floor, but it does not show you a winnowed heap. Why [not]? (Ibid.:) ‘Because they transgressed Torahs; they violated statutes,’ in that they did transgress two Torahs, the written Torah and the oral Torah; (ibid.) ‘they violated a statute,’ the statute of tithes; (ibid.) ‘they broke an eternal covenant,’ an ancestral covenant.” For that reason Moses warned Israel (in Deut. 14:22), “You shall surely tithe.” (Prov. 6:20:) “My child, keep your father's commandments, [and do not forsake the Torah of your mother].” R. Huna said, “Our earliest ancestors separated out terumot and tithes.” Abraham separated out the great terumah, as stated (in Gen. 14:22), “[Then Abram said unto the king of Sodom,] ‘I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, God most high.’” A lifting up is nothing but a terumah (rt.: rwm), as you say (in Numb. 18:26), “[Now you shall speak unto the Levites and say unto them, ‘When you receive tithes from the Children of Israel, the tithe that I have given you as your portion,] you shall lift (rt.: rwm) out of it a terumah of the Lord, [a tithe from the tithe].’” Isaac separated out the second tithe, as stated (in Gen. 26:12), “So Isaac sowed on that land and reaped in that year a hundredfold, [for the Lord had blessed him]”; R. Eiba bar Kahana said, “Is it not true that a blessing does not rest on what is measured, on what is weighed, or on what is counted? So why did he measure them? In order to tithe them. This is what is written (ibid.), ‘for the Lord had blessed him.’” (See Deut. 14:24, which mentions a blessing in the context of the second tithe; therefore, perhaps the blessing of Gen. 26:12 would have been the result of Isaac’s second tithe.) Jacob separated out the first tithe, as stated (in Gen. 28:22), “and of all that You give me, I will surely set aside a tithe for You.” A certain Cuthean (i.e., a Samaritan) came and questioned R. Meir. He said to him, “Do you not say that indeed your ancestor Jacob is truthful?” He said [back] to him, “Yes, as it is written (in Micah 7:20), ‘You give truthfulness to Jacob.’” [The Cuthean] said to him, “He separated out the tribe of Levi [as a tithe] for the tribes, [i.e.,] one out of ten. Should he not have separated out [a tithe] from two more [tribes]?” R. Meir said to him, “You have said that there were twelve, but I say that there were fourteen, as stated (in Gen. 48:5), ‘Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine like Reuben and Simeon.’” He said to him, “So here you are supporting me. You have added flour. Have you added water?” He said to him, “Do you not admit that there are four matriarchs that had four first-borns? Take away from [the fourteen] the four firstborn (of Jacob's four wives), since the firstborn is not tithed. Why? Because he is holy, and something holy does not redeem for use something [else that is] holy.” He said to him, ‘It is good for your people that you are among them.” Hence it is written (Prov. 6:20), “and do not forsake the Torah of your mother (immekha),” [i.e.,] your people (ummatekha). That is what David said (in Ps. 40:9), “To carry out Your will, my God, is my desire, [for Your Torah is within my belly].” R. Aha bar Ulla said, “Is there Torah within the belly? And is it not so written (in Jer. 31:33), ‘and upon their heart (not their belly) I will write it?’ It is simply that David said, ‘May [a curse] come upon me, if something goes down into my belly, except when it is tithed.’ This is what is written (in I Chron. 27:25), ‘And over the treasuries of the king was Azmaveth ben Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers was Jonathan ben Uzziah.’” (In other words, David was concerned enough about tithes to appoint overseers.) For that reason Moses warned Israel (in Deut. 14:22), “You shall surely tithe.”
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make princes in all the land (Ps. 45:17). R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean maintained: The descendants born to every Israelite in the future will be as numerous as those who departed from Egypt, as it is said: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons. This verse refers to our patriarchs Isaac and Abraham. Abraham was blessed, as it is said: And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything (Gen. 24:1), and Isaac was likewise blessed, as is written: And the Lord blessed him (ibid. 26:12). Abraham begot both a righteous and a wicked son, Isaac and Ishmael; and Isaac begot both a righteous and a wicked son, Jacob and Esau. Abraham’s wife was barren (at first), and Isaac’s wife was also barren (at first).
ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN "AND Isaac sowed in that land" (Gen. 26 12). Rabbi Eliezer said: Did Isaac sow the seed of corn? Heaven forbid ! But he took all his wealth, and sowed it in charity to the needy, as it is said, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to love" (Hos. 10:12). Everything which he tithed, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent him (in return) one hundred times (the value) in different kinds of blessings, as it is said, "And he found in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him" (Gen. 26:12).
And thus do you find, that wherever the righteous go, blessing comes in their wake. Israel went down to Gerar — blessing came to Gerar, viz. (Bereshith 26:12) "And Israel sowed in that land, etc." Jacob went down to Lavan — blessing came down in his wake, viz. (Ibid. 30:27) "I have found through divination that the L-rd has blessed me for your sake." Joseph went down to Potifera — blessing came in his wake, viz. (Ibid. 39:5) "and the L-rd blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake." Jacob went down to Pharaoh — blessing came down for his sake, viz. (Ibid. 47:10) "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh." In what way did he bless him? In that years of famine were withheld from him. And after the death of Jacob they returned, as it is written (Ibid. 50:21) "And now, do not fear, I (Joseph) will feed you and your little ones," and (Ibid. 45;11) "And I will feed you there." Just as "feeding" there was in the (projected) years of famine, so, the "feeding" here (50:21) was in the years of famine, (the famine having returned with Jacob's death). These are the words of R. Yossi.
(Devarim 1:8) "which the L-rd swore to your fathers": Why need it be mentioned (in addition to this) "to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob"? (To stress that) each one was worthy of this in himself. An analogy: A king gives his servant one field as a gift, as it is. The servant goes and improves it, not leaving it as it is, but planting a vineyard and bequeaths it to his son — who does not leave it as it is, but improves it and bequeaths it to his son — who does not leave it as it is, but improves it. Thus, when the Holy One Blessed be He gave the land to our father Abraham, He gave it to him only as it was, viz. (Bereshith 13:17) "Arise, walk in the land in its length and its breadth, for to you shall I give it." Abraham arose and improved it, viz. (Ibid. 21:33) "And he planted a fruit grove in Beersheva." Isaac arose and improved it, viz. (Ibid. 26:12) "And Isaac sowed in that land and he found in that year a hundredfold." Jacob arose and improved it, viz. (Ibid. 33:19) "And he bought the part of the field where he had pitched his tent." If so, why need "to your fathers" be written? If in respect to the oath to the fathers, this is already written. This refers to the covenant with the tribes, viz. (Habakkuk 3:9) "the oaths to the tribes, an enduring word."
On Genesis 26,12: ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא וימצא בשנה ההיא מאה שערים, ויברכהו ה', Bereshit Rabbah 64,6 comments and Rashi quotes that the meaning of מאה שערים is one hundred times what was reasonably to be expected. Rashi adds: "our sages say that this estimate was necessary in order to determine the amount of tithes to be given from that harvest."
והנה ה' נצב עליו; we do not find that either Avraham or Yitzchok had been granted such a vision of Hashem. On this verse Rabbi Simmon comments that it is not the custom for a king to personally supervise the plowing of his field or its being sowed with seed. He does not do so until the corn has been harvested. Avraham had been told by G–d to move to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12,1); of Yitzchok we have been told that he sowed seed in the land of the Philistines (Genesis 26,12). Now that the time had arrived for G–d to “harvest” what He had planted, Yaakov was made aware of this. Compare: Jeremiah, 2,3: קרש ישראל לה', ראשית תבואתה, “Israel was holy for the Lord, the first of His harvest.” (Tanchuma, parshat Miketz, section 5)
A Midrashic approach to the words: “it was on the eighth day” (based on Tanchuma Shemini 2) David says in Psalms 75,5: אמרתי להוללים אל תהולו, “I said to the frivolous men: ‘do not be frivolous!’” Instead of reading אל תהולו, read אל תחולו, “do not break out in dance.” The reason is that true joy does not linger with man in this world but only in the world to come. Many people who rejoice and are happy today may find that on the morrow they have no such cause for happiness and exuberance. This is why Solomon, [using the same expression as David, מהולל, Ed.] said: (Kohelet 2,2) לשחוק אמרתי מהולל, “of revelry I said: ‘it is mad!’” If you require proof of the truth of both statements take a look at what happened at the creation. When G’d completed His handiwork at the end of 6 days and He reviewed it (Genesis 1,31) He was very pleased as we know from Psalms 104,31: “may the glory of the Lord endure forever, may the Lord rejoice in His works!” In the verse from Genesis we are told that “G’d looked at His entire handiwork and behold, it was very good!” Only a few chapters later (Genesis 6,6) the Torah reports וינחם ה' כי עשה את האדם בארץ ויתעצב אל לבו, “Hashem had to comfort Himself that He had made man on earth, and it caused Him sadness in His heart.” Keeping this verse in mind, Assaph said in Psalms 75,5 not to indulge in frivolous merriment. If even G’d’s joy did not endure, how much less is the chance that man’s joy on earth will endure! Avraham progressed in his life and became exceedingly great and wealthy killing the most powerful kings on earth in the process. In his old age G’d gave him a son from Sarah. His joy was unbounded. A few years later G’d commanded him to take his son and to offer him up as a sacrifice. Even after having mastered that trial and being commended by G’d (Genesis 22,16-17), he went back from Moriah and had to bury his beloved wife Sarah. His joy had been short-lived. He even had trouble being given a suitable plot where to bury Sarah. In the end, he was literally fleeced, having to pay an astronomical sum of 400 shekel for a hole in the ground. Yitzchak who enjoyed phenomenal success in Gerar, seeing his investment returned one hundred-fold, (Genesis 26,12) faced expulsion shortly thereafter as the Philistines became jealous of his wealth. His joy had been very short-lived. After Avimelech realized that he had wronged him and apologized and made a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28) and he surely thought that “he had it made,” we read that his eyesight failed him and that he almost made a fatal error bestowing the blessing on a son whom he had considered worthy but who in the event had been unworthy all along. His joy had proven to be short-lived. If a Yitzchak who had been a living example of what it means to be a “total-offering, i.e. burnt-offering,” was not allowed permanent joy on earth, i.e. the fruits of his total dedication to G’d’s command, how much less may we ordinary mortals expect joy on earth to be enduring. Yaakov experienced great joy when he had the dream with the ladder, seeing angels ascending and descending, a promise from G’d that He would be with him, etc. (Genesis 28, 12-13). Not long afterwards he experienced a whole string of misfortunes, beginning with being tricked out of his chosen wife Rachel, the rape of Dinah, and concluding with the disappearance of Joseph. If Yaakov the righteous, of whom G’d had said that He would boast of such a man (Isaiah 49,3), could not hold on to his joy in this life, what can we lesser individuals expect in the way of enduring joy on earth? Joshua experienced great joy in his time, he settled the Jewish people on their land, killed 31 Kings, was promised by G’d that no one would rise against him successfully, and enjoyed unchallenged authority by his people (compare Joshua 1,18) but died without leaving behind any children. Surely, this must have dimmed his joy on earth. If this was his lot, how much less joy can the righteous in our time expect to enjoy while on earth! The High Priest Eli who did have sons had to experience the loss of the Holy Ark, the curse on his children who had disgraced him. When he died at a ripe old age the immediate cause of his death was the news that both his sons had been killed in battle (compare Samuel I 1,9; 1,10). If this happened to a righteous person such as the High Priest Eli, what sort of joy can there be in store in this world for the wicked? Consider the fact that on this day, Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav experienced greater joy than any man or woman before her. She saw her husband begin his career as High Priest; Her brother-in-law, Moses, became king of Israel. Two of her sons became deputy High Priests. Her brother Nachshon became the first of the princes to be honoured with bringing the sacrifices by laymen. Even she did not long remain in such a blissful state of joy seeing that two of her sons, Nadav and Avihu, died on the very same day at the hands of G’d. Considering all these examples we need not be surprised at Solomon’s warning not to be frivolous, not to dance with joy, as such joy is apt to be all too brief.
AND HE KEPT MY CHARGE. Rashi comments: “As a reward that Abraham hearkened to My voice when I tested him. And he kept My charge — these are the precautionary decrees instituted by the Sages, which are intended to make us avoid the violation of Biblical laws, such as Second Degrees of forbidden marriages and certain prohibited acts on the Sabbath. My commandments — these are precepts which, had they not been written in the Torah, were requisite to have been written, such as robbery and murder. My statutes — these are matters against which the evil inclination and the heathen nations argue, such as the prohibitions against eating the swine and the wearing of garments woven of wool and linen, there being no apparent rationale for them except that they are decrees of the King imposed on His subjects. And My laws — the plural is intended to include, [besides the Written Law], the Oral Law as well as those rules given to Moses from Sinai.” [Thus far the words of Rashi.] Now if so, all this interpretation is posited on the opinion that Abraham fulfilled and observed the Torah before it was given on Sinai. This is indeed what the Sages of the Midrash said in connection with the verse, And Joseph gave them ‘agaloth’ (wagons), (Ibid., 45:21. The word agaloth (wagons) may also mean “heifers,” thus suggesting that as a mark of identification to his father, Joseph gave his brothers a reference to the law of the Heifer (Deuteronomy 21:6) which he studied with his father just before he became separated from him. The Midrash referred to is in Bereshith Rabbah 95:2.) thereby indicating to his father that when he left him they were studying the section dealing with Eglah Arufah. (See Deuteronomy 21:1-9.) Thus Joseph occupied himself with Torah just as his fathers did. Though the Torah had not yet been given, it is still written of Abraham, And he kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. (Thus far the Midrash in Bereshith Rabbah, 95:2.) There the Sages also said (Bereshith Rabbah, ibid.) that Abraham observed the details of the Torah, which he taught to his children, etc. (To his children, as it is said, For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, etc. (Above, 18:19.) Bereshith Rabbah, ibid.) The question presents itself: If it be the case [that the laws of the Torah were observed by our ancestors before the Torah was given on Sinai], how did Jacob erect a pillar (Further, 28:18. This is forbidden in Deuteronomy 16:22.) and marry two sisters in their lifetime, (Forbidden in Leviticus 18:18.) and, in the opinion of our Rabbis, four sisters. (According to Bereshith Rabbah 74:11, Bilhah and Zilpah were also daughters of Laban. Thus Jacob married four sisters: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah.) Also, Amram [Moses’ father] married his aunt, (Exodus 6:20.) and Moses our teacher erected twelve pillars. (Ibid., 24:4.) How then was it possible that they should be permissive in matters of Torah which Abraham their ancestor had prohibited on himself, and for which G-d appointed him reward, when he [Abraham] was wont to command his children and his household after him (Above, 18:19.) to walk in His ways? In the case of Jacob the Sages taught that he observed the Sabbath and established borders for Sabbath distances. (Bereshith Rabbah 79:7.) In this matter of the Sabbath it is possible though that Jacob observed it because it is equal in importance to the entire Torah since it testifies to the act of Creation. Perhaps then we should say that My charge refers to the Second Degree of marriages which were forbidden to the Sons of Noah; (See Seder Bereshith, Note 222, and Seder Vayishlach, Note 148.) My commandments applies to robbery and murder; My statutes refers to the laws against eating a limb torn off from a live animal, as well as breeding mixed kinds of cattle or grafting together different species of trees; and My laws refer to civil statutes and the prohibitions against idol worship. The Sons of Noah were commanded concerning all of these matters, and Abraham observed and fulfilled the Will of his Creator, observing even the details and the strictures of their commandments, even as the Sages mentioned: “The tractate of idolatry of our father Abraham contained four hundred chapters.” (Abodah Zarah 14b.) They further expounded [on the verse referring to Isaac, which says], And he found in that year a hundredfold, (Further, Verse 12.) that he measured the produce for the purpose of tithing, (Bereshith Rabbah 64:6.) since the patriarchs were the generous ones of the peoples, (Psalms 47:10.) giving tithes to the poor or the priests of G-d, such as Shem and Eber and their disciples, just as it is said, And he was a priest of the most high G-d. (Above, 14:18. Reference is to Melchizedek, whom tradition identifies as Shem, the son of Noah. See Ramban, ibid.) Now it appears to me from a study of the opinions of our Rabbis that Abraham our father learned the entire Torah by Ruach Hakodesh (See Note 90.) and occupied himself with its study and the reason for its commandments and its secrets, and he observed it in its entirety as “one who is not commanded but nevertheless observes it.” (The concept of “one who is not commanded but observes” is found in the Talmud (Kiddushin 31 a). His reward is less than that of “one who is commanded and observes.” (Ibid.) The reason for it, as explained in Tosafoth, is that he who is commanded to do a certain mitzvah (commandment) is under tension lest he might not properly fulfill it, while he who is not commanded therein has no responsibility in the matter and may leave it at his will. Consequently, his reward is less.) Furthermore, his observance of the Torah applied only in the Land of Israel, whereas Jacob married two sisters only when outside the Land, (See Leviticus 18:25 where Ramban extends the explanation further by saying that the reason Rachel died as they entered the Land of Israel (35:16-19) was that she was the sister whom Jacob married last.) and similarly with Amram who married his aunt. For the Commandments are the ordinance of the G-d of the land, (II Kings 17:26.) even though we have been charged with personal duties in all places. Our Rabbis have already alluded to this secret, and I will yet call your attention to it with the help of G-d. (See Ramban on Leviticus 18:25.) And the matter of the erection of the pillar [by Jacob and Moses referred to above] was a commandment that was innovated at a certain time, as the Sages expounded from the verse, “Neither shalt thou set up a pillar which the Eternal thy G-d hateth, (Deuteronomy 16:22.) He hated it although it was pleasing to Him in the days of the ancestors.” (Ibid., Sifre. The reason for the change being that the Canaanites afterward had made it an ordinance of idol worship.) And with respect to Joseph concerning whom the Sages expounded that he observed the Sabbath even in Egypt, (Bereshith Rabbah 92:4.) it was because it is equal in importance to all the commandments, constituting, as it does, a testimony to Creatio ex nihilo. (In Hebrew, chiddush (new), thus implying that G-d created a new world out of an absolute void.) Therefore Joseph would do so in order to teach his children faith in the Creation of the world, to remove from their hearts the false doctrine of idolatry and the opinion of the Egyptians. This then is the intent [of the Sages when speaking of the patriarchs and their children observing the Torah]. In accordance with the literal meaning of Scripture, you may say that My charge means faith in the Deity, implying that Abraham believed in the unique Divine Name and kept vigilant guard over it in his heart, differing thereby with the worshippers of idols, and calling by the name of the Eternal to bring many to His worship. My commandments refers to all that G-d commanded Abraham: Go out of thy land, (Above, 12:1.) the bringing of his son as a burnt-offering, and the expulsion of the maid-servant and her son. (Ibid., 21:12.) My statutes refers to walking in the paths of G-d by being gracious and merciful, doing righteousness and judgment, (See Maimonides, “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 11-12 Soncino edit. Positive Commandment 8.) and commanding his children and his household concerning them. (Above, 18:19.) And My Laws refers to the circumcision of Abraham himself and his sons and his servants, as well as all Commandments of the Sons of Noah (See Seder Bereshith, Note 222, and Seder Vayishlach, Note 148.) which constitute their Law.
“Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold” [26:12]. Isaac sowed the same field and had a hundred measures of grain. Rashi asks a question. How is it appropriate that one counted the blessing? It is not like counting something or measuring it. The explanation is that it was counted because they wanted to give a tithe and they counted it to know how much to tithe. From the merit that one gave a tithe, the blessing came that from one measure came a hundred measures. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:12.)
[190] Abraham too “plants an acre” and adopts the hundred in measuring out the plot (Gen. 21:33), and Isaac “finds barley a hundredfold” (Gen. 26:12); and Moses in building the court of the tabernacle takes a hundred cubits in measuring out the distance from east to west (Ex. 27:9).
[268] In this same year, too, is “the hundredfold crop of barley found” (Gen. 26:12) by him who sows the gifts of God to produce an increase of blessings, and thereby increases to the uttermost the number of those who shall deservedly partake of it. But note that the sower generally reaps.
Rebbi Aqiba explained: “Elihu Ben Barakhel the Buzite from the family Ram got angry. (Job32:2.) ” Elihu that is Bileam. Ben Barakhel, who came to curse Israel but blessed them. The Buzite (From the root בוז “to insult, to degrade”.) , whose prophecy was degraded, “who falls down open-eyed. (Num. 24:4.) ” From the family Ram, “from Aram did Balaq lead me (Num. 23:7.) .” Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah said to him, if he is he, then the Omnipresent already covered it up. If he is not he, in the future [world] he will argue with you. But Elihu that is Isaac. Ben Barakhel, the son whom God blessed, as it was said: “The Eternal had blessed him (Gen. 26:12. In the Babli, Baba Batra15b, the consensus it that Elihu was Jewish; cf. Tosaphot s. v. אליהוא. Some commentators note that Gen.25:11 would have been a better quote since it mentions Isaac’s status as son and uses the term Elohim, contained in the name, and not YHWH, as in Gen.26:12.) ”. The Buzite (From the root בוז “to insult, to degrade”.) , who degraded all temples of foreign worship at the moment he was bound on the altar. From the family Ram, the son of Abram.
And this applies only to a year when Eretz Yisrael is not blessed. However, with regard to a year when it was blessed, it is written: “And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold” (Genesis 26:12). Isaac’s field produced one hundred times the normal yield, which according to the above calculations is fifty thousand kor, as stated in the baraita.
Yitzchok planted in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred fold [more than that which they estimated], for Adonoy had blessed him.
And Izhak sowed unto righteousness in that land, and found in that year a hundred for one, according to his measure. And the Lord blessed him,
Rebbi Dostai Bar Yanai says in the name of Rebbi Meir, ‘It says [in the Torah] regarding Yitzchak “… and I will bless you and I will make your seed abundant for the sake of Avraham, My servant.” (Genesis 26:24) Yitzchak expounded and said, “A blessing only settles [on a person] through physical deeds.” [Then] he got up and he planted [seeds in the field], as it says, “And Yitzchak planted in that land, and he founded in that year Mea Shearim (literally: One Hundred Gates), and Hashem blessed him.” (Genesis 26:12) One hundred [is referring to] types [of seeds that Yitzchak planted. In that case why does the verse say] Mea Shearim (i.e. One Hundred Gates and not One Hundred Types of Seeds)? [Because the word Shearim is not referring to gates, but rather to measurements,] that they (i.e. Yitzchak’s workers) measured a hundred times [more than they planted]. It comes out [that] for every one [seed that they planted, they received back] a hundred [units of crops] according to what they measured.
As long as Abraham was alive, there was plenty, as it is said (Gen. 24:1), "And God had blessed Abraham in everything." Once Abraham died, "There was a famine in the land" (Gen. 26:1). Isaac came and [again] there was plenty, as it says (Gen 26:12), "Isaac sowed in that land [and reaped in that year a hundred measures]." As long as Abraham was alive, the wells were filled with water, [but] once Abraham died what does it say, but (Gen. 26:15), "And all the wells which had been dug [by the servants of his (i.e., Isaac's) father in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled with earth]." They said, since they are no longer filled with water, they will be a hazard should we stumble into them, and thus they filled them up. Isaac came and [again] the wells were filled with water, as it is said (Gen. 26:18-19), "And Isaac again dug up the wells of water, etc." and "[Isaac's] servants [also] dug, etc."
As long as Isaac was alive, the seeds were blessed, as it is said (Gen. 26:12), "And Isaac sowed in that land [and reaped in that year a hundred measures; thus did God bless him]." Before Jacob descended to Aram of Two-Rivers (Gen. 24:10), the house of Laban the Aramean was not blessed, as it says (Gen. 30:30), "For you had few before me, and they have since burst out into a multitude, and God has blessed you at my [every] step." And it says (Gen. 30:27), "[Laban said] ... I have become wealthy, and God has blessed me on account of you." Before Joseph descended to Egypt, the house of Potiphar was not blessed. Once he descended, what does it say, but (Gen. 39:5), "And God blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Joseph." Before Jacob descended to Egypt [after Joseph sent for him], there was famine, as it says (Gen. 45:6), "For it is two years now that the famine has been in the midst of the land, etc." Once he descended, what does it say, but (Gen. 50:31), "And now, do not fear, for I will sustain you and your little children, etc." It says here "sustain," and it says there (Gen. 45:11) "sustain," just as "sustain" over there is in reference to the famine, so too "sustain" over here is in reference to the famine. As long as Joseph and the tribes (i.e., his brothers) were alive, Israel comported itself with grandeur and honor, as it is said (Ex. 1:7), "And the Children of Israel bore fruit and swarmed, etc." Once he died, what does it say, but (Ex. 1:6-9), "And Joseph died[, and all his brothers, and all that generation]," "And a new king arose [over Egypt]," "And he said to his people, [Here this people ... is greater and mightier [in number] than we]," "Come now, let us use our wits against it, etc."
| וַיִּגְדַּ֖ל הָאִ֑ישׁ וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ הָלוֹךְ֙ וְגָדֵ֔ל עַ֥ד כִּֽי־גָדַ֖ל מְאֹֽד׃ | 13 J | and the man grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy: |
Genesis 18,13. “the Lord said to Avraham: ‘why did Sarah laugh and say…that I am too old?” Our sages in Yevamot 65 point out that in this case G’d, i.e. His angels, deliberately misquoted what Sarah had said, by quoting her as describing herself too old to bear a child, whereas actually, she had described her husband as being too old. The Talmud uses this example to teach that a “white lie” is justified when it serves the purpose of preserving harmonious relations between husband and wife. It is difficult to understand this example as Avraham himself had described himself as being too old to sire a child, when he said: הלבן מאה שנה יולד, “is a 100 year old man going to have child born for him?” (Genesis 17,17) Why would it bother him if his wife would merely confirm what he himself had already said? We may have to understand what Sarah said as being slightly different from what is commonly perceived. Sarah’s reaction to the angel’s prophecy [at a time when she was not even aware that he was an angel. Ed.] had referred to the miracle she had just experienced, i.e. אחרי בלותי היתה לי עדנה, “after I have stopped having the periods of women, I have suddenly been rejuvenated!” Her comment about her husband’s old age simply meant that as long as she had not observed a similar process of rejuvenation in her husband, how would her own rejuvenation alone contribute to the fulfillment of the prophecy? She may also have meant to imply that if G’d had wanted her to bear a child, why had He waited until after she had become too old for this to happen unless He performed a miracle? The subject has been discussed in Yevamot 64 where one answer is that G’d is so anxious for the tzaddikim to pray to Him, that He will wait and delay His timetable, in order to be able to give credit to the tzaddikim who have turned to Him in supplication. Sarah being an extremely humble person, never considered herself as being on the level of a tzadeket, a righteous woman, so that it never occurred to her that almighty G’d would feel in need of her prayers of supplication. On the other hand, she was not entitled to think that her outstandingly righteous husband had not seen fit to pray for children, so that when she referred to him as “old,” she meant that in spite of his prayers he had not been granted children, and that by now it was too late for this. If her real words had been reported to Avraham, this would have caused him anguish, so that the Torah, (G’d, i.e. His angel) decided to substitute the word אני for אדוני. A person’s humility must not be carried to the extent that he is humble on someone else’s account. This is the reverse of ‘humility,’ and borders on arrogance.
AND GREW. Ve-gadel (and grew) is a perfect. (The word grew is written twice in the second part of the sentence. The first time it is written gadel, the second time gadal. Hence I.E. points out that both are perfects and mean the same. I.E.’s comment is pertinent because gadel can also be a participle (Krinsky, Weiser).)
The man prospered. Scripture attributes this prosperity to Yitzchok’s own merit rather than to the bounty of the land. He continued to prosper. He never suffered a setback, which demonstrated that his prosperity was not by chance. Until he became very great. If his prosperity had been the result of favorable circumstances it would have reached a limit and then been followed by a downturn.
ויגדל, in material wealth and all types of possessions.
הלוך וגדל the word הלוך is an infinitive mode of the verb, whereas the word גדל is an adjective or also an infinitive.. We encounter a parallel construction in Exodus 12,9 ובשל מבושל. The meaning of the phrase is that Yitzchok’s wealth kept on increasing and he kept on becoming a man of great substance until he had reached a point where he could be described as גדול מאד, “very great.”
כי גדל מאד UNTIL HE BECAME VERY GREAT — so that people used to say, “Rather the dung of Isaac’s mules than all Abimelech’s gold and silver’’(Genesis Rabbah 64:7).
ויגדל האיש, nicht ויגדל, auch nicht ויגדל יצחק, sondern ויגדל האיש es ist dies ganz aus der Anschauung der Philister gesprochen: es ward ihnen der Mann zu groß und dadurch nicht nur ihr Neid, sondern auch ihre Eifersucht erregt. Ganz ebenso bei Jakob in Beziehung zu Labans Söhnen: ויפרץ האיש. (Bereschit 30, 43).
So that people would say: Rather the dung of Yitzchok’s mules... Otherwise why does it say, “Until he became very great”? [The next verse details his wealth! Perforce,] it comes to tell us the extent [of his blessing]. Thus Rashi mentions mules, since mules [ordinarily] have no blessing at all, as Rashi explained in Devarim 15:14.
The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow until he became very wealthy. Since Isaac grew more crops than he required, he sold the surplus and became wealthy as a result.
“He grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy” [26:13]. Isaac was so rich that it was said that the manure of his mules was worth more money every year than the gold and silver of Abimelech. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:13.) One asks a question. Why did the people say that the manure from his mules and not from other animals? The explanation is that this was a novelty. No blessing came from mules, but from the mules of Isaac a blessing came to Isaac, more than the silver of Abimelech. (Devek Tov, Genesis, 26:13, note 6.)
Chapter 33 Writings: [1] "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord" (Psalm 112:1). This means that in the end, everything will be heard by God: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). How does one ultimately succeed? Nothing is more beloved than one who fears the Almighty, as it is written, "In the end, everything will be heard," etc. In the custom of the world, one person says to his friend, "I am rich and have plenty of wheat, oil, and wine." His friends tell him, "You have everything, where will you put it? If you have no storage, you have nothing." Similarly, one who is rich and wise in knowledge, but does not have fear of sin, has nothing, as it is written, "In the end, everything will be heard," etc. For this reason, David said, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." This refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Now I know that you fear God" (Genesis 22:12). "He delights greatly in His commandments" (Psalm 112:1). This refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). "His descendants will be mighty on earth" (Psalm 112:2). This refers to Isaac, as it is written, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Genesis 21:12). What is written afterwards? "And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great" (Genesis 26:13). "The generation of the upright will be blessed" (Psalm 112:2). And Abraham was old and well-stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Similarly, God blessed Isaac after Abraham's death, as it is written, "And after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). Therefore it is said, "The generation of the upright will be blessed."
Chapter 40: Torah [1] And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). Twenty generations passed until Abraham, in which old age is not mentioned except for him, as it says, "Now Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And Isaac also stood [before God] and it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). And Jacob also stood [before God], as it says, "And the eyes of Israel were dim with age" (Genesis 48:10). The verse (Psalms 102:17) says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The only way [to achieve this level of prayer] is through old age, as it says, "The beauty of young men is their strength, and the glory of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29). Abraham merited his son through five things, as our Rabbis taught: the father merits a son through five things: through his [the father's] name, through his [the father's] good deeds, through his [the father's] wealth, through his [the father's] strength, and through his [the father's] wisdom. Similarly, Isaac [merited his son through five things], and similarly Jacob [merited his son through five things]. Similarly, Jacob merited Joseph [through these five things], who resembled him in appearance and in title, as it says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Genesis 39:6). [He resembled him] in wisdom, as it says, "Behold, he is the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). He had beauty, appearance, and wisdom. And in Isaac's case, it is written, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with wisdom. And just as Joseph stood up to his brothers in strength, so did Isaac stand up in strength against all the men of Gerar. Just as Joseph was wealthy, so was Isaac wealthy, as it says, "And the man became great and went forward and became very great" (Genesis 26:13). The verse (Genesis 26:8) explains [the word] "wisdom" as meaning "the greatness of his children." From where do we learn that Isaac was handsome like Joseph? It is written about Joseph, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," and when he went to his brothers, what did they say? "Behold, the master of dreams is coming!" (Genesis 37:19). And it is said about Isaac, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with strength, as it says, We know this from the fact that he dug many wells, as it says, "Isaac dug again the wells of water" (Genesis 26:18), and "Isaac's servants dug in the valley" (Genesis 26:19), and "they dug another well" (Genesis 26:21). He had strength in his hands. From where do we know that he was wealthy? It says, "The man became great, and he grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy" (Genesis 26:13). And from where do we know that he lived to a ripe old age of 180 years? It says, "And Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years" (Genesis 35:28). Abraham was the son of Terah, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. Why does the Torah mention this? Because God said to Isaac, "You have merited these five things, so I will add another five years to your life, like your father Abraham." That is why it says, "Look upon your servants" (Psalms 119:16). Anyone who has merit will receive these five things, and anyone who does not have merit will receive five calamities in return. And who was this? Joab, as it is said: "Let Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their bloodshed. May they be afflicted with leprosy, jaundice, and starvation." (2 Samuel 3:29) Leprosy corresponds to strength; one who has leprosy has no strength. Jaundice corresponds to beauty; even if someone is young and jaundiced, there is no beauty in them. Starvation corresponds to wealth, as it says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live" (Proverbs 9:5-6). One who is starving has no leisure to engage in Torah study. Falling by the sword corresponds to the five aspects of praise. These are five calamities corresponding to five aspects of praise. One who does not merit praise inherits these five kinds of calamities, like Joab. But one who does merit praise receives them like Isaac, as it is said, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old" (Genesis 27:1), and David cries out, "May your children be like your ancestors" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore, it says, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old."
“Avimelekh commanded all the people” – Rabi Aivu said: No person should even cast a rock at them; that is what is written: “They lie in wait in their dwelling places; they watch my footsteps in hopes of taking my life” (Psalms 56:7). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow until he became very wealthy” (Genesis 26:13). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow” – Rabbi Ḥanin said: To the extent that they would say: The manure of Isaac’s mules, and not Avimelekh’s silver and gold. (The manure from Isaac's mules was worth more than the Avimelekh’s gold and silver.) “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household, and the Philistines envied him” (Genesis 26:14). “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household [vaavuda].” Daniyel the tailor said: Ve’avda is written – if a person does not render himself like a slave with his slave, he does not acquire it, (If he does not oversee the work of his slaves and workers, he will not see a benfit from the property he has.) as it is stated: “Better to be lightly esteemed with a slave” (Proverbs 12:9). (It is better to work like a slave when you have a slave, otherwise you will only lose from having a slave.) The way of the world is that a person must toil and seek the expenditures of his household, and they sit in his home. (The slaves sit idly at home.) Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown much mightier than we” (Genesis 26:16). “Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown…mightier than we” – he said to him: ‘All that growth that you have grown, did it not come to you from us? In the past you had only one flock and now you have many flocks.’
Thus has R. Tanhuma interpreted (Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >. You find that there are twenty generations from Adam to Abraham, and there is no < mention of > old age written about < any of > them except Abraham, as stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD. (For parallel accounts, see above, 5:4.) Isaac arose, < and > it is also written (in Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD. Jacob arose, < and > it is also written (in Gen. 48:10): NOW ISRAEL'S EYES WERE DIM WITH AGE. This text is related (to Ps. 90:16): LET YOUR WORK BE WORTHY FOR YOUR SERVANTS AND YOUR GLORY ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN. Now GLORY can only be old age and gray hair, as stated (in Prov. 20:29): THE BEAUTY OF THE YOUNG IS THEIR STRENGTH; BUT THE GLORY OF THE OLD IS GRAY HAIR. Ergo (in Ps. 90:16): AND YOUR GLORY ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN. < These words mean > that Abraham endowed Isaac with five things. Thus have our masters taught (in 'Eduy. 2:9): A FATHER ENDOWS HIS SON WITH FIVE THINGS: WITH BEAUTY, WITH STRENGTH, WITH WEALTH, WITH WISDOM, AND WITH < LENGTH OF > YEARS. How is it shown about BEAUTY? In that Isaac was as handsome as Joseph. It is written of Joseph (in Gen. 39:6): NOW JOSEPH WAS WELL BUILT. Also, when he went to his brothers, they said (in Gen. 37:19): HERE COMES THIS (hallazeh) DREAMER. It is also said of Isaac (in Gen. 24:65): WHO IS THIS (hallazeh) MAN < WALKING IN THE FIELD TO MEET US >? Thus Isaac was as handsome as Joseph. How is it shown that Isaac was mighty in STRENGTH? Look at how many wells he dug! Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:18-22): THEN ISAAC REDUG < THE WELLS OF WATER >…. AND ISAAC'S SERVANTS DUG…. AND THEY DUG ANOTHER WELL…. THEN HE MOVED FROM THERE AND DUG < ANOTHER WELL >…. Look at the power which he had! Where is it shown about WEALTH? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:13): AND THE MAN GREW < RICHER AND RICHER >…. It also says (in vs. 14): AND HE POSSESSED FLOCKS < AND HERDS >…. Where is it shown about WISDOM? Where he said to his father (in Gen. 22:7 at the time of his being bound): HERE ARE THE FIRE AND THE WOOD…. [How is it shown] about < LENGTH OF > YEARS? In that he was one hundred and eighty years old < when he died >, while Abraham was < only > one hundred and seventy-five. On account of these five things {through which he had attained merit}, five years more than his father's were added to him. It is therefore stated (in Ps. 90:16): LET YOUR WORK BE WORTHY FOR YOUR SERVANTS…. Anyone who has merit is meritorious in these five things, and anyone who does not have merit is not meritorious and receives five retributions that correspond to them. (See yQid. 1:7 (61a).) And who is this anyone? This is Joab, of whom it is stated (in II Sam. 3:29): MAY IT (Abner's blood) FALL UPON THE HEAD OF JOB AND HIS SON; (Masoretic Text: ALL HIS FATHER’S HOUSE.) [MAY THE HOUSE OF JOAB NEVER LACK ONE WITH A DISCHARGE, A LEPER, A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE, ONE WHO FALLS BY THE SWORD, AND ONE LACKING BREAD]. ONE WITH A DISCHARGE corresponds to STRENGTH. In the case of one who has a discharge, there is no one weaker than he. A LEPER corresponds to BEAUTY. In the case of one who is a leper, even a young < leper >, there is no one more ugly than he. A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE corresponds to WEALTH; for he [is one] {like a poor woman is one} who, if not spinning flax, has nothing of which to eat. ONE LACKING BREAD corresponds to WISDOM, as stated (in Prov. 9:5, where Wisdom says): COME AND EAT OF MY BREAD. And ONE WHO FALLS BY THE SWORD corresponds to < LENGTH OF > YEARS. The one who sins is afflicted by them, but the one who is meritorious receives, as did Isaac. David also gave praise (in Ps. 45:17 [16]): INSTEAD OF YOUR PARENTS THERE WILL BE YOUR CHILDREN.
I shall now explain the meaning of the words: עד כי גדול מאד "until he was very great," in 26,13. Bereshit Rabbah 64,7 on that verse states that when people wanted to describe excessive wealth they used to describe it in terms of the silver and gold possessed by Avimelech. After Isaac had become rich, they described excessive wealth in terms of the dung of Isaac's mules. This seems a curious comparison. How can we assume that Avimelech's wealth did not even amount to the value of the dung of Isaac's mules? Another difficulty is the Midrash's comment on the words מצא את הימים, in Genesis 36,14. These yeymim are described by Bereshit Rabbah 82,15 as half-donkey and half-horse. Anah who crossbred horse and donkey to produce mules is severely criticized for interfering with G–d's plan of maintaining the purity of the species. How can we assume that Isaac a) kept or raised such animals, b) was the first one to crossbreed, seeing that the Torah reports this as something new much later and in Jacob's lifetime?
אשר מצא את הימים, “who discovered the yemim. According to Rashi, these were animals that resulted from crossbreeding, and the Torah names him in order to chastise him for having successfully violated the principle of not crossbreeding. If you were to question that Anah could not have been the first person having done this as Rashi himself commenting on Genesis 26,13 on the words: ויגדל מאד, writes that people at that time already used to say that “the dung of the mules of Yitzchok are worth more than the gold of their king,” which proves that mules, which are the result of crossbreeding horses and donkeys already existed and people were familiar with them, we have to understand this verse as follows: Anah was the first person who deliberately mated donkeys with horses. Prior to this, mules existed but they resulted from the mother animal having mated with a horse of its own account. The word: מצא means that he developed a system of breeding such animals successfully. He noted that in order to tell which animal was the result of a male donkey mating with a female horse, and which was the product of a sheass having mated with a male horse, if the animal has thin ears it is the product of a female horse and a male donkey; when the ears are thick, it is proof that the mother animal was a sheass and it had mated with a male horse. Seeing that G-d is very displeased with such procedures being undertaken by man, he is blamed for such practices having been introduced. Another interpretation: the Torah wishes the reader to know that the animals resulting from crossbreeding are not included in the blessing given by the Creator to all the creatures He had created. Proof of this is the fact that such creatures cannot sire or give birth to another generation of their breed.
ויגדל, he amassed wealth. We encounter a similar meaning of the word ויגדל in Genesis 26,13 describing Yitzchok’s economic success in the land of the Philistines.
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
טחון — This is a present tense of continuous action like הלוך וכלות “going on destroying”; moulant in O. F. English grinding (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 3:6).
Hizkuni asks a question. There were mules in the time of Isaac, since Rashi writes that Isaac’s mule was better than the silver and gold of Abimelech. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:13.) The explanation is that there were mules, but these mules were produced when a female horse mated with a donkey by themselves. However, Anah, the son of Esau, went and with his hands, caused a female horse to mate with a donkey. Therefore, the verse says that he brought many mules into the world. That is why no mule can ever have offspring, since the Holy One does not want that creatures should increase that God did not create, when He created the world. The blessing that God gave to all of His creatures did not apply to a creature combining two species. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 36:24.)
The man prospered. He continued to prosper [and increase] until he became very great.
and the man increased, and went forward increasing until he was very great.
| וַֽיְהִי־ל֤וֹ מִקְנֵה־צֹאן֙ וּמִקְנֵ֣ה בָקָ֔ר וַעֲבֻדָּ֖ה רַבָּ֑ה וַיְקַנְא֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃ | 14 J | he acquired flocks and herds, and a large household, so that the Philistines envied him. |
AND A GREAT HOUSEHOLD. Isaac had man and maidservants to serve him. Avuddah (household) is an adjective. (The word avuddah is an adjective, with the noun which it is modifying missing. Scripture should have read: adamah avuddah, ground worked by man and maidservants (Cherez, Weiser). I.E. interprets thus because the form avuddah looks like an adjective.) On the other hand, it may be a noun following the paradigm of segullah (treasure). (A collective noun, following the paradigm of segullah, or kedushah, the point being we find nouns with this vocalization. Hence avuddah does not have to be an adjective. In this case the meaning of avuddah is simply servants, both male and female.)
ויהי לו מקנה צאן ומקנה בקר, he had acquired both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. Both words מקנה have the vowel tzeyreh indicating that they are in a construct mode.
ועבודה רבה, he also engaged extensively in agriculture. Compare Proverbs 12,11, עובד אדמתו, “tilling his own land.” Compare also Genesis 4,11 כי תעבוד את האדמה, “when you till the soil.”
ויקנאו אתו, they were jealous of him on account of his astounding success. The absence of the dagesh in the letter נ indicates that this is an intransitive mode of the verb קנא.
AND HE HAD POSSESSIONS OF FLOCKS, AND POSSESSIONS OF HERDS, AND A GREAT HOUSEHOLD, meaning she-asses and camels, he-asses, and men-servants and handmaids. Now Scripture mentions these but not silver and gold, as it says concerning Abraham, (Ibid., 13:2.) because the wealth which he amassed in the land of the Philistines consisted of flocks and a great household. (Since these possessions which Isaac accumulated in the land of the Philistines were visible to all, the Philistines became jealous of him. Ramban thus explains the beginning and end of this verse as cause and effect.) And the Philistines were jealous of him in this matter. This is the meaning of that which Abimelech says to Isaac, For thou art become much mightier than we. (Verse 16 here.) The king said to him, “I, too, who am the king do not have in my home such flocks and domestics as you, and it is a disgrace to us that your household is greater than that of the king.”
ועבודה רבה, work in the field and vineyards. The expression עבודה, unless defined differently, additionally, always refers to labour in the field.
וְעֲבֻדָּה רבה means a great many things to do (i. e. great undertakings) O. F. ouvraine. The word עֲבוׂדָה denotes one thing to be done whereas עֲבֻדָּה denotes many things to be done (a collective noun)
ויקנאו אותו, nicht ויקנאו בו wie gewöhnlich. קנה etwas erwerben und als Eigentum besitzen, davon ja מקנָה: der Kauf und מקנֶה: das Eigentum, der Besitz. — קַנֵא: sein Eigentum vindizieren, etwas als seiner Person gebührend fordern. Daher —קַנֵא ב an dem andern etwas für sich in Anspruch nehmen, als eigentlich sich gebührend betrachten: jemanden um etwas beneiden. קנא את: die ganze Person fordern, sein Recht auf die Person geltend machen, so: וקנא את אשתו, er warnt die Frau vor Treubruch. So auch hier: ויקנאו אותו, nicht: sie beneideten ihn um den Segen, der war im Grunde in einer solchen Zeit ja ein Segen für das Allgemeine; allein sie fühlten sich durch die Stellung und das Ansehen verletzt, die er dadurch erlangte; ihre קנאה bezog sich auf den Mann mehr als auf seinen Reichtum.
ועבודה רבה, soil ready to be worked.
ויקנאו אותו פלשתים, seeing that what happened on their own fields was the exact opposite of what Yitzchok experienced. They had planted extra seed only to produce smaller crops.
He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household, a general term covering slaves, maidservants, and all his household staff; 12 the Philistines envied him, as his neighbors were not similarly blessed in their fields.
ויהי לו מקנה צאן ובקר, ועדה רבה, “and he had acquired masses of sheep, cattle and servants.” The reason the Torah does not mention Yitzchok as having accumulated silver and gold, is that in that country wealth was not measured in terms of money, but in terms of herds and flocks. When Yitzchok possessed more than the king, the matter became embarrassing for the king to host a commoner richer than himself. This is why he expelled Yitzchok, being careful to word that expulsion in a courteous manner.
[2] And so all the righteous suffered in their youth and ultimately found comfort. Abraham suffered greatly in his youth, was thrown into a fiery furnace, and was cast out of his father's house. Sixteen kings came against him, and his wife was taken from him by both Pharaoh and Abimelech. He was tested with his only son, Isaac, but in the end found peace, as it says "And Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Isaac also suffered greatly in his youth, as Ishmael took an arrow and tried to kill him. It says, "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac" (Genesis 21:9). "Playing" means he took an arrow and tried to kill him. Furthermore, his father Abraham was going to slaughter him, and then famine came, as it says, "Now there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 26:1). Isaac went to Abimelech and became the target of jealousy, as it says, "And the Philistines envied him" (Genesis 26:14). They told him to leave, and he went and settled in Gerar, where he disputed with the shepherds. But ultimately he found comfort, as it says, "Therefore he called it Rehoboth, for he said, 'For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land'" (Genesis 26:22). Similarly, Jacob suffered greatly, as Esau pursued him, and he was enslaved by his sons. He was pursued by Laban and punished through his daughter. His son was sold, and in the end he found peace, as it says, "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years" (Genesis 47:28). Joseph was deeply pained when his brothers despised him, threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned. As it is written, "They afflicted his feet with shackles; iron pierced his soul until his word came to pass and God's word proved him true" (Psalms 105:18-19). Joseph remained silent, as it is written, "He sits alone in silence" (Lamentations 3:28). In the end, he was redeemed, as it is written, "He will not abandon forever, for He desires to show kindness" (Lamentations 3:31). And it is written at the end, "Hurry and go up to my father" (Genesis 45:9).
“Avimelekh commanded all the people” – Rabi Aivu said: No person should even cast a rock at them; that is what is written: “They lie in wait in their dwelling places; they watch my footsteps in hopes of taking my life” (Psalms 56:7). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow until he became very wealthy” (Genesis 26:13). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow” – Rabbi Ḥanin said: To the extent that they would say: The manure of Isaac’s mules, and not Avimelekh’s silver and gold. (The manure from Isaac's mules was worth more than the Avimelekh’s gold and silver.) “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household, and the Philistines envied him” (Genesis 26:14). “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household [vaavuda].” Daniyel the tailor said: Ve’avda is written – if a person does not render himself like a slave with his slave, he does not acquire it, (If he does not oversee the work of his slaves and workers, he will not see a benfit from the property he has.) as it is stated: “Better to be lightly esteemed with a slave” (Proverbs 12:9). (It is better to work like a slave when you have a slave, otherwise you will only lose from having a slave.) The way of the world is that a person must toil and seek the expenditures of his household, and they sit in his home. (The slaves sit idly at home.) Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown much mightier than we” (Genesis 26:16). “Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown…mightier than we” – he said to him: ‘All that growth that you have grown, did it not come to you from us? In the past you had only one flock and now you have many flocks.’
BEN-ONI. Ben-oni means the son of my mourning. Onim (mourners) in as the bread of mourners (onim) (Hos. 9:4) and be-oni (my mourning) in I have not eaten thereof in my mourning (be-oni) (Deut. 26:14) are similar.
Actually, if the Torah had followed its own rules, it should have mentioned the sheep first, i.e. צאן וחמור, שור seeing that the category called צאן, i.e. sheep and goats, is the most superior species amongst the animals. We find that the Torah does so in the case of Avraham (Genesis 12,16) “and he treated Avram well on her account so that he acquired (flocks of) sheep and (herds of) cattle, etc.” We find a similar sequence in the way the Torah describes Yitzchak’s wealth (Genesis 26,14) “he acquired flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.” We also find this order of Yaakov’s wealth when the Torah (as distinct from Yaakov) describes it in 30,43: ”he acquired many sheep and maid-servants and men-servants and camels and donkeys.” You will note that in all of these instances the sheep (and goats) are mentioned first. If Yaakov did not want to mention his sheep and goats first this was because Esau had “lost” his blessing on account of these goats. Rivkah had sent Yaakov to the צאן, instructing him to select two good goats to prepare a meal for Yitzchak which could compete with the venison Esau was expected to hunt.(27,9). Mentioning the צאן first would have sounded like rubbing salt in Esau’s wound. It is interesting to note that after the angels had returned to Yaakov with their report of Esau approaching in a hostile manner, the Torah describes Yaakov as dividing his earthly possessions into two camps (32,8). Again the Torah lists the צאן before any other livestock. Even after Yaakov and Esau had reconciled and Esau had accepted Yaakov’s gifts as a sign of the reconciliation, the Torah again lists the צאן first in 33,13
ויקנאו בו אחיו, “his brothers were jealous of him.” It is well known that in most instances hatred is the result of jealousy; the hatred which the Torah had spoken of earlier in verse four had been due to the brothers’ awareness that their father Yaakov loved Joseph more than he loved them, as the Torah has spelled out there. Why then did the Torah have to repeat here that the brothers were jealous of Joseph? It is possible that the correct explanation of the original hatred of the brothers towards Joseph was not due to the preferred status Joseph enjoyed in the eyes of their father due to his excelling in virtues, but was due merely to their father showing him more love. There was actually no reason to be envious of a young boy of seventeen years of age who had not demonstrated any qualities superior to those of his brothers. One usually envies one’s peers or one’s superiors. One is not given to envy inferiors. Now, after having heard repeatedly the kind of dreams their brother had experienced, his older brothers realised that there might be more to Joseph than they had thought before. Therefore they now envied him his dreams and hated him because of them. The Torah therefore told us of this additional dimension of the brothers’ jealousy of Joseph. This idea is best illustrated by the change of preposition the Torah chose to describe their new jealousy. In our verse the Torah chose the preposition בו as distinct from the preposition את or אותו which was used to describe their hatred of him, or the verse in Genesis 26,14 where the Philistines’ jealousy of Yitzchak is described as ויקנאו אותו פלשתים.
for a man entrusted me with his cattle Menahem (Machbereth p. 156, second definition.) interpreted as an expression of “livestock of flocks and livestock of cattle” (Gen. 26:14). He entrusted me from my youth to watch his livestock.
He owned flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were jealous of him.
And he had flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and great cultivation; and the Philistaee envied him.
| וְכׇל־הַבְּאֵרֹ֗ת אֲשֶׁ֤ר חָֽפְרוּ֙ עַבְדֵ֣י אָבִ֔יו בִּימֵ֖י אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֑יו סִתְּמ֣וּם פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וַיְמַלְא֖וּם עָפָֽר׃ | 15 J | And the Philistines stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with earth. |
Now all the wells that his father’s servants had dug while Abraham was still alive, the Philistines had sealed them up, and filled them with earth. (Genesis 26:15) This is the mystery of all the wells that the Forefathers dug in order to find water – meaning, Torah – in the “earth” – i.e. on the lowest level. (Water is a common metaphor for Torah, as in the verse: “Ho, every one that thirsts, come you for water…” (Isaiah 55:1). Earth is considered the lowest of the four elements of fire, air, water and earth.) For each of them, by perfecting his character traits, brought forth a revelation of Torah – “a well of living water” (ibid. 26:19) – from the earth and the lowest levels, so that it not be covered over again. However, after Abraham died, these revelations were sealed up by the “earth” that covered the “water.” This was due to the Philistines – the impure shells that reasserted themselves. But Isaac came and redug the wells, as it is written: He redug the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham” (ibid. 26:18). This too refers to the revelation of Torah by Abraham and Isaac. And even today, Torah lies hidden in those very deeds of Abraham and Isaac. And all of this was to repair the future generations, for were it not for the Forefathers, it would be impossible to have any understanding of Torah, and to draw close to G‑d at all. Me’or Einayim, Vayetze
Later on, the Philistines corrupted all the rectifications that Avraham had instituted, the aspect of “all the wells… the Philistines stopped up” (Genesis 26:15). Therefore, when Yitzchak arrived there, he too had to forbid himself relations with his wife as if she were his sister, until he had drawn length-of-days there; this being the aspect of fear, which saves a person from this [vain beauty], as explained above. And then she was permitted to him, as it is written (ibid.:8), “After [Yitzchak] had been there a lengthy time, Avimelekh looked out…” By his drawing length-of-days he merited wealth there, as it is written (ibid.:12), “Yitzchak sowed in that land and in that same year reaped a hundredfold…,” as explained above.
סתמום פלשתים, “the Philistines had stopped up.” They had argued that their land had not been blessed on account of the famine they had experienced. Therefore they were jealous of Yitzchok’s success, and tried to limit it as much as was in their power. [Avraham had not been a farmer, so that he had dug wells from altruistic motives. If the land of the Philistines either in Avraham’s time or in Yitzchoks’ time had sufferedfrom a famine, why would either Avraham or Yitzchok have gone there, seeing they needed grazing for their sheep and herds? Ed.]
[WELLS.] When the word be’erot is in the construct it can be vocalized in one of two ways. (The word be’erot (wells) in our verse is in the absolute. In such cases it is always vocalized sheva, tzere, cholam. However, when in the construct it can either be vocalized sheva, tzere, cholam, as in verse 18, or segol, chataf segol, cholam as in Gen. 14:10.)
וכל הבארות, and all the wells, etc. The reason we are told this in connection with Isaac's outstanding success is to remind us that the wicked cannot stand to see the righteous successful. They are jealous. The Torah adds that the first Jew Abraham already had the same experience during his lifetime. The Torah therefore makes a point of saying: סתמום וימלאום עפר, they sealed them and covered them with dust, instead of merely reporting that they filled the wells with earth. Apparently after Abraham's death the Philistines placed rocks on the sites where Abraham had found water. This was why Isaac even had to dig up these wells anew.
וכל הבארות אשר חפרו עבדי אביו, “and all the wells which the servants of his father had dug, etc.” The Torah simply tells us that the Philistines were so jealous of Yitzchak’s success that they closed down wells which Avraham had dug in order to deny Yitzchak the opportunity of benefiting from his father’s foresight. They wanted to deny Yitzchak the water he needed to sustain his herds and flocks. Eventually, Yitzchak bestirred himself and he redug the same wells making sure he kept the names his father had given to these wells. The Torah reports this seemingly insignificant detail to acquaint us with the meticulous way Yitzchak adhered to the norms his father had taught him. Perhaps, this is even the reason why the Torah never reports that Yitzchak’s own name was changed, as distinct from the names of both his father and his son Yaakov. This would be a further illustration of the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, that G’d responds in kind. [Yitzchak had been named already prior to his birth and never needed to have his name adjusted in order to encourage him to become more perfect. Ed.] Some commentators claim that the wells are allusions to converts who had been converted in Avraham’s time to monotheism. The allusion would symbolise that conversion was as easy as accepting a source of water which the earth provides for free. Opening a heart which had been closed to belief in G’d is compared to “digging.” This is why the Torah describes the Philistines as having stopped up the hearts of these converts, i.e. filled them with dust. Allegorically speaking, whereas Avraham had filled the mouths of these converts with “water,” i.e. life-giving Torah knowledge, their pagan compatriots filled them with earth. The expression עפר, “earth, dust” to describe pagan religious concepts is not novel; we find it in Baba Batra 16 as describing someone like Job who used specious arguments to decry G’d’s system of Justice. The Torah reports that after a while Yitzchak made the effort to reconvert these converts his father had made. It is the nature of people who engage in missionary activity to place a great deal of emphasis on the names they give to their converts. Yitzchak did just this and named the people with whom he succeeded with the very same names his father had given them when they converted to monotheism. The source for this is Isaiah 65,15: “He calls His servants by another name.”
וכל הבארות, after Avraham had died the local populace was no longer afraid of Yitzchok. Also, the Avimelech with whom Avraham had made the pact and who had restored the wells to Avraham had died in the interval. Why then did the Philistines stop up the wells instead of using them for their own flocks? They were afraid that in the event that when Yitzchok would grow up he would be as powerful a figure as his father he would appropriate these wells. Therefore, they reasoned the only way to deny him these wells is by also denying them to themselves. Therefore they closed them up so that no one supposedly would be able to locate them.
סתמום פלשתים, the Philistines had stopped up these wells to ensure that Avraham’s descendants would not be able to use them and to claim the land around them. as their grazing land. The Torah had to record this for us since Avraham’s shepherds had in the meantime pitched their tents a distance from there. We have a parallel to this when the Torah writes in 9,18 חם אבי כנען, Cham, the son of Canaan, although at the time, Canaan had not been born yet. Here too, the verse serves as background to the facts in verse 18, explaining that the servants of Yitzchok were not annexing land for their use which had not already belonged to Avraham with the full consent of Avimelech the king at time.
סתמום פלשתים THE PHILISTINES STOPPED THEM, saying, “They may become a source of danger to us because of marauding troops that may invade us” (i.e.,they may invade our country to obtain possession of the wells, or if they invade us for any other reason they will be able to find a supply of water). (Tosafot Sotah 10.) The rendering of the Targum טמונין means “stopping up” and we find it in the language of the Talmud (Pesachim 42a) “Chokes up (מטמטם) the heart”.
Diese dem fremden Abrahamiden als solchem sich zuwendende Eifersucht hatte sich schon sofort nach Abrahams Tode, als ja noch Jizchak gar nicht unter ihnen war, durch schadenfrohe Vernichtung der Brunnen geltend gemacht, die doch, wo auch immer sie sich befinden, eine öffentliche Wohltat sind.
Mit dieser קנאה leitet sich eine ganze Reihe von Ereignissen ein, die ein mit Jizchak eingetretenes neues Stadium bezeichnen. Abraham mit allem seinem Reichtum und doch ebenfalls Fremdling in Mitte der Völker, errang durch seine ganze Persönlichkeit eine solche Achtung, daß er unbeneidet und unbeeifersüchtelt als נשיא אלקים unter ihnen wandelte. Einmal machte sich eine ähnliche Feindseligkeit geltend, die aber sofort von dem Fürsten desavouiert wurde (oben 21, 26). Mit Jizchak begann das Galut, begann die Verheißung גר יהי׳ זרעך sich zu erfüllen. Das dem Abraham noch völlig ungetrübte Glück war bei Jizchak bereits durch Neid und schikanierende Eifersüchtelei getrübt, und Jakob erscheint uns bereits in vollendeter Knechtsgestalt. Damit ist eine dreifache Stellung der Abrahamiden als Fremde in der Mitte der Völker gezeichnet: als Knecht, als beneidete Größe, als verehrte Hoheit. In allen drei Schicksalsstellungen hat sich der Gottesbund schützend und segnend bewährt, der daher sich selbst nicht nur als ein ברית עם אברהם עם יצחק ועם יעקב sondern als ein: ברית אברהם ,ברית יצחק ,ברית יעקב, manifestierte, in welchem Ausdruck die Väter nicht als Personen, sondern als Typen der durch sie zur Anschauung gekommenen verschiedenen Manifestationen der Kraft des göttlichen Bundes erscheinen.
Wenn einst das Galut ihre Söhne zur endlichen, unverlierbaren Selbständigkeit führen soll, so muss es sich daher in der entgegengesetzten, steigenden Linie entwickeln und in jedem Stadium den ברית bewähren. Es ist zuerst: ברית יעקב, die Prüfungsjahrhunderte in Knechtsgestalt und der im Elend in uns und an uns sich bewährende Gottesbund. Dieses Stadium liegt — vielleicht — bereits zurück. Als "Jakob" haben wir uns glänzend bewährt, יאי עניותא לישראל — es gilt nun die Lösung des zweiten Stadiums, ברית יצחק, frei und selbständig in Mitte der Völker, den Gegensatz und den Neid nicht zu scheuen, emanzipiert das Abrahamsvermächtnis weiter zu tragen und des ברית יצחק des uns gegen Neid und Eifersucht schützenden Gottesbundes gewärtig zu sein: es ist dies eine Galutprobe, die wir noch zu bestehen haben. — Dann erst dürfen wir dem letzten Galutstadium entgegenharren, nicht obgleich wir Juden, sondern eben weil wir Juden, die Anerkennung und Achtung der Völker zu gewinnen, und Abraham gleich als נשיא אלקים unter ihnen zu wandeln: ברית אברהם. Dann werden die Völker selbst uns in das alte Erbe einsetzen. — והביאו את כל אחיכם מכל הגוים מנחה לד׳ — und dann wird die Weltgeschichte den alten Satz gelöst haben, mit welchem bereits vor Jahrtausenden das Programm unseres Galut und unserer Erlösung gegeben ist. - וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב ואף את בריתי יצחק ואף את בריתי אברהם אזכר והארץ אזכר (Wajikra 26, 42).
The Philistines plugged them. Since the king had forbidden them to harm Yitzchok physically, they gave vent to their jealousy by plugging up the wells.
Because they said, “They are a danger to us because the armies... But [the plugging was] not because of jealousy. For then Scripture should [connect the idea of their jealousy to their plugging, and] say: “And the Philistines were jealous of him. They plugged all the wells that his father’s servants had dug....” (Re’m) But it seems to me that they indeed plugged the wells because of jealousy, but to conceal their jealousy they mentioned the aspect of danger. Otherwise, “And the Philistines were jealous” should come right before, “Avimelech said to Yitzchok, ‘Go away from us.’” And afterward it should say, “All the wells...,” followed by, “Yitzchok returned and excavated the wells.” Why is, “All the wells...” juxtaposed to, “And the Philistines were jealous”? To tell us that they plugged the wells because of jealousy! They thought Yitzchok would sense their jealousy, and leave [on his own]. When Avimelech saw that his plan failed, he told Yitzchok outright, “Go away from us.” (Nachalas Yaakov)
טמונון פלשתאי meaning stopping up... Rashi is telling us not to explain Onkelos along the lines of טמוני חול (Devarim 33:19), denoting something hidden. That is why he explains that [this word] also means stopping up.
Here the chapter inserts a comment that will be important for the continuation of the story: All the cisterns that his father’s servants dug in the days of Abraham, his father, the Philistines sealed them after Abraham left Gerar, and filled them with earth. Isaac was uncomfortable in Gerar not only due to his great wealth, which aroused envy among his neighbors, but also because his father’s wells had been filled with earth.
“The Philistines stopped up the wells, filling them with dirt” [26:15]. The Philistines stopped up all the wells that Abraham had dug. They said: when a people will come to besiege the city, they will not have any water and will have to leave the city. Therefore, they stopped up all the wells. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:15.) Isaac dug them again and the Philistines stopped them up again. Later, he found a well and called it living waters, that is spring water. The shepherds of Abimelech argued about that well. Isaac called it, esek that is to say, war. Isaac dug another well and called it sitna, that is to say enmity. The third time he found a well that they did not fight over and he called it, rehovot, that is to say expansion. “From there he went up to Beer Sheva. The Lord appeared to him” [26:23–24]. Isaac went up to Beer Sheva. The Holy One appeared to him and said to him. Do not fear; I am with you. I will bless you and your children and will increase them, for the sake of my servant Abraham. Isaac built an altar and praised God. He erected his tent and dug a well. Abimelech went with his ministers to Isaac. Isaac said: why are you coming here? You are hostile to me and have driven me away from you. Abimelech responded: we have seen many miracles by your father and also by you, and they made peace with him. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:28.)
“It was after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived beside Be’er Laḥai Ro’i (Genesis 25:11). “It was after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son” – Rabbi Simon said: Everywhere that it is stated “it was after [the death],” the world regressed. “It was after the death of Abraham” – immediately, “All the cisterns…the Philistines sealed them after Abraham’s death” (Genesis 26:15, 18). “It was after the death of Moses, servant of the Lord” (Joshua 1:1) – immediately, the well, the clouds of glory, and the manna ceased. “It was after Joshua’s death” (Judges 1:1) – immediately, the pegs of the Land waged war against them. (The reference is to the Canaanite nations. They are called “pegs,” as in Numbers 33:55: "Those whom you leave over will be like pegs in your eyes and thorns in your side.”) “It was after Saul’s death” (II Samuel 1:1) – “the Philistines were waging war against Israel” (I Samuel 31:1). The students raised an objection to Rabbi Simon: ‘But is it not written: “After the death of Yehoyada, the princes of Judah came and prostrated themselves to the king”?’ (II Chronicles 24:17). (There does not appear to be any regression there.) Rabbi Tanḥuma said: ‘Rabbi Simon came to say [his rule] only concerning [the phrase] “it was after [the death].”’ (Whereas in this verse, the words “it was” are missing from the formula.) Rabbi Yudan said: [The words “it was after the death” of certain people connote that] the world would have regressed had the Holy One blessed be He not established others in their stead, as it is written: “It was after Abraham’s death,” and it is written: “Isaac dug anew” (Genesis 26:18). “It was after the death of Moses, servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, saying” (Joshua 1:1). And it is written: “It was after Joshua’s death…the Lord said: Judah will ascend” (Judges 1:1–2). It is written: “It was after Saul’s death and David had returned from smiting the Amalekites, and David had stayed in Tziklag [two] days” (II Samuel 1:1), (David immediately took Saul’s place as military leader.) and it is written prior to this matter, [even] prior to Samuel’s death: “David was the son of a nobleman…” (I Samuel 17:12). (This is the opening verse of the passage describing the beginning of David’s career as a warrior, when he slew Goliath.)
And some say that [when the moon was reduced in size] she became totally dark, and [God] decreed upon her that she would only shine from the light of the sun. [The moon] said to [God]: Master of the Universe, [how can it be that] because I spoke a correct matter to you, I should be diminished? God said to [the moon]: If so, I will in the future, in the days of the messiah, return your light. As it is written "And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun"(Isaiah 30:26). [The moon] said to [God]: I have sinned [by challenging you]. Forgive me. [God] said to [the moon]: I forgive you. [The moon] said to [God]: How will I know that you have forgiven me? [God] said to [the moon]: And you will rule by day and night. [The moon] said to [God]: Master of the Universe, what benefit is there if I shine at day when [the sun] appears? [After all], you have called me the small light, as it says "and the small light" (Genesis 1:16). [God] said to [the moon]: The righteous will be called after your name: Jacob the Small [son] (Genesis 26:15), David the Small (I Samuel 17:14). [The moon] said to [God]: Master of the Universe, if the righteous are also called small, what sign of forgiveness is this for me? Once God saw that [the moon's] mind would not be settled, he increased her multitude [of stars]. As it says: "And the stars" (Genesis 1:16). And due to her honor, [God] increased her multitude [of stars], as a ruler who walks forth and the wealthy [dignitaries] of the land walk with him.
(Gen. 32:4:) THEN JACOB SENT….] This text is related (to Prov. 26:17): A PASSER-BY WHO MEDDLES IN A QUARREL NOT HIS OWN IS LIKE ONE WHO SEIZES A DOG BY THE EARS. (Cf. Gen. R. 78:3.) Who is this person? This is Jacob. When he had set out from his father's house, what is written (in Gen. 28:20)? THEN JACOB VOWED A VOW. What did he say (ibid., cont.]:)? IF GOD IS WITH ME < … > Thus did the Holy One respond to him (in vs. 15): SEE I AM WITH YOU. (Gen. R. 70:4 reports a discussion between R. Ayyevu and R. Jonathan over whether vss. 15 and 20 are disarranged or whether the Holy One simply anticipated Jacob’s vow.) Our masters have said: He responded to him on every < point > except for sustenance. (Gk.: pronoos (“thinking beforehand”). Gen. R. 69:6.) R. Osha'ya said: He also responded to him for sustenance, since it is stated (in Gen. 28:15): FOR I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU UNTIL ('D 'ShR) I HAVE DONE WHAT ('ShR) I PROMISED YOU. Why did he say two times: ('ShR 'ShR)? He spoke, as it were, something difficult. R. Osha'ya said: The Holy One said to him: Blessed (rt.: 'ShR) am I and blessed (rt.: 'ShR) are you when I do this thing for you. Again he demanded < as a condition > (in Gen. 28:21): AND IF I RETURN SAFELY. He said to him (in vs. 15): AND I WILL BRING YOU BACK < UNTO THIS LAND >. R. Hanina b. R. Isaac said: Blessed (rt.: 'ShR) is one born of woman who has heard this from his Creator. See, whatever he demanded from his Creator he promised him. Then, with these promises, he sends and says (in Gen. 32:5 [4]): THUS YOU SHALL SAY TO MY LORD ESAU. Ergo, it is well stated (in Prov. 25:26): < A PASSER-BY WHO MEDDLES IN A QUARREL NOT HIS OWN IS > LIKE ONE WHO SEIZES A DOG BY THE EARS. (The text from Proverbs seems to assume a situation like this: Jacob’s welfare was a matter between himself and his Creator; so why should he get involved with Esau.)
Our sages of blessed memory said: “Observe that the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not the way of man.” It is not man’s way to heal with what he wounds. If he wounds with a knife, he heals with a plaster, but the Holy One, blessed be He, heals with what He wounds. When He smote Job, He did so with a tempest, as it said: And multiply my wounds without cause (Job 9:17), and when He healed him He did so with a whirlwind, as it is said: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind (ibid. 38:1). When He sent Israel into exile, He did so with clouds, as is said: How hath the Lord covered with a cloud (Lam. 2:1), and when He brought them back, He did so with a cloud, as it is said: Who are these that fly as a cloud? (Isa. 60:8). When He dispersed them, He scattered them like doves, as it is said: But they that shall at all escape of them, shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning (Ezek. 7:16). When He gathered them together, He did so as doves: As the doves to their cotes (Isa. 60:8). When He blesses them, He does so only while “looking forth,” as it is said: Look forth from Thy holy habitation (Deut. 26:15), and when He exacts retribution from their enemies, He does so while “looking forth,” as it is said: And it came to pass on the morning watch that the Lord looked forth through the pillar of fire and of cloud (Exod. 14:24). When the pillar of cloud descended it turned (the water) into mud, and the pillar of fire scalded them. The hoofs of their horses became entangled (and they fell), causing the horses to fall upon the mares that were beneath. Thus it says: Then did the horses’ hoofs stamp by reason of their prancings, the prancings of the mighty ones (Judg. 5:22). He confused and befuddled them. He took away their reasoning power, and they did not know what to do.
(Numb. 6:22–23:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto Aaron and unto his children, saying, ‘Thus shall you bless the Children of Israel.’” Let our master instruct us: In the case of priest with a blemish, is it right for him to raise his hands (in the priestly blessing)? Thus have our masters taught (in Meg. 4:7): A priest whose hands are blemished may not raise his hands. But Rabbi taught, “A priest who has blemishes anywhere at all may not raise his hands.” R. Judah says, “Also whoever has his hands stained with woad, (Buber’s note suggests emending satim to satis, and the translation follows his emendation. On satis, see the Gk. and Lat. word, isatis, which denotes a plant producing a deep blue dye.) madder, or rubia may not raise his hands. Why? Because it is customary for people to be looking at him.” R. Joshua the Great taught, “If the majority of the men in the town are in that business (i.e., of dying cloth), he is permitted to raise his hands; in the same way that in the South, there are [many] hides that are tanned purple and their hands [with which they bless] are dyed.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “From the beginning I have blessed My people; from now on the blessings are transmitted to you. You are to bless My children,” Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses to caution Aaron and his children to bless Israel. How is this shown? From what they have read [on the matter] (in Numb. 6:23), “Speak unto Aaron and unto his children, saying, ‘Thus shall you bless.’” (Numb. 6:23:) “Thus shall you bless.” This text is related (to Deut. 26:15), “Look down from Your holy dwelling, from the heavens, and bless Your people.” The congregation of Israel said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the world, You tell the priests to bless us. (Numb. R. 11:2.) We only need You to bless us, as stated (Deut. 26:15), ‘Look down from Your holy dwelling, [from the heavens, and bless Your people].’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “Although I have told the priests to bless you, I am standing along with them and blessing you.” For that reason the priests spread their hands. (See Sot. 7:6 for details about how the priests are to hold their hands.) [They do so] to say, “The Holy One, blessed be He, is standing behind us.” So also it says (in allusion to the Holy One, blessed be He, in Cant. 2:9) “there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice,” [i.e. “gazing through the windows,”] from between the fingers of the priests; “peering through the lattice,” when they extend their hands. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 6:23), “Thus shall you bless.”
IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR, far away from the city. And [Isaac] digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped up before Isaac left Gerar, he once again dug. Thus the words of Rashi. It would appear from Rashi’s words, then, that the wells mentioned here [in Verse 18] are the same as those mentioned [above in Verse 15]: For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. But this is not so, for how would the Philistines give him permission when they had said, “These wells are a source of danger to us because of invaders.” (Quoted in Rashi, Verse 15 here.) Rather, the wells [mentioned in Verse 18] are different ones in another location since the valley of Gerar is the name of a place, or perhaps the valley extended from Gerar to another land, and when the Philistines, namely, the lords of Gerar — the principality of the king — became jealous of Isaac, they stopped the wells which were his by inheritance from his father in the boundary of the city of Gerar. The king then sent him away from his throne-city, and he went to another city. Possibly, this new place was not part of his kingdom even though it was in the land of the Philistines. There were other wells there which Abraham had dug when he lived there for many days (Above, 21:34.) but which the Philistines stopped upon his death since Isaac did not dwell there. They did not do this out of hatred. But in the days of Abraham, [even after he had moved from there], they did not want to stop them out of respect to him, saying, “Perhaps he will return to dwell there.” This was why Isaac returned and dug them in the valley. But the herdsmen of the valley quarrelled with him saying, The water is ours, (Verse 20 here.) meaning, “The well is in the valley, and the waters ooze forth from that valley while those in the valley are diminished. Hence they are ours.” It is for this reason that Scripture mentions, And they found there a well of living water, (Verse 19 here.) stating that it was a source gushing forth living water which did not come from the valley as those who quarrelled with Isaac had previously claimed.
and reputed dull in your sight Heb. נטמינו. We are considered in your eyes as stopped up. The word has no radical besides the “teth” “mem,” like טַמוֹנוּן פְלִשְתָּאֵי, which is the Aramaic translation of סִתְּמוּם פלשתים “the Philistines stopped them up” (Gen. 26:15). Some explain [this] as an expression of hiding (טמינה), but they are in error, because were that the case, the word would require two “nun”s, one for the radical and one for the plural suffix.
For most readers, there is a certain lack of clarity concerning Yitzchak’s rather puzzling identity. He is clearly different from Avraham and Yaakov in ways that very subtly show a unique approach to life. As opposed to the other patriarchs, Yitzchak never seems to be at the center of the narrative. Even at the pinnacle of his life – being offered as a sacrifice – Yitzchak stays in the background. Likewise, when he marries Rivka, his role still remains limited. This pattern continues throughout the rest of his adult life, which we see described in Parashat Toldot. In the few scenes where Yitzchak is actually the protagonist, he seems to limit himself to two rather conservative ways of dealing with the world: 1) to wait for events to happen to him and only then to react (e.g., when children were not granted to him and Rivka, when he is confronted by Avimelech, when Rivka tells him that he should send Yaakov away, etc.) and 2) whenever possible, to rely on the previous strategies of his father Avraham (e.g., proclaiming his wife to be his sister, making a pact with the local leader, etc.). (See Rabbenu Bachya on Bereshit 26:15 for a discussion of this point.)
“The Philistines stopped up the wells, filling them with dirt” [26:15]. The Philistines stopped up all the wells that Abraham had dug. They said: when a people will come to besiege the city, they will not have any water and will have to leave the city. Therefore, they stopped up all the wells. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:15.) Isaac dug them again and the Philistines stopped them up again. Later, he found a well and called it living waters, that is spring water. The shepherds of Abimelech argued about that well. Isaac called it, esek that is to say, war. Isaac dug another well and called it sitna, that is to say enmity. The third time he found a well that they did not fight over and he called it, rehovot, that is to say expansion.
All the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father, Avraham—the Philistines plugged them, and filled them with earth.
And all the wells which the servants of his father had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistaee stopped up and filled with earth.
As long as Abraham was alive, there was plenty, as it is said (Gen. 24:1), "And God had blessed Abraham in everything." Once Abraham died, "There was a famine in the land" (Gen. 26:1). Isaac came and [again] there was plenty, as it says (Gen 26:12), "Isaac sowed in that land [and reaped in that year a hundred measures]." As long as Abraham was alive, the wells were filled with water, [but] once Abraham died what does it say, but (Gen. 26:15), "And all the wells which had been dug [by the servants of his (i.e., Isaac's) father in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled with earth]." They said, since they are no longer filled with water, they will be a hazard should we stumble into them, and thus they filled them up. Isaac came and [again] the wells were filled with water, as it is said (Gen. 26:18-19), "And Isaac again dug up the wells of water, etc." and "[Isaac's] servants [also] dug, etc."
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ אֶל־יִצְחָ֑ק לֵ֚ךְ מֵֽעִמָּ֔נוּ כִּֽי־עָצַ֥מְתָּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מְאֹֽד׃ | 16 J | And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you have become far too big for us.” |
לך מעמנו, “go from us;” they argued that the reason they wanted him to leave was that they felt their land had not been blessed due to the famine, as opposed to the piece of land on which Yitzchok had brought forth such an exceptionally good harvest. They assumed that as soon as Yitzchok would vacate the land he had worked they would appropriate it for themselves and reap the benefits.
כי עצמת ממנו, "for you have become more powerful than we." Even the wealth and authority of the king paled into insignificance compared to the reputation of Isaac. There is no greater humiliation for a king than to be ranked lower than some other resident in his domain.
ויאמר ..כי עצמת, you have become wealthier and able to dispense more good than we. He used the plural ending nu instead of nee, i.e. ממני, meaning that Yitzchok had become not only more powerful than any individual in his country, but even more powerful than a whole group of Philistines collectively. He suggested that Yitzchok exposed himself to acts of violence due to the jealousy of him of so many Philistines so that even Avimelech’s warning to his people not to molest him might be ignored. My father of blessed memory understood the word ממנו as applying to all the Philistines collectively.
לך מעמנו כי עצמת ממנו מאור. Es dürfte eine tiefe Wahrheit in der ם-Stufe der zum קץ הימין, zum Ziele der Tage fördernden Geula liegen, welche in dem Prophetenvermächtnis der Endzeichen unseres Alphabets (Siehe zu לך לך, Breschit 12, 1) auf diese Stelle hinweisend, niedergelegt ist. Es dürfte damit uns gesagt sein, wie die unfreundliche קנאה, wie der Neid und die Eifersucht der Völker, die das glückliche Galutisrael auf der Jizchakstufe findet, und die zu ihm sprechen: ׳לך מעמנו כי עצמת וגו nicht das geringste unter den göttlichen Werkzeugen zu unserer Rettung bilden. Wer weiß, wie leicht Jizchak ohne diese ihn wieder in die Isolierung weisende Philister-Eifersucht in den großen Betrieb seines Reichtums und in die vornehme bürgerliche Stellung, die er dadurch gewonnen, mehr als es dem Sohne Abrahams und dem Träger seines geistigen Vermächtnisses geziemte, hätte aufgehen können, vor welchem Aufgehen eben die zurückweisende קנאה ihn rettend bewahrte. Gewiss ist es, daß seine, seiner Stufe entgegengreifenden emanzipierten Söhne durch die trotz allem abweisende קנאה immer wieder auf sich selbst zurückgewiesen werden, und daher diese קנאה kein unbedeutendes, rettendes Heilmittel sein dürfte, welches ihrem Glücke beigegeben ist, um dem so verlockenden Reiz desselben entgegenzuwirken, — und sie an ihren eigentlichen jüdischen Beruf immer wieder und wieder zu mahnen. —
כי עצמת ממנו, you would be able to stage a rebellion against us using all your wealth.
The envy and general resentment of the residents of Gerar toward Isaac also finds expression in a statement of the king, which represents the overall feeling of the public. Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown much mightier than we. You are too strong for us; one who grows wealthy in such an irregular manner is liable to upset the social and political balance in our community.
And in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer (Chapter 48:17), he gave a different reason for the word[s], I have surely visited [pakod pakadati], with which they were redeemed. It said, and this is its language there: Rabbi Eliezer said, "The five letters of the Torah that are of double [shape] are all expressions of redemption. Kaf, kaf, with which our father Abraham was redeemed from Ur of the Chaldees, as it is stated: Go out [lekh lekhah] of your land (Gen. 12:1). Mem, mem, with which our father Isaac was redeemed from the Philistines, as it is stated: Go from us, for you are much mightier than us [mimenu meod] (Genesis 22:16). Nun, nun, with which our father Jacob was redeemed from the hand of Esau, as it is stated, Deliver me, I pray, [hatzileini na] (Genesis 32:11). Peh, peh, with which the Jewish people was redeemed from Egypt, as it is stated: I have surely visited you, [pakod pakadti] (Exodus 3:16, 17). Tzadi, tzadi, with which the Holy One, blessed be He, in the future will redeem the Jewish people at the end of the fourth empire, as it is stated: Tzemach is his name; and he shall grow up [yitzmach] out of his place (Zechariah 6:12). All of them were told to Abraham, and Abraham passed them down to Isaac, and Isaac passed them down to Jacob, and Jacob passed them down to Joseph and his brothers, as it is stated: He will surely visit [pakod yifkod] you (Genesis 50:24). Asher, the son of Jacob, passed down the mystery of the redemption to Serah his daughter. When Moses and Aaron came to the elders of Israel and performed the signs in their sight, the elders of Israel went to Serah, the daughter of Asher, and they said to her, 'A certain man has come, and he has performed such and such signs before us.' She said to them, 'There is no substance to these signs.' They said to her, 'But did he not say, "Pakod yifkod?"' She said to them, 'He is the man who will redeem the Jewish people in the future from Egypt, for so did I hear from father.' As it is stated: And the people were convinced when [...] the Lord had visited [pakad] His people (Exodus 4:31)." To here [is the midrash].
Rabbi Yehuda said, Woe to the wicked, whose generosity is not complete. Come and behold, Efron first said, "my lord, hear me, the field I give you, and the cave that is in it" (Beresheet 23:11). Later he said, "four hundred shekels" (Ibid. 14), and then, "and Abraham weighed to Efron current money with the merchant" (Ibid. 16). Here too, it is written at first "Behold, my land is before you,". Then he said (to Isaac), "Go from us; for you are much mightier than we" (Beresheet 26:16). Rabbi Elazar said to him, This is the benevolence Abimelech had for Isaac. He took nothing from him and sent him away with his money and possessions. Then, he went after him to make a covenant with him.
Mem, nun, tzadi, peh, kaf, the double letters, (These letters are written differently when they appear as the last letter of a word.) were stated by the prophets. Kaf kaf alludes to Abraham: “Lekh lekha” (Genesis 12:1) – he will beget a son at the age of one hundred. (The letter kaf appears twice in lekh lekha. Lamed – 30 + kaf – 20 = 50 x 2 = 100. Mem mem) is for Isaac: “For you have grown much mightier than we [mimenu]” (Genesis 26:16). (The letter mem appears twice in mimenu. An alternative term meaning “than we” could have been employed, but wasn’t.) He alluded to him that he and his descendants would be mighty in two worlds. Nun nun for Jacob: “Deliver me, please [hatzileni na]” (Genesis 32:12); deliver in two worlds. Peh peh to Israel, [when God said] to Moses: “I have remembered you [pakod pakadeti]” (Exodus 3:16). Tzadi tzadi – “Behold a man, Tzemaḥ is his name, [and he will sprout [yitzmaḥ…]” (Zechariah 6:12). And it says: “I will establish for David a righteous offshoot [tzemaḥ tzadik] and he will reign as king and succeed, and he will perform justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5). “A leader of fifty” (Isaiah 3:3) – twenty-four books; add to them eleven of the twelve minor prophets, excluding Jonah, which stands alone, six orders of Mishna, and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim (The Torat Kohanim is a midrash halakha on Leviticus. At the time that this midrash was written, the Torat Kohanim was apparently divided into nine large chapters.) – that is fifty. “They are sixty queens” (Song of Songs 6:8) – sixty tractates; “and eighty concubines” (Song of Songs 6:8) – eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem, corresponding to its entrances; “and young women without number” (Song of Songs 6:8) – external Mishna. (Tannaitic statements which were not incorporated into the Mishna.) “Behold the bed of Solomon: There are sixty valiant men around it” (Song of Songs 3:7) – sixty letters of the Priestly Benediction. (Numbers 6:24–26.) “Three hundred and eighteen” (Genesis 14:14) – it is Eliezer. (The number of members of his household whom Abraham took to recover Lot corresponds to the numerical value of Eliezer: alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + yod –10 + ayin – 70 + zayin – 7 + reish – 200 = 318.) “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice, and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5) – at the age of three he recognized Him. (Abraham heeded God’s voice for ‘ekev’ years: ayin – 70 + kof – 100 + beit – 2 = 172. He lived a total of one hundred and seventy-five years. He recognized God at age three.) HaSatan – three hundred and sixty-four, (Heh – 5 + sin – 300 + tet – 9 + nun – 50 = 364.) the number of days in the solar year that he [the Satan] has license to inform on all of them, excepting Yom Kippur. Rav Ami said in the school of Rabbi Abba: Abraham, as long as he was not circumcised and had not begot a son, was lacking a heh. The heh was added, he became whole, and he begot a son at the sum of his letters. (Alef – 1 + beit – 2 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 + mem – 40 = 248, the number of limbs in a person’s body.) “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4) – this is Sarah. Sarai was her name; two amora’im have a dispute regarding this: One said: The yod was split in two, heh for Abraham and heh for Sarah. (Yod is ten and heh is five.) And one said: The yod that was taken from Sarah objected, until Joshua [Yehoshua] came and Moses added a yod (Yehoshua's name, originally, was Hoshea.) – may the Lord rescue you [Ya yoshiakha] from the counsel of the spies. (Yehoshua is a portmanteau of ya yoshiakha.) The yod of Isaac [Yitzḥak] corresponds to the ten ordeals; tzadi,to the ninety years of age that Sarah was when he was born; ḥet, to the eight days [of age] at which he was circumcised; kof, Abraham was one hundred years of age. (When Isaac was born.) Jacob [Yaakov] was named for himself. Yod corresponds to the tenth. Calculate from Benjamin until Levi; (Counting backwards from Benjamin, Levi is the tenth.) he is the tenth. Ayin – “with seventy people” (Deuteronomy 10:22); (This is the number of people with whom Jacob descended to Egypt. kof) – corresponding to the letters in the blessing of: “May God give you” (Genesis 27:28). Beit remains. It is corresponding to the two angels that ascended. (When Jacob left Canaan to go to Aram.) The tablets contained six hundred and thirteen mizvot, corresponding to the letters from “I am” (Exodus 20:2) until “that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:14), no more and no fewer. All of them were given to Moses at Sinai, among them statutes, ordinances, Torah, Mishna, Talmud, and aggada. “Fear of the Lord, that is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). Among all the attributes, there are none greater than fear and humility (Since humility is not mentioned elsewhere in this portion of the midrash, Matnot Kehuna and Etz Yosef write that it should be erased.) – “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The numerical value of yirat is six hundred and eleven, (Yod – 10 + reish – 200 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 611.) and of Torah is six hundred and eleven. (Tav – 400 + vav – 6 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 = 611.) Add fear and Torah to them; (When a gematria is used, sometimes the word or words being discussed are used to add 1 to the gematria. Thus, 611 + Torah + yirat = 613.) the result is six hundred and thirteen. Tzitzit – the Rabbis taught: Eight strings that are drawn and five knots, two above (Adjacent to the corner of the garment.) and three below, that is six hundred and thirteen. (Tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tav – 400 = 600 + 8 strings + 5 knots = 613.) The days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years; Isaac, one hundred and eighty years; Jacob, one hundred and forty-seven years. When you add them together, the result is five hundred and two years. That is, likewise, the distance between the heavens and earth: “Like the days of the heavens over the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21). (The preceding phrase is: “regarding which the Lord has taken an oath to your forefathers.” And "the days of the heavens over the earth" is interpreted as the time that it would take to walk from the earth to the heavens.) “[These are David’s last words: The utterance of David son of Yishai, and the utterance of the man] raised on high [al]” (II Samuel 23:1) – this corresponds to one hundred blessings. (The numerical value of al is 100: Ayin – 70 + lamed – 30 = 100.) Each day one hundred men of Israel would die. David came and instituted for them one hundred blessings. Once he instituted them, the plague was halted. Al – the yoke [ol] (Both al and ol are written with an ayin and lamed.) of Torah and the yoke of suffering. “Forgive all iniquity, and accept good [tov], and instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips” (Hosea 14:3). Israel said: ‘Master of the universe, when the Temple was extant, we would sacrifice an offering and gain atonement; now, we have nothing in our hand other than prayer.’ The numerical value of tov is seventeen; prayer contains nineteen blessings? (The Amida.) Exclude from there the blessing of the heretics, (This refers to the twelfth blessing in the Amida.) that they instituted it in Yavne, and “the offshoot of David” (This refers to the fifteenth blessing of the Amida.) that they instituted after him because of: “Examine me, Lord, and test me” (Psalms 26:2). (See Sanhedrin 107a, where David fails the test of Bathsheba.) Rabbi Simon says: On the basis of a numerical cypher, “and accept good [tov]” equals the value of nefesh [person]. (With the atbash cypher, the distance of a letter from the beginning of the alphabet is measured, and it is replaced bythe letter that is the same distance from the end of the alphabet. Tet – nun; vav – peh; beit – shin: tov becomes nefesh.) Israel said: ‘When the Temple was extant, we would burn fats and the other portions on the altar and gain atonement. Now, here are our fats, our blood, and our souls. May it be Your will that they will serve as atonement on our behalf’ – “instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips.” “The Lord granted her pregnancy [herayon]” (Ruth 4:13). Its numerical value is two hundred and seventy-one. (This is the number of days in nine full months, plus the first day of the tenth month.) The measure of water in a ritual bath is forty se’a, which corresponds to the number of times that the water of a well [be’er] is written in the Torah. How many egg bulks are in a ritual bath? There are five thousand seven hundred and sixty. Each and every se’a is one hundred and forty-four egg-bulks. Ḥalla is forty-three and one-fifth egg-bulks. From where is it derived that one requires forty se’a for a ritual bath? “The water of Shilo’aḥ that flows slowly [le’at]” (Isaiah 8:6), whose numerical value is forty. One who is separating ḥalla must, by Torah law, separate one from forty-three and one-fifth [egg-bulks], in accordance with the numerical value of ḥalla. (Ḥet – 8 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 43.) The primary categories of labor are forty less one, as it is written: “These are the matters [eleh hadevarim]…” (Exodus 35:1). (The following verse begins: “Six days labor shall be performed…” Eleh) – thirty-six, (Alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 36. devarim) – two, (Devarim (matters) is written in the plural. The minimum plural possible is two. hadevarim) –three; (Deriving an additional one from the heh prefix.) that is forty less one. “Forty he shall flog him, he shall not add” (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponding to the forty curses that the serpent, Eve, Adam, and the ground were cursed. The Sages deducted one due to “he shall not add.” Those who recommended acquittal would have a majority of one, and thus the iniquities are fewer. (Iniquities can refers to people who the court puts to death by mistake. According to that explanation, the midrash here explains that in order to prevent the iniquity of mistakenly killing somebody, for acquittal a majority of one is sufficient, but a majority of two is required for a guilty verdict.) It is preferable when convicting that at least a majority of two will prevail, rather than one. “Sheshakh” (Jeremiah 25:26, 51:41) is Babylon [Bavel] in the atbash cypher. “[Son of] Tave’al” (Isaiah 7:6) according to the albam (Alef becomes lamed. The alphabet is divided in two in the middle, with eleven letters in each group. The first letter in the first group – aleph – is replaced by the first letter in the second group – lamed. The second letter – bet – is replaced by mem, etc.) cypher is Remala. (The son of Tave’al, mentioned in the verse, is a reference to Pekaḥ ben Remalyahu, king of Israel.) “With this [bezot] shall Aaron enter the Sanctum: with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering” (Leviticus 16:3), bezot is an allusion to the first Temple, that would stand four hundred and ten years. (Beit – 2 + zayin – 7 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 410.)
“Avimelekh commanded all the people” – Rabi Aivu said: No person should even cast a rock at them; that is what is written: “They lie in wait in their dwelling places; they watch my footsteps in hopes of taking my life” (Psalms 56:7). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow until he became very wealthy” (Genesis 26:13). “The man grew wealthy, and continued to grow” – Rabbi Ḥanin said: To the extent that they would say: The manure of Isaac’s mules, and not Avimelekh’s silver and gold. (The manure from Isaac's mules was worth more than the Avimelekh’s gold and silver.) “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household, and the Philistines envied him” (Genesis 26:14). “He had livestock of flocks, and livestock of cattle, and a great household [vaavuda].” Daniyel the tailor said: Ve’avda is written – if a person does not render himself like a slave with his slave, he does not acquire it, (If he does not oversee the work of his slaves and workers, he will not see a benfit from the property he has.) as it is stated: “Better to be lightly esteemed with a slave” (Proverbs 12:9). (It is better to work like a slave when you have a slave, otherwise you will only lose from having a slave.) The way of the world is that a person must toil and seek the expenditures of his household, and they sit in his home. (The slaves sit idly at home.) Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown much mightier than we” (Genesis 26:16). “Avimelekh said to Isaac: Leave us, for you have grown…mightier than we” – he said to him: ‘All that growth that you have grown, did it not come to you from us? In the past you had only one flock and now you have many flocks.’
It is written (in Is. 2:2): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT IN THE LATTER DAYS THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD SHALL BE ESTABLISHED …. This text is related (to Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING (rt.: Ts'R), . to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: Ts'R) from his beginning has rest at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: Ts'R) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings oppressed him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest. (Gen. 24:1) NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD, ADVANCED IN YEARS, AND THE LORD BLESSED ABRAHAM . Isaac was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16): AND ABIMELECH SAID UNTO ISAAC: GO AWAY FROM US, FOR YOU HAVE BECOME HAVE BECOME TOO POWERFUL FOR US. In the end they begged him for mercy, [as stated] (in vs. 27): AND ISAAC SAID UNTO THEM: WHY HAVE YOU COME UNTO ME…. Jacob also was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1): THEY HAVE HARASSED ME GREATLY FROM MY YOUTH, LET ISRAEL NOW SAY. While he was in his mothers belly, Esau wanted to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED WITHIN HER…. [Moreover, when he received the blessings, (according to Gen. 27:41:) THEN ESAU HATED JACOB …, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: . So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) over his daughter, and after that Laban wanted to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5): AN ARAMEAN WOULD HAVE DESTROYED MY ANCESTOR. (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1): NOW JACOB RAISED HIS EYES AND SAW ESAU COMING…. There came upon him the trouble over Dinah and the trouble over Joseph. Yet in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12): AND JOSEPH SUSTAINED HIS FATHER …. Ergo (in Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING (rt.: Ts'R), .
Another interpretation (of Gen. 28:10): AND JACOB SET OUT. It is written (in Is. 26:20): GO, MY PEOPLE, ENTER INTO YOUR CHAMBERS AND SHUT [YOUR DOORS] BEHIND ME. (The MT reads BEHIND YOU.) HIDE JUST FOR A MOMENT UNTIL MY ANGER PASSES. When you see a fateful hour, do not stand against it but give way to it. Thus it is stated: GO, MY PEOPLE, ENTER INTO YOUR CHAMBERS. Look at me, as it were, for I have perceived an hour < made > fateful through your sins. I did nothing. Instead I gave way to it, as stated (in Lam. 2:3): HE HAS WITHDRAWN HIS RIGHT HAND…. So also you, GO MY PEOPLE. Thus, the one who stands against the hour will fall into its hand; but whoever gives way to the hour will have the hour fall into his hand. Naboth stood against the hour {and stood against it} [and fell into its hand]. When Ahab said to him (in I Kings 21:2): GIVE ME YOUR VINEYARD SO THAT I MAY HAVE IT FOR A VEGETABLE GARDEN. What did he do? He said (in vs. 3): THE LORD FORBID < THAT I SHOULD GIVE YOU MY ANCESTORS' INHERITANCE >. What happened to him? He fell into the hand of the hour, as stated (in vs. 13): AND THE MEN OF BELIAL TESTIFIED AGAINST [NABOTH BEFORE THE PEOPLE…. AND THEY STONED HIM TO DEATH WITH STONES]. Abraham gave way to the hour and fled from Nimrod, the king of the Chaldeans. So the hour returned and fell into his hand when he killed sixteen kings. It is so stated (in Gen. 14:15): THEN HE DEPLOYED < HIS FORCES > AGAINST THEM BY NIGHT. Isaac also gave way to the hour when the Philistines said to him (in Gen. 26:16): GO AWAY FROM US. Immediately < the passage continues > (in vs. 17): SO ISAAC WENT AWAY FROM THERE. Then the hour returned and fell into his hand, as stated (in Gen. 26:26-28): THEN ABIMELECH CAME UNTO HIM FROM GERAR…. SO ISAAC SAID UNTO THEM: WHY HAVE YOU COME UNTO ME …? AND THEY SAID: WE HAVE CLEARLY SEEN THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU…. Joseph also gave way to the hour. When his brothers sold him, was he not able to say: I am your brother? But he gave way to the hour, and the hour returned and fell before him, as stated (in Gen. 50:18): THEN HIS BROTHERS ALSO WENT AND FELL DOWN BEFORE HIM. Moses gave way to the hour, as stated (in Exod. 2:15): BUT MOSES FLED FROM PHARAOH. So the hour returned and fell into his hand, as stated (in Exod. 11:3): {AND} [ALSO] THE MAN MOSES WAS VERY GREAT IN THE EYES OF PHARAOH'S [SERVANTS] AND IN THE EYES OF HIS PEOPLE. David also gave way to the hour, as stated (in I Sam. 20:1): BUT DAVID FLED FROM NAIOTH. It is also written (in Ps. 3:1): WHEN HE FLED FROM HIS SON ABSALOM. And it is written (in Ps. 57:1): [WHEN HE FLED] FROM SAUL IN THE CAVE. So the hour returned and fell into his hand when Saul said to him (in I Sam. 24:21 [20]): [PLEASE] LOOK, I KNOW THAT YOU SHALL SURELY REIGN AND IN YOUR HAND THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL SHALL ARISE. So < it was > also < with > Jacob, who fled from the hour. (Hosea 12:13 [12]:) THEN JACOB FLED TO THE LAND OF ARAM. And the hour fell into his hand, as stated (in Gen. 36:6): THEN ESAU TOOK HIS WIVES < … > AND WENT INTO A LAND AWAY FROM HIS BROTHER JACOB. Ergo (in Is. 26:20): GO, MY PEOPLE, ENTER INTO YOUR CHAMBERS.
(Deut. 7:12:) “And it shall come to pass if you heed [these statutes].” What is written above the matter (in Deut. 7:7)? “It is not because you are the most numerous of all the peoples [that the Lord desired you and chose you. Rather you are the least of all the peoples].” It is not because you are the most numerous of all the nations,” and it was not because you fulfilled more commandments than they; for the nations do more commandments that they were not commanded than you, and they magnify My name more than you. Thus it is stated (in Mal. 1:11-12), “For from the rising of the sun until its setting My name is great among the nations, [and in every place incense is offered to My name, even a pure oblation; for My name is great among the nations]…. But you desecrate it when you say the table of the Lord is defiled, and its special food is treated with scorn [like ordinary] food.” (Deut. 7:7:) “Rather you were the least of all the peoples.” Rather, because you diminish yourselves for Me, therefore I love you.’ And so it says (in Mal. 1:2-3), “’I have loved you,’ says the Lord …. ‘But I have hated Esau….’” It also says (in Hos. 14:5), “I will heal their veering and love them voluntarily….” My soul has volunteered to love them, even though they were not worthy; and so it says (in Deut. 7:8), “Because the Lord loves you […].” It is written (in Is. 2:2), “And it shall come to pass that in the latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains….” This text is related (to Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), [your end shall greatly flourish].” [This verse is here] to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: ts'r) from his beginning will have it well at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: ts'r) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings pursued him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest, as stated (Gen. 24:1), “Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord blessed [Abraham in all things].” So too was Isaac troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16), “And Abimelech said unto Isaac, ‘Go away from us, [for you have become have become too powerful for us].’” But in the end they begged him [for mercy], as stated (in vs. 27-28), “And Isaac said unto them, ‘Why have you come unto me…?’ And they said, ‘We have clearly seen….’” Jacob also was troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1), “’They have harassed me greatly from my youth,’ let Israel now say.” While he was in his mother’s belly, Esau sought to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22), “But the children struggled [within her].” [Moreover,] when he received the blessings (according to Gen. 27:41), “Then Esau hated Jacob …, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, [and I will kill my brother Jacob]’.” So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: ts'r) over his daughters, and after that Laban sought to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5), “An Aramean would have destroyed my ancestor.” (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1), “Now Jacob raised his eyes and saw Esau coming….” There came upon him the trouble over Dinah, the trouble over Rachel and the trouble over Joseph. But in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12), “And Joseph sustained his father [and his brothers]….” Ergo (in Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), your end shall greatly flourish.” Another interpretation (of Is. 2:2), “the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains… and Mount Tabor shall become very tall.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the palace (Palterin. Gk.: praitorion; Lat. praetorium.) children of a king. They went down from the city and killed lions, tigers, and bears in the forest. Then they brought them and hung them opposite the city gate, so that all the people in the city were amazed from those lions. The Holy One, blessed be he, did so with Sisera. [When] Sisera came against Israel on Mount Tabor; (according to Jud. 5:20), “The stars fought from the heavens; from their courses they fought with Sisera.” (Cf. Pes. 118b, according to which the stars descended and heated the iron implements in Sisera’s army.) All began to be amazed, for there had never been an event like this, when the stars came down from the heavens to make war with flesh and blood. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “In this world the stars have fought on your behalf, but in the world to come (according to Zech. 14:3-4), ‘Then the Lord will come forth and fight with those nations [as when He fights in the day of battle]. And His feet shall stand in that day [upon the Mount of Olives]….’ And [so on through] all that section (of Zechariah).” Then everyone will see and point Him out with the finger, as stated (in Is. 25:9), “In that day they shall say, ‘See, this is our God; [we waited for Him, and He delivered us. This is the Lord; we waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation].’”
The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Genesis 50:24,] "pakod yifkod (He will surely remember you)" [is a hint to] Yosef, [that] He will remember you in this world, and He will remember you in the world to come. The doubling of tzadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, ou'metachtav yitsmach (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDaveed tsemach tsadeek (and I will raise up a true branch of David)." ["The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3)] ("Sixty were the queens" [Song of Songs 6:8]). Twenty-four books (of the Bible), and add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold ["The leader of fifty"] ("Sixty were the queens"). "[Sixty were the queens] and eighty were the concubines" (Song of Songs 6:8). Sixty tractates and eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates. "And maidens without number" (Song of Songs 6:8). The study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This] corresponds to the [number of] letters of [the priestly blessing,) "May the Lord bless you and keep you, etc." (Numbers 6:24-26). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of the count of the days of the solar year, as he rules over all the year to slander, except for Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami bar Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before he] fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered, and he was called Avraham [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." [Regarding] Sarai, two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod [with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her] was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehshoua came and had a yod added, as it is stated (Numbers 13:16), "and Moshe called Hoshea [...], Yehoshua." And it saved him from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod [with a numerical count of ten] corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi [with a numerical count of ninety, as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet [with a numerical count of eight, as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof [with a numerical count of one hundred, as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards, Levi. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, and Levi was the tenth. And he gave him as a tithe to the Omnipresent to fulfill [what he said] (Genesis 28:22), "all that You give to me, I will surely tithe it to You." [The letter] ayin [with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt], "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received], "And may He give you [etc.]" (Genesis 27:28). Take away the name [of God] from there, and one hundred [letters] remain. [The letter] bet [with a numerical count of two] corresponds to two angels [that he saw on the ladder in his dream] rising. Yehudah was called according to [the significance of the numerical count of the letters of] his [own] name: Thirty, corresponding to the thirty virtues of the monarchy. There were six hundred and thirteen letters on the tablets - from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you [besides to fear Him]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; along with Torah and circumcision, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) is six hundred. [Add] eight strings and five knots, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al)] has a numerical value of one hundred, corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. "And now Israel, what (mah) does the Lord, your God, ask of you" - read it as one hundred (meah), these are the hundred blessings. Once he ordained it, the pestilence ceased. "This is the law of the burnt-offering (olah), it is the burnt-offering" (Leviticus 6:2), [meaning] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of repentance. "Two anointed ones" (Zechariah 4:14). These are David and Aharon who were anointed with the anointing oil, such that their anointing was for [all] the generations. With Aharon, it is written (Numbers 25:13), "It shall be for him and his descendants after him, a pact of priesthood for all time." With David it is written (Ezekiel 37:25), "and My servant David as their prince for all time." "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov)" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen [blessings]. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "'Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov).' The numerical value of tov in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet) is [the same as] soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'Behold the fat from us, from our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of the [number of the] days of the nine months of birthing (two hundred and seventy one). The name of the angel that is appointed for conception is night, as stated (Job 3:3), "and the night [that it was] said, 'A man was conceived." The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah corresponding to the [forty mentions] of well, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. And a seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] hallah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value of le'at is forty. Behold the measure of a seah is a tefach by a tefach with the height of [sixteen] tefach [and a fifth]. And one who separates the measure of the hallah [tithe] must separate [one part in forty three] and a fifth [from Torah writ like the numerical value of hallah]. Forty lashes (which are actually thirty-nine) is from Torah writ, as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one (thirty-nine). "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses received by the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground, and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." A Sanhedrin is twenty-three, so [that it is possible for] those advocating innocence to have one more (than twenty), and those advocating guilt to have two more. It is best for the two to come and push off one. The numerical value of anathmea (cherem) is two hundred and forty-eight. And Shmuel said, when it takes force it takes force on [all] two hundred and forty-eight organs, and when it leaves, it leaves from two hundred and forty-eight limbs, as it is written (Habakuk 3:2), "in anger, remember to have mercy (rachem, which is made up of the same letters as cherem)." It is written,"tirash," but we read it [as] tirosh. [If] he merits, he becomes a rosh (leader); [if] he does not merit, he becomes a rash (poor person). Our rabbis, may their memory be blessed said, "A man is recognized by three things: by his purse, by his glass and by his anger. Tavel is Ramaliah. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value of in at-bash. The numerical value of Gog and Magog is seventy, as they are the seventy nations [of the world].
"To these apportion the land" (Numbers 26:53). And who are they? The ones standing on the Plains of Moav. And was the land not apportioned to those that left Egypt? As it is written (Exodus 6:8), "and I will give it to you as a possession." [So] for what reason was it [actually] apportioned to [the ones standing on the Plains of Moav]? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that six families from [those that left Egypt] would be destroyed. And who are they? [Of] those written above (Genesis 46:10), "And the children of Shimon were Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Tsohar and Shaul," when you read "to Nemuel, the Nemeulite family" (Numbers 26:12-13), neither Ohad or Tsohar are there. Rather they were lost. And so [too,] with Binyamin: "Bela, Bekher, etc." (Genesis 26:21), behold there are ten. But when you come to count them [you read], "to Belaa, the Belaaite family [etc.] (Numbers 26:38-40), they are only seven. Behold [those missing] were lost. And so [too,] with the "children of Gad. Tsifion, Chagi, Shuni, Etsbon [etc.]" (Genesis 26:16); but when you count "to Tsafon, the Tsafonite family [etc.]" (26:15-17), Etsbon is not there. Behold six families got lost from the licentiousness of the counsel of Bilaam. And there is no licentiousness that does not accomplish its [end]. Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "[Why should] I apportion the land to people who will be destroyed in the future?" And [so] He [rather] apportioned it [only] to the one that stood resilient. Hence it is stated, "To these apportion the land" (Numbers 26:53).
... Teach us o teacher: toward where should one who prays orient his heart? This is what our Rabbis taught: one should orient his heart toward the place of the Holy of Holies (Berachot 4:5). R’ Eliezer ben Yaakov says: if one is praying outside of the land, he should orient his heart to the land of Israel. If one is praying within the land of Israel, he should orient his heart to Jerusalem. If one is praying in Jerusalem, he should orient his heart to the Holy Temple. If one is praying in the Holy Temple, he should orient his heart to the Holy of Holies. R’ Avin the Levi said: “our neck is like the Tower of David, built as a model (talpiyot)…” (Song of Songs 4:4) What does talpiyot mean? The hill (tel) toward which all turns (peniyot) are directed. And after all this praise, it is written “Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire consume your cedars.” (Zechariah 11:1) And so too they said “He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) Israel said to Him: Master of the World! How long will it be like this? Did You not write in Your Torah “…the one who ignited the fire shall surely pay” (Exodus 22:5)? And You are the one who ignited the fire, as it says “From above He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) You need to rebuild it and to console us, not at the hands of an angel but You in Your glory. The Holy One said to them: by your life, so I will do! As it says “The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the outcasts of Israel.” (Psalms 147:2) And I am the one who consoles you. From where do we learn this? From that which they read in the prophets “I, yea I am He Who consoles you…” (Isaiah 51:12)
Rabbi Eliezer said: The five letters of the Torah, which alone of all the letters in the Torah are of double (shape), all appertain to the mystery of the Redemption. With "Khaph" "Khaph" our father Abraham was redeemed from Ur of the Chaldees, as it is said, (Lekh Lekha) "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred… unto the land that I will shew thee" (Gen. 12:1). With "Mem" "Mem" our father Isaac was redeemed from the land of the Philistines, as it is said, "Go from us: for thou art much mightier (Memennu M'ôd) than we" (Gen. 26:16). With "Nun" "Nun" our father Jacob was redeemed from the hand of Esau, as it is said, "Deliver me, I pray thee, (Hazilêne na) from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau" (Gen. 32:11). With "Pê" "Pê" Israel was redeemed from Egypt, as it is said, "I have surely visited you, (Paḳôd Paḳadti) and (seen) that which is done to you in Egypt, and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt" (Ex. 3:16, 17). With "Zaddi" "Zaddi" the Holy One, blessed be He, in the future will redeem Israel from the oppression of the kingdoms, and He will say to them, I have caused a branch to spring forth for you, as it is said, "Behold, the man whose name is (Zemach) the Branch; and he shall grow up (yizmach) || out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord" (Zech. 6:12). These letters were delivered only to our father Abraham. Our father Abraham delivered them to Isaac, and Isaac (delivered them) to Jacob, and Jacob delivered the mystery of the Redemption to Joseph, as it is said, "But God will surely visit (Paḳôd yiphḳôd) you" (Gen. 1. 24). Joseph his son delivered the secret of the Redemption to his brethren. Asher, the son of Jacob, delivered the mystery of the Redemption to Serach his daughter. When Moses and Aaron came to the elders of Israel and performed the signs in their sight, the elders of Israel went to Serach, the daughter of Asher, and they said to her: A certain man has come, and he has performed signs in our sight, thus and thus. She said to them: There is no reality in the signs. They said to her: He said "Paḳôd yiphḳôd"—"God will surely visit you" (ibid.). She said to them: He is the man who will redeem Israel in the future from Egypt, for thus did I hear, ("Paḳôd Paḳadti") "I have surely visited you" (Ex. 3:16). Forthwith the people believed in their God and in His messenger, as it is said, "And the people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel" (Ex. 4:31).
Israel’s Spiritual Development in Egypt “And many: as it states, I let you grow like the plants of the field.” (Ezek. 16:6) (The two verses from Ezekiel quoted here are certainly among the strangest in the Haggadah. Israel’s development is compared here to a field of plants but also to a young woman who is just reaching her physical maturity. It is through the merit of the patriarchs that the nation develops in its maturity but it is through its own merit and the performance of good deeds that they reach physical and spiritual wholeness. Even, then, it takes God “dressing” them in good deeds and Torah so that they can enter the marriage canopy.) This means that just as one plant does not give forth a different type of plant but gives forth its own blossoms, so too the Israelites gave birth as one… The Israel became an am gadol, great, atzum, mighty, and rav, many, were for the merit of the three patriarchs. Am gadol was for Abraham to whom it was said, “I will make you a great (gadol) nation.” Therefore they merited having “great” children. They merited being atzum, mighty, because of Isaac of whom it is stated: “Go away from us for you have become too mighty (atzamta) for us.” (Gen.26:16) And they merited becoming rav, many, because of Jacob who gave birth to twelve mighty tribes. Concerning him, scripture states, “The Almighty will bless you and cause you to be fertile and multiply.” The forefathers are the roots from which the branches go forth in these three areas. This is how the sages understood how these three attributes went forth from the forefathers to the people of Israel.
Avimelech said to Yitzchok, Go away from us. You have become much more powerful than us.
And Abimelek said to Izhak, Go from us; for thou art stronger than we in riches very much.
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ מִשָּׁ֖ם יִצְחָ֑ק וַיִּ֥חַן בְּנַֽחַל־גְּרָ֖ר וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב שָֽׁם׃ | 17 J | So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the wadi of Gerar, where he settled. |
ויחן בנחל גרר. He camped in the valley of Gerar and dwelled there. Isaac did not want to abandon living in the land of the Philistines since G'd had specifically instructed him to make his residence there (verse 3). Even though the wadi that Isaac now moved to may not have been exactly part of G'd's original commandment to "sojourn in this country etc.," he was, after all, forced by circumstances to leave the capital of Avimelech's country. Perhaps the whole episode may be considered as a test of Isaac's faith in G'd, who, though telling him: "I shall give the land to you and to your descendants," did not allow him to remain for long in that part of the land even as a private citizen. G'd wanted to see if Isaac would question His ways just as He had tested Abraham in a similar fashion.
וילך..בנחל גרר. The word נחל describes a valley even though there was no river in that valley. We have another example of this in Deuteronomy 2,36 העיר אשר בנחל, “the city which was located in the valley,” or Samuel II 24,5 ימין העיר אשר בנחל, “to the right of the city in the valley.” The most potent proof for our statement is Genesis 26,19 ויחפרו עבדי יצחק בנחל, “the servants of Yitzchok dug in the valley.” If there had been water, a rivulet, or something in the valley, what did they have to dig for? Gerar was the name of the town in that valley, the place where Yitzchok settled. He dug many wells in that region as he owned much livestock and had to provide water for his beasts.
IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR, far away from the city. And [Isaac] digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped up before Isaac left Gerar, he once again dug. Thus the words of Rashi. It would appear from Rashi’s words, then, that the wells mentioned here [in Verse 18] are the same as those mentioned [above in Verse 15]: For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. But this is not so, for how would the Philistines give him permission when they had said, “These wells are a source of danger to us because of invaders.” (Quoted in Rashi, Verse 15 here.) Rather, the wells [mentioned in Verse 18] are different ones in another location since the valley of Gerar is the name of a place, or perhaps the valley extended from Gerar to another land, and when the Philistines, namely, the lords of Gerar — the principality of the king — became jealous of Isaac, they stopped the wells which were his by inheritance from his father in the boundary of the city of Gerar. The king then sent him away from his throne-city, and he went to another city. Possibly, this new place was not part of his kingdom even though it was in the land of the Philistines. There were other wells there which Abraham had dug when he lived there for many days (Above, 21:34.) but which the Philistines stopped upon his death since Isaac did not dwell there. They did not do this out of hatred. But in the days of Abraham, [even after he had moved from there], they did not want to stop them out of respect to him, saying, “Perhaps he will return to dwell there.” This was why Isaac returned and dug them in the valley. But the herdsmen of the valley quarrelled with him saying, The water is ours, (Verse 20 here.) meaning, “The well is in the valley, and the waters ooze forth from that valley while those in the valley are diminished. Hence they are ours.” It is for this reason that Scripture mentions, And they found there a well of living water, (Verse 19 here.) stating that it was a source gushing forth living water which did not come from the valley as those who quarrelled with Isaac had previously claimed.
בנחל גרר IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR — far away from the city.
Far away from the city. Rashi is answering the question: Avimelech told him, “Go away from us,” i.e., from Gerar. Why then did Yitzchok camp in the valley of Gerar, close to the city?
Isaac left there, probably southward, and he encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.
Yitzchok went away from there. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled there.
And Izhak went thence, and sojourned in the vale of Gerar, and dwelt there.
| וַיָּ֨שׇׁב יִצְחָ֜ק וַיַּחְפֹּ֣ר ׀ אֶת־בְּאֵרֹ֣ת הַמַּ֗יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר חָֽפְרוּ֙ בִּימֵי֙ אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֔יו וַיְסַתְּמ֣וּם פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים אַחֲרֵ֖י מ֣וֹת אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיִּקְרָ֤א לָהֶן֙ שֵׁמ֔וֹת כַּשֵּׁמֹ֕ת אֲשֶׁר־קָרָ֥א לָהֶ֖ן אָבִֽיו׃ | 18 J | Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death; and he gave them the same names that his father had given them. |
But after Abraham’s death, these springs of wisdom were stopped up, because they were stopped by the Philistines (Gen. 26:18) who are the aspect of evil which is set in a person, who had overpowered the world; and the element of Earth had overpowered [the others] and in proportion the spiritual and intellectual powers weakened. But when Isaac, his son, came and held to his father’s path, he taught this awareness to the people of his generation as well – to return and dig to the aspect of a well of living water through many types of intelligences and great and concealed counsels – until Isaac dug again the wells of water (Gen. 26:18). All this comes by way of faith, which is the precursor to this: that one believes with complete faith that Blessed God, the whole earth is filled with [God’s] Glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of [God], there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35). And then, by way of this faith, he yearns for [God] and desires to hold to and attach himself to Blessed God, who has the aspect of valley [nahal] (Gen. 26:19), which is an acronym for Our soul waits for the LORD [nafsheynu hiktah la-ADONAI] (Psalm 33:20), which [means] by way of faith. And then, through this, he comes to his root, which is the spring of the well of living waters that we have described. And that is [the meaning of] when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (Gen. 26:19) – the aspect of valley as we have stated – and found there a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), etc., The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled … so he called the name of the well Esek etc. (Gen. 26:20), Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21), And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now [the LORD has made room for us]” etc. (Gen. 26:22).
“And Yitzchak returned and digged the wells of water ….” (Bereshit, 26:18) It is written (Tehilim, 147:17), “He sends His ice like crumbs … He causes the wind to blow and the waters to flow.” “He sends His ice like crumbs,” meaning that God gives the nations the power to rule over Israel. “He causes the wind to blow,” that is to say that afterwards the Holy One, blessed be He, is reconciled with Israel, for “blows” is a term denoting meshivat nefesh, “restoring the soul.” Then sweetened waters will flow. “He speaks His word to Yaakov,” meaning that He tells them the sin and deficiency that exists within them, by means of which the nations have the power to rule over them, and then they immediately return in teshuva. “He did not do this to every nation,” for He does not reveal His intention to them at all. And so it was here, when Yitzchak saw that Avimelech said to him, “go away from us,” since he thought that Yitzchak was feeling superior over them. Truly, Yitzchak’s feelings of superiority over Avimelech was not at all considered a deficiency, for it was as if a man felt superior to an animal, and it is simply the order of creation that man is greater than the animal. Therefore Avimelech’s response was very evil in his eyes, since he was the son of Avraham Avinu, who was a king in the world, as it was said (Bereshit, 23:6), “a prince of E-lohim.” Avraham’s prestige was widespread, and his nature well known, so why did they have to antagonize his son until he had to be banished from Gerar? Once he had regained composure, he realized that certainly he was blemished and lacking in the way of service of his father, meaning the attribute of love, which is desire and longing for words of Torah. Avimelech was but an instrument to insure that Yitzchak would take this to heart. Avimelech himself did not at all understand how God was conducting affairs through him, for (Tehilim, 147), “they have not known His judgments.” Once Yitzchak understood this, it says immediately (Bereshit, 26:18), “and Yitzchak returned to dig the wells of water that the servants of his father had dug.” That is to say, by means of this he arrived at the attribute of love, seeing the deficiency in himself, and then of itself a new desire for words of Torah came to him (water and wells are often a symbol for Torah). We find this concerning Shlomo haMelech. It is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 21b), “silver was considered as nothing in the days of Shlomo” (Divrei HaYamim 2, 9:20), and it is written, “Shlomo gave out his silver in Jerusalem like stones” (Kings 1, 10:27). But there is a difference. The first verse refers to before he married Pharaoh’s daughter (and then silver was as having no value); the second is after he married Pharaoh’s daughter (and had the value of a stone, i.e., “shave pruta.” Rashi). At first, when he had great influence in Torah, then therefore he had less desire for words of Torah, which is called cessef, “silver.” Cessef, silver, is related to Cisuf, longing. Then after he married Pharaoh’s daughter, which was considered a deficiency, then of itself a new desire materialized within him. This is why after he married Pharaoh’s daughter it does not say, “considered as nothing,” regarding money (i.e., longing), for afterwards the desire had taken hold within him.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was the unique figure who attained the knowledge of all the mysteries of the Torah. He was on such a level that Eliyahu HaNavi visited him during his years of hiding in the cave, and revealed to him the secret knowledge. This is recorded in the Zohar Hadash (Ki Tavo, 65a) and the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar. The Zohar (Ahari Mot, 61a) says that he merited the level of Moshe Rabeynu, of whom it is written, “I will speak to him mouth to mouth, I appear to him in clear prophecy and not in puzzling visions.” Anyone who ascends to the level of knowing the secrets of the Torah does so only through the secrets revealed by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai. As it is written in the Zohar (ibid.): Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai governs in the realm of wisdom over all mankind. Anyone who goes up to his level does so only to reconcile with his knowledge. This passage in the Zohar concludes (Ahari Mot, 61a): From the day the world was created, Rabbi Shimon was standing ready before the Holy One, Blessed be He. God would call him by name. The nature of the revelation of Torah that was revealed to Rabbi Shimon was on the level of Torah SheBichtav (The Written Torah). And there is nothing in the world that exists outside of the Torah, for all comes from the Torah. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Ha’azinu, 187a): Rabbi Yehuda said, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is called, “Shamayim” (Heaven). Since He is called “Shamayim,” when all of the firmaments that are included in this name join together as one, they are called “Shamayim” and are called the name of God. What are these firmaments that we speak of? We are taught that there are seven kinds, such as vilon (veil), rakiya (firmament), Shehakim (skies), etc. (The names of the seven firmaments are וילון, רקיע, שחקים, זבול, מעון, מכון, וערבות.) We learned this in the aggatada of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba. The teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna are numerous in this manner. (The Baal HaSulam notes that they speak of physical things as allusions to higher realities, such as the seven firmaments, which allude to the seven divine spheres of Zeir Anpin and Malkhut.) Rabbi Shimon said that these teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna contain the following. Over against the seventy crowns (Sefirot) of the king, we find the seven firmaments and the seven planets that run and go forth. (Or, that orbit. ) Even though they are all hidden in the firmament, still they are called by the name of the physical planets. (That is, the names of the physical planets teach about the spiritual planes. ) The seven planets are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. These (seven Sefirot) are used to receive the names of these seven planets, and this is in order to cover the matter (of the spiritual planes). This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 47:13), “let them stand up and save you, O astrologers and star diviners.” These names are only an external covering. We use these names even though they are not in the way of Torah. Yet the path we take is the path of the Torah. This is as it is written (Bereshit, 26), “He called them in the names that his father had called them.” We proceed according to the way God speaks. We go with Him, as it is written (Devarim, 28:9), “You shall go in His ways.” Rabbi Yehuda called God, Shamayim, or Heavens, because the entirety of the firmaments is called Shamayim. This is a name of God, may He be blessed. Then Rabbi Yitzhak mentioned the teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna which say that entire expanse of the cosmos, the hosts of galaxies and the like, all contain seventy crowns (Sefirot), seven firmaments, the constellations, and all their servants.
כשמות אשר קרא להן אביו, “as had been their names when his father had named them.” He wished to draw attention to the fact that the success of these wells had been and continued to be due to the merit of his father. In order to prove that this was so, when he left the vicinity of Avimelech’s capital and settled where Avraham had lived for a while and [demonstrated that the success depended not on the quality of the earth and the skill of its farmers, but on the goodwill enjoyed by them in the heavenly spheres and] based on this he concluded a treaty with Avimelech.
וישב יצחק...אשר חפרו, the servants of his father.
כשמות, with the same names in order to maintain unbroken continuity of ownership.
אשר קרא להן אביו, in order to prevent anyone in the future to challenge the ownership of the wells.
וישב ויחפר AND ISAAC DIGGED AGAIN — those wells which they had dug in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up before Isaac left Gerar he once again dug.
Those wells that... in the days of his father Avraham... Rashi is answering the questions: Yitzchok already left, so how could he dig the wells, [which were in Gerar]? Furthermore, if Avraham already dug them, [and nothing happened in between, see next question,] why did Yitzchok dig them again? Also, why is it written: “And were plugged by the Philistines,” implying that the Philistines went and plugged them after Yitzchok dug them? Yet this is not so — nowhere does it say they plugged them after Yitzchok’s digging. Thus Rashi answers: “Which the Philistines had stopped up before Yitzchok departed from Gerar, he again dug them [before departing].” The Nachalas Yaakov writes at length, and maintains that the text of Rashi should say: ופלשתים סתמום קודם שנסע יצחק מגרר חזר וחפרן. Written like this, it is evident that [before Yitzchok left, the Philistines stopped them up, and] after he left and camped in the valley of Gerar, far from the city, he then returned and dug the wells.
As he required water in his new place, Isaac again dug the cisterns of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham, his father, and that the Philistines had sealed after the death of Abraham. There were certainly sufficient markers by which he could locate the wells. He called them names like the names that his father called them. Due to their importance, the serviceable wells were given names.
He dug and found wells of water. (See Genesis 26:18, 19, 21, 22.)
He dug and found wells of water. (See Genesis 26:18, 19, 21, 22.)
Remember the one who was born from the announcement of, 'let a little water be taken,' and [about whom] You spoke to his parent to slaughter him, to spill his blood like water. He was also careful not to spill out his heart like water (and protest). He dug and found wells of water.
Answer the believers that pour out [their] hearts to You like water and please bring salvation - for the sake of the one that went through fire and water; he decreed and said, "Let a little water be taken." And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the formations [that] cut shreds of water and please bring salvation - for the sake of the one bound at the gate of the Heavens; and he returned and dug up the wells of water. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the pure ones that encamped by the water and please bring salvation - for the sake of the smooth one that split the sticks in the troughs of water; he lifted up and rolled the stone from the well of water. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the companions, the inheritors of a doctrine compared to water, and please bring salvation - for the sake of the ones that dug water with their staffs, to prepare water for themselves and for their offspring. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the ones who supplicate, as in the desert, for water and please bring salvation - for the sake of the faithful one of the house who provides sufficient water for the people; he struck the boulder and water flowed. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the ones who chorused, "Arise, O well" and please bring salvation - for the sake of the one assigned, at the waters of the Waters of Strife, to give water to the thirsty. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the holy ones giving you libations of water and please bring salvation - for the sake of the head of the singers; when he desired to drink water - forbid him from dispersing, he gave to You a libation of water. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge. Answer the ones that request with a quartet of [plants from] groves of water and please bring salvation - for the sake of the Hill of magnificence that gives forth water, open the ground and let the heavens pour forth water. And please bring success; and bring us salvation, God our refuge.
Chapter 40: Torah [1] And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). Twenty generations passed until Abraham, in which old age is not mentioned except for him, as it says, "Now Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And Isaac also stood [before God] and it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). And Jacob also stood [before God], as it says, "And the eyes of Israel were dim with age" (Genesis 48:10). The verse (Psalms 102:17) says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The only way [to achieve this level of prayer] is through old age, as it says, "The beauty of young men is their strength, and the glory of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29). Abraham merited his son through five things, as our Rabbis taught: the father merits a son through five things: through his [the father's] name, through his [the father's] good deeds, through his [the father's] wealth, through his [the father's] strength, and through his [the father's] wisdom. Similarly, Isaac [merited his son through five things], and similarly Jacob [merited his son through five things]. Similarly, Jacob merited Joseph [through these five things], who resembled him in appearance and in title, as it says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Genesis 39:6). [He resembled him] in wisdom, as it says, "Behold, he is the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). He had beauty, appearance, and wisdom. And in Isaac's case, it is written, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with wisdom. And just as Joseph stood up to his brothers in strength, so did Isaac stand up in strength against all the men of Gerar. Just as Joseph was wealthy, so was Isaac wealthy, as it says, "And the man became great and went forward and became very great" (Genesis 26:13). The verse (Genesis 26:8) explains [the word] "wisdom" as meaning "the greatness of his children." From where do we learn that Isaac was handsome like Joseph? It is written about Joseph, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," and when he went to his brothers, what did they say? "Behold, the master of dreams is coming!" (Genesis 37:19). And it is said about Isaac, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with strength, as it says, We know this from the fact that he dug many wells, as it says, "Isaac dug again the wells of water" (Genesis 26:18), and "Isaac's servants dug in the valley" (Genesis 26:19), and "they dug another well" (Genesis 26:21). He had strength in his hands. From where do we know that he was wealthy? It says, "The man became great, and he grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy" (Genesis 26:13). And from where do we know that he lived to a ripe old age of 180 years? It says, "And Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years" (Genesis 35:28). Abraham was the son of Terah, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. Why does the Torah mention this? Because God said to Isaac, "You have merited these five things, so I will add another five years to your life, like your father Abraham." That is why it says, "Look upon your servants" (Psalms 119:16). Anyone who has merit will receive these five things, and anyone who does not have merit will receive five calamities in return. And who was this? Joab, as it is said: "Let Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their bloodshed. May they be afflicted with leprosy, jaundice, and starvation." (2 Samuel 3:29) Leprosy corresponds to strength; one who has leprosy has no strength. Jaundice corresponds to beauty; even if someone is young and jaundiced, there is no beauty in them. Starvation corresponds to wealth, as it says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live" (Proverbs 9:5-6). One who is starving has no leisure to engage in Torah study. Falling by the sword corresponds to the five aspects of praise. These are five calamities corresponding to five aspects of praise. One who does not merit praise inherits these five kinds of calamities, like Joab. But one who does merit praise receives them like Isaac, as it is said, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old" (Genesis 27:1), and David cries out, "May your children be like your ancestors" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore, it says, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old."
“It was after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived beside Be’er Laḥai Ro’i (Genesis 25:11). “It was after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son” – Rabbi Simon said: Everywhere that it is stated “it was after [the death],” the world regressed. “It was after the death of Abraham” – immediately, “All the cisterns…the Philistines sealed them after Abraham’s death” (Genesis 26:15, 18). “It was after the death of Moses, servant of the Lord” (Joshua 1:1) – immediately, the well, the clouds of glory, and the manna ceased. “It was after Joshua’s death” (Judges 1:1) – immediately, the pegs of the Land waged war against them. (The reference is to the Canaanite nations. They are called “pegs,” as in Numbers 33:55: "Those whom you leave over will be like pegs in your eyes and thorns in your side.”) “It was after Saul’s death” (II Samuel 1:1) – “the Philistines were waging war against Israel” (I Samuel 31:1). The students raised an objection to Rabbi Simon: ‘But is it not written: “After the death of Yehoyada, the princes of Judah came and prostrated themselves to the king”?’ (II Chronicles 24:17). (There does not appear to be any regression there.) Rabbi Tanḥuma said: ‘Rabbi Simon came to say [his rule] only concerning [the phrase] “it was after [the death].”’ (Whereas in this verse, the words “it was” are missing from the formula.) Rabbi Yudan said: [The words “it was after the death” of certain people connote that] the world would have regressed had the Holy One blessed be He not established others in their stead, as it is written: “It was after Abraham’s death,” and it is written: “Isaac dug anew” (Genesis 26:18). “It was after the death of Moses, servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, saying” (Joshua 1:1). And it is written: “It was after Joshua’s death…the Lord said: Judah will ascend” (Judges 1:1–2). It is written: “It was after Saul’s death and David had returned from smiting the Amalekites, and David had stayed in Tziklag [two] days” (II Samuel 1:1), (David immediately took Saul’s place as military leader.) and it is written prior to this matter, [even] prior to Samuel’s death: “David was the son of a nobleman…” (I Samuel 17:12). (This is the opening verse of the passage describing the beginning of David’s career as a warrior, when he slew Goliath.)
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Thus has R. Tanhuma interpreted (Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >. You find that there are twenty generations from Adam to Abraham, and there is no < mention of > old age written about < any of > them except Abraham, as stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD. (For parallel accounts, see above, 5:4.) Isaac arose, < and > it is also written (in Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD. Jacob arose, < and > it is also written (in Gen. 48:10): NOW ISRAEL'S EYES WERE DIM WITH AGE. This text is related (to Ps. 90:16): LET YOUR WORK BE WORTHY FOR YOUR SERVANTS AND YOUR GLORY ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN. Now GLORY can only be old age and gray hair, as stated (in Prov. 20:29): THE BEAUTY OF THE YOUNG IS THEIR STRENGTH; BUT THE GLORY OF THE OLD IS GRAY HAIR. Ergo (in Ps. 90:16): AND YOUR GLORY ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN. < These words mean > that Abraham endowed Isaac with five things. Thus have our masters taught (in 'Eduy. 2:9): A FATHER ENDOWS HIS SON WITH FIVE THINGS: WITH BEAUTY, WITH STRENGTH, WITH WEALTH, WITH WISDOM, AND WITH < LENGTH OF > YEARS. How is it shown about BEAUTY? In that Isaac was as handsome as Joseph. It is written of Joseph (in Gen. 39:6): NOW JOSEPH WAS WELL BUILT. Also, when he went to his brothers, they said (in Gen. 37:19): HERE COMES THIS (hallazeh) DREAMER. It is also said of Isaac (in Gen. 24:65): WHO IS THIS (hallazeh) MAN < WALKING IN THE FIELD TO MEET US >? Thus Isaac was as handsome as Joseph. How is it shown that Isaac was mighty in STRENGTH? Look at how many wells he dug! Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:18-22): THEN ISAAC REDUG < THE WELLS OF WATER >…. AND ISAAC'S SERVANTS DUG…. AND THEY DUG ANOTHER WELL…. THEN HE MOVED FROM THERE AND DUG < ANOTHER WELL >…. Look at the power which he had! Where is it shown about WEALTH? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:13): AND THE MAN GREW < RICHER AND RICHER >…. It also says (in vs. 14): AND HE POSSESSED FLOCKS < AND HERDS >…. Where is it shown about WISDOM? Where he said to his father (in Gen. 22:7 at the time of his being bound): HERE ARE THE FIRE AND THE WOOD…. [How is it shown] about < LENGTH OF > YEARS? In that he was one hundred and eighty years old < when he died >, while Abraham was < only > one hundred and seventy-five. On account of these five things {through which he had attained merit}, five years more than his father's were added to him. It is therefore stated (in Ps. 90:16): LET YOUR WORK BE WORTHY FOR YOUR SERVANTS…. Anyone who has merit is meritorious in these five things, and anyone who does not have merit is not meritorious and receives five retributions that correspond to them. (See yQid. 1:7 (61a).) And who is this anyone? This is Joab, of whom it is stated (in II Sam. 3:29): MAY IT (Abner's blood) FALL UPON THE HEAD OF JOB AND HIS SON; (Masoretic Text: ALL HIS FATHER’S HOUSE.) [MAY THE HOUSE OF JOAB NEVER LACK ONE WITH A DISCHARGE, A LEPER, A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE, ONE WHO FALLS BY THE SWORD, AND ONE LACKING BREAD]. ONE WITH A DISCHARGE corresponds to STRENGTH. In the case of one who has a discharge, there is no one weaker than he. A LEPER corresponds to BEAUTY. In the case of one who is a leper, even a young < leper >, there is no one more ugly than he. A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE corresponds to WEALTH; for he [is one] {like a poor woman is one} who, if not spinning flax, has nothing of which to eat. ONE LACKING BREAD corresponds to WISDOM, as stated (in Prov. 9:5, where Wisdom says): COME AND EAT OF MY BREAD. And ONE WHO FALLS BY THE SWORD corresponds to < LENGTH OF > YEARS. The one who sins is afflicted by them, but the one who is meritorious receives, as did Isaac. David also gave praise (in Ps. 45:17 [16]): INSTEAD OF YOUR PARENTS THERE WILL BE YOUR CHILDREN.
Rabbi ' Aḳiba said: Every place where our forefathers went, the well went in front of them, and they dug three times and found it before them. Abraham dug three times and found it before him, as it is said, "And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham" (Gen. 26:18). And Isaac dug in the land (of Canaan) four times, and found it before him, as it is said, "And Isaac's servants digged in the valley" (Gen. 26:19). And it is written about Jerusalem, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem" (Zech. 14:8). This refers to the well which will arise in Jerusalem in the future, and will water all its surroundings. Because they found (the well) seven times, he called it Shib'ah (seven).
This explains the whole matter of Isaac digging up the wells which Abraham had dug and which the Philistines had stopped up again after Abraham had left the district. The whole episode is puzzling, as the Torah had previously reported Isaac as experiencing a supernatural amount of blessing (26,12). Why should this be followed by hostility on the part of his neighbors? Another difficulty is why the Torah supplies a reason for the names Isaac gave the wells only for the first and third well, whereas the Torah does not mention why the second well was named Sitnah, harassment (26,21). Another difficulty is the word עתה in 26,22. It would have sufficed for Isaac to name that well רחובות by saying כי הרחיב ה' לנו ופרינו בארץ.
ועמק השדים בארות בארות חמר, the vowel pattern of the construct mode of the word בארות in our verse is different from the ordinary plural mode of the same word in Genesis 26,18 where it also appears in the construct mode, i.e. בארות המים, “the wells of water.”
IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR, far away from the city. And [Isaac] digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped up before Isaac left Gerar, he once again dug. Thus the words of Rashi. It would appear from Rashi’s words, then, that the wells mentioned here [in Verse 18] are the same as those mentioned [above in Verse 15]: For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. But this is not so, for how would the Philistines give him permission when they had said, “These wells are a source of danger to us because of invaders.” (Quoted in Rashi, Verse 15 here.) Rather, the wells [mentioned in Verse 18] are different ones in another location since the valley of Gerar is the name of a place, or perhaps the valley extended from Gerar to another land, and when the Philistines, namely, the lords of Gerar — the principality of the king — became jealous of Isaac, they stopped the wells which were his by inheritance from his father in the boundary of the city of Gerar. The king then sent him away from his throne-city, and he went to another city. Possibly, this new place was not part of his kingdom even though it was in the land of the Philistines. There were other wells there which Abraham had dug when he lived there for many days (Above, 21:34.) but which the Philistines stopped upon his death since Isaac did not dwell there. They did not do this out of hatred. But in the days of Abraham, [even after he had moved from there], they did not want to stop them out of respect to him, saying, “Perhaps he will return to dwell there.” This was why Isaac returned and dug them in the valley. But the herdsmen of the valley quarrelled with him saying, The water is ours, (Verse 20 here.) meaning, “The well is in the valley, and the waters ooze forth from that valley while those in the valley are diminished. Hence they are ours.” It is for this reason that Scripture mentions, And they found there a well of living water, (Verse 19 here.) stating that it was a source gushing forth living water which did not come from the valley as those who quarrelled with Isaac had previously claimed.
Yitzchok returned and excavated the wells of water which were dug in the days of his father, Avraham, and were plugged by the Philistines after Avraham’s death. He gave them the same names that his father had given them.
And Izhak digged again the wells of water which the servants of his father had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistaee had stopped after Abraham was dead; and he called them by the names his father had called them.
| וַיַּחְפְּר֥וּ עַבְדֵֽי־יִצְחָ֖ק בַּנָּ֑חַל וַיִּ֨מְצְאוּ־שָׁ֔ם בְּאֵ֖ר מַ֥יִם חַיִּֽים׃ | 19 J | But when Isaac’s servants, digging in the wadi, found there a well of spring water, |
2. Moshe’s soul embodied the three Patriarchs. He thus had the power to draw these three influxes. The “well of living water” (Genesis 26:19) is the aspect of Avraham, [the aspect of] the waters of lovingkindness; and Avraham began to dig wells. The cloud is the aspect of Yitzchak, the aspect of “darkness, cloud and mist” (Deuteronomy 4:11) ; the aspect of “[Yitzchak’s] eyes grew dim and he could not see” (Genesis 27:1). And manna is the aspect of Yaakov, the aspect of “to nourish His people, Yaakov” (Psalms 78:71) .
To understand this matter we will begin with the verse, they have forsaken me, the source of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13). Its meaning is that Blessed God is the source from whom comes the flow of life-force to all living things in all manners, there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35); and anyone who is attached to [God] is attached to the root of life-force whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11) – but only so long as there is no blockage from his side. For if, God forbid, on account of his sins he blocks himself from the source, his life-force will become absent; but from Blessed [God’s] side there is no blockage as the verse says, but your iniquities have made a separation [between you and your God] (Isaiah 59:2). But one whose life-force is from the Other Side, who are called broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13) since they are gathered waters into which fell sparks of life-force at the moment of breaking, and for this reason they are called broken cisterns – such a person is blocked from his Upper Root and is called separator of close friends (Proverbs 16:28, 17:9). And therefore the Ancestors of the World, who opened the pipelines of intelligence in the world and taught awareness to all people, how to dig himself into the aspect of a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), to be attached to the source from which comes the root of his life-force. And [the Ancestors’] disciples are called by the name “servants,” as the verse says, Isaac’s servants (Gen. 26:32), since their service of the Blessed Creator came by way of the Ancestors.
But after Abraham’s death, these springs of wisdom were stopped up, because they were stopped by the Philistines (Gen. 26:18) who are the aspect of evil which is set in a person, who had overpowered the world; and the element of Earth had overpowered [the others] and in proportion the spiritual and intellectual powers weakened. But when Isaac, his son, came and held to his father’s path, he taught this awareness to the people of his generation as well – to return and dig to the aspect of a well of living water through many types of intelligences and great and concealed counsels – until Isaac dug again the wells of water (Gen. 26:18). All this comes by way of faith, which is the precursor to this: that one believes with complete faith that Blessed God, the whole earth is filled with [God’s] Glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of [God], there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35). And then, by way of this faith, he yearns for [God] and desires to hold to and attach himself to Blessed God, who has the aspect of valley [nahal] (Gen. 26:19), which is an acronym for Our soul waits for the LORD [nafsheynu hiktah la-ADONAI] (Psalm 33:20), which [means] by way of faith. And then, through this, he comes to his root, which is the spring of the well of living waters that we have described. And that is [the meaning of] when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (Gen. 26:19) – the aspect of valley as we have stated – and found there a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), etc., The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled … so he called the name of the well Esek etc. (Gen. 26:20), Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21), And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now [the LORD has made room for us]” etc. (Gen. 26:22).
LIVING WATER. Water that is always bursting forth.
He named the well Eisek [Quarrel]. This well foreshadowed the First Holy Temple, in the time of which the kings of Judah and Israel, Israel’s “shepherds,” quarreled over the kingship and as an offshoot of their quarrel the shepherds of the nations also joined the fray.
Sitnah [Obstruction] (or “Hatred”). This foreshadowed the Second Holy Temple, in the time of which baseless hatred became rampant. Eisek implies strife over a specific issue, whereas sitnah implies hatred for no reason.
Rechovos [Wide Spaces]. This foreshadowed the Third Holy Temple, in the time of which the land will seem spacious because peace will reign among Israel.
.ויחפרו עבדי יצחק בנחל וימצאו שם באר מים חיים , “Yitzchak’s servants dug in the valley and they discovered there a well of living water.” Nachmanides comments on this as follows: “The reason the Torah devotes so much space to the digging of wells is not because the knowledge of these facts is so useful to us, nor is the reason that the Torah wished to publicly honour Yitzchak for his activities in developing the area agriculturally. Rather, the reason is hat these details are allusions to what would happen to the Jewish people in their history long after Yitzchak had died. The words באר מים חיים, “a well of living water,” is an allusion to the Holy Temple of which it is written in Jeremiah 17,13: מקור מים חיים את ה', ”The Fount of living waters.” The first well which was called עשק is an allusion to the first Temple which became the object of contention (התעשקו) between the Jewish people and its adversaries until, in the end, they managed to destroy it. The second well, named שטנה, hatred, illustrates an even greater hatred than that which surrounded the first Temple and is an allusion to the second Temple, concerning which it has been written: “during the reign of Achashverosh, at the beginning of his reign, they issued letters of hate against all the inhabitants of Yehudah and Yerushalayim” (Ezra 4,6). This hatred continued throughout the existence of that Temple. Eventually, our opponents succeeded in destroying it and the Jewish people were exiled under very adverse conditions. The name of this well reminds you that this is where the source of Satan is to be found. Satan is none other than the spiritual representative of Esau in the celestial regions. Satan’s preoccupation in this world is to always oppose the Jewish people with a display of hatred. Yitzchak named the third well רחובות, the Torah mentioning ויעתק משם, that he had previously moved from the sites of the first two wells. The meaning of these words is that Yitzchak freed himself from the mentality surrounding the second Temple and he was able to concentrate and look forward to the idyllic conditions which would exist once the third Temple would be built. Concerning that Temple it has been written in Ezekiel 41,7 ורחבה ונסבה למעלה, למעלה, “and the passage will become wider and wind its way upwards and upwards.” When that time arrives there will be no strife and hatred and G’d will expand the boundaries of our country as is written: (Deut. 12,20) “it will be when G’d will expand your boundaries as He has said to you.” This verse was written concerning a time in the distant future, the time envisaged in greater detail in the prophecies of the latter chapters of the Book of Ezekiel. Thus far Nachmanides. The fact that in connection with the digging of that third well the Torah associates G’d’s name with it, i.e. כי הרחיב ה' לנו ופרינו בארץ, “for G’d has granted us ample space and we can be fruitful in the land,” was a prediction applicable to the future. Seeing that the first two Temples were constructed by human hands by the instructions of Solomon and Coresh respectively, they did not endure. The third Temple which will be constructed by G’d Himself (compare Rashi in Rosh Hashanah 30,1 צריכא), will no longer be subject to destruction. This is why G’d’s name is associated here with the digging of the third well. I have found a Midrash which supports this. Our sages commented on Samuel II 5,7 where we read וילכוד דוד את מצודת ציון היא עיר דוד, “David captured the citadel of David which became the city of David.” The Midrash asks why the city was called after a mortal, i.e. after King David? The answer provided is that G’d knew perfectly well that the city would initially be built and subsequently destroyed by mortal human beings. This is why during the periods preceding the final Temple, Jerusalem was known as the city of David, i.e. the city of a mortal human being. However, in the future, it will bear the name of G’d Himself seeing that it would then no longer be subject to destruction. This is the meaning of Isaiah 60,14 והלכו אליך שחוח בני מעניך והשתחוו....וקראו לך עיר ה' ציון קדוש ישראל, “they shall come before you, the children of those who have tormented you....and you will be called ‘city of the Lord, Zion, the Holy One of Israel.”
ויחפרו, they dug even deeper than initially in order to supply sufficient water for the livestock.
וימצאו שם באר מים חיים, after they kept digging, they found this additional well beneath the old well. This is why the Torah did not write that they found מים, i.e. simply water, but באר, that they found a new source of water.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, as it is easy to find ground water in the channels of streams, and they found there a well of fresh water.
וימצאו שם באר מים חיים, “they found a well of spring water in that region.” The reason the Torah stresses the origin of this water is that the shepherds of the region had accused Yitzchok’s shepherds of diminishing their own water supply by letting their sheep drink from the water of the נחל, the local stream. The water found by Yitzchok’s shepherds did not originate in that stream, but represented a new and additional water supply. Yitzchok’s herds and flocks did not need to use the locally available sources of water.
Chapter 40: Torah [1] And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). Twenty generations passed until Abraham, in which old age is not mentioned except for him, as it says, "Now Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And Isaac also stood [before God] and it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). And Jacob also stood [before God], as it says, "And the eyes of Israel were dim with age" (Genesis 48:10). The verse (Psalms 102:17) says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The only way [to achieve this level of prayer] is through old age, as it says, "The beauty of young men is their strength, and the glory of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29). Abraham merited his son through five things, as our Rabbis taught: the father merits a son through five things: through his [the father's] name, through his [the father's] good deeds, through his [the father's] wealth, through his [the father's] strength, and through his [the father's] wisdom. Similarly, Isaac [merited his son through five things], and similarly Jacob [merited his son through five things]. Similarly, Jacob merited Joseph [through these five things], who resembled him in appearance and in title, as it says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Genesis 39:6). [He resembled him] in wisdom, as it says, "Behold, he is the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). He had beauty, appearance, and wisdom. And in Isaac's case, it is written, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with wisdom. And just as Joseph stood up to his brothers in strength, so did Isaac stand up in strength against all the men of Gerar. Just as Joseph was wealthy, so was Isaac wealthy, as it says, "And the man became great and went forward and became very great" (Genesis 26:13). The verse (Genesis 26:8) explains [the word] "wisdom" as meaning "the greatness of his children." From where do we learn that Isaac was handsome like Joseph? It is written about Joseph, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," and when he went to his brothers, what did they say? "Behold, the master of dreams is coming!" (Genesis 37:19). And it is said about Isaac, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with strength, as it says, We know this from the fact that he dug many wells, as it says, "Isaac dug again the wells of water" (Genesis 26:18), and "Isaac's servants dug in the valley" (Genesis 26:19), and "they dug another well" (Genesis 26:21). He had strength in his hands. From where do we know that he was wealthy? It says, "The man became great, and he grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy" (Genesis 26:13). And from where do we know that he lived to a ripe old age of 180 years? It says, "And Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years" (Genesis 35:28). Abraham was the son of Terah, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. Why does the Torah mention this? Because God said to Isaac, "You have merited these five things, so I will add another five years to your life, like your father Abraham." That is why it says, "Look upon your servants" (Psalms 119:16). Anyone who has merit will receive these five things, and anyone who does not have merit will receive five calamities in return. And who was this? Joab, as it is said: "Let Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their bloodshed. May they be afflicted with leprosy, jaundice, and starvation." (2 Samuel 3:29) Leprosy corresponds to strength; one who has leprosy has no strength. Jaundice corresponds to beauty; even if someone is young and jaundiced, there is no beauty in them. Starvation corresponds to wealth, as it says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live" (Proverbs 9:5-6). One who is starving has no leisure to engage in Torah study. Falling by the sword corresponds to the five aspects of praise. These are five calamities corresponding to five aspects of praise. One who does not merit praise inherits these five kinds of calamities, like Joab. But one who does merit praise receives them like Isaac, as it is said, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old" (Genesis 27:1), and David cries out, "May your children be like your ancestors" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore, it says, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old."
“They said: We saw that the Lord was with you, and we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between us and you, and we will establish a covenant with you” (Genesis 26:28). “If you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and just as we have done only [rak] good with you, and we sent you in peace; you are now the blessed of the Lord” (Genesis 26:29). “They said: We saw” – we have seen your actions and the actions of your fathers. “Let there now be an oath…if you will do us [no harm…and just as we have done only [rak] good with you]” – rak is restrictive, as they did not perform absolute good with him. In the days of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, the evil empire (The evil empire is the Roman Empire.) decreed that the Temple should be constructed. Papus and Lulyanus set tables from Akko to Antioch, and they provided those ascending from the exile with silver and gold, and all their needs. The Samaritans went and said: “Let it be known to the king…that [if] this rebellious city is built, and its walls finished, they will not pay minda, belo, or halakh” (Ezra 4:12–13) – minda is property tax, belo is poll tax, and halakh is head tax. He said to them: ‘What can I do, I issued a decree.’ They said to him: ‘Send and say to them: Either move it from its place, or add five cubits to it, or subtract five cubits from it, and they will relent on their own.’ The assembly of Israel were gathered together in the Beit Rimon valley. When those missives arrived, they began weeping. They wanted to rebel against the empire. They said: ‘Let one Sage enter and calm the assembly.’ They said: ‘Let Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who is the greatest Torah scholar, enter.’ He entered and expounded: ‘A lion mauled prey and a bone was stuck in its throat. He [the lion] said: Anyone who extracts it, I will give him a reward. An Egyptian heron with a long beak inserted its beak and extracted it. It said to it [the lion]: Give me my reward. It [the lion] said to it: Go, boast, and say that you entered the mouth of a lion in peace and emerged in peace. So, it is sufficient that we entered into dealings with this nation in peace, and emerged in peace.’ “It was on that day that Isaac's servants came and told him regarding the well that they had dug, and said to him: We have found water” (Genesis 26:32). “Isaac's servants came” – we do not know whether they found or did not find. (We do not know whether they found a new source of water.) From what is written: “They found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19) – that is, they found fresh water.
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Rabbi ' Aḳiba said: Every place where our forefathers went, the well went in front of them, and they dug three times and found it before them. Abraham dug three times and found it before him, as it is said, "And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham" (Gen. 26:18). And Isaac dug in the land (of Canaan) four times, and found it before him, as it is said, "And Isaac's servants digged in the valley" (Gen. 26:19). And it is written about Jerusalem, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem" (Zech. 14:8). This refers to the well which will arise in Jerusalem in the future, and will water all its surroundings. Because they found (the well) seven times, he called it Shib'ah (seven).
(Bamidbar 19:17) "and he shall place upon it living waters": Scripture speaks of spring waters. You say this, but perhaps the intent is "waters which are life to the world" (and all waters are valid)? Though there is no proof (that spring waters are meant), there is support for it in (Bereshit 26:19) "And the servants of Yitzchak dug in the stream and they found there a well of living waters." What is the intent of "and he shall place upon it (the ashes) living waters which are in a vessel"? We are hereby taught that all vessels are equated with earthenware vessels. For it would follow (otherwise), viz.: Since water and earth are consecrated in the instance of sotah (viz. Ibid. 5:12), and water and earth are consecrated in the instance of the (red) heifer, then if I have learned about sotah that all vessels were not equated with earthenware vessels, this should be the case too with the heifer; it is, therefore, written "in a vessel" (unqualified), whereby we are taught that all vessels were equated with earthenware.
וירא והנה באר בשדה, “he looked, and behold here there was a well on a field.” Every single one of our patriarchs had an encounter with a well and in each case the well was an allusion to future happenings. In Yitzchak’s case the well he encountered was called באר מים חיים. (26,19) Bereshit Rabbah 70,8 explains that to the Jewish people Torah is equivalent to spring water.
וילך..בנחל גרר. The word נחל describes a valley even though there was no river in that valley. We have another example of this in Deuteronomy 2,36 העיר אשר בנחל, “the city which was located in the valley,” or Samuel II 24,5 ימין העיר אשר בנחל, “to the right of the city in the valley.” The most potent proof for our statement is Genesis 26,19 ויחפרו עבדי יצחק בנחל, “the servants of Yitzchok dug in the valley.” If there had been water, a rivulet, or something in the valley, what did they have to dig for? Gerar was the name of the town in that valley, the place where Yitzchok settled. He dug many wells in that region as he owned much livestock and had to provide water for his beasts.
The Gemara continues dealing with interpretations of the details of dreams: Rabbi Ḥanina said: One who sees a well in a dream sees peace, as it is said: “And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living water” (Genesis 26:19), and ultimately there was peace. Rabbi Natan says: One who sees a well in his dream it is a symbol that he has found Torah, as the well symbolizes Torah. As it is stated with regard to the Torah: “For whoever finds me finds life” (Proverbs 8:35), and it is written here: “A well of living water,” and we see that a well is linked to Torah as both are associated with life. Rava said: The well in the dream symbolizes actual life.
Yitzchok’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring [flowing] water.
And the servants of Izhak digged in the border of the vale, and found there a well of flowing water.
As long as Abraham was alive, there was plenty, as it is said (Gen. 24:1), "And God had blessed Abraham in everything." Once Abraham died, "There was a famine in the land" (Gen. 26:1). Isaac came and [again] there was plenty, as it says (Gen 26:12), "Isaac sowed in that land [and reaped in that year a hundred measures]." As long as Abraham was alive, the wells were filled with water, [but] once Abraham died what does it say, but (Gen. 26:15), "And all the wells which had been dug [by the servants of his (i.e., Isaac's) father in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled with earth]." They said, since they are no longer filled with water, they will be a hazard should we stumble into them, and thus they filled them up. Isaac came and [again] the wells were filled with water, as it is said (Gen. 26:18-19), "And Isaac again dug up the wells of water, etc." and "[Isaac's] servants [also] dug, etc."
| וַיָּרִ֜יבוּ רֹעֵ֣י גְרָ֗ר עִם־רֹעֵ֥י יִצְחָ֛ק לֵאמֹ֖ר לָ֣נוּ הַמָּ֑יִם וַיִּקְרָ֤א שֵֽׁם־הַבְּאֵר֙ עֵ֔שֶׂק כִּ֥י הִֽתְעַשְּׂק֖וּ עִמּֽוֹ׃ | 20 J | the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” He named that well Esek, (Esek I.e., “contention.”) because they contended with him. |
But after Abraham’s death, these springs of wisdom were stopped up, because they were stopped by the Philistines (Gen. 26:18) who are the aspect of evil which is set in a person, who had overpowered the world; and the element of Earth had overpowered [the others] and in proportion the spiritual and intellectual powers weakened. But when Isaac, his son, came and held to his father’s path, he taught this awareness to the people of his generation as well – to return and dig to the aspect of a well of living water through many types of intelligences and great and concealed counsels – until Isaac dug again the wells of water (Gen. 26:18). All this comes by way of faith, which is the precursor to this: that one believes with complete faith that Blessed God, the whole earth is filled with [God’s] Glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of [God], there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35). And then, by way of this faith, he yearns for [God] and desires to hold to and attach himself to Blessed God, who has the aspect of valley [nahal] (Gen. 26:19), which is an acronym for Our soul waits for the LORD [nafsheynu hiktah la-ADONAI] (Psalm 33:20), which [means] by way of faith. And then, through this, he comes to his root, which is the spring of the well of living waters that we have described. And that is [the meaning of] when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (Gen. 26:19) – the aspect of valley as we have stated – and found there a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), etc., The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled … so he called the name of the well Esek etc. (Gen. 26:20), Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21), And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now [the LORD has made room for us]” etc. (Gen. 26:22).
לאמור לנו המים, saying: “the water is ours.” They argued that the water from the well had originally been flowing in the river that was theirs. They used the same argument with the second well Yitzchok’s servants brought in. When Yitzchok moved away further and again succeeded in bringing in a well, they did not argue about it [they finally realised that it was he who was blessed, and that he had not robbed them of anything (verse 22)].
ESEK. This word is not encountered elsewhere in Scripture. However, its meaning can be ascertained from Rabbinic literature. (The word esek in the Talmud means strife, cf. Bereshit Rabbah 8:5. It should be noted that in Rabbinic literature esek is spelled with a samech, in our verse with a sin.)
I.e., “contention.”
ויריבו לנו המים, as we explained in connection with Avraham and Avimelech (21,25), the quarrel was if the source of the water was part of the region of Gerar or part of the region of Beer Sheva. The old quarrel resurfaced now between the shepherds of Yitzchok and those of Gerar.
ויקרא שם הבאר עשק, He gave it a name so that in the future when he would become more powerful than they, the shepherds of Gerar would not be able to claim the well as theirs without protest. The very name already foreshadowed that the claim to this well would be disputed. The meaning of the name עשק as describing dispute is known to us from our sages in Baba Kama 9 המוכר את השדה ויצאו עליה עשיקין, “if someone sells a field and a quarrel ensues concerning it.”
AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF THE WELL ESEK. Scripture gives a lengthy account of the matter of the wells when in the literal interpretation of the story there would seem to be no benefit nor any great honor to Isaac in that he and his father did the identical thing. (Both Isaac and Abraham dug wells in the land of the Philistines. They did not quarrel with Abraham, but they did quarrel with Isaac. Thus, in the literal meaning of the story, there “is no great honor to Isaac.”) However, there is a hidden matter involved here since Scripture’s purpose is to make known a future matter. A well of living water alludes to the House of G-d which the children of Isaac will build. This is why Scripture mentions a well of living waters, even as it says, A fountain of living waters, the Eternal. (Jeremiah 17:13. From the context of Ramban’s language it would appear that he interprets the verse as if it said, A fountain of living waters, which is the house of the Eternal.) He called the first well Esek (Contention), which is an allusion to the First House, (The First Sanctuary, which was built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians.) concerning which the nations contended with us and instigated quarrels and wars with us until they destroyed it. The second well he called Sitnah (Enmity), (Verse 21 here.) a name harsher than the first. This alludes to the Second House, (The Second Sanctuary, which was built by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian Captivity and which was destroyed by the Romans.) which has indeed been referred to by this very name, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote ‘sitnah’ (Hatred, accusation. Thus the same word sitnah appears in connection with the Second Sanctuary.) against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:6.) And during its entire existence they (Our historic enemies during the period of the Second Temple, signified in the chapter here by the Philistines.) were a source of enmity unto us until they destroyed it and drove us from it into bitter exile. The third well he called Rechovoth (Spacious). This is a reference to the Future House, which will be speedily built in our days, and it will be done without quarrel and feud, and G-d will enlarge our borders, even as it says, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn, etc., (Deuteronomy 19:8.) which refers to the future. And concerning the Third House of the future it is written, Broader (In Hebrew verachavah, from the same root as the name of the third well, Rechovoth. The connection between the third well and the Third Temple of the future, concerning which Ezekiel prophesied, is thus established.) and winding about higher and higher. (Ezekiel 41:7.) [The concluding statement in the present narrative, concerning the naming of the third well], And we shall be fruitful in the land, (Verse 22 here.) signifies that all peoples will come to worship G-d with one consent. (Zephaniah 3:9.)
עשק means DISPUTE.
כי התעשקו עמו means THEY ENGAGED WITH HIM about it in strife and DISPUTE.
Daß das Brunnengraben etwas Erlaubtes, der Grund und Boden freies Gut und der Brunnen demjenigen gehörte, der ihn gegraben, dürfen wir bei einem Sohn Abrahams voraussetzen und finden dies überdies oben Kap. 21, 30 bestätigt, da dort Abraham nur das offizielle Zugeständnis fordert, daß er den Brunnen gegraben. Überdies war es ein lebendiger Quell, den sie fanden, also aus der Tiefe springendes Wasser, von dem man nicht sagen konnte, daß es etwa einem andern entzogen wäre. Gleichwohl schikanierten sie, so recht in der Jahrhunderte herab gegen den Galutjuden geübten Weise: den Brunnen hast du gegraben, das Loch gehört dir, aber das Wasser ist unser! — עשק kommt in תנ"ך nur dies einzige Mal an dieser Stelle vor. Im Nabbinischen ist עסק sehr gewöhnlich. מתעסק ,עסוק; sich mit etwas beschäftigen, עיסקא: ein Geschäft, und עסיקין ganz in dem Sinn wie hier: Rechtstitelstreitigkeiten. Die Wurzel scheint verwandt mit עשק ,הזק ,עזק אזק, die alle ein starkes Erfassen und Festhalten bedeuten. Daher dürfte עשק: etwas gewaltsam mit dem Geiste erfassen heißen, etwas schikanös zu erlangen suchen. עסק jedoch, rabbinisch, allgemein: die Erreichung eines Zweckes oder eines Gegenstandes mit dem ganzen Geiste erfassen, sich mit etwas beschäftigen.
They disputed with him... Rashi is telling us not to explain the word עשק as meaning “dispute.” Rather, it means an actual עסק (matter). I.e., it was a matter of dispute.
The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. Since you are residing near our city of Gerar, in our territory, the water belongs to us. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves [ hitasseku ], fought, with him.
ויקרא שם הבאר עשק, “He named the well in question “strife.’” Nachmanides writes that the reason why the Torah devotes so much space to relating these incidents although at first glance they do not appear to contain any new kind of information, is, that although these verses do not contain new information on the surface, they do hint at hidden mystical connections. Torah is described in the parlance of the prophets as מקור מים חיים, “the source of truly life-giving water.” With the building of the Temples by Yitzchok’s descendants, the Torah became ever more firmly established among the nation, and though several Temples were subject to eventual destruction, the time will come when a permanent Temple will be erected, no longer subject to dispute and destruction, and at a time when G’d will expand the inheritance of the Jewish people, just as at Rechovot, Yitzchok felt that he had achieved the ability to expand.
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
If a man should dare say to a person more important than himself, “Why did you treat me so badly?” he would be held guilty of a serious offense, yet Moses said: For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people (ibid., v. 23). (Moses expresses doubt as to God’s ability to save the people from further anguish and is rebuked.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Alas for those who have perished but are not to be found! I revealed myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the Lord Almighty, but I never disclosed to them that My name is YHWH, (The name employed when speaking of God’s merciful aspect.) as I did to you, yet they never criticized My ways. To Abraham I said: Arise, walk through the land in the length thereof (Gen. 13:17), yet though he searched for a burial place for Sarah, and was unable to obtain one until he paid four hundred shekels of silver for it, he did not disparage My ways. I told Isaac: Sojourn in this land …for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands (ibid. 26:3), but even when he sought water to drink and was unable to find any, And the herdsman of Gerar strove with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: “The water is ours” (ibid., v. 20), he did not criticize My ways. I told Jacob: The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (ibid. 28:13), yet when he sought a place to pitch his tent, and could not obtain any land until he purchased it with a hundred lambs, he found no fault with My words.
Rabbi Yehuda says: "It says in Numbers (33:36), 'And they journeyed from Ebronah and encamped at Ezion-geber.' "Ezion-geber," "white," "Hazeroth," "enclosures," and "Di-zahav," "enough gold," are the ten trials with which our forefathers tested the Omnipresent in the wilderness. These are the two with the sea, the two with water, the two with manna, the one with the quails, the one with the golden calf, and the one in Paran, with the spies. Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskit said to him, "Rabbi Yehuda, you have explained to us the places where the trials occurred. But they are only names of places for the purpose of relating the events, as it says (Genesis 26:33), 'And he called it Shebah (Oath).' Similarly, it says (Genesis 26:20), 'And he called the name of the well Esek (contention) because they strove with him.'"
“I appeared to Abraham” – The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Alas for those who are lost and are not present. (An expression of loss over the deceased.) Many times I have revealed Myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not make known to them that My name is the Lord as I made known to you, yet they did not question My ways. I said to Abraham: “Arise, walk through the length and the breath of the land…” (Genesis 13:17). He sought to bury Sarah and did not find a place until he purchased it, and he did not question My ways. I said to Isaac: “Reside in this land… [for I will give all these lands] to you and your descendants…” (Genesis 26:3). He sought to drink water but did not find, but rather, “the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, [saying: The water is ours…]” (Genesis 26:20) and he did not question My ways. I said to Jacob: “The land on which you lie [I will give to you and to your descendants]” (Genesis 28:13). He sought a place to pitch his tent but did not find until he purchased one for one hundred kesita, and he did not question my ways, and did not ask Me what My name is, as you asked.’ ‘But you, at the beginning of [receiving] My mission you said to Me: What is Your name? In the end, you said: “Since I came to Pharaoh [to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You did not deliver Your people]” (Exodus 5:23). Regarding that, it is stated: “I have also established My covenant…[to give them the land of Canaan…]” (Exodus 6:4), that it was given to them, as I said to them that I would give the land to them, and they did not question Me. “Moreover, I have heard the cry of the children of Israel” (Exodus 6:5) – because they did not question Me, even though Israel in that generation were not conducting themselves properly, I heard their cry because of the covenant that I had established with their ancestors.’ That is what is written: “And I have remembered My covenant” (Exodus 6:5). “Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord, and I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their labor, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. And I will take you to Me as a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt ” (Exodus 6:6-7). “Therefore [lakhen] say to the children of Israel” – lakhen is nothing other than the language of oath-taking, as it is stated: “Therefore [velakhen] I took an oath to the house of Eli” (I Samuel 3:14). The Holy One blessed be He took an oath that He would redeem them, so that Moses would not fear that perhaps the attribute of justice would delay their redemption. “I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians…” There are four redemptions here: “I will take out…I will deliver…I will redeem…I will take,” corresponding to the four decrees that Pharaoh decreed against them. (See Shemot Rabba 1:12. The four decrees are: 1) Hard labor to build the storehouse cities, 2) Killing the newborn males, 3) Casting the newborn sons into the Nile, 4) Withholding straw from brick production.) Corresponding to them, the Sages instituted four cups on Passover eve, to fulfill what is stated: “I will raise the cup of salvation and call upon the name of God” (Psalms 116:13). “And I will bring you into the land about which I raised my hand, to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:8). “And I will bring you into the land about which I raised my hand.” I will do for them what I said to your ancestors – that I would give them the Land, and they would inherit it by their [the forefathers] merit.
Similarly, (Bereshith 26:20) "And he called the name of the well 'Esek' because they strove ('hitasku') with him." And it is written (Ibid. 33) "And he called it 'shivah,' etc."
A Midrashic approach (based on Tanchuma Vaeyra 1) When Moses began to question G’d’s methods in our verse, G’d responded by saying to him: “what a pity that the patriarchs are no longer alive; they are indeed unforgettable. When I told Avraham to walk ahead of Me and be perfect, he did not question My ways. When he searched for a piece of ground to bury his wife Sarah and could not find it until he finally paid a fortune of 400 shekel for a cave, he did not question Me and My ways [after all G’d had promised the whole of the land of Canaan to Avraham and his descendants. Ed.]. When I told Yitzchak to stay in the land of Canaan during the famine instead of seeking relief in Egypt, he did not question My ways. How many times did he have to dig for water only to be denied its use by the Philistines? He never questioned My ways. I had promised Yaakov that the land he was lying on was all going to be his and his children’s and when it came to finding a piece of land whereon to put his tent 26 years later he had to acquire a small tract near Shechem for 100 kessitah (an outrageous amount) yet he never questioned My ways. You, on the other hand, who are only at the very beginning of your career as My messenger already are beginning to question My ways! First you wanted to know My name; now you accuse Me of making things worse for the Jewish people! Truly, עתה תראה “what I am going to do to Pharaoh now you will experience, but because you have seen fit to question My ways you will not live to see what I am going to do to the 31 kings of the land of Canaan.” This will be a battle under the leadership of Joshua. According to this Midrash Moses had already accepted the decree that he would not enter the land of Canaan at this time. Thus far the Midrash.
Whatever you do will be subject to altercation. You cannot say [the term עשוק is related to] “You shall not withhold the wages (לא תעשוק) of your fellow” (Vayikra 19:13), which means to withhold the wages of a hireling, as this has nothing to do with our parsha. And robbery is already mentioned [in the word following]. Therefore Rashi explains the term (עשוק) is related to (Bereishis 26:20), “He named the well עשק [Quarrel], because they had quarreled with him.”
Is there some sort of rectification that can be made for this month? Remember that the First Temple, the symbol of peace built by the peaceful king, (Solomon, who built the First Temple, was named after the concept of shalom (peace). PRE 31.) was completed in Mar-Ĥeshvan. Within every flaw is the core of its tikkun, or repair: if divisiveness permeates the month’s character, then unity and peace must be latent there as well! (For an expansion of this idea, see Rabbi Tzadok Ha-Kohen, Tzidkat Ha-Tzadik, 76.) The utopian peace promised by the dedication of the Third Temple (Ramban, Genesis 26:20.) in Mar-Ĥeshvan will be the ultimate triumph of the erstwhile bitter month.
Now the strange ordering of tribes in Psalms 80:3 becomes clear: (Benei Yisaskhar, ibid.) “Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh arouse Your might, for it is You who save us.” The First Temple (inaugurated in Tishrei, the month of Ephraim) and the Second Temple (inaugurated in Kislev, the month of Benjamin) both defined troubled eras that did not end well. But the Third Temple (to be inaugurated in Mar-Ĥeshvan, the month of Manasseh) will bear none of the feud and dissonance that accompanied the first two. It will be: “Rehovot [expansive]…brought about without quarrel or feud, and God will enlarge our borders…and all peoples will come to worship God with one consent” (Ramban, Genesis 26:20).
[40] On each of these they bring to bear powers of thought of finest perfection, and find in three of them certain things within their comprehension, and to these discoveries of theirs they give three names, “injustice,” “enmity,” “spaciousness” (Gen. 26:20 ff.). In the fourth, the heavens, as we pointed out not long ago, they find nothing whatever comprehensible. For the fourth well is found to be dry and waterless, and is entitled “oath” for the reason which has been mentioned.
I said to Isaac: “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you” (Genesis 26:3). His servants sought water to drink and they did not find it until they started a quarrel, as it is stated: “And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen saying: The water is ours” (Genesis 26:20), and he did not question My attributes.
The shepherds of Gerar argued with the shepherds of Yitzchok, saying, the water is ours. He named the well Eisek [Quarrel], because they had quarreled with him.
And the shepherds of Gerar contended with Izhak's shepherds, saying, The water is ours. And it was the will of Heaven, and it dried. But when they returned to Izhak, it flowed. And he called the name of the well (Esek) Contention, because (etheseku) they had quarrelled with him on account of it.
| וַֽיַּחְפְּרוּ֙ בְּאֵ֣ר אַחֶ֔רֶת וַיָּרִ֖יבוּ גַּם־עָלֶ֑יהָ וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמָ֖הּ שִׂטְנָֽה׃ | 21 J | And when they dug another well, they disputed over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. (Sitnah I.e., “harassment.”) |
But after Abraham’s death, these springs of wisdom were stopped up, because they were stopped by the Philistines (Gen. 26:18) who are the aspect of evil which is set in a person, who had overpowered the world; and the element of Earth had overpowered [the others] and in proportion the spiritual and intellectual powers weakened. But when Isaac, his son, came and held to his father’s path, he taught this awareness to the people of his generation as well – to return and dig to the aspect of a well of living water through many types of intelligences and great and concealed counsels – until Isaac dug again the wells of water (Gen. 26:18). All this comes by way of faith, which is the precursor to this: that one believes with complete faith that Blessed God, the whole earth is filled with [God’s] Glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of [God], there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35). And then, by way of this faith, he yearns for [God] and desires to hold to and attach himself to Blessed God, who has the aspect of valley [nahal] (Gen. 26:19), which is an acronym for Our soul waits for the LORD [nafsheynu hiktah la-ADONAI] (Psalm 33:20), which [means] by way of faith. And then, through this, he comes to his root, which is the spring of the well of living waters that we have described. And that is [the meaning of] when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (Gen. 26:19) – the aspect of valley as we have stated – and found there a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), etc., The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled … so he called the name of the well Esek etc. (Gen. 26:20), Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21), And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now [the LORD has made room for us]” etc. (Gen. 26:22).
And now I must give awareness, education, and understanding regarding the matter of the three wells and their names, for the Ancestors looked through their great mind’s eye to the end of all the generations, with the tribulations that would befall them. It is known that during the time that the Temple stood there was an expansion of true awareness, how to draw close to the boundary in order to attach themselves to the aspect of a well of living water, more and more than in a time of exile; and even the Nations of the World would recognize a slight recognition, and would bring sacrifices as is written in the prayer of King Solomon, peace be upon him, And when the foreigner shall come etc. (1 Kings 8:41), and as we find that even just before the Destruction the Caesar sent them a sacrifice, as is known (cf. Gittin 55b-56a). However, even in the time of the Temple the aspect of Good and Evil was still in the world, until on account of Israel’s sins Evil overpowered [Good] and the Temple was destroyed. And therefore the aspect of the well was called Esek. And afterward they dug another well (Gen. 26:21), which is the Second Temple of Ezra’s days, when this awareness again expanded until they knew how to dig to the aspect of “well.” And they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21) on account of the Satan’s accusation, for the power of materiality had overcome the awareness until he moved from there (Gen. 26:22) in the aspect of the passage of time, which is the lengthy exile, and dug another well (Gen. 26:22), which is the coming of our Righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, when there will be no Evil accusation at all as is written, I will remove from the land … the spirit of uncleanness (Zechariah 13:2), for then the world will be entirely Good. So he called its name Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22), for then will be expansion of awareness as the verse says, for the earth shall be full of awareness of the LORD (Isaiah 11:9). And we will merit to attach to the light of Blessed Infinity, to comprehend Blessed [God’s] Nature and to attach to Blessed God with eternal attachment. And that is [the meaning of] what is written after this, From there he went up to Beersheba (Gen. 26:23); for the Shekhinah is called “Beersheba,” we will merit to be on a high level, and understand this. However, every person must strengthen himself even in the times when Evil obstructs him and does not allow him to rise up to the aspect of “well;” nevertheless he should see through his mind’s eye that even in that place is a contraction of Blessed [God’s] Divinity, as we have said in a different place. And he should look at the obstruction and understand from it what is the root of his life-force, from which characteristic it is, whether from the aspect of Mercy [hesed] or Strength [gevurah]. And he should see to bring it to its root, for through this characteristic, which he arouses to bring it close, through it he begins to serve the Blessed Creator, whether in thought or in word or in deed; for these characteristics are Divinity, but they fell from their place in the breaking. And then Good will be made out of them as well. And similarly, if obstructions come to him from the side of judgments – coming to him from his root Above, the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], which is the characteristic of Isaac – he should understand through his awareness that these judgments are from the Upper Holy Place, except that they fell through the descent of the levels to the place of judgments, which is the place of broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). And he should hold to the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], to revere Blessed God and to serve Blessed God immediately through this [characteristic], and to bring them to their roots and sweeten the judgments. For this is the secret: the judgments can only be sweetened at their roots, which is the characteristic of Isaac. For immediately when, through these judgments that came on account of his sins, he strengthens himself and serves with them at the root of their hold until they arrive at their root; for in that place is only absolute Divinity, the judgments are nullified and sweetened.
ויקרא שמה שטנה, “he named that well: “hatred.” We must not understand the name of this well as reflecting the same sentiments as the previous well he had dug, as at that time the name עשק, “dispute,” reflected that he gave the Philistines the benefit of the doubt when they claimed that the waters that came out of that well had previously flowed in their river. When they disputed his right to the second well, he became convinced that their arguments were malicious and not based on a legitimate claim.
ויקרא שמה שטנה, “he called its name Sitnah. (hatred, enmity) He had given the Philistines the benefit of the doubt regarding denying his claim to the first well his servants had dug. But now he knew that that had not been mere coincidence, but a display of their hatred of him.
I.e., “harassment.”
ויחפרו...שטנה, from the word “Satan.” The name reflected the fact that every time they dug with success they would be subjected to this hatred.
שטנה old French nuisement; English hindrance.
They, Isaac’s servants, dug another well, and they, the Philistines, quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna, accusation. 13
Chapter 40: Torah [1] And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). Twenty generations passed until Abraham, in which old age is not mentioned except for him, as it says, "Now Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And Isaac also stood [before God] and it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). And Jacob also stood [before God], as it says, "And the eyes of Israel were dim with age" (Genesis 48:10). The verse (Psalms 102:17) says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The only way [to achieve this level of prayer] is through old age, as it says, "The beauty of young men is their strength, and the glory of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29). Abraham merited his son through five things, as our Rabbis taught: the father merits a son through five things: through his [the father's] name, through his [the father's] good deeds, through his [the father's] wealth, through his [the father's] strength, and through his [the father's] wisdom. Similarly, Isaac [merited his son through five things], and similarly Jacob [merited his son through five things]. Similarly, Jacob merited Joseph [through these five things], who resembled him in appearance and in title, as it says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Genesis 39:6). [He resembled him] in wisdom, as it says, "Behold, he is the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). He had beauty, appearance, and wisdom. And in Isaac's case, it is written, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with wisdom. And just as Joseph stood up to his brothers in strength, so did Isaac stand up in strength against all the men of Gerar. Just as Joseph was wealthy, so was Isaac wealthy, as it says, "And the man became great and went forward and became very great" (Genesis 26:13). The verse (Genesis 26:8) explains [the word] "wisdom" as meaning "the greatness of his children." From where do we learn that Isaac was handsome like Joseph? It is written about Joseph, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," and when he went to his brothers, what did they say? "Behold, the master of dreams is coming!" (Genesis 37:19). And it is said about Isaac, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with strength, as it says, We know this from the fact that he dug many wells, as it says, "Isaac dug again the wells of water" (Genesis 26:18), and "Isaac's servants dug in the valley" (Genesis 26:19), and "they dug another well" (Genesis 26:21). He had strength in his hands. From where do we know that he was wealthy? It says, "The man became great, and he grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy" (Genesis 26:13). And from where do we know that he lived to a ripe old age of 180 years? It says, "And Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years" (Genesis 35:28). Abraham was the son of Terah, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. Why does the Torah mention this? Because God said to Isaac, "You have merited these five things, so I will add another five years to your life, like your father Abraham." That is why it says, "Look upon your servants" (Psalms 119:16). Anyone who has merit will receive these five things, and anyone who does not have merit will receive five calamities in return. And who was this? Joab, as it is said: "Let Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their bloodshed. May they be afflicted with leprosy, jaundice, and starvation." (2 Samuel 3:29) Leprosy corresponds to strength; one who has leprosy has no strength. Jaundice corresponds to beauty; even if someone is young and jaundiced, there is no beauty in them. Starvation corresponds to wealth, as it says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live" (Proverbs 9:5-6). One who is starving has no leisure to engage in Torah study. Falling by the sword corresponds to the five aspects of praise. These are five calamities corresponding to five aspects of praise. One who does not merit praise inherits these five kinds of calamities, like Joab. But one who does merit praise receives them like Isaac, as it is said, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old" (Genesis 27:1), and David cries out, "May your children be like your ancestors" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore, it says, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old."
“To these the land shall be distributed [as an inheritance, according to the number of names]” (Numbers 26:53) – who were they? It was to the people standing at the plains of Moav. But was the land not divided to those who departed from Egypt, as it is written: “I will give it you as a heritage” (Exodus 6:8)? Why did He not divide it among them? It is because it was foreseen before the Holy One blessed be He that ultimately, families are destined to be eliminated from them. Who were they? Those who are written above: “The sons of Simeon: Yemuel, and Yamin, and Ohad, and Yakhin, and Tzoḥar, and Shaul son of the Canaanite woman” (Genesis 46:10) – they are six. When you read: “For Nemuel, the Nemuelite family, [for Yamin…Yakhin…Zeraḥ…Shaul]” (Numbers 26:12), one of them is missing. Likewise regarding Benjamin: “The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Bekher, [Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Eḥi, Rosh, Mupim, Ḥupim, and Ard” (Genesis 46:21) – they are ten. When you came to count them: “For Bela, the Balite family, [for Ashbel…Aḥiram…Shefufam…Ḥufam]” (Numbers 26:38–39) – five of the sons are missing. These are six families, because of the harlotry at the counsel of Bilam. There is never a case [of harlotry] where it does not have its effect. (A plague.) That is why the Holy One blessed be He said: Why would I distribute the land to people who are destined to die? When they came to the plains of Moav and stood in their entirety, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “To these the land shall be distributed.”
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
"To these apportion the land" (Numbers 26:53). And who are they? The ones standing on the Plains of Moav. And was the land not apportioned to those that left Egypt? As it is written (Exodus 6:8), "and I will give it to you as a possession." [So] for what reason was it [actually] apportioned to [the ones standing on the Plains of Moav]? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that six families from [those that left Egypt] would be destroyed. And who are they? [Of] those written above (Genesis 46:10), "And the children of Shimon were Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Tsohar and Shaul," when you read "to Nemuel, the Nemeulite family" (Numbers 26:12-13), neither Ohad or Tsohar are there. Rather they were lost. And so [too,] with Binyamin: "Bela, Bekher, etc." (Genesis 26:21), behold there are ten. But when you come to count them [you read], "to Belaa, the Belaaite family [etc.] (Numbers 26:38-40), they are only seven. Behold [those missing] were lost. And so [too,] with the "children of Gad. Tsifion, Chagi, Shuni, Etsbon [etc.]" (Genesis 26:16); but when you count "to Tsafon, the Tsafonite family [etc.]" (26:15-17), Etsbon is not there. Behold six families got lost from the licentiousness of the counsel of Bilaam. And there is no licentiousness that does not accomplish its [end]. Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "[Why should] I apportion the land to people who will be destroyed in the future?" And [so] He [rather] apportioned it [only] to the one that stood resilient. Hence it is stated, "To these apportion the land" (Numbers 26:53).
“Four hundred years” has no allusion in the parable, but it was considered correct by the teacher to reveal the complete explanation and intended meaning at that point. This figure is related to “thy seed shall be a stranger,” but the phrase “and they shall serve them and they shall afflict them” is not necessarily part of the figure (of four hundred years). In a sense it would be correct | to say that they were afflicted for (four hundred years) during all that time, for it is the lot of every stranger (to be afflicted). (37. This is an attempt by Kaspi to answer the problem of the actual duration of the stay in Egypt, which would appear to have lasted less than the four hundred years foretold in Gen. 15:13. Gersonides considered the four-hundred-year period to have begun with Jacob’s birth; Kaspi follows Rashi, who computes the period from the birth of Isaac, and follows Kimḥi, who had stated that “affliction” could also refer to a condition of alienation, such as that which Isaac and Jacob experienced.) Reliable evidence of this (affliction) is provided by the (names) of the wells dug by Isaac, called ‘Eseḳ (“contention”) and Siṭnah (“enmity”), (38. Gen. 26:20–21. Both names reflect the alienation of Isaac.) as well as the incident of (the rape of) Dinah in Jacob’s lifetime. (39. Gen. 34. This reflected the abuse and alienation of Jacob.) In any case, Isaac and Jacob were aliens, downtrodden and subservient for a time in Egypt, (40. Actually Isaac never lived in Egypt. One explanation might be that Kaspi alludes to Isaac’s sojourn in the land of the Philistines, to the south of the land of Canaan, in Gen. 26.) a fact which justifies the figure of four hundred years, and removes any inconsistency. However, part of (the four hundred years) was more intense and literal as far as the words “serve” and “afflict.” (This is consistent) with what I mentioned above, saying that descriptive words can be used in an exact literal sense, and also in a loose sense. (41. See below.) The Lord revealed to Abraham that the words “thy seed shall be a stranger” referred to three generations, when He stated afterwards “the fourth generation …” That fourth generation was the one that entered the land in the time of Joshua, the generation that was led about in the desert having been the third generation that endured in part the suffering in Egypt, starting on the day that Moses was born and continuing until the time of the burning bush, when he was eighty years old. (42. Exod. 3:2. Kaspi computes this age by the fact that at his death Moses was 120 years old, which was after 40 years in the desert; therefore Moses was 80 when he appeared at Mount Sinai the first time.) (In this matter) it is not necessary to detail the components and the people involved.
לשטן לו, to obstruct him. The subject matter known as שטנה, always involves an activity contrary to someone else’s activity. We find an example of this expression in this sense in Genesis 26,21 where the Philistines foiled the attempt of Yitzchak’s servants to use the water from the well they had dug. In this instance the angel had come to oppose Bileam seeing his journey contravened G’d’s will. He was afraid that Bileam would do his usual and not be content to await a propitious moment, so that he would become guilty of death. G’d wanted to spare him such a sin. [if I understand the author correctly, he feels that Bileam’s function as a “prophet”, i.e. pronouncing curses, when exploited at times when doom threatened his potential victims anyway, would not be construed as sinful by G’d. Ed.]
They dug another well and they also argued about it. He named the well Sitnah [Obstruction].
And they digged another well; and they contended for it also; and it dried, and did not flow again. And he called the name of it (Sitnah) Accusation.
| וַיַּעְתֵּ֣ק מִשָּׁ֗ם וַיַּחְפֹּר֙ בְּאֵ֣ר אַחֶ֔רֶת וְלֹ֥א רָב֖וּ עָלֶ֑יהָ וַיִּקְרָ֤א שְׁמָהּ֙ רְחֹב֔וֹת וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כִּֽי־עַתָּ֞ה הִרְחִ֧יב יְהֹוָ֛ה לָ֖נוּ וּפָרִ֥ינוּ בָאָֽרֶץ׃ | 22 J | He moved from there and dug yet another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, “Now at last יהוה has granted us ample space (ample space Heb. hirḥib, connected with “Rehoboth.”) to increase in the land.” |
But after Abraham’s death, these springs of wisdom were stopped up, because they were stopped by the Philistines (Gen. 26:18) who are the aspect of evil which is set in a person, who had overpowered the world; and the element of Earth had overpowered [the others] and in proportion the spiritual and intellectual powers weakened. But when Isaac, his son, came and held to his father’s path, he taught this awareness to the people of his generation as well – to return and dig to the aspect of a well of living water through many types of intelligences and great and concealed counsels – until Isaac dug again the wells of water (Gen. 26:18). All this comes by way of faith, which is the precursor to this: that one believes with complete faith that Blessed God, the whole earth is filled with [God’s] Glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of [God], there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35). And then, by way of this faith, he yearns for [God] and desires to hold to and attach himself to Blessed God, who has the aspect of valley [nahal] (Gen. 26:19), which is an acronym for Our soul waits for the LORD [nafsheynu hiktah la-ADONAI] (Psalm 33:20), which [means] by way of faith. And then, through this, he comes to his root, which is the spring of the well of living waters that we have described. And that is [the meaning of] when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (Gen. 26:19) – the aspect of valley as we have stated – and found there a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), etc., The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled … so he called the name of the well Esek etc. (Gen. 26:20), Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21), And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now [the LORD has made room for us]” etc. (Gen. 26:22).
And now I must give awareness, education, and understanding regarding the matter of the three wells and their names, for the Ancestors looked through their great mind’s eye to the end of all the generations, with the tribulations that would befall them. It is known that during the time that the Temple stood there was an expansion of true awareness, how to draw close to the boundary in order to attach themselves to the aspect of a well of living water, more and more than in a time of exile; and even the Nations of the World would recognize a slight recognition, and would bring sacrifices as is written in the prayer of King Solomon, peace be upon him, And when the foreigner shall come etc. (1 Kings 8:41), and as we find that even just before the Destruction the Caesar sent them a sacrifice, as is known (cf. Gittin 55b-56a). However, even in the time of the Temple the aspect of Good and Evil was still in the world, until on account of Israel’s sins Evil overpowered [Good] and the Temple was destroyed. And therefore the aspect of the well was called Esek. And afterward they dug another well (Gen. 26:21), which is the Second Temple of Ezra’s days, when this awareness again expanded until they knew how to dig to the aspect of “well.” And they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21) on account of the Satan’s accusation, for the power of materiality had overcome the awareness until he moved from there (Gen. 26:22) in the aspect of the passage of time, which is the lengthy exile, and dug another well (Gen. 26:22), which is the coming of our Righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, when there will be no Evil accusation at all as is written, I will remove from the land … the spirit of uncleanness (Zechariah 13:2), for then the world will be entirely Good. So he called its name Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22), for then will be expansion of awareness as the verse says, for the earth shall be full of awareness of the LORD (Isaiah 11:9). And we will merit to attach to the light of Blessed Infinity, to comprehend Blessed [God’s] Nature and to attach to Blessed God with eternal attachment. And that is [the meaning of] what is written after this, From there he went up to Beersheba (Gen. 26:23); for the Shekhinah is called “Beersheba,” we will merit to be on a high level, and understand this. However, every person must strengthen himself even in the times when Evil obstructs him and does not allow him to rise up to the aspect of “well;” nevertheless he should see through his mind’s eye that even in that place is a contraction of Blessed [God’s] Divinity, as we have said in a different place. And he should look at the obstruction and understand from it what is the root of his life-force, from which characteristic it is, whether from the aspect of Mercy [hesed] or Strength [gevurah]. And he should see to bring it to its root, for through this characteristic, which he arouses to bring it close, through it he begins to serve the Blessed Creator, whether in thought or in word or in deed; for these characteristics are Divinity, but they fell from their place in the breaking. And then Good will be made out of them as well. And similarly, if obstructions come to him from the side of judgments – coming to him from his root Above, the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], which is the characteristic of Isaac – he should understand through his awareness that these judgments are from the Upper Holy Place, except that they fell through the descent of the levels to the place of judgments, which is the place of broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). And he should hold to the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], to revere Blessed God and to serve Blessed God immediately through this [characteristic], and to bring them to their roots and sweeten the judgments. For this is the secret: the judgments can only be sweetened at their roots, which is the characteristic of Isaac. For immediately when, through these judgments that came on account of his sins, he strengthens himself and serves with them at the root of their hold until they arrive at their root; for in that place is only absolute Divinity, the judgments are nullified and sweetened.
Heb. hirḥib, connected with “Rehoboth.”
He moved from there: Therefore he moved his cattle from that place after seeing that they (the herdsmen from Gerar) continued to strive with him. And it is honorable for a person to dwell without strife. He distanced himself far from them, and there the quarrel ceased.
ויעתק, he removed his digging tools from the immediate neighbourhood so that the shepherds of Gerar should not be able to claim future discoveries of water as belonging to them. It was clear beyond doubt that the area where Yitzchok’s servants dug now belonged to the region of Beer Sheva. This is why he called this well רחובות, to inform subsequent generations that the ownership of this well had never been disputed.
ופרינו בארץ, seeing that this is not subject to dispute we can now become fruitful and multiply in this land.
ולא רבו עליה, seeing this well was quite a distance from the region where they grazed their livestock, as we know from ויעתק משם, he moved away from there.
ופרינו בארץ WE SHALL BE FRUITFUL IN THE LAND — as the Targum translates it וניפוש and we shall increase in the land).
ויעתק, siehe oben Kap 12,8.
As Onkelos translates it: “And we will increase in the land.” The word ופרינו cannot be past tense, because Yitzchok said: “For now, Adonoy has made room for us.” How could he then say they were already fruitful in the land? Perforce, it is future tense. Thus Rashi disagrees with our version of Onkelos which says ויפשיננא, past tense, and explains that the text of Onkelos should read: וניפוש.
Again he, Isaac, moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Rehovot, and he said: As now the Lord has expanded space [ hirh ] · for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land; now we can dwell in our place in peace. Isaac assumed that the herdsmen of Gerar would likely leave this particular well alone, as they preferred to tend their flocks nearer to their city, and the well was situated far from their territory.
Now, because this Divine quality is the Court of the Jewish People, and is what exacts retribution from them, therefore, throughout Torah, it is called, I-Anee-אני. (The term “I-Ani-אני” is an acrostic for the words of the verse (Psalms 94:1), “HaShem is a God of retribution-El Nekamot HaShem-א״ל נקמות יהו״ה.” (See Me’or Yosef to Shaarei Orah.)) At times it admonishes and warns the Jewish people not to sin, that they should stand in fear of judgment before it, since it is not possible that justice will not to be executed by it. It is in this regard that throughout the Torah it states, (Leviticus 19:14; 19:32; 25:17) “You shall fear your God, I am HaShem-Anee HaShem-אני יהו״ה.” In other words, it is as if the verse is saying, “You must have fear and trepidation of My judgment, even though it is judgment (Din) mingled with mercy (Rachamim).” It is upon this foundation that the verse states, (Leviticus 26:27-28) “If despite this you will not heed Me, and you behave with indifference toward Me, I will behave toward you with the fury of indifference; I will chastise you, even I-Anee-אני, seven ways for your sins.” The conclusion of the verse, “seven ways for your sins-Sheva Al Chatoteichem-שבע על חטאתיכם,” is because this quality is called “the well of seven-Be’er Sheva-באר שבע,” and has wells that are filled with fear, might, and judgment. These are the wells of Yitzchak, as is written, (Genesis 26:23) “He went up from there to the well of seven-Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.”
Now, about the continuation of the verse, “Ya”h-י״ה answered me with expansiveness-Merchav-מרחב,” this means, with the upper three Sefirot. Now, two of them are never revealed, (The Crown-Keter and Wisdom-Chochmah, which are only awakened and revealed through the medium of the Understanding-Binah, as discussed in the previous Gate Eight, and as will be mentioned momentarily.) however the third, which is Understanding-Binah, is revealed in small measure, but not entirely, as our sages, of blessed memory, said, (Talmud Bavli, Rosh HaShanah 21b) “Fifty Gates of Understanding-Binah were created in the world, and all were given to Moshe, except one.” That one gate is equal to all her other forty-nine gates. Now, because Understanding-Binah is the third Sefirah, and through her the two upper Sefirot act, since they cannot be perceived directly, it therefore is Understanding-Binah that is called the “Expansiveness of the River-Rechovot HaNahar-רחובות הנהר,” and it is through her that salvations and redemptions come, as already explained. Thus, the verse specifies, “Ya”h-י״ה answered me with expansiveness-Merchav-מרחב,” meaning, with the third Sefirah, which is called Expansiveness-Rechovot-רחובות. Likewise, with Yitzchak, (Genesis 26:22) “He called its name Expansiveness-Rechovot-רחובות, and said, ‘Because now HaShem-יהו״ה has expanded-Hercheev-הרחיב for us, and we can be fruitful in the land-Aretz-ארץ.’” This verse is a very great need for us.
"And he removed from there, and dug another well..." (Beresheet 26:22). Rabbi Chiya opened the discussion with the verse, "and Hashem shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make strong your bones" (Yeshayah 58:11). This verse had already been explained, but by this verse the faithful were strengthened, for it promises them the World to Come. "And Hashem shall guide you continually" in this world and the World to Come. "And Hashem shall guide you." Because he said, "And Hashem shall guide you," why add the word "continually (Heb. תָּמִיד)?" For this hints at the daily offering (lit. 'continue') made at dusk that receives its strength from underneath Yitzchak's arm. How do we know that? From David, as it is written, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Tehilim 23:3). Just as the word "leads," spoken by David, means the illumination of the left, as it is written, "in the paths of Righteousness," which is a name of the Nukva when she shines from the left, here too when it says "guide," it alludes to the illumination of the left.
"And he called the name of it Rechovot" (Beresheet 26:22). For this reason, its springs will spread on all sides, as it is written, "So will your spring be dispersed abroad, and streams of water will flow in the broad places (Heb. רְחֹבֹת)" (Mishlei 5:16). For this reason, "he called the name of it Rechovot."
[2] And so all the righteous suffered in their youth and ultimately found comfort. Abraham suffered greatly in his youth, was thrown into a fiery furnace, and was cast out of his father's house. Sixteen kings came against him, and his wife was taken from him by both Pharaoh and Abimelech. He was tested with his only son, Isaac, but in the end found peace, as it says "And Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Isaac also suffered greatly in his youth, as Ishmael took an arrow and tried to kill him. It says, "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac" (Genesis 21:9). "Playing" means he took an arrow and tried to kill him. Furthermore, his father Abraham was going to slaughter him, and then famine came, as it says, "Now there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 26:1). Isaac went to Abimelech and became the target of jealousy, as it says, "And the Philistines envied him" (Genesis 26:14). They told him to leave, and he went and settled in Gerar, where he disputed with the shepherds. But ultimately he found comfort, as it says, "Therefore he called it Rehoboth, for he said, 'For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land'" (Genesis 26:22). Similarly, Jacob suffered greatly, as Esau pursued him, and he was enslaved by his sons. He was pursued by Laban and punished through his daughter. His son was sold, and in the end he found peace, as it says, "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years" (Genesis 47:28). Joseph was deeply pained when his brothers despised him, threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned. As it is written, "They afflicted his feet with shackles; iron pierced his soul until his word came to pass and God's word proved him true" (Psalms 105:18-19). Joseph remained silent, as it is written, "He sits alone in silence" (Lamentations 3:28). In the end, he was redeemed, as it is written, "He will not abandon forever, for He desires to show kindness" (Lamentations 3:31). And it is written at the end, "Hurry and go up to my father" (Genesis 45:9).
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
We deal here with an allusion to the three Temples that will be home to G–d on the soil of this land. Isaac had been an unblemished total offering on the site of the future altar in the Holy Temple. This is why the names of the wells allude to that event. Nachmanides explained it in these words: "The Torah elaborates on this matter of the wells, although, when reading the plain meaning of these verses, they do not appear to be particularly relevant, nor to confer much honor on Isaac. All we are told is that Isaac did the same in his time as his father Abraham had done at the time he had lived in the land of the Philistines. There is, however, a mystical dimension to all this. The Torah reveals here some historic events of the future. The words באר מים חיים in 26,19 refer to the Holy Temple which Isaac's descendants will erect. We know from Jeremiah 17,13 that G–d is described as מקור מים חיים, "the Fount of living waters." Isaac called the first well Essek, an allusion to the first Temple, over which the Gentile nations engaged us in many disputes. They attacked Jerusalem and the Temple repeatedly until eventually it was destroyed. The second well, called Sitnah a name reflecting even greater harassment than the first, refers to the second Temple. During that period that very name שטנה appears in the early years of the reign of Ahasverus. We find Ezra 4,6 describing that period: "They wrote Sitnah against the inhabitants of Yehudah and Jerusalem." This hostility against the Jewish state and the Temple continued throughout practically all the time that it stood. Eventually, our foes destroyed the Temple and we were consigned to a bitter exile. The third well, רחובות, is an allusion to the third Temple which will be built in the future, and which will not be subject to strife and hostility from our neighbors. At that time G–d will expand the borders of our country as He has promised in Deut. 19,8. Concerning this Temple it is written in Ezekiel 41,7: ורחבה ונסבה למעלה למעלה, "and a widening; it will keep winding and encompassing upwards." The last words in Genesis 26,22 will then be fulfilled, ופרינו בארץ, "we shall then be fruitful in the land." This means that all of the nations will serve G–d, as per Tzefaniah 3,9. Thus far Nachmanides on our verses.
Yitzchak’s attitude toward the world is also highlighted by comparing his manner of dealing with human conflict with that of Avraham and Yaakov. In the parallel stories of Avraham and Yitzchak’s conflict with the Philistines over the control of wells dug by their respective retinues, Avraham does not shy away from rebuking Avimelech over the matter (Bereshit 21:25). In contrast, it seems fair to infer that Yitzchak relies on the hope that eventually God will step in, and he therefore directs his followers to keep digging wells until eventually the local inhabitants leave them alone (Bereshit 26:18–22). While Yitzchak does question Avimelech about his people’s attitude toward him, the question is more of a clarification than a rebuke (Bereshit 26:27). Indeed, not only does Yitzchak not mention the conflict over the wells, he does not even mention the fact that Avimelech has previously expelled him from his territory. It appears that Yitzchak is not interested in bringing up such matters and views redress of such issues as unnecessary.
II. The Courage of Persistence THE CORE IDEA In Bereshit 21, we read about an argument that arose over a well that Avraham had dug: “Then Avraham complained to Avimelekh about a well of water that Avimelekh’s servants had seized” (v. 25). The two men make a treaty. Unfortunately, this was not sufficient to prevent further difficulties for his son. Yitzḥak becomes rich from God’s blessings, causing envy among the Philistines. They fill up the wells that Yitzḥak’s father Avraham had dug, and then Avimelekh commands Yitzḥak to “move away from us; you have become too powerful for us” (26:16). Yitzḥak leaves the city and camps in the Valley of Gerar. He reopens the wells that his father had dug, and renames them with the same names. Two of these wells once again cause tension with the local people there in the valley who claim the water for themselves. But the third well causes no arguing, so he names it Reḥovot and says, “Now the Lord has given us room [from the same root as ‘Reḥovot’] and we will flourish in the land” (Bereshit 26:22).
He moved away from there and he dug another well, and there was no argument over it. He named it Rechovos [Wide Spaces], and said, For now Adonoy has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
And he removed from thence and digged another well, and for that they did not contend as formerly, and he called the name of it (Ravchatha) Spaciousness; for he said, Now hath the Lord given us space to spread us abroad in the land.
| וַיַּ֥עַל מִשָּׁ֖ם בְּאֵ֥ר שָֽׁבַע׃ | 23 J | From there he went up to Beer-sheba. |
And now I must give awareness, education, and understanding regarding the matter of the three wells and their names, for the Ancestors looked through their great mind’s eye to the end of all the generations, with the tribulations that would befall them. It is known that during the time that the Temple stood there was an expansion of true awareness, how to draw close to the boundary in order to attach themselves to the aspect of a well of living water, more and more than in a time of exile; and even the Nations of the World would recognize a slight recognition, and would bring sacrifices as is written in the prayer of King Solomon, peace be upon him, And when the foreigner shall come etc. (1 Kings 8:41), and as we find that even just before the Destruction the Caesar sent them a sacrifice, as is known (cf. Gittin 55b-56a). However, even in the time of the Temple the aspect of Good and Evil was still in the world, until on account of Israel’s sins Evil overpowered [Good] and the Temple was destroyed. And therefore the aspect of the well was called Esek. And afterward they dug another well (Gen. 26:21), which is the Second Temple of Ezra’s days, when this awareness again expanded until they knew how to dig to the aspect of “well.” And they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21) on account of the Satan’s accusation, for the power of materiality had overcome the awareness until he moved from there (Gen. 26:22) in the aspect of the passage of time, which is the lengthy exile, and dug another well (Gen. 26:22), which is the coming of our Righteous Messiah, speedily in our days, when there will be no Evil accusation at all as is written, I will remove from the land … the spirit of uncleanness (Zechariah 13:2), for then the world will be entirely Good. So he called its name Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22), for then will be expansion of awareness as the verse says, for the earth shall be full of awareness of the LORD (Isaiah 11:9). And we will merit to attach to the light of Blessed Infinity, to comprehend Blessed [God’s] Nature and to attach to Blessed God with eternal attachment. And that is [the meaning of] what is written after this, From there he went up to Beersheba (Gen. 26:23); for the Shekhinah is called “Beersheba,” we will merit to be on a high level, and understand this. However, every person must strengthen himself even in the times when Evil obstructs him and does not allow him to rise up to the aspect of “well;” nevertheless he should see through his mind’s eye that even in that place is a contraction of Blessed [God’s] Divinity, as we have said in a different place. And he should look at the obstruction and understand from it what is the root of his life-force, from which characteristic it is, whether from the aspect of Mercy [hesed] or Strength [gevurah]. And he should see to bring it to its root, for through this characteristic, which he arouses to bring it close, through it he begins to serve the Blessed Creator, whether in thought or in word or in deed; for these characteristics are Divinity, but they fell from their place in the breaking. And then Good will be made out of them as well. And similarly, if obstructions come to him from the side of judgments – coming to him from his root Above, the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], which is the characteristic of Isaac – he should understand through his awareness that these judgments are from the Upper Holy Place, except that they fell through the descent of the levels to the place of judgments, which is the place of broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). And he should hold to the characteristic of Strength [gevurah], to revere Blessed God and to serve Blessed God immediately through this [characteristic], and to bring them to their roots and sweeten the judgments. For this is the secret: the judgments can only be sweetened at their roots, which is the characteristic of Isaac. For immediately when, through these judgments that came on account of his sins, he strengthens himself and serves with them at the root of their hold until they arrive at their root; for in that place is only absolute Divinity, the judgments are nullified and sweetened.
ויעל משם באר שבע, “he moved uphill from there to B’eer Sheva. This was the B’eer Sheva where his father had stayed for many years, which is not far from Chevron.
ויעל משם באר שבע. This was not far away from Gerar as we already explained. As to the reason for the expression ויעל, “he went up,” the reason for this is that the part of the Land of Israel which is known as the traditional Land of Israel was on a spiritually higher level than the part occupied by the Philistines. This is also why we find the expression ויעלו פלשתים in Judges 15,9 (against Shimshon) as well as the phrase uttered by King Sha-ul in Samuel I 14,36 נרדה אחרי פלשתים, “Let us pursue the Philistines by descending.” This expression occurs again and again. [this seems unnecessary as any student of the topography of Eretz Yisrael knows that the Philistines lived in the coastal strip, i.e. the topographically lowest region of the country, so that considerations distinguishing between areas of higher sanctity and lesser sanctity are hardly needed to help us understand the wording of the Torah here. Ed.] All these stories about the digging of the wells and the names they were called by were intended to inform us that in the part of Eretz Yisrael traditionally promised to Avraham, his son Yitzchok was digging according to his undisputed right. In those areas he also did not encounter opposition when naming these wells. All of this was an indication to them of which parts of Eretz Yisrael G’d had meant for them to plant seed in, i.e. the part of the land that G’d would give to the Israelites in the first instance. (under Joshua).The regions in which the Philistines dwelled did not really come under full control of the Israelites until many hundreds of years later. This accounts for the ongoing wars at intervals between the Israelites and the Philistines. These skirmishes were basically border-wars, neither side planning to conquer the territory of the other permanently. [according to the author the problem would be permanently settled only in Messianic times. Ed.] It is an outstanding issue similar to the territory of three Canaanite tribes, the Kenite, Knizite and Kadmoni, which formed part of G’d’s promise to Avraham in chapter 15 at the covenant between the pieces but has never yet been under Jewish sovereignty.
ויעל משם באר שבע, because he was physically afraid of them. We have proof for this, seeing that G’d told him not to be afraid (verse 24)
(23-24) Bis dahin hatte ihn die Feindseligkeit der Philister gezwungen in die Isolierung gedrängt, die er vielleicht als Abrahams Sohn freiwillig hätte suchen sollen. Ähnlich der Ghetti-Isolierung, in welche der Judenhass und Judenneid seine Enkel Jahrhunderte lang zwängte. Bis dahin war ihm Gott nicht wieder erschienen, hatte ihn nicht seines Schutzes versichert, hatte ganz ungehindert den Neid und die Feindseligkeit gegen ihn und auf ihn wirken lassen. War es vielleicht heilsam, den Abrahamssohn gewaltsam aus dem möglichen Versinken in Reichtum und Menschenansehen erwerbende Geschäftstätigkeit zu drängen? Erst jetzt, wo er (V. 22) glaubte sich sagen zu dürfen, fortan ungehindert im Lande bleiben und weiter gedeihen zu können, und er nun frei- willig hinaufzog zu der alten Isolierungsstätte, wo einst seine Wiege gestanden, wo er bei seinem Vater in der Kindheit gewohnt und wo sein Vater seiner geistig großen Aufgabe gelebt (Kap. 21, 33). — erst da (V. 24) erscheint ihm Gott, versichert ihn seines Schutzes und seines Segens, sagt ihm, er sei noch der alte Gott seines Vaters Abrahams, und werde sich auch ihm also schützend und segnend bewähren, und alles dies um seines Vaters willen, den er — wie sonst nie wieder — "עבדי" nennt, und mit diesem Namen dem Sohne alles gesagt hat, was er auch von ihm erwartet. Und wie er nun dort sofort einen Altar baut und die geistige Standarte des Abrahamberufes erhebt, und dort sein Zelt aufschlägt, ohne zuvor die Güte und die Beschaffenheit des Bodens zu untersuchen und ohne sich zuvor zu überzeugen, ob dort auch Wasser zu finden sei, kommt ihm alles von selbst entgegen! — Wasser finden seine Leute beim ersten Spatenstich und der Fürst, der ihn fortgewiesen, sucht ihn selber unter allen möglichen Ehrenerweisungen in seiner Zurückgezogenheit auf — alles Dinge, um welche er bis jetzt vergebens und unter Unannehmlichkeiten gerungen! —
He, Isaac, ascended from there to Beersheba, which was at a higher altitude than his previous location in the Valley of Gerar, as Beersheba was built on a raised area. It is also possible that Isaac’s move to Beersheba is described as an ascension due to the importance of the city.
Now, because this Divine quality is the Court of the Jewish People, and is what exacts retribution from them, therefore, throughout Torah, it is called, I-Anee-אני. (The term “I-Ani-אני” is an acrostic for the words of the verse (Psalms 94:1), “HaShem is a God of retribution-El Nekamot HaShem-א״ל נקמות יהו״ה.” (See Me’or Yosef to Shaarei Orah.)) At times it admonishes and warns the Jewish people not to sin, that they should stand in fear of judgment before it, since it is not possible that justice will not to be executed by it. It is in this regard that throughout the Torah it states, (Leviticus 19:14; 19:32; 25:17) “You shall fear your God, I am HaShem-Anee HaShem-אני יהו״ה.” In other words, it is as if the verse is saying, “You must have fear and trepidation of My judgment, even though it is judgment (Din) mingled with mercy (Rachamim).” It is upon this foundation that the verse states, (Leviticus 26:27-28) “If despite this you will not heed Me, and you behave with indifference toward Me, I will behave toward you with the fury of indifference; I will chastise you, even I-Anee-אני, seven ways for your sins.” The conclusion of the verse, “seven ways for your sins-Sheva Al Chatoteichem-שבע על חטאתיכם,” is because this quality is called “the well of seven-Be’er Sheva-באר שבע,” and has wells that are filled with fear, might, and judgment. These are the wells of Yitzchak, as is written, (Genesis 26:23) “He went up from there to the well of seven-Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.”
From there he went to Beer Sheva.
And he went up from thence unto Beersheba.
| וַיֵּרָ֨א אֵלָ֤יו יְהֹוָה֙ בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַה֔וּא וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אָנֹכִ֕י אֱלֹהֵ֖י אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֑יךָ אַל־תִּירָא֙ כִּֽי־אִתְּךָ֣ אָנֹ֔כִי וּבֵֽרַכְתִּ֙יךָ֙ וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֣י אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֔ בַּעֲב֖וּר אַבְרָהָ֥ם עַבְדִּֽי׃ | 24 J | That night יהוה appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham’s [house]. Fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you and increase your offspring for the sake of My servant Abraham.” |
אל תירא כי אתך אני, “Do not fear for I am with you;” G-d appeared to him at this point as he had been greatly disturbed by the hostile attitude displayed by the Philistines time and again.
אל תירא כי אתך אנכי, "do not be afraid for I am with you, etc." Seeing that Isaac had experienced the humiliation of expulsion at the hands of Avimelech and did not know where to turn next, he might have felt abandoned by G'd. This is why G'd reassured him, telling him not to be afraid.
וירא, this vision was meant to encourage Yitzchok not to be afraid on account of these territorial disputes over the sources of water for his flocks. He reassured him that those hating him now would not only give up their opposition but would come pleading for a peace-treaty with him; this is why He added that Yitzchok’s success would be linked to that of G’d’s servant Avraham. We see this promise fulfilled already in verse 26 when the King himself travels to see Yitzchok and is forced to acknowledge that the combination of Yitzchok’s G’d and Yitzchok is too powerful for him to oppose.
בעבור אברהם עבדי, seeing that Avraham had complied with all of G’d’s instructions just like a slave carrying out the dictates of his master.
FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH THEE. Since Abimelech drove him away because of the Philistines’ jealousy of him, and since the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with him, Isaac feared lest they gather against him and smite him and his family. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, assured him that he should not fear them, and He blessed him. Then He prompted them so that the king went to Isaac with greater honor than that which he did to his father since he came with Phichol, the chief of his host, and also brought with him many of his friends.
אל תירא, that they would reduce your heritage due to their constant interference with you.
וברכתיך, a blessing of financial success.
The Lord appeared to him that night and said: I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, despite the fact that you have been forced to move due to the provocations of the Philistines, as I am with you; I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.
אל תירא, “do not fear!” G’d reassures Yitzchok that his expulsion was not the beginning of a downturn in his fortunes, As proof, immediately thereafter it is Avimelech who begs Yitzchok to observe the treaty obligations his father had entered into with the (previous) Avimelech. Yitzchok is accorded far more respect and reverence after his expulsion than while he was a guest at Avimelech, needing the latter’s protection.
“He said: Lord, God of my master Abraham, please arrange it for me today, and perform kindness with my master Abraham” (Genesis 24:12). “He said: Lord, God of my master Abraham, please arrange it for me today…” “Who among you fears the Lord, who heeds the voice of His servant…” (Isaiah 50:10). “Who among you fears the Lord” – this is Abraham; (See Genesis 22:12.) “who heeds the voice of His servant…” – [this means] that the Holy One blessed be He heeded the voice of his [Abraham’s] servant. “Who walked in darkness” (Isaiah 50:10) – as he came forth from Mesopotamia and its environs, but he did not know where he was to go, like a person who is situated in the dark. “And there was no light for him” (Isaiah 50:10) – and who provided illumination for him? The Holy One blessed be He provided illumination for him every place that he would go. “Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God” (Isaiah 50:10) – “[You called his name Abraham,] and You found his heart faithful before You” (Nehemiah 9:7–8). Another interpretation, “Who among you fears the Lord” – this is Eliezer; “who heeds the voice of His servant…” – [he heeded] the voice of Abraham who was the servant of the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “For the sake of My servant, Abraham” (Genesis 26:24). “Who walked in darkness” – when he went to bring Rebecca. “And there was no light for him” – and who provided illumination for him? The Holy One blessed be He provided illumination for him, with shooting stars and lightning. “Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God” – “He said: Lord, God of my master Abraham, please arrange it for me today.”
“He refused, and he said to his master's wife: Behold, my master, having me, does not know what is in the house, and he has placed everything that he has in my charge” (Genesis 39:8). “He refused, and he said to his master's wife” – Yehuda ben Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] said: If, in the matter of a mitzva, one may refuse, in the matter of a transgression, [is it] not [obvious] that one must refuse? In the matter of a mitzva one may refuse – “my husband’s brother has refused [to perpetuate a name for his brother in Israel, he is unwilling to perform levirate marriage with me]” (Deuteronomy 25:7). In the matter of a transgression, must one not refuse? “He refused, and he said…: Behold, my master….” He said to her: ‘The Holy One blessed be He is accustomed to choose from the beloved of my father’s household for a burnt offering – to Abraham: “Take now your son” (Genesis 22:2). Shall I accede to you? Perhaps I have been chosen as a burnt offering, and I will be disqualified from being an offering.’ Another matter, “he said to his master's wife” – he said to her: ‘The Holy One blessed be He is accustomed to reveal Himself to the beloved of my father’s household at night: Abraham – “After these matters, the word of the Lord was to Abram in a vision,” (Genesis 15:1); Isaac – “The Lord appeared to him that night” (Genesis 26:24); Jacob – “He dreamed, and behold, a ladder” (Genesis 28:12). If I accede to you, perhaps the Holy One blessed be He will reveal Himself to me and find me impure.’ Another matter, “Behold, my master” – he said to her: ‘I am afraid. If Adam the first man was commanded regarding a minor mitzva, and when he violated it, he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, this, which is a major transgression of forbidden sexual relations, all the more so.’ “Behold, my master” – [he said to her:] ‘I am afraid of my father, in the land of Canaan; Reuben, because it is written in his regard: “Reuben went and lay with Bilha” (Genesis 35:22), his birthright was taken from him and given to me. If I accede to you, I will be rejected from my birthright.’ Another matter, “Behold, my master” – [he said to her:] ‘I am afraid of my master.’ She said to him: ‘I will kill him.’ He said to her: ‘Is it not sufficient that I will be counted in the company of adulterers, that [I should also be among] the company of murderers? And if this matter is what you seek – “behold, my master” – go to the one who is before you’ . Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The milk of black goats and the milk of white goats is the same. (If you seek sexual relations, go to your husband, who can provide that just as well as I can. ) Another matter, “Behold, my master” – [he said to her:] ‘I am afraid of the Lord.’ She said to him: ‘He is not here.’ He said to her: “The Lord is great and highly extolled, [and His greatness is unfathomable]” (Psalms 145:3). Rabbi Avin said: She took him from room to room aand from bed chamber to bed chamber until she positioned him next to her bed. Her idol was etched above it. She took a sheet and covered its face. He said to her: ‘You have done well that you covered its face. The one in whose regard it is written: “They are the eyes of the Lord roving throughout the earth” (Zechariah 4:10), all the more so.’ (If you are concerned about being seen by your idol, all the more so should you be concerned about being seen by God. ) “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has not withheld anything from me but you, as you are his wife. How can I do this great wickedness, and sin to God?” (Genesis 39:9). Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Ami: Was the verse missing anything? “And sin to the Lord” (This is the typical expression when referring to sin.) is not written here, but rather, “[and sin] to God.” By God, I will not perform this evil matter. (The midrash interprets Joseph to have taken an oath that he would not perform this sin. )
And the Lord remembered Sarah (Gen. 21:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: That confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers. That saith of Jerusalem: “She shall be inhabited”; and of the cities of Judah: “They shall be built” (Isa. 44:26). That confirmeth the word of His servant refers to Abraham, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I opened his womb (Abimelech) on account of Abraham, My servant, who prayed in his behalf, as it is said: And Abraham prayed unto God (Gen. 20:17). Performeth the counsel of His messengers alludes to the angels who informed Abraham that he would have an offspring, as it is said: I will certainly return unto you when the season cometh around (ibid. 18:10).
Another thing to the conductor, to serve God. What did David see fit to say to the servant of God? To teach you that anyone who repents for their sins, the Almighty adds honor to them and calls them a beloved name. Come and see this in the case of the sons of Korah: until they repented, they were not called beloved, but after they repented, they were called beloved (Psalms 45:1). To the conductor, on Shoshanim. When they repented, they were called friends, as it says, "To the conductor, on the Shoshanim, for the sons of Korah, a maskil, a song of friendship" (Psalms 47:1). You also find this with David, as until he repented, he was not included in the upper assembly, but after he repented, he was included in the upper assembly and was called the servant of God, to the conductor, for the servant of God. You will find that anyone who calls themselves a servant, the Almighty calls them a servant. Abraham called himself a servant (Genesis 18:3), "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, do not pass on by your servant." And the Almighty called him a servant (Genesis 26:24), "Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Jacob called himself a servant (Genesis 32:11), "I am not worthy of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which You have shown to Your servant." And the Almighty called him a servant (Isaiah 44:1), "But now listen, O Jacob, My servant." Moses called himself a servant (Deuteronomy 3:24), "O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand." And the Almighty called him a servant (Numbers 12:7), "Not so with My servant Moses." David called himself a servant (Psalms 116:16), "Truly, I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant." And the Almighty called him a servant (2 Samuel 3:18), "By the hand of David, My servant, I will save." And there were those who did not call themselves servants, but the Almighty called them servants. Isaac did not call himself a servant, but the Almighty called him a servant (Exodus 32:13), "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants." Joshua did not call himself a servant, but he was called a servant (Joshua 24:29), "And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died.
(Devarim 3:24) "to show Your servant": There are those who call themselves "servants," whom the Holy One Blessed be He calls "servants." And there are those who call themselves "servants," whom the Holy One Blessed be He does not call "servants." And there are those who do not call themselves "servants," whom the Holy One Blessed be He calls "servants." Abraham called himself a "servant," viz. (Bereshith 12:3) "Do not now pass away from Your servant," and the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. (Ibid. 26:24) "for the sake of Abraham, My servant." Jacob called himself a "servant," viz. (Ibid. 32:11) "I am too small for all of the lovingkindnesses and all of the truth that You have done with Your servant," and the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. (Isaiah 41:8) "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob, etc." Moses called himself a "servant, viz. "to show Your "servant," and the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. (Joshua 1:2) "Moses My servant is dead." David called himself a "servant," viz. (Psalms 116:16) "Heed, O L-rd, for I am Your servant," and the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. ( II Kings 19:34) "for the sake of David, My servant." Isaiah called himself a "servant," viz. (Isaiah 49:5) "… who formed me from the womb to be a servant to Him," and the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. (Ibid. 20:3) "Isaiah, My servant." Samuel called himself a "servant," but the Holy One Blessed be He did not call him a "servant." Shimshon called himself a "servant," viz. (Judges 15:18) "You have given unto the hand of Your servant, etc.", but the Holy One Blessed be He did not call him a servant. Solomon called himself a "servant," viz. (I Kings 3:9) "Give Your servant an understanding heart," and the Holy One Blessed be He did not call him a "servant," but wrought for his father's sake, viz. (I Kings 15:13) "for the sake of David, My servant." Iyyov did not call himself a "servant," but the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," (viz. Iyyov 2:3) "Have you given heart to My servant, Iyyov"? Joshua did not call himself a "servant," but Scripture called him a "servant," viz. (Joshua 24:29) "and Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the L-rd, died." Calev did not call himself a "servant," but the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. (Bamidbar 14:24) "But My servant Calev, etc." Elyakim did not call himself a "servant," but the Holy One Blessed be he called him a "servant," viz. (Isaiah 22:20) "And I will call My servant Elyakim, etc." Zerubavel did not call himself a "servant," but the Holy One Blessed be He called him a "servant," viz. (Chaggai 2:23) "Zerubavel ben Shaltiel, My servant." Daniel did not call himself a "servant," but Scripture called him a "servant," viz. (Daniel 6:21) "The king spoke and said to Daniel: Daniel, servant of the living G-d." Chananiah, Mishael, and Azaryah did not call themselves "servants," but the Holy One Blessed be He called them "servants," viz. (Daniel 6:23) "Shadrach, Meshach and Aved-nego, servants of the exalted G-d." The early prophets did not call themselves "servants," but the Holy One Blessed be He called them "servants," viz. (Amos 3:7) " … but He revealed His secret to His servants, the prophets."
The Torah, and Tanakh as a whole, has a memorable way of putting this. Moses’ highest honour is that he is called eved Hashem, “the servant of God.” He is called this once on his death (Deut. 34:5) and no less than eighteen times in Tanakh as a whole. God calls Abraham, and later Caleb, “My servant” (Gen. 26:24; Num. 14:24). Joshua is twice called “the servant of God” (Josh. 24:29; Judges 2:8). In Judaism, a leader is a servant and to lead is to serve. Anything else is not leadership as Judaism understands it.
In the stories of Jacob, however, the Torah always uses “Lord,” for he was more complete than was Isaac. Thus, unlike Isaac, who had not been as | complete as Abraham, (36. Kaspi says that in the following verses, which refer to Isaac, the memory and merits of Abraham are invoked in order to increase the well-being of Isaac. This indicates that Abraham was the greater of the two.) it is not said of Jacob, “because that Abraham hearkened to my voice,” (37. Gen. 26:5.) or “for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (38. Gen. 26:24.) The exception (where “God” appears in the stories of Jacob) is “the house of God,” (39. Gen. 28:17.) and that is on account of its being followed by “and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob said that because he recognized that the place was conducive to prophecy and perception because of the celestial cause that predominated there, as Ibn Ezra noted. (40. Ibn Ezra says on this verse: “This is the house of God—in which a person can pray in time of need, for his prayer will be heard on account of its being a special place.”) He continued to say, “If God will be with me …” (41. Gen. 28:20.) (using ’Elokim) in accordance with the opinion of our Torah that the world of Separate Intelligences is the first cause. (42. As explained above, ’Elokim refers to the upper two worlds, which are here referred to by Kaspi as ha-sekhel ha-nifrad (“the separate intellect”), which as an entity influences the events of the sublunar world below them.) The proof of this is provided by the opening verse of the Torah, “In the beginning God created …” as I have explained. (43. See above chap. II, n. 1.) When Jacob’s wives speak, and when Jacob speaks to them, they mention “God,” (44. Gen. 31:5, 9, 11, 16.) for that is appropriate for them, as we have already mentioned. This is especially the case as they are the daughters of (the pagan) Laban, as is proved by Rachel when she coveted the teraphim. (45. Gen. 31:19.) When on occasion they do mention “Lord,” (46. Gen. 29:32–33, 30:24.) it is only because they learnt this from Jacob. Notice the precision regarding Laban when the Torah says, “and God came to Laban,” (47. Gen. 31:24.) similar to what was written of Abimelech, (48. Gen. 20:3.) in accordance with his confused belief in the power of the Heavenly Sphere and that of the imagination. Laban said to Jacob, “the God of your father spoke unto me yesternight saying …,” (49. Gen. 31:29.) for how could the god of Laban assist Jacob when (Jacob) did not believe in him. Similarly he said, “the Lord watch between me and thee,” (50. Gen. 31:49.) in accordance with Jacob’s belief. Furthermore Laban made Jacob swear by the Lord, for Jacob feared Him, and not God. In summarizing in conclusion, Laban said, “The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor … judge betwixt us …” (51. Gen. 31:53.) whereas “Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.” (52. Ibid.) Jacob uses “God” when saying “and the angels of God met him,” (53. Gen. 32:2.) and “this is God’s camp,” (54. Ibid.) as well as “I have seen God face to face” (55. Gen. 32:28.) and “for thou hast striven with God,” (56. Gen. 32:20.) for all of them are in a prophetic use of the imagination. (57. He means that they take place in a prophetic vision, which with the exception of Moses, necessarily involves the imaginative faculty.) It is similar with “And God said unto Jacob,” (58. Gen. 35:1.) | and “there God was revealed unto him,” (59. Gen. 35:7.) as well as “and God appeared unto Jacob again” (60. Gen. 35:9.) and “where God spoke with him.” (61. Gen. 35:15.)
AND BE THOU A BLESSING. You will be the blessing by whom people will be blessed, saying, “G-d make thee as Abraham.” To this He added that all families of the earth (Verse 3 here.) will cite him in blessing, not just the people of his country alone. It may be that the expression, And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed, (Verse 3 here.) means that they will all be blessed on his account. Now this portion of Scripture is not completely elucidated. What reason was there that the Holy One, blessed be He, should say to Abraham, “Leave your country, and I will do you good in a completely unprecedented measure,” without first stating that Abraham worshipped G-d or that he was a righteous man, [and] perfect? (Above, 6:9. As was the case with Noah.) Or it should state as a reason for his leaving the country that the very journey to another land constituted an act of seeking the nearness of G-d. (Psalms 73:28. This may indeed be an illuminating personal remark shedding light on Ramban’s journey, towards the end of his life, to the Land of Israel; the very journey constituted to him a religious experience of “seeking the nearness of G-d.”) The custom of Scripture is to state, “Walk before Me, (Genesis 17:1.) and hearken to My voice, and I will do good unto you,” as is the case with David (See I Kings 2:4.) and Solomon, (Ibid., 3:13-14.) as well as throughout the Torah: If ye walk in My statute; (Leviticus 26:3.) And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Eternal thy G-d. (Deuteronomy 28:1.) And in the case of Isaac, it says, For My servant Abraham’s sake. (Genesis 26:24.) But there is no reason for G-d to promise [Abraham a reward merely] for his leaving the country. However, the reason [for G-d’s promising Abraham this reward] is that the people of Ur of the Chaldees did him much evil on account of his belief in the Holy One, blessed be He, and he fled from them to go to the land of Canaan, tarrying for a time at Haran, whereupon the Eternal told him to leave these places as well and to fulfill his original intention that his worship be dedicated to Him alone and that he call upon people [for the worhip of] the Name of the Eternal in the Chosen Land. There He would make his name great, and these nations would bless themselves by him, not as they treated him in Ur of the Chaldees, where they abused and cursed him, put him in prison or in the fiery furnace. He further told Abraham that He will bless those who bless him, and if some individual will curse him, he will be cursed in turn. This then is the meaning of this portion of Scripture. The Torah, however, did not want to deal at length with the opinions of idol worshippers and explain the matter between him and the Chaldeans in the subject of faith, just as it dealt briefly with the matter of the generation of Enosh (Above, 4:26. See also above in Seder Noach, Note 280.) and their thesis concerning the idol-worship which they instituted.
AND HE CALLED UPON THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL. Onkelos explained it as meaning that he prayed there, just as in the verse, I called upon Thy name, O Eternal, out of the lowest dungeon. (Lamentations 3:55.) The correct interpretation is that Abraham loudly proclaimed the name of the Eternal there before the altar, informing people of Him and of His Divine essence. In Ur of the Chaldees he taught people but they refused to listen. Now, however, that he had come to the land concerning which he had been promised, And I will bless them that bless thee, (Verse 3 here.) he became accustomed to teach and to proclaim the Deity. Scripture likewise tells of Isaac — when he went to the valley of Gerar where he was promised, Fear not, for I am with thee (Further, 26:24.) — that he built an altar there and invoked the name of the Eternal (Ibid., Verse 25.) since he had come to a new place where they had not heard of His fame or seen His glory, and he proclaimed His glory among these nations. (See Isaiah 66:19.) Now a similar statement is not made concerning Jacob, [i.e., that he proclaimed the name of the Eternal before the peoples of the land of Canaan], for since he begot many children — all of whom were worshippers of G-d — and he had a great community, which was called “the congregation of Israel,” (Exodus 12:3, et al.) it was through them that the Faith was proclaimed and became known to all people. Besides, the Faith had been proclaimed throughout the entire land of Canaan since the days of his ancestors. In Bereshith Rabbah (39:24.) the Rabbis similarly say, “And he called upon the name of the Eternal. This teaches us that he caused the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, to be in the mouth of all people.”
and continued, “I am the God of your father’s [house]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Adonoy appeared [became revealed] to him that night and said, I am the God of your father, Avraham. Do not fear for I am with you [My Word is your support]. I will bless you and make your descendants numerous, because of My servant, Avraham.
And the Lord appeared to him that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not; for My Word is for thy help, and I will bless thee, and multiply thy sons for the righteousness' sake of Abraham My servant.
The Beracha (blessing) of Zimun is from the Torah (i.e. a Torah obligation) as it is said, “And you should eat, and be satisfied, and bless…” (Deuteronomy 8:10), this is [a reference to] the Beracha of Zimun. “… Hashem, your God …” (Deuteronomy 8:10), this is [a reference to] the first Beracha [of Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals)]. “… for the land …” (Deuteronomy 8:10), this is [a reference to] the Beracha about the land (i.e. the second Beracha) [of Birkat Hamazon]. “… the good …” (Deuteronomy 8:10), this is [a reference to the Beracha about] Jerusalem (i.e. the third Beracha) [of Birkat Hamazon] as it is said “… this good mountain and Levanon.” (Deuteronomy 3:25). “… which He has given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:10), this is [a reference to the Beracha of] Hatov Vehameitiv (The Good and Who does good) (i.e. the fourth Beracha) [of Birkat Hamazon].
Rebbi Dostai Bar Yanai says in the name of Rebbi Meir, ‘It says [in the Torah] regarding Yitzchak “… and I will bless you and I will make your seed abundant for the sake of Avraham, My servant.” (Genesis 26:24) Yitzchak expounded and said, “A blessing only settles [on a person] through physical deeds.” [Then] he got up and he planted [seeds in the field], as it says, “And Yitzchak planted in that land, and he founded in that year Mea Shearim (literally: One Hundred Gates), and Hashem blessed him.” (Genesis 26:12) One hundred [is referring to] types [of seeds that Yitzchak planted. In that case why does the verse say] Mea Shearim (i.e. One Hundred Gates and not One Hundred Types of Seeds)? [Because the word Shearim is not referring to gates, but rather to measurements,] that they (i.e. Yitzchak’s workers) measured a hundred times [more than they planted]. It comes out [that] for every one [seed that they planted, they received back] a hundred [units of crops] according to what they measured.
| וַיִּ֧בֶן שָׁ֣ם מִזְבֵּ֗חַ וַיִּקְרָא֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיֶּט־שָׁ֖ם אׇהֳל֑וֹ וַיִּכְרוּ־שָׁ֥ם עַבְדֵי־יִצְחָ֖ק בְּאֵֽר׃ | 25 J | So he built an altar there and invoked יהוה by name. Isaac pitched his tent there and his servants started digging a well. |
“… and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” (Bereshit, 26:25) Concerning the wells of our Forefather Yitzchak, Yitzchak strove to live the attribute whereby he would be distinguished and separated from the nations of the world, and the digging of the wells hints at this. (For a man must cleave to the attributes of God, and this is a sign among His Hosts, that they will not apprehend Him, but he will be exulted over all. Similarly the souls of Israel must distinguish themselves from the idolaters, as we find written in the Gemara (Nedarim, 65a), “Tsidkiyahu found Nebuchadnetsar eating a live rabbit. ‘Swear to me not to reveal this, that the matter not be found out.’ He swore, and later regretted it, had his vow annulled, and told of it. Nebuchadnetsar heard that they were deriding him, so he had Tsidkiyahu and the Sanhedrin brought before him. He said to them, ‘have you seen what Tsidkiyahu has done? Did he not swear on the name of Heaven that he would not reveal it?’ They answered him, ‘He was released of his oath.’ ‘Can one be released of an oath?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ they answered. ‘In his presence or even not in his presence?’ ‘Actually in his presence,’ was their reply. ‘What did you decide?’ he asked them, ‘why didn’t you say this to Tsidkiyahu (that he could only annul his vow before me)?’ Immediately, ‘The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence’ [Eicha, 2:10]. Rabbi Yitzchak said, ‘This teaches that they removed the cushions from under them [to show that they had erred in a matter of law].’ “This is the matter here, for after they saw that Yitzchak was greatly successful, they thought that it may be because he has a certain way of conduct before the Holy One, blessed be He. This is as we found in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 96a), “‘There is such a great man,’ he exclaimed, ‘and shall I not send him a greeting? Write to him: “Peace to King Hizkiah, peace to the city of Jerusalem, and peace to the great God!’” Now Nebuchadnetsar was Baladan’s scribe, but just then he was not present. When he came, he asked them, ‘How did you write?’ And they told him, ‘We wrote it this way.’ ‘You called him the great God,’ he said, ‘but you mentioned him last! Thus,’ said he, ‘you should have written: “peace to the great God, peace to the city of Jerusalem, and peace to King Hizkiah.” So the Sanhedrin had become depressed, and he was forced to reveal to them that he had eaten a live rabbit. “Rabbit” teaches of brazenness, as is explained in the Mei Hashiloach, Parshat Shmini, and since he ate such an animal alive it was a sign that he had in his roots such brazenness against heaven. All of this is only on the surface; therefore he permitted himself to break his vow seeing as they were greatly depressed that perhaps a single idolater could be compared to Israel. Giliyon Mei HaShiloach.) The first well was words of Torah, that He had chosen words of Torah and the recognition of the Creator, and this understanding is not found among the nations. “And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Yitzchak, saying, the water is ours” (Bereshit, 26:20). This means that they asserted that they also have this understanding, for they too have the recognition of God and the seven mitzvot that were commanded of them. The second well signifies that he chose the form of Divine service with the Temple sacrifices, and the nations asserted that they too have a part in this, for the Temple would also accept certain offerings from Gentiles. On this it says (Bereshit, 26:22), “and he removed from that place, and digged another well, over which they did not argue.” This well shows how he chose the attribute of patience and accepting suffering, that is to say, to suffer for the service of God, as it says in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 69:8), “Yitzchak reinstituted the way of suffering.” “And over this they did not argue,” for immediately after this well had been dug they ran away, scorning it. This is why of this well it is said, “for God has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” This means that he asked of God that he not have to undergo great suffering, God forbid, but only to receive Divine visitations (punishment from God alone). What is the nature of Divine visitation? The Gemara explains (Arachin, 16b), “even if he intended to pull three coins out of his pocket, and he only pulled out two [it is counted as a Divine visitation].” “And we will be fruitful in the land” means that for all we have suffered, God will return to us good far greater than our loss. This is why the fourth well is called “Sheva,” (Bereshit, 26:33) for Sheva (Meaning seven or satisfied; both make sense here.) hints at the future, as is known. That is, in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will return goodness to all those who suffered over the sanctification of His blessed name. This is the explanation of the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, Bereshit, 65:10), “And Yitzchak’s servants came” (Bereshit, 26:32). We do not know if they had found water or if they did not find water, but from what it says (verse 19), “and found there a well of living water,” we take it that they found living water.” The explanation of “we do not know if they found living water” is that if it says with the first well, “and they found a well of living water,” then it is all the more so concerning the fourth well, which hints at the good that is hidden in the future. On this, also of third well he said, “for now God has given us expansion and made us fruitful in the land.”
“And God appeared to him that same night, and He said, I am God of Avraham your father … and he built there an altar … and the servants of Yitzchak dug a well ….” (Bereshit, 26:24–25) It does not say that he gave it a name. We can understand this by means of a parable. A man finds out that the king will come and visit him on a certain day. He begins to prepare all kinds of food, and during his preparations the king comes and visits. Then the man drops all that he is doing and receives the king. It is also like this here, for when God appeared to him, he did not turn to do anything else.
DIGGED. Va-yikhru means digged. Kariti, in in my grave which I have digged (kariti) for me (Gen. 50:5); yikhreh in or if a man shall dig (yikhreh) a pit (Ex. 21:33); and koreh, in whoso diggeth (koreh) a pit shall fall therein (Prov. 26:27), are similar. (They all come from the root caf, resh, heh and mean to dig.)
'ויבן...ויקרא בשם ה. Just as Avraham had been in the habit of doing.
ויט שם אהלו, he fixed his abode in Beer Sheva.
ויכרו שם עבדי יצחק, just as Avraham had dug for water there, Yitzchok now ordered his servants to dig a well there. While they were engaged in digging this well and Avimelech came up from Gerar, Yitzchok’s servants came to tell him that they had met with success and had brought in a new well. All of this is reported here to show G’d’s timing was intended to demonstrate to Avimelech that Yitzchok was successful everywhere and that he better be in awe of him.
ויכרו שם עבדי יצחק באר, Yitzchok did not name this well until his servants had completed it and until after Avimelech had come to him from Gerar suing for peace, and the confirmed their agreement by swearing an oath to each other. At that point his servants came and told him that they had located a new source of water and he called it שבעה as a reminder of the oath that had been sworn on that occasion by both Yitzchok and Avimelech.
חפר und רהו sind verschieden. Aus בור כרה ויחפרהו (Psalm 7, 17) und da חפר auch überhaupt aufsuchen, ausspähen, somit wohl aus der dunklen, unbekannten Tiefe ans Licht heben heißt, ist wohl כרה, das ja überhaupt bereiten heißt, der Anfang des Grabens und חפר die Vollendung, so tief graben, bis Wasser hervorquillt. Früher, bei den Philistern, musste Jizchak Wasser suchen und um das gefundene streiten. Jetzt, wo ihm Gott erschienen und er an dieser Stelle, um alles andere unbekümmert, sein Zelt aufgeschlagen hatte, brauchte er nicht erst zu suchen, wo seine Knechte den ersten Spatenstich ansetzten, da fanden sie auch Wasser. Abimelechs Besuch und dies Graben war gleichzeitig.
ויקרא בשם ה'...ויכרו שם עבדי יצחק באר—ואבימלך הלך אליו. After Yitzchok had roused himself to proclaim the name of the Lord publicly, his servants started digging a successful well without encountering opposition. Not only this, but Avimelech now came to him in order to make a treaty with him, and not to interfere with him anymore. [I wonder whether the word הלך “he walked on foot,” somewhat unusual for the mode a king travels is meant to convey to us that he humiliated himself. Ed.]
He built an altar there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Like Abraham, Isaac performed a ceremony or prayer in which he publicly invoked God’s name. And he pitched his tent there. And Isaac’s servants dug a well there, near Beersheba.
באר חפרהו שרים, “a well dug by princes.” This well was not like other wells in the Bible which had been dug by servants of slaves, as we know from Genesis 26,25, but it was especially honoured through having been dug by Moses, Aaron, as well as the elders of Israel.
Seeing his molten image having proved deceitful, the human repented, and conceived Seth in his image and likeness. Seth conceived Enosh; from them came Enoch who walked before God, knowing and cognizing Him in truth. As it says: “And Enoch walked with God” [Gen. 5:22]. Generations passed until Noah’s arose, the tenth in count since Adam’s. He too knew God with a perfect knowledge, prudence dwelling with Wisdom. Thus Noah found favor in God’s eyes, as it is written: “And Noah found favor” [Gen. 6:8]. Among Noah’s three sons, Shem was chosen, for he was the first born, recognizing his Creator, knowing and cognizing Him in faith. His descendent Ever grasped hold of God’s path, upheld its steps, was chosen from his entire generation to be singled out for fame and praise. By means of a knowledge complete, lucid and pure, Shem and Ever comprehended the rational commandments and statutes divine, setting right the branches on high. And they charged the multitudes to walk in God’s paths. The generations progressed. The tenth after Noah’s was distinguished by the man chosen from the womb since the dawn, our father Abraham. He perceived a knowledge of his Creator transcending his predecessors’, comprehending God’s reality in a manner formerly unknown. He began to call upon God’s name among all of the nations and kingdoms, as it is written: “And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon God’s name” [Gen. 12:8]. And it says: “He planted an oak in Be‘er Sheva and invoked the name of the Lord, the God of the world” [Gen. 21:33]. Since he took possession of the attribute of divine love, his son Isaac was chosen from among all of his sons and offspring. As it is written: “God said to Abraham: ‘Do not be distressed over the boy or your handmaid; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that your offspring will be continued’” [Gen. 21:12]. Isaac attained knowledge of his Creator, he too exhorting his sons to walk in God’s ways, as it is written: “he built an altar there and invoked the Lord by name, pitching there his tent” [Gen. 26:25]. He took divine justice as his portion. When his son Jacob was born, the image of the likeness of the blessed Holy One, engraved on the Throne of Glory, manifested itself in the world. For Jacob grasped the attributes of justice and mercy a path equalized and balanced, so that his ways were imbued with truth and the paths of peace. For fourteen years he studied in Ever’s school and from his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham, he received the knowledge of God. Thus, shekhinah’s glory was revealed to him. Then the three patriarchs formed a chariot-throne for Him who rides the ancient highest heavens [Ps. 68:34]. They fulfilled the Teaching and commandment, serving their Creator by knowing Him; their worship lacking nothing. “For Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My commandments, My laws and My teachings” [Gen. 26:5].
AND ISAAC’s SERVANTS CAME AND TOLD HIM CONCERNING THE WELL WHICH THEY HAD DIGGED. This is the same well mentioned above in the verse, And there Isaac’s servants digged a well. (Verse 25 here.) They had begun to dig it, and Abimelech came to him during that period, and on the day of the making of the covenant, when Abimelech and his retinue had left, Isaac’s servants brought him the tidings that they had found water. It appears feasible to me that this is the same well which Abraham dug, in connection with which he gave Abimelech seven lambs as a witness [to his ownership of the well]. (Above, 21:30.) The Philistines, however, stopped it together with the other wells, whereupon Isaac dug it again and called it by the same name which his father had called it. It is for this reason that the name of the city is Beer-sheba: on account of the well (be’er) which both the father and the son called by that name because there they swore both of them. (Ibid., Verse 31. The verse there refers to Abraham and Abimelech. Ramban uses it here only as an expression to indicate that both Abraham and Isaac called the same well by the same name and both had occasion to swear over it. The name of the city “Beer-sheba” thus derives its historical significance from both the first patriarch and his son.) This well of theirs alludes to the Tabernacle at Shiloh, which the Philistines stopped when the Ark of G-d was taken captive by them. (I Samuel 4:11.) And they redug it, indicating that the Philistines indeed returned the Ark together with the honorary gift to G-d. (Ibid., 6:11.)
את שבעת המזבחות — “Seven altars I have set in order” is not written here, but “THE SEVEN ALTARS”. He said to Him: The ancestors of these people together built before Thee seven altars, but I alone have built altars equal to all of them. — Abraham built four: (Genesis 12:7) “And he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him”; (Genesis 12:8) “And he removed thence unto the mount… [and he built there an altar]; (Genesis 13:18) “And Abraham moved his tent … [and built there an altar]”; and one he built on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:9). Isaac built one: (Genesis 26:25) “And he built there an altar”. Jacob built two, one at Shechem and one at Bethel (Genesis 33:20 and Genesis 35:7);
Isaac, in turn, was also a digger of wells, as he traversed the same region, redigging the wells his father had dug, that were subsequently plugged up by the Philistines. He then went on to dig four wells of his own, the last one in Beer-sheba. (Genesis 26:18–25.) Many years later, Jacob lingered in Beer-sheba on his journey from Hebron down to Egypt to reunite with Joseph. There he was promised Divine Providence while in Egypt, as well as the assurance that he would grow into a large nation whom God would return to the land. (Genesis 46:1–7.)
He [Yitzchok] built an altar there, and proclaimed [prayed in] the Name of Adonoy. He set up his tent there, and Yitzchok’s servants dug a well there.
And he builded there an altar, and prayed in the name of the Lord. And he spread his tabernacle there, and the servants of Izhak digged there a well.
| וַאֲבִימֶ֕לֶךְ הָלַ֥ךְ אֵלָ֖יו מִגְּרָ֑ר וַאֲחֻזַּת֙ מֵֽרֵעֵ֔הוּ וּפִיכֹ֖ל שַׂר־צְבָאֽוֹ׃ | 26 J | And Abimelech came to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his councilor and Phicol chief of his troops. |
ואחוזת; some commentators (quoted by Baal Haturim) understand this word as being a personal name as opposed to a title or rank.
מרעהו, a friend of Avimelech; the letter מ in this word would then be part of his name; an example of something similar is found in Judges 14,20: ויתנה לרעהו, “he (the father of Shimshon’s wife gave her to someone by the name of מרעהו.” (Pessikta zutrata) The word: אחוזת would then not be a personal name.
ואחוזת מרעהו, “and a group of his friends,” (as per Targum) Some commentators believe that the word אחוזת refers to an individual named thus. (B’reshit Rabbah 64,9). This is supported by the messorah, (the notes made by the sages responsible for ensuring that the text of the Torah is accurate.) מרעהו, “his friend.” As far as the prefix מ in that word is concerned, it is not a prefix but part of that person’s name. We find something similar in Judges 15,6: ויתנה למרעהו, “he gave her (Samson’s wife) to מרעהו. “
[Dear reader, you will note that the author distances himself from the commentary of the Bereshit Rabbah on the following verse, calling it merely homiletical, and proceeds to substitute his own. I leave it to you to decide which approach seems more far-fetched. I have followed my practice of printing this commentary in smaller print than usual in such cases Ed.] ואבימלך הלך אליו מגרר, and Avimelech went to him from Gerar, etc. Why did the Torah have to tell us where Avimelech came from? We know he lived in Gerar! Aware of this difficulty, Bereshit Rabbah 64,9 mentions that the word מגרר is to be understood here as מגורר, that the king experienced strange growths on his body which he attributed to his treatment of Isaac. Of course, this is an homiletical explanation only.. Besides, why did he have to take his general Phichol and Achuza along? If these people were merely part of the Royal entourage, the Torah did not have to bother mentioning it.
The intent of the Torah is to explain why Avimelech suddenly needed Isaac as an ally and flattered him though he should have been secure in the knowledge of the covenant Abraham had made with him (21,23). The validity of that covenant extended for three generations into the future. Nachmanides attempts to answer this problem claiming that Avimelech was simply afraid that Isaac would not honour a covenant made by his father seeing that Avimelech on his part had violated the agreement by expelling Isaac. I have not seen anywhere that part of the agreement between Abraham and Avimelech included the right of Abraham or his descendants to reside in the land of the Philistines. There was therefore no breach of the agreement when Avimelech asked Isaac to leave Gerar, and the problem we have raised remains unanswered.
We have learned in Nedarim 65 that if someone has denied himself (by a vow) the benefit of anything owned by a second party such a vow can be annulled only in the presence of the other affected party. The Talmud understood the words of the Torah in which Moses agreed to stay with Yitro as a vow not to return to Pharaoh in Egypt. When G'd told Moses to return to Egypt the Torah says: "G'd said to Moses in Midian 'go return to Egypt" (Exodus 4,19). There too the words "in Midian" appear superfluous at first glance, except for the fact that G'd told Moses that seeing he had made his vow in Midian that was the place he had to annul it. Concerning the rule that the annulment has to take place where the vow was made originally, we find the following glossary in Haga-ot Maimoniyot chapter six of Hilchot Shevuot: Ri states that this ruling applies in that form only as a desirable (לחתחילה) form of annulment. If, however, the vow was revoked by the person who made it in the absence of the person affected by it, such an annulment is valid. Even the rule that it is desirable that the person who was the subject of the vow be present at the annulment applies only when the person who denied himself any benefits of that party had originally been the recipient of a favour by that party, such as Moses to whom Yitro had given his daughter, or King Zedekiah who had been set free by King Nebuchdnezzar. When no such benefit had been received by the person who has made the vow there is no need for the subject of the annulment to be present at all, as we know from Sotah 36. Thus far the quote from Haga-ot Maimoniyot. From the above it is clear that the person who uttered the oath denying himself benefits from a second party can proceed to have this oath annulled without bothering about the presence of the second party involved. The question of whether Abraham had obtained benefits from Avimelech prior to having sworn an oath to him is therefore irrelevant. As a matter of record, Abraham received absolutely no benefit from Avimelech. The gifts that Avimelech gave him were only in expiation for the humiliation he had caused Sarah. The report in the Torah shows clearly that Abraham departed from Gerar immediately after that episode and settled in Beer Sheva. Abraham did not accept Avimelech's gifts in order to remain in Gerar but moved to Beer Sheva where Isaac also lived after his expulsion from Gerar. I have found a statement recorded in Bereshit Rabbah 54,2 on Genesis 21,23 where Avimelech refers to the kindness he showed Abraham and requests a kindness in return. The "kindness" was Avimelech's offer to Abraham to reside in the land of the Philistines, an offer which Abraham declined. The request to conclude a treaty was meant to be Abraham's quid pro quo for that offer. When the Torah quotes Avimelech as having performed acts of kindness towards Abraham, the Torah reports Avimelech's own version, not an historical fact. Isaac, on the other hand, did remain in the land of the Philistines, prospering greatly during his sojourn there. When the Torah reports Avimelech as going to Isaac from Gerar this means "on account of the legal situation deriving from Isaac's stay in Gerar." Abraham had not accepted Avimelech's offer at the time, and could therefore annul his oath without the presence (agreement) of Avimelech. The fact that Isaac did accept Avimelech's offer, made it impossible for him to annul Abraham's covenant without the presence (agreement) of Avimelech.
We may assume that Abraham did not agree with the approach of the Ri when Avimelech made Abraham swear the covenant but agreed with the approach of Maimonides. The latter writes in Hilchot Shevuot chapter 6 that whoever makes his fellow man render an oath cannot annul such an undertaking unless the other party is present even though he had not received any benefit from the party requesting the oath. Maimonides does agree, however, that if this provision was ignored the annulment is still valid precisely because the party who swore never received any benefit from his opposite number. Later halachic authorities such as the Raa'vad, Rashba and others feel that such an annulment is not valid even ipso facto, i.e. בדיעבד. Avimelech wanted to cover all his bases and therefore went to Isaac and took with him Phichol and Achuzat to lend added strength to the agreement to be forged, as we shall explain.
ואחוזת מרעהו ופיבול, וגו׳. And Achuzat and Phichol, etc. We need to know why Avimelech had to take these two people with him, something he had not done when he made a covenant with Abraham.
We may understand this with the help of a comment by Ran in Nedarim 65. He expresses doubt as to the ruling about the affected party having to be present when the vow is revoked unless the vow was designed originally to be of benefit to the party becoming its subject. [King Zedekiah (Chronicles II 36,13 as interpreted by the Talmud Nedarim 65), had vowed not to reveal the fact that he had observed king Nebuchadnezzar eat a raw hare. Had this fact become common knowledge, Nebuchadnezzar's image would have suffered amongst his subjects. Zedekiah therefore should not have had his vow annulled without the presence (consent) of Nebuchadnezzar, seeing such annulment was to his detriment. Ed.] Ran quotes unnamed sources who hold that the whole rule of requiring the consent (presence) of the second party is valid only if the second party would suffer embarassment if the party who made the vow originally now wants to annul it. Other authorities hold, however, that the reason for the rule is to ensure that the second party does not inadvertently commit a sin by not being aware that the vow had been annulled. According to the latter view, when the vow had not conferred a benefit upon the second party, it suffices to inform the second party, his presence or consent is not required. According to the former view the affected party's presence (consent) would be required as a condition for such annulment to become valid.
Avimelech may have been astute enough to try and prevent Isaac from annulling his (or his father's) vow by converting the covenant made with Abraham (in private) into a covenant made in public. We have learned in Gittin 46 that according to the view of Rabbi Yehudah a vow made in public can never be annulled. On folio 36 the Talmud quotes the opinion of Amemar that even according to the view that vows made in public are subject to annulment this is so only when the vow was not made with the consent of the people present at the time such vow was made. Tossaphot explain that Amemar does not necessarily disagree with the view of Rabbi Yehudah that publicly made vows are not subject to annulment. It emerges from the opinion expressed by Rav Yoseph in Pessachim 107 that the discussion is resolved in favour of the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah, whereas at the end of the discussion the other rabbis rule in favour of the opinion expressed by the Rabbanan. Later authorities, i.e. the Geonim, again rule in favour of Rabbi Yehudah. At any rate, Avimelech took along an entourage, i.e. Achuzat and others in order to make the vow they wanted Isaac to undertake qualify as an oath made in public and therefore not subject to annulment at any future time. Our rabbis in Gittin disagree on how many people must be present in order for such a vow to be considered "public." Rabbi Nachman holds that the presence of three people suffices, whereas Rabbi Yitzchok holds that there has to be a quorum of ten people. After perusing what our sages have written on this subject in Bereshit Rabbah 64,2 concerning the meaning of ואחוזת מרעהו, I found that Rabbi Yehudah defines the meaning as simply the name of the person, whereas Rabbi Nechemyah understands it as a procession of wellwishers. Perhaps the disagreement mentioned in that Midrash is parallel to the disagreement whether three or ten people are required in order to qualify a vow as having been made in public. At any rate we may view Avimelech as having made sure that sufficient people were present to make Isaac's vow irrevocable.
Perhaps Avimelech was so astute that he wanted to ensure that the presence of his army commander Phichol, who represented all the military, would make the vow one that had been made על דעת רבים, "with the consent of many," not merely "in the presence of many."
The same two rabbis who disagreed in Bereshit Rabbah 64,9 on the meaning of ואחוזת מרעהו also disagree on the meaning of the word פיכל. Rabbi Yehudah considers the word as merely his name, whereas Rabbi Nechemyah sees in it a description of his function, i.e. that פי כל, he was the authority to whom all the soldiers owed obeisance. The argument between the two rabbis may have the same root, i.e. whether in order to make a vow into a public vow one requires the presence of three or ten people respectively. The plain meaning of the Torah seems to be that three people suffice; this is why if we accept the meaning of Rabbi Yehudah, Avimelech took two people along for the ceremony. According to the view that a quorum of ten is required to make the vow a public oath we would have to interpret the verse according to the opinion of Rabbi Nechemyah in which case Avimelech took along quite a number of people, i.e. a minimum of ten. At the same time Avimelech may have wanted the oath to qualify as approved by a quorum of at least ten people, as we described earlier.
ואבימלך הלך אליו מגרר, “and Avimelech walked to him from Gerar.” The reason the Torah wrote מגרר, something quite superfluous, is so that we can read the word as מגורר, full of eczema; his skin had developed painful boils, etc. (compare Bereshit Rabbah 64,9).
ואבימלך...ואחוזת מרעהו, Avimelech had a powerful minister whose name was Achuzat (Bereshit Rabbah 64,9) The Massoretes claim that the word is not the name of a human being. Accordingly, the word מרעהו would have to be understood as similar to Kings I 4,5 רעה המלך, “a companion of the king, a close friend.” The leading minister, comparable to a prime minister in a constitutional monarchy, always had the title רע המלך, “the King’s closest associate.” The letter מ in the word מרעהו belongs to the groups of letters known as אותיות א-מ-ת-י-ן which often are used as additional letters. For instance, we find this extraneous letter מ in connection with רע also in Judges 14,20 ותהי אשת שמשון למרעהו אשר רעה לו, “Shimshon’s wife then married one of those who had been his wedding companion.” Onkelos translates the words אחוזת מרעהו as “a group of his supporters.” Accordingly, the verse means that Avimelech took with him a number of his close advisers, friends. According to Onkelos the meaning of the letter מ in the word מרעהו is a mem hashimush, a formative letter varying pronoun endings, etc., so that the word רעהו would be the same as רעיו, His companions, and the unusual plural ending, the same as in Nachum 2,4 מגן גבוריהו, “his warriors’ shields.” The word גבוריהו is an alternate for גבוריו.
ופיכל שר צבאו, this was the same general who had held this position in Avraham’s time with the former Avimelech.
מרעהו ואחזת, with an entourage of his friends, as per Onkelos. The expression מרעהו occurs in this sense in Judges 15,6. The prefix מ in the word מרעהו is similar to the same prefix in the מריע ותוקע (Rosh Hashanah 33) [an unusual shift from the simple active mode kal, to the causative mode hiphil for basically the same activity, namely blowing the shofar. Ed.] as well as the מ in Jeremiah 21,4 אנכי מסב את כלי המלחמה, “The author quotes several more examples, as for instance, Proverbs 12,26 יתר מרעהו צדיק, ודרך רשעים תתעם, “the righteous enjoys advantages over his fellow man; the way of the wicked leads him astray.” [If I understand correctly, the letter מ is used transitively, although in this instance in the construction of a noun. Avimelech’s entourage רעהו was meant to give moral support to Avimelech in this ordinarily humiliating undertaking for him. Rash’bam goes as far as understanding the word ויתורו in Numbers 13,2 not as commonly understood as a verbal form of תור, “to tour, to traverse,” but as related to the word יתר from יתרון quoted in his citation from Proverbs 12,26. As to the fact that, if so, he word in Numbers should have been ויתירו instead of ויתורו, he quotes the interchangeable usage or ישוב and ישיב as well as יקום and יקים as examples where the hiphil is also used with the letter ו instead of the letter י for the middle root letter, עיו הפועל. Ed.]
ואחזת מרעהו —as the Targum renders it: וסיעת מרחמוחי which means a company formed from his friends, the מ meaning from סיעת ממאוהביו. There are some who explain that in מרעהו the מ is part of the noun מרע — just like (Judges 14:11) “Thirty companions (מרעים)” in the narrative of Samson — in order that the word ואחזת should be taken to be the construct state to מרעהו (the company of his friends). But it would not be a polite thing to speak thus of a king — the company of his friends — for if this were the meaning it would imply that he (Abimelech) took with him the whole company of his friends and that he had no more than one group of friends. For this reason it should be interpreted in the first way (that אחזת is not construct). And you need not be surprised at the ת of אחזת although the word is not in the construct state, for we have similar cases in Scripture: (Psalms 60:13) “help (עזרת) against the adversary”, and (Isaiah 51:21) “Drunken, (שכרת) but not with wine”.
אחזת signifies a collection and band, and a band is so called because the people who constitute it are held נאחזין together.
Dieser Besuch des Abimelech ist sehr charakteristisch. Obgleich er selbst dem Abrahamssohne die dem Vater zugesicherte Bundestreue gebrochen, lag ihm doch daran, von dem Sohne einen Bundeseid zu erhalten. War es ja auch in späterer und spätester Zeit des jüdischen Nationallebens eben die jüdische Nation, die jedem Völkerrechtlich geschworenen Bundeseide unter allen Umständen die Treue hielt, und um dieser Treue willen notorisch geachtet war. Ebenso charakteristisch ist das ונשלחך בשלום, "daß sie ihn ungeplündert fortgewiesen", rechnen sie als hohe Wohltat an! —
מרעהו, während רע, von רעה ein inniges Freundschaftsverhältnis bezeichnet, in welchem jeder in dem andern seine "Weide", seine Befriedigung findet, bezeichnet מֵרֵעַ mehr den Vergnügungsgenossen, wie bei Simson. Es scheint auch das מ mehr ein sachliches als ein persönliches zu bezeichnen, mehr "Bekanntschaft" als Bekannter, ebenso mehr Genossenschaft als Genosse. — אחוזה scheint den ganzen Vorrat an Genossen zu bedeuten, was er nur an Genossen besaß. אחז kommt ja häufig auch von Personen vor, ותאחזני ימינך usw. — פיכול, da der Feldherr in Abrahams Zeit auch פיכול hieß, so kann es, wenn es nicht derselbe war, ein amtlicher Name sein, wie אבימלך für alle philistäischen Könige, so: פי כל, "der Mund aller", d. h. der Befehlshaber, für alle dortigen Feldherren.
Later, Avimelekh king of the Philistines went to him, Isaac, from Gerar, with a group of his associates and Pikhol the captain of his guard.
“Avimelekh went to him from Gerar, and a group of his associates, and Fikhol the captain of his guard” (Genesis 26:26). “Avimelekh went to him from Gerar [miGerar]” – megorar, it teaches that robbers entered into his house and were vandalizing it throughout the night. (He came as a homeless stranger [ger].) Alternatively, miGerar” – megorar, it teaches that boils developed on him, just as it says: “To scratch [lehitgared] with it” (Job 2:8). “And a group of his associates [vaaḥuzat mere’ehu]” – Rabbi Yehuda said: His name was aḥuzat mere’ehu. Rabbi Neḥemya said: A group of his friends. “And Fikhol the captain of his guard” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda said: Pikhol (Fikhol and Pikhol are the same word. The difference in the first letter is connected to the rules of punctuation in Hebrew.) was his name. Rabbi Neḥemya said: The mouth that all his armies take action at his word [al piv].
{Isaac did not remain in his happiness.} [In the case of Isaac also, how happy he was!] The Holy One saved him from the sword and from {burning} [the fire] {and from the men of Gerar}. He also delivered him from the men of Gerar and informed them [about who he was, so that they came to him]. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:26, 28): THEN ABIMELECH CAME UNTO HIM FROM GERAR […. AND THEY SAID: WE HAVE CLEARLY SEEN THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU.] But he did not remain in his happiness. Rather (according to Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE. So just as < this loss of happiness > happened in the case of Isaac, (according to Gen. 22:2) the burnt offering of the Holy One, how much the more does it happen in the case of the wicked! [It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5 [4]): I SAY TO THE MERRYMAKERS: DO NOT MAKE MERRY.]
Another interpretation (of Gen. 28:10): AND JACOB SET OUT. It is written (in Is. 26:20): GO, MY PEOPLE, ENTER INTO YOUR CHAMBERS AND SHUT [YOUR DOORS] BEHIND ME. (The MT reads BEHIND YOU.) HIDE JUST FOR A MOMENT UNTIL MY ANGER PASSES. When you see a fateful hour, do not stand against it but give way to it. Thus it is stated: GO, MY PEOPLE, ENTER INTO YOUR CHAMBERS. Look at me, as it were, for I have perceived an hour < made > fateful through your sins. I did nothing. Instead I gave way to it, as stated (in Lam. 2:3): HE HAS WITHDRAWN HIS RIGHT HAND…. So also you, GO MY PEOPLE. Thus, the one who stands against the hour will fall into its hand; but whoever gives way to the hour will have the hour fall into his hand. Naboth stood against the hour {and stood against it} [and fell into its hand]. When Ahab said to him (in I Kings 21:2): GIVE ME YOUR VINEYARD SO THAT I MAY HAVE IT FOR A VEGETABLE GARDEN. What did he do? He said (in vs. 3): THE LORD FORBID < THAT I SHOULD GIVE YOU MY ANCESTORS' INHERITANCE >. What happened to him? He fell into the hand of the hour, as stated (in vs. 13): AND THE MEN OF BELIAL TESTIFIED AGAINST [NABOTH BEFORE THE PEOPLE…. AND THEY STONED HIM TO DEATH WITH STONES]. Abraham gave way to the hour and fled from Nimrod, the king of the Chaldeans. So the hour returned and fell into his hand when he killed sixteen kings. It is so stated (in Gen. 14:15): THEN HE DEPLOYED < HIS FORCES > AGAINST THEM BY NIGHT. Isaac also gave way to the hour when the Philistines said to him (in Gen. 26:16): GO AWAY FROM US. Immediately < the passage continues > (in vs. 17): SO ISAAC WENT AWAY FROM THERE. Then the hour returned and fell into his hand, as stated (in Gen. 26:26-28): THEN ABIMELECH CAME UNTO HIM FROM GERAR…. SO ISAAC SAID UNTO THEM: WHY HAVE YOU COME UNTO ME …? AND THEY SAID: WE HAVE CLEARLY SEEN THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU…. Joseph also gave way to the hour. When his brothers sold him, was he not able to say: I am your brother? But he gave way to the hour, and the hour returned and fell before him, as stated (in Gen. 50:18): THEN HIS BROTHERS ALSO WENT AND FELL DOWN BEFORE HIM. Moses gave way to the hour, as stated (in Exod. 2:15): BUT MOSES FLED FROM PHARAOH. So the hour returned and fell into his hand, as stated (in Exod. 11:3): {AND} [ALSO] THE MAN MOSES WAS VERY GREAT IN THE EYES OF PHARAOH'S [SERVANTS] AND IN THE EYES OF HIS PEOPLE. David also gave way to the hour, as stated (in I Sam. 20:1): BUT DAVID FLED FROM NAIOTH. It is also written (in Ps. 3:1): WHEN HE FLED FROM HIS SON ABSALOM. And it is written (in Ps. 57:1): [WHEN HE FLED] FROM SAUL IN THE CAVE. So the hour returned and fell into his hand when Saul said to him (in I Sam. 24:21 [20]): [PLEASE] LOOK, I KNOW THAT YOU SHALL SURELY REIGN AND IN YOUR HAND THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL SHALL ARISE. So < it was > also < with > Jacob, who fled from the hour. (Hosea 12:13 [12]:) THEN JACOB FLED TO THE LAND OF ARAM. And the hour fell into his hand, as stated (in Gen. 36:6): THEN ESAU TOOK HIS WIVES < … > AND WENT INTO A LAND AWAY FROM HIS BROTHER JACOB. Ergo (in Is. 26:20): GO, MY PEOPLE, ENTER INTO YOUR CHAMBERS.
(Lev. 9:1) “And it came to pass on the eighth day….” This text is related (to Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry….’” What is the meaning of [the words], “I say to the merrymakers (rt.: hll), ‘do not make merry (rt.: hll)?’” (This root can also mean “act with abandon” and is to be taken in that sense here. For another interpretation of the word, see Lev. R. 20:2.) [The verse refers] to whoever sings in a mahanaim dance (mahol), (As in Cant. 7:1 [6:13]. In comparing these two words, the midrash assumes that both words come from the root HLL and ignores the fact that in the first case the H is a he while in the second case the H is a het.) and so it says (in Jud. 21:21), “to dance (lehol) in the dances.” [Because no happiness endures for a mortal] (Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry (rt.: hll).’” Why? The one who is happy today shall not be happy tomorrow; and the one who is depressed today shall not be depressed tomorrow. And so it says (in Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad (rt.: hll)….’” (Cf. PRK 26:2–3.) Are you willing to understand? As behold, even the happiness of the Holy One, blessed be He, did not endure. When? When the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world. He was very happy, as stated (in Ps. 104:31), “the Lord shall be happy in His works.” It also says (in Gen. 1:31), “Then God saw everything which He had made; and behold, it was very good.” [These verses are] to teach you that the Holy One, blessed be He, found pleasure in and took pride in His works. Then He gave the first Adam an easy commandment, but he did not fulfill it. Immediately He rendered him a verdict (Gk.: apophasis.) [of death], as stated (in Gen. 3:19), “for dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.” So He, as it were, did not remain in His happiness but said, “I created everything only for the human, and now he dies. What pleasure is there for Me? [Now surely if the Holy One, blessed be He,] did not remain [happy], how much the less shall people [remain happy! It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘do not make merry.’”] How happy Abraham was! He was blessed in the world, magnified, slew some kings and handed over heaven and earth to the Holy One, blessed be He. Also when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him a son at age one hundred, he circumcised him and reared him. Then finally he was told (in Gen. 22:2), “Please take your son, your only son…, [and go unto the land of Moriah,] and offer him there as a burnt offering.” So he made a three-day journey, as stated (in Gen. 22:4), “On the third day….” When he returned from Mount Moriah, he buried Sarah. He did not find a place to bury her until he bought one for four hundred silver shekels. Then after that, old age came upon him. Now surely if such was the case with Abraham the righteous, how much the more is it the case with the wicked! Isaac did not remain in his happiness: He escaped from the sword and from the men of Gerar. And [God] informed them about who he was, so that they came to him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:26, 28), “Then Abimelech came unto him from Gerar […. And they said, ‘We have clearly seen that the Lord is with you.’]” But he did not remain in his happiness. Rather (according to Gen. 27:1), “Now it came to pass, that when Isaac was old and his eyes were too weak to see.” So just as [this loss of happiness] happened in the case of Isaac the burnt offering of the Holy One, blessed be He, (according to Gen. 22:2), how much the more does it happen in the case of the wicked! Jacob was the first-born of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Exod. 4:22), “Israel is My first-born son.” How happy he was! He saw a ladder, and (according to Gen. 28:12-13) “the angels of god were ascending and descending [….] And behold, the Lord stood upon it and said, I am the Lord….” Then he went to Laban, fled from Esau, became Laban's servant for twenty years and in the end became wealthy, sired children and returned in peace. He also met Esau and was saved from him, and paid his vow. But in the end he did not remain in his happiness. Instead (according to Gen. 34:1), “Now Dinah [the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob] went out…,” and was raped]. There also came upon him the trouble over Joseph. Now surely if Jacob the righteous – one to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, had said, “In whom I will be glorified,” as stated (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified” – did not remain in his happiness, how much the less will the wicked [so remain! It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’”] How happy Joshua was! He slew thirty-one kings, gave Israel the land to possess, and distributed it. In addition all Israel gave him a [helping] hand and said (in Josh. 1:18), “Anyone who disobeys your command… [shall be put to death.” Such an honor was] something of which [even] Moses our master did not merit. Still he (i.e., Joshua) did not remain in his happiness, but rather died childless. It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’” How happy Eli was, when he was king, chief justice, and high priest! It is so stated (in I Sam. 1:9), “now Eli [the priest] was sitting on the throne by the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord.” “Now Eli the priest was sitting on the throne,” because he was king. [He was] “by the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord,” because he was chief justice. Still he did not remain in his happiness. Instead (according to I Sam. 4:18), “And it came to pass that when he (i.e., a messenger) mentioned the ark of God, he (i.e., Eli) fell backward from off the throne….” Moreover, his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas died. So just as this [shift in fortune] happened with Eli the righteous, how much the more [does it happen with] the wicked! You find neither man nor woman who saw joys like Elisheba bat Amminadab, [the wife of Aaron, as stated (in Exod. 6:23), “And Aaron took for a wife Elisheba bat Amminadab”]. (PRK 26:2; Zev. 102a; Tanh. (Buber), Lev. 6:2.) She saw her husband become high priest serving in the high priesthood and [as a] prophet. In addition, Moses, her husband's brother, was king and prophet. Moreover, her sons were deputies [to the high priest] in the priesthood, and her brother Nahshon was head of all of the princes of Israel. (According to Numb. 10:13, Nahshon was in command of the troops of Judah, and the troops of Judah headed those of the other tribes. See also Numb. 2:3; I Chron. 2:10.) Still she did not remain in her happiness. Rather, when two of her sons went in to offer a sacrifice, (according to Lev. 10:2,) “Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed them, so that they died before the Lord.” It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’” And so Solomon said (in Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad.’” There is a story about one of the great Babylonian [scholars], who married off his son, (PRK 26:2; Lev. R. 20:2.) and made a great banquet for the sages. He said to his son, “Go up and bring us a jar of such and such a wine from the attic.” He went up to the attic. [There] a snake [from] among the jars bit him, and he died. His father remained with those who were reclining [at his table]. So he delayed and did not come. [Finally,] his father said, “Let me go up and see what my son is doing.” His father went up [and] found him cast down dead among the jars. What did that saint do? He waited by himself until the guests had eaten and drunk sufficiently. When they had finished, he said, “You came to say a bridegrooms' blessing over my son. [But instead] say a mourners' blessing over him. You came to bring my son to the wedding canopy. [Instead] bring him to [his] grave.” They said about R. Zakkay of Kabul and they opened about him (in the words of Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad; and what does joy do?’”
Isaac made a covenant with the people of the land, when he sojourned in the land of the Philistines. He noticed that they turned their faces away from him. He went away from them in peace, and Abimelech and all his magnates came after him. He said to them: Ye turned aside your faces from me, and now ye come unto me, as it is said, "And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me?" (Gen. 26:27). "And they said, We saw plainly that the Lord was with thee" (Gen. 26:28). They said: We know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will give to thy seed in the future all these lands; make a covenant of an oath with us, that thy seed will not take possession of the land of the Philistines. He made a covenant of an oath with them. What did Isaac do? He cut off one cubit of the bridle of the ass upon which he was riding, and he gave it to them that it might be in their hands for a sign of the covenant of the oath.
The verse may also be understood along the following lines: When Jacob said: ועשית, he meant that what Joseph had already done for him in the past was a חסד של אמת, a true kindness for which he had not and would not receive compensation. There was, however, another kindness Jacob would now ask of him for which he would receive the city of Shechem as a reward. We would then have to understand the letter ו in front of the word ועשית as referring also to what Joseph would do in the future. Once Joseph undertook to carry out his father's wish in return for compensation any oath he swore that he would do so could not be construed as an oath sworn under duress. There would be no legal way Joseph could become free from that oath except by carrying out its provisions (compare Rav Nissim on Nedarim 65). Although the text does not have Jacob mention the gift of Shechem at this point, the Torah does give a broad hint that Jacob had promised Shechem to Joseph already prior to 48,22 when the Torah makes mention of it. Jacob is not reported as saying that he would give that city to Joseph in the future, but the Torah reports him as saying: "I have already given you one portion more than to your brothers." The gift had been bestowed on Joseph at the time Jacob asked Joseph to render an oath concerning Jacob's burial arrangements in 47,30-31. We have explained the legal details about revocable and irrevocable oaths in connection with Isaac and Avimelech; see our commentary on Genesis 26,26. We must also remember Sotah 36 where it is stated that eventually Joseph had to threaten Pharaoh that he would consider himself free of his undertaking not to reveal that Pharaoh did not understand Hebrew unless the latter would let him honour his oath to his father to bury him in the land of Canaan. Joseph's argument there does not imply that he was legally able to renege on the oath to his father, he only used that argument to put the oath to his father on the same legal basis as that which he had rendered to Pharaoh, seeing that in both instances he had received compensation for rendering the oath.
ויקרא שמו יעקב AND HE CALLED HIS NAME JACOB — The Holy One, blessed be He, thus named him (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 4). [Some versions add: He said to them (to those who gave Esau that name cf. Genesis 5:25): You have given your first-born a name, I, too, will give my son, my firstborn, (cf. Exodus 4:23) a name. That is what is written, “And He called his name, Jacob” (Genesis 26:26). Another explanation is: his father called him Jacob because he was grasping Esau’s heel
Avimelech came to Yitzchok from Gerar along with a group of friends and Pichol, his general.
And when Izhak went forth from Gerar the wells dried up, and the trees made no fruit; and they felt that it was because they had driven him away, all these things had befallen them. And Abimelek went to him from Gerar, and took his friends to go with him, and Phikol the chief of his host.
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵהֶם֙ יִצְחָ֔ק מַדּ֖וּעַ בָּאתֶ֣ם אֵלָ֑י וְאַתֶּם֙ שְׂנֵאתֶ֣ם אֹתִ֔י וַתְּשַׁלְּח֖וּנִי מֵאִתְּכֶֽם׃ | 27 J | Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you have been hostile to me and have driven me away from you?” |
ויאמר אליהם יצחק, Issac said to them, etc. We have to understand why Isaac spoke to the king and his entourage in such a hostile manner. It seems incompatible with our image of Isaac. Besides, seeing that in the end he did make a covenant with them, what was the point of the hostile attitude Isaac displayed initially? Furthermore, once Isaac had told Avimelech and company that they hated him, why did he spell out how this hatred had expressed itself, i.e. by his being expelled from Gerar? If the latter sentence was meant to prove the Philistines' hatred of him, he should have said כישלחתם אותי, when you expelled me instead of ותשלחוני מאתכם, suggesting that they let him go unmolested?
We must understand Isaac's words as reflecting his awareness that the only reason Avimelech displayed any interest in making an agreement with Isaac was his concern that possibly his own inheritance would be in jeopardy due to G'd's promise to Abraham of the whole land of Canaan. Abraham had already reassured Avimelech about those concerns and Isaac his son would certainly not be able to annul a promise made by his father. There was therefore no reason for Avimelech to approach Isaac in this matter. Isaac reasoned as Maimonides rules that vows undertaken with the consent of the other party cannot be revoked except with that party's consent. Since Abraham had not done so during his lifetime it was too late for Isaac to make any changes, anyways (based on Job 37,18). Under the circumstances Avimelech had no need of Isaac at all. When Isaac said: "why did you come?" this is not to be understood as a hostile statement, but as pointing out that there was no need for them to come all the way in order to request what they were about to ask. Seeing this was so, he could only assume that they had come for his sake, presumably in order to lure him back to Gerar. He alluded to this by using the word אלי, to me. This was hard to believe, however, in view of past hostility shown him. He added the word ואתם, and you, referring to Avimelech and his ministers personally; he meant that it was not just the population at large which had displayed hatred towards him. By using the word ותשלחוני, Isaac meant that their hatred of him was based on jealousy. It is a well known fact that hatred may evaporate unless it is caused by jealousy. Hatred based on jealousy will not abate until the cause (Isaac) of the jealousy has disappeared. Isaac challenged Avimelech that their hatred of him would not disappear as it was based on jealousy.
מדוע באתם אלי ואתם שנאתם אותי ותשלחוני מאתכם, “why do you come to me? You hate me and have driven me away from your midst!” Yitzchak reminded Avimelech and his chief of staff of three matters. 1) “why do you come to me?” He referred to the distance between Gerar and Beer Sheva where he now lived. 2) “You hate me” on account of my being successful and the vast numbers of cattle and sheep which I own. 3) You drove me away.” He referred to the district of Gerar where he had settled previously and Avimelech had told him “go away from us for you are too powerful for us” (26,16). Avimelech responded to all three questions: Concerning the question why he had come, he acknowledged: “we have seen very clearly that G’d is with you" (verse 28). They repeated this, thus implying that Yitzchak’s success in planting and bringing in a bumper crop, plus the fact that he always found water was ample proof that G’d was on his side. As a result of this belated realization they had come to make a covenant with him. Onkelos translates the word אלה, oath, as מומתא, “oath,” and the word תהי was meant to reconfirm an existing obligation entered into by Avraham. [They were afraid that by expelling Yitzchak they had given him cause not to feel bound by his father’s covenant with the same king. Ed.] A totally different explanation is quoted by our author in the name of Rabbi Ishmael the author of Sifri. [Our editions of the Sifri do not have this — Rabbi Chavell]. Rabbi Ishmael views the offer of a covenant as not related to the covenant concluded with Avraham but as a new “non-aggression pact” between Yitzchak and Avimelech not to cause each other damage in any way. They wanted this to be a secret agreement that the world was not to know about. It was embarrassing for Avimelech if the world at large would hear that he had come all the way to Yitzchak to make the latter swear not to harm him in any way, and that he was so scared of Yitzchak’s power. Concerning Yitzchak’s second point about their hating him, Avimelech said that this was absolutely not the case and he had no cause to be hostile to them. In fact he would be ungrateful if he did them any harm seeing they had not only allowed him to depart in peace but had not prevented him from taking all his wealth with him. [In the opinion of the Gentiles, letting a Jew depart with his locally made fortune is proof that they do not hate him. Ed.] As to the third point Yitzchak had made, i.e. that they had expelled him, he had not suffered by this as G’d had made him equally successful elsewhere so that the fortune he had made could not be attributed to the location Gerar which they had recently denied him.
ויאמר...ותשלחוני, the plural mode here indicates that at the time when Avimelech had expelled Yitzchok he had done so by following the advice of his ministers and notables. He had also said at that time “לך מעמנו,” Go from us!”
Upon seeing the arrival of a friendly delegation, Isaac said to them: Why did you come to me? After all, you hated me, and you sent me from among you.
Isaac made a covenant with the people of the land, when he sojourned in the land of the Philistines. He noticed that they turned their faces away from him. He went away from them in peace, and Abimelech and all his magnates came after him. He said to them: Ye turned aside your faces from me, and now ye come unto me, as it is said, "And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me?" (Gen. 26:27). "And they said, We saw plainly that the Lord was with thee" (Gen. 26:28). They said: We know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will give to thy seed in the future all these lands; make a covenant of an oath with us, that thy seed will not take possession of the land of the Philistines. He made a covenant of an oath with them. What did Isaac do? He cut off one cubit of the bridle of the ass upon which he was riding, and he gave it to them that it might be in their hands for a sign of the covenant of the oath.
Variantly: "to all of Israel": They all could stand up under rebuke. R. Tarfon said: I swear if (i.e., that there is not) anyone in this generation who is capable of receiving rebuke. R. Akiva said: I swear if (i.e., that there is not) anyone in this generation who is capable of giving rebuke. R. Yochanan b. Nuri said: I testify by heaven and earth that more than five times R. Akiva was rebuked on my account before R. Gamliel and I know that he loved me even more (for it), in fulfillment of (Proverbs 9:8) "Reprove not a scorner lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man and he will love you." For reproof leads to peace. And thus do you find with Abraham, viz. (Bereshith 21:25) "And Abraham reproved Avimelech because of the well, etc." And what is written (of this)? (Ibid. 28) "And the two of them made a covenant." And thus with Israel, viz. (Ibid. 26:27) "And Isaac said to them: Why did you come to me when you hate me and you sent me away from you!" And (Ibid. 31) "And they departed from him in peace."
… And thus (that rebuke leads to peace) do we find with Abraham, viz. (Ibid. 21:28) "And Abraham rebuked Avimelech, etc.", followed by (27) "and the two of them made a covenant." And thus do we find with Isaac, viz. (Ibid. 26:27) "And Isaac said to them: Why have you come to me when you hate me and you sent me away from you?" followed by "… (31) "and Isaac saw them off and they went from him in peace."
Yitzchak’s attitude toward the world is also highlighted by comparing his manner of dealing with human conflict with that of Avraham and Yaakov. In the parallel stories of Avraham and Yitzchak’s conflict with the Philistines over the control of wells dug by their respective retinues, Avraham does not shy away from rebuking Avimelech over the matter (Bereshit 21:25). In contrast, it seems fair to infer that Yitzchak relies on the hope that eventually God will step in, and he therefore directs his followers to keep digging wells until eventually the local inhabitants leave them alone (Bereshit 26:18–22). While Yitzchak does question Avimelech about his people’s attitude toward him, the question is more of a clarification than a rebuke (Bereshit 26:27). Indeed, not only does Yitzchak not mention the conflict over the wells, he does not even mention the fact that Avimelech has previously expelled him from his territory. It appears that Yitzchak is not interested in bringing up such matters and views redress of such issues as unnecessary.
Yitzchok said to them, Why have you come to me? You hate me and drove me away from you.
And Izhak said to them, Why come you to me that I should pray for you, when you have hated me, and driven me from you?
| וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ רָא֣וֹ רָאִ֘ינוּ֮ כִּֽי־הָיָ֣ה יְהֹוָ֣ה ׀ עִמָּךְ֒ וַנֹּ֗אמֶר תְּהִ֨י נָ֥א אָלָ֛ה בֵּינוֹתֵ֖ינוּ בֵּינֵ֣ינוּ וּבֵינֶ֑ךָ וְנִכְרְתָ֥ה בְרִ֖ית עִמָּֽךְ׃ | 28 J | And they said, “We now see plainly that יהוה has been with you, and we thought: Let there be a sworn treaty between our two parties, between you and us. Let us make a pact with you |
Genesis 26,28. “we have taken due note of the fact that the Lord has been with you, etc.;” based on what we explained (18,2) in connection with וירא וירץ לקראתם, (page 88) that when a person looks at a righteous person, his own powers of perception are enhanced by the mere fact that he is within the orbit of the tzaddik, our sages (Rosh Hashanah 16) have stated that people must make a point of visiting their Rabbi or other scholars on the festivals. They will benefit spiritually merely by looking at their Rabbi. Avraham at the time had realized that the three strangers who had appeared in front of him suddenly were superior beings as his own powers of perception had been sharpened by their arrival and his facing them. It was this realization that his perceptive powers had been enhanced, that prompted him at the time not only to walk toward these visitors but to run in order to make them welcome. The repetition by the Torah of the words ראו ראינו is to draw our attention to both Avimelech and his entourage having experienced these enhanced powers of perception. They had become aware that their powers of “seeing” had not only been improved quantitatively but also qualitatively, i.e. they had experienced the awe of feeling in the presence of a spiritually superior being. They realized now that the Presence of the Divine Shechinah rested above the head of Yitzchok.
Because, aside from “those hidden things which are God’s” (Deuteronomy 29:28), which he achieved through the Land of Israel and which remain hidden from all living creatures, also in those things manifest, ‘we saw that God was with him’ (cf. Genesis 26:28). Thus, the teachings which he revealed after having been in the Land of Israel immeasurably eclipsed in insight and level those that he revealed before his journey; despite the fact that even previously his holy lessons had tremendously enlightened the world. The words of his teachings were always amazing, but just as ‘the heavens are high above the earth’ (Isaiah 55:9), so, too, the ways of the teachings which he revealed after visiting the Land of Israel are high above the ways of the teachings which he had earlier revealed, as we explicitly heard from his holy lips a number of times (see Tzaddik #55, #130-135, #357). The work itself is almost entirely made up of lessons which he disclosed after being in the Land of Israel. There are but a few lessons, perhaps two or three pages worth, which are from the lessons given prior to his pilgrimage (these are interspersed among the lessons bearing the mark leshon chaverim [written not by Reb Noson but by other followers], which appear between Lesson #73 and #110, and then only a very few of these).
ראה ראינו, “we have seen repeatedly;” the fact that you have succeeded twice where we have failed has convinced us that your G-d is on your side;” clearly your success is due to you personally, and not to the quality of the earth that you have either planted seeds in or dug wells in. We have noted that since you departed this earth has failed to be blessed. It is clearly your G-d Who is the cause and Who is with you.
בינותינו בינינו וביניך, “between us; the oath that we swear by our deities shall now be binding both between us and you;” he meant that although Yitzchok swears in the name of his G-d, such an oath shall also be binding for them who swear in the name of their own deity. [The linguistic problem here is that the word בינינו, is otherwise completely superfluous. Ed].]
ונכרתה ברית עמך, “and we are willing to conclude a binding treaty with you;” an offer to renew the covenant Avraham had made with Avimelech’s predecessor for three generations.” They felt the need for this, since their having breached it when they claimed the wells and when the expelled Yitzchok[, they were afraid that Yitzchok might feel free to disregard it].
BETWIXT US. Our verse contains two synonymous plurals in succession. (Our verse reads: Let there be an oath benotenu (betwixt us) benenu u-vennekha (even betwixt us and thee). I.E. points out that benotenu and benenu are both plurals from the same root and mean the same. However, they belong to different paradigms. These two forms were employed by Scripture to avoid redundancy (Weiser). According to Filwarg what I.E. is saying is that one of these phrases could have been left out since they mean the same; i.e., benotenu (betwixt us) means the same as benenu u-venekha (even betwixt us and thee) Scripture repeated itself for emphasis.)
ויאמרו ראו ראינו וג׳. "We have seen very clearly, etc." Why did Avimelech and company repeat: "we have seen, seen?" There are also other nuances in their remarks which we need to analyse.
Basically, Avimelech and company responded to Isaac's questions by saying that they really intended to respond to all Isaac had said. As to the covenant concluded between Abraham and Avimelech they said: "we have seen,seen." They claimed that there were two reasons why they could not rely on Abraham's vow. One was, as we stated, that Abraham's vow was made in private, the other that Abraham had not been a beneficiary of Avimelech and thus was at liberty to annul his vow even without Avimelech's presence or consent. Furthermore, they said that they did realise that only when they renewed said covenant with Isaac would he consider his father's vow as binding and ironclad. Avimelech added that when he concluded his covenant with Abraham he had not been careful to do it in such a way that it would remain irrevocable.
Should Isaac be angered that Avimelech had not bothered to secure similar guarantees from his brother Ishmael who was, after all, Abraham's elder son, they explained this by saying they had observed that it ws Isaac who was both personally powerful and obviously enjoyed G'd's blessing and support. Although Isaac had pointed out that the fact they had expelled him was a sign of their hatred for him, they had convinced themselves that if he was worthy of G'd's blessing there was no cause to hate him.
Concerning Isaac's complaint that they had not been honest with him and that it was an effrontery therefore to ask him for favours, ראו ראינו, they felt intellectually that the permanent validity of the covenant with Abraham would be guaranteed only if they renewed it at this time. I shall forthwith explain how we can read all this out of their carefully chosen words.
ונאמר תהי נא אלה בינינו, we said: "let there be an oath between us, etc." The word ונאמר is past tense. They now began to explain the reason they had expelled Isaac from Gerar; as long as Isaac remained with them in Gerar it was legally impossible for the oath they had in mind to become irrevocable. We learn in Nedarim 27 that it is permissible to revoke certain vows without the need to appear before a tribunal. Examples are vows which were made under pressure from people who are reputed to commit murder in order to enrich themselves, or when facing robbers intent merely on confiscating one's property, or when facing tax collectors who exceed their authority. The school of Hillel taught that even when such vows were phrased as an oath, no legal mechanism is required to revoke them (when the danger is over). Concerning the above Mishnah, Maha'rik writes in Yore De-ah 232, that "anyone who swears an oath or makes a vow under duresss, such oath or vow is not legally binding." It suffices to annul such vows or oaths in one's heart; Joseph, however, did not annul his vow concerning his promise to Pharaoh not to reveal that the latter did not understand the Hebrew language, nor did Zedekiah annul his promise to Nebuchadnezzar in his heart. This ruling is valid even if the person who made the vow had been compensated in some form for the vow he was about to make. Avimelech and his company were afraid that Isaac might invoke this ruling to free himself of any vow if such an undertaking were to be made while he was in Avimelech's territory, i.e. under his rule, and therefore under some kind of duress. Therefore they came to a place over which Avimelech had no authority so that any undertaking by Isaac would be completely voluntary and therefore binding upon him. This is also clear from the writings of Nachmanides on the subject. The words תהי נא were meant to emphasise that the covenant to be undertaken now was to be different from the one previous in that it would remain valid, i.e. תהי. When they claimed at the time they expelled Isaac that he had become too powerful, this had only been a pretext to make him leave; their true reason had been to create a situation in which Isaac's oath would be binding upon him. They may also have used that pretext so that Isaac could not try to dissuade them by telling them that their fears that he would not honour his commitment were unfounded. There were some other considerations which I will come back to later.
בינותינו בינינו ובינך, "between us, i.e. between us and you." The reason they added the apparently unnecessary word בינותינו was to reinforce the existing agreement concluded with Abraham, and to add a new covenant with Isaac. They wanted to examine whether Isaac considered the agreement with Abraham as valid for him. Perhaps Avimelech was afraid that G'd would renew His promise to give the land of Palestine to Isaac and the latter would give part of his inheritance to Esau. Avimelech did not consider Esau as the seed of Abraham seeing that G'd had specificaly said to Abraham that כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, that only part of Isaac's seed would be considered Abraham's seed (21,12). Should Isaac then decide to give the land of the Philistines to Esau, he, Avimelech, would not have a legal leg to stand on in a dispute with Isaac, seeing that the covenant with Abraham which covered Abraham's descendants down to his great-grandchildren would not have been breached thereby. Esau would argue that his inheritance was due to a promise made by G'd to his father Isaac, not through a promise made by G'd to Abraham who had delayed it from becoming effective for four generations. These were the considerations which prompted Avimelech to make Isaac swear a separate oath. According to Rashi the word בינותינו alluded to the validity of the agreement for several generations.
This word may also allude to the fact that Avimelech wanted the undertaking to be a public one. The repetition of the word בינינו was meant to emphasise the mutual agreement that prevailed at the time of the new covenant and which would make any future attempt to revoke it subject to mutual agreement.
ראו, the letter ו at the end instead of the customary letter ה as the last letter of the root is not unique, we encounter it also in Isaiah 6,9 or as בכו לא תבכה, in Isaiah 30,19. There are other parallel verses in Scripture.
תהי נא אלה בינותינו, a reference to all the people of his country having sworn to keep this agreement with Yitzchok, to be confirmed by an oath between the two representatives of the parties concerned, i.e. Avimelech and Yitzchok.
תהי נא אלה, which is בינותינו, between your father and me should remain in force also between בינינו, ובינך, between you and me. This had been part of the condition of that pact that neither Avraham’s children nor grandchildren were allowed to renege on a promise he had made on their behalf. (21,23)
ראו ראינו WE SAW PLAINLY (literally, seeing we have seen) — We saw it in the case of your father and we see it in the case of yourself (Genesis Rabbah 64:10).
‘תהי נא אלה בינותינו וגו means LET THE OATH that has existed BETWEEN US since the days of your father CONTINUE NOW BETWEEN US AND YOU.
כי היה ה' עמך, we do not want to make a deal with you because we are afraid of you, but because G’d is on your side.
That oath that exists between us since your father’s times. Rashi is answering the question: Is not the phrase בינותינו בינינו וביניך redundant? He answers that the phrases in this verse are not written in sequence. It should say תהי אלה בינותינו, נא ביני וביניך. This means: let that oath, which already exists between us, continue now. Rashi adds a ה to אלה, and inserts אשר, because it is recounting what happened to Avraham. And he inserts גם because Avimelech is seeking to make the same covenant with Yitzchok that he made with Avraham. Thus he says גם עתה. It is evident that Rashi, when he says עתה (now), is explaining נא. [Accordingly, נא means “now,” rather than “please.”]
They said: We saw that the Lord was with you, since you grew and prospered beyond the status of a private individual, and therefore we said: Let there please be an oath of a covenant between us, between us and you; we will establish a covenant with you:
תהי נא אלה בינותינו, בינינו ובינך, “let there be a treaty confirmed by a mutual oath between us, between us and between you.” From the phrasing it is clear that Avimelech was not prepared to swear an oath in the name of Yitzchok’s G’d. Hence he used the expression בינותינו to indicate that he meant to swear by the deity he was in the habit of swearing by.
Chapter (46) [47] of Prophets. [1] "Jacob fled to the land of Aram" (Hosea 12:13). This means "My people, enter your chambers and shut your doors" (Isaiah 26:20). Look within your heart and see that I have not brought suffering upon you according to your sins. Your inner chamber is your kidneys, as it says, "The light of God is the breath of man, searching all his innermost parts" (Proverbs 20:27). If suffering comes upon you, do not open your mouth and argue against divine justice. Rather, close your doors and remain silent, for "Hide yourself for a moment, until the wrath passes" (Isaiah 26:20). This is because suffering does not linger in the world; it passes, as it says, "Until anger passes by" (Isaiah 26:20). "My people, go within your chambers." When you see that difficult times are approaching, do not stand in their way, but give them space. "Go within your chambers" means, "Look to Me as if to say, 'I submit to Your will.'" When I saw that difficult times were approaching because of your sins, I gave them space, as it says, "He turned His right hand back" (Lamentations 2:3). So too, "My people, go within your chambers," means, "You too, go within your chambers and submit to My will," for anyone who stands against difficult times falls into their hands, as it says, "And they will testify against him, saying, 'Bless God and curse the people,' and they will take him outside the city and stone him to death" (1 Kings 21:13), because he stood against difficult times. But Abraham made room for the hour, and fled from Nimrod king of the Chaldeans, as it is said "Get yourself out of your country..." (Genesis 12:1-4) And the opportunity presented itself and fell into his hands, as it is written, "And Abimelech went to him from Gerar and they said, 'Behold, we have seen...'" (Genesis 26:26-28). Joseph made room for the opportunity when he was being sold to the Ishmaelites and could not say, "I am your brother," but remained silent and made room for the opportunity. And the opportunity presented itself and fell into his hands, as it is written, "And his brothers also went and fell down before him..." (Genesis 50:18). Jacob made room for the opportunity and fled from Esau, as it is written, "And Jacob fled..." (Hosea 12:13), and the opportunity presented itself and fell into his hands, as it is written, "And Esau took his wives and went to the land away from Jacob his brother..." (Genesis 36:6). Therefore, it is said to you, "Come into your chambers, my people..." (Isaiah 26:20).
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: What was not done [even] by the generation of the Flood was done by the ten tribes. (The ten tribes were even more sinful than the generation of the Flood.) Regarding the generation of the Flood it is written: “And that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day” (Genesis 6:5), while regarding the ten tribes it is written: “Woe, the devisers of iniquity and the evildoers on their beds” (Micah 2:1) – that is at night. From where is it derived during the day as well? The verse states: “They perform it at the morning light” (Micah 2:1). (The generation of the Flood sinned all day, but the ten tribes sinned both by day and by night.) [Yet] from these [the generation of the Flood], no remnant remained, whereas from those [the ten tribes] there was a remnant. However, it is due to the merit of the righteous men and women that were destined to arise from them. That is what is written: “But behold, a remnant has remained in it who are being taken out, sons and daughters” (Ezekiel 14:22). It is not written here, “they are taking out [motziim] sons and daughters,” but rather: “who are being taken out [mutza’im], (Mutza’im can also mean: those who will emerge.) sons and daughters” – due to the merit of the righteous men and women who were destined to descend from them. Rabbi Berekhya said: What was not done by the people of Sodom was done by the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. Regarding the people of Sodom it is written: “And their sin because it is very grave” (Genesis 18:20), but regarding the tribe of Judah it is written: “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great” (Ezekiel 9:9). [Yet] from these [the people of Sodom], no remnant remained, whereas from those [Judah and Benjamin] there was a remnant. However, that one, “[Sodom], which was overthrown in a moment” (Lamentations 4:6) – because they did not extend their hands to do charitable deeds; “and no hands seized [ḥalu] it” (Lamentations 4:6) – Rabbi Tanḥum said: Hand did not reach out [ḥalat] to hand [to assist one another]. But these [Judah and Benjamin] did extend their hands to do charitable deeds: “The hands of merciful women cooked their children” (Lamentations 4:10). Why to that extent? “They were food [levarot] for them in the disaster of the daughter of my people” (Lamentations 4:10). (The verse is not to be understood literally, but means that these women kept food from their own children in order to provide first meals [havraa] for their mourning friends.) Rabbi Ḥanin said: What is not stated regarding the generation of the Flood is stated regarding coastal cities: “Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, nation [goy] of the Keretites” (Zephaniah 2:5) – a nation that was worthy of total annihilation [karet]. (Whereas the generation of the Flood had Noah, who survived.) So by what merit did they in fact endure? It is by the merit of one gentile [goy], by the merit of one God-fearing man, whom they would produce each year. Rabbi Levi interpreted it favorably: A nation that established [karat] a covenant, (The subject of that verse is the Philistines, who had made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 21:27) and Isaac (Genesis 26:28).) just as it says: “And established [vekharot] a covenant with him” (Nehemiah 9:8).
“They said: We saw that the Lord was with you, and we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between us and you, and we will establish a covenant with you” (Genesis 26:28). “If you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and just as we have done only [rak] good with you, and we sent you in peace; you are now the blessed of the Lord” (Genesis 26:29). “They said: We saw” – we have seen your actions and the actions of your fathers. “Let there now be an oath…if you will do us [no harm…and just as we have done only [rak] good with you]” – rak is restrictive, as they did not perform absolute good with him. In the days of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, the evil empire (The evil empire is the Roman Empire.) decreed that the Temple should be constructed. Papus and Lulyanus set tables from Akko to Antioch, and they provided those ascending from the exile with silver and gold, and all their needs. The Samaritans went and said: “Let it be known to the king…that [if] this rebellious city is built, and its walls finished, they will not pay minda, belo, or halakh” (Ezra 4:12–13) – minda is property tax, belo is poll tax, and halakh is head tax. He said to them: ‘What can I do, I issued a decree.’ They said to him: ‘Send and say to them: Either move it from its place, or add five cubits to it, or subtract five cubits from it, and they will relent on their own.’ The assembly of Israel were gathered together in the Beit Rimon valley. When those missives arrived, they began weeping. They wanted to rebel against the empire. They said: ‘Let one Sage enter and calm the assembly.’ They said: ‘Let Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who is the greatest Torah scholar, enter.’ He entered and expounded: ‘A lion mauled prey and a bone was stuck in its throat. He [the lion] said: Anyone who extracts it, I will give him a reward. An Egyptian heron with a long beak inserted its beak and extracted it. It said to it [the lion]: Give me my reward. It [the lion] said to it: Go, boast, and say that you entered the mouth of a lion in peace and emerged in peace. So, it is sufficient that we entered into dealings with this nation in peace, and emerged in peace.’ “It was on that day that Isaac's servants came and told him regarding the well that they had dug, and said to him: We have found water” (Genesis 26:32). “Isaac's servants came” – we do not know whether they found or did not find. (We do not know whether they found a new source of water.) From what is written: “They found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19) – that is, they found fresh water.
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
“What has been, already is, and what will be has already been; and God seeks the pursued” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). “What has been, already is” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: If a person says to you: Is it possible that the entire world was water [and the world’s water was gathered] into water? (God gathered the water that covered the land into the oceans (see Genesis 1:9); but how is that possible given that there was already water in the oceans?) Say to him: ‘It “already is.”’ The ocean is entirely water in water. (Even though it is full of water, rivers stream into it and it does not overflow.) “And what will be has already been…” – if a person will say to you: ‘Is it possible that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to transform sea into dry land?’ Say to him: ‘It “has already been.”’ Did He did not do so by means of Moses, as it is stated: “The children of Israel went on dry land” (Exodus 14:29), and it is written: “Now raise your staff…” (Exodus 14:16), and it is written: “And the children of Israel will come into the sea on dry land” (Exodus 14:16). If a person will say to you: ‘Is it possible that had Adam, the first man, not sinned, he would have lived and endured forever?’ Say to him: ‘It “already is,”’ – Elijah, may he be remembered for good, who never sinned, lives and endures. “And what will be has already been” – if a person will say to you: ‘Is it possible that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to revive the dead?’ Say to him: ‘It “has already been,”’ He already revived the dead by means of Elijah, by means of Elisha, and by means of Ezekiel. Rabbi Aḥa [said] in the name of Rabbi Ḥalafta: Everything that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to perform and to innovate in His world in the future, He has already performed partially by means of a prophet in this world. It is I (This phrase, and the coming phrases, are stated from the perspective of God.) who am destined to turn the sea into dry land; I have already done so in this world, [as it is stated]: “Now raise your staff…” (Exodus 14:16), It is I who am destined to remember the barren; I have already remembered by means of Abraham, as it is stated: “God remembered Sarah…” (Genesis 21:1). (God informed Sarah of this fact through a prophecy granted to Abraham (Maharzu).) It is I who am destined to revive the dead; I have already revived by means of Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel. It is I who am destined to cause kings to prostrate themselves to you; I have already done it for you by means of Daniel, as Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself to Daniel, as it is stated: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and he prostrated himself to Daniel” (Daniel 2:46). It is I who am destined to open the eyes of the blind in the future; I have already done so by means of Elisha, as it is stated: “The Lord opened the eyes of the lad” (II Kings 6:17). “And God seeks the pursued” – Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: God will always seek [to save] the pursued. You find a righteous man pursuing a righteous man; “and God seeks the pursued.” A wicked man pursuing a righteous man; “and God seeks the pursued.” A wicked man pursuing a wicked man; “and God seeks the pursued.” God seeks the pursued in any circumstance. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon, in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Nehorai: The Holy One blessed be He always seeks the blood of the pursued from the pursuers. (He holds the pursuers accountable for their actions, and He grants favor to the pursued.) Know that it is so; Abel was pursued by Cain, and the Holy One blessed be He chose only Abel, as it is stated: “The Lord turned to Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4). Noah was pursued by the members of his generation, and the Holy One blessed be He chose only Noah, as it is stated: “For you I have seen righteous before Me” (Genesis 7:1). Abraham was pursued by Nimrod, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Abraham, as it is stated: “You are the Lord God who chose Abram” (Nehemiah 9:7). Isaac was pursued by the Philistines, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Isaac, as it is stated: “They said: We have seen that the Lord has been with you” (Genesis 26:28). Jacob was pursued by Esau, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Jacob, as it is stated: “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel as His treasure” (Psalms 135:4). Joseph was pursued by his brothers, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Joseph, as it is stated: “He established it as testimony for Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt” (Psalms 81:6). Moses was pursued by Pharaoh, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Moses, as it is stated: “Were it not for Moses, His chosen, who stood in the breach before Him” (Psalms 106:23). David was pursued by Saul, and the Holy One blessed be He chose David, as it is stated: “He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds” (Psalms 78:70). Saul was pursued by the Philistines, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Saul, as it is stated: “Have you seen the one whom the Lord has chosen?” (I Samuel 10:24). Israel was pursued by the nations, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Israel, as it is stated: “[For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God] has chosen you as a treasured people” (Deuteronomy 7:6). Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra said: The same is true regarding offerings. The Holy One blessed be He said: A bull is pursued by a lion, a goat by a leopard, a sheep by a wolf; do not sacrifice the pursuers before Me, but rather the pursued, as it is stated: “A bull, a sheep, or a goat…[it shall be accepted as a fire offering before the Lord]” (Leviticus 22:27).
(Eccl. 3:15:) THEN GOD SEEKS THE PERSECUTED. R. Huna said in the name of R. Joseph: The Holy One is going to claim the blood of the persecuted from the hand of those who persecute them. (Lev. R. 27:5.) When a righteous person persecutes a righteous person, GOD SEEKS THE PERSECUTED. When a wicked person persecutes a wicked person, GOD SEEKS THE PERSECUTED. [When a wicked person persecutes a righteous person, THEN GOD SEEKS THE PERSECUTED. Even if you come back and say: When a righteous person persecutes a wicked person, in every case, THEN GOD SEEKS THE PERSECUTED.] (Cf. PR 48:2.) You know that this is so. Note that Abel was persecuted by Cain; therefore, it is stated (in Gen. 4:4): AND THE LORD PAID HEED UNTO ABEL AND UNTO HIS OFFERING. Noah was persecuted by his generation, BUT (according to Gen. 6:8): NOAH FOUND FAVOR < IN THE EYES OF THE LORD >. As for his generation, (cf. Gen. 7:23): AND HE BLOTTED OUT ALL EXISTENCE. Abraham was persecuted by Nimrod; (cf. Neh. 9:7:) YOU ARE THE LORD, THE GOD WHO CHOSE ABRAHAM. Isaac was persecuted by Philistines; (cf. Gen. 26:28:) AND THEY SAID: WE SEE PLAINLY < THAT THE LORD HAS BEEN WITH YOU >. Jacob was persecuted by Esau; (cf. Ps. 135:4:) FOR THE LORD HAS CHOSEN JACOB FOR HIMSELF. Joseph was persecuted by his brothers; (cf. Gen. 39:2:) AND THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH. Moses was persecuted by Pharaoh; (cf. Ps. 106:23:) THEREFORE HE SAID HE WOULD DESTROY THEM, HAD NOT MOSES HIS CHOSEN < STOOD IN THE BREACH BEFORE HIM >. Israel is being persecuted by the nations of the world; (cf. Deut. 7:6:) THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU. R. Judah bar Simon said in the name of R. [Jose bar] Nehoray. Here also (in the case of sacrificial animals) the bull is persecuted by the lion; the sheep is persecuted by the wolf; the goat is persecuted by the leopard. The Holy One said: You shall not bring me a sacrifice from the persecutor but from the persecuted. Thus it is stated (Lev. 22:27): WHEN A BULL OR A SHEEP OR A GOAT….
{Isaac did not remain in his happiness.} [In the case of Isaac also, how happy he was!] The Holy One saved him from the sword and from {burning} [the fire] {and from the men of Gerar}. He also delivered him from the men of Gerar and informed them [about who he was, so that they came to him]. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:26, 28): THEN ABIMELECH CAME UNTO HIM FROM GERAR […. AND THEY SAID: WE HAVE CLEARLY SEEN THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU.] But he did not remain in his happiness. Rather (according to Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE. So just as < this loss of happiness > happened in the case of Isaac, (according to Gen. 22:2) the burnt offering of the Holy One, how much the more does it happen in the case of the wicked! [It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5 [4]): I SAY TO THE MERRYMAKERS: DO NOT MAKE MERRY.]
(Lev. 22:27:) “When a bull or a sheep or a goat.” This text is related] (to Eccl. 3:15), “That which is has already happened.” R. Judah and R. Nehemiah [differ]. (PRK 9:4; Lev. R. 27:4; Eccl. R. 3:15 (1).) R. Judah says, “If someone says to you that if the first Adam had not sinned, he would have remained alive forever, you say to him, ‘Look at Elijah. Since he did not sin, he has remained alive forever.’ (Ibid., cont.:) ‘And that which is to be has already happened.’ If someone says to you that the Holy One, blessed be He, will be raising the dead, say to him, ‘Look, He has already done so through Elijah, through Elisha, and through Ezekiel.’” [But] Rabbi Nehemiah says, “If someone says to you that the whole world was water within water, you say to him, ‘The ocean is all water within water.’ (Ibid., cont.:) ‘And that which is to be has already happened.’ If someone says to you that the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to make the sea into dry ground, say to him, ‘He has already done so in the days of Moses, as stated (in Exod. 14:29), “But the Children of Israel went through the sea on dry ground, and the waters were a wall for them to the right and to the left.”’” [Moreover,] R. Aha said in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahman, “Everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to do in the world to come He has already anticipated and partly done at the hands of the righteous in this world. In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to raise the dead; He has already done so at the hands of Elijah, at the hands of Elisha, and at the hands of Ezekiel. In the future, He is going to make the sea into dry ground; He has already done so (ibid.), “But the Children of Israel went through the sea on dry ground.” In the future, He is going to open the eyes of the blind; He has already done so, as stated (in II Kings 6:17), ‘so the Lord opened the eyes of the servant [and he saw].’ In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to going visit barren women; He has already done so through Abraham and Sarah, as stated (in Gen. 21:1), ‘Then the Lord visited Sarah […].’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said, (in Is. 49:23), ‘Kings shall be your guardians [… they shall bow down before you, nose to the ground, and lick the dust of your feet].’ It has already happened at the hands of Daniel, when the wicked Nebuchadnezzar bowed down to Daniel, as stated (in Dan. 2:46), ‘Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, [paid homage to Daniel].’” This is what Scripture stated (in Eccl. 3:15, cont.), “then God seeks the pursued.” R. Huna said in the name of R. Joseph, “In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, is going to claim the blood of the pursued from the hand of those who pursue them. (Lev. R. 27:5.) When a righteous person pursues a righteous person, God seeks the pursued. When a wicked person pursues a wicked person and when a wicked person pursues a righteous person, then God seeks the pursued. It comes out that you will say that even when a righteous person pursues a wicked person, in any case, then God seeks the pursued.” (Cf. PR 48:2.) You know that this is so. Note that Abel was pursued by Cain; and therefore (in Gen. 4:4), “and the Lord paid heed unto Abel and unto his offering.” Noah was pursued by his generation, but (according to Gen. 6:8), “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Abraham was pursued by Nimrod; and it is written (Neh. 9:7) “You are the Lord, the God who chose Abraham […].” Isaac was pursued by the Philistines; and it is written (Gen. 26:28), “And [they] said, ‘We see plainly that the Lord has been with you […].’” Jacob was pursued by Esau; and it is written (Ps. 135:4) “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself.” Joseph was pursued by his brothers; and it is written (Gen. 39:2) “And the Lord was with Joseph […].” Moses was pursued by Pharaoh; and it is written (Ps. 106:23), “therefore He said He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen [stood in the breach before Him…].” Israel is being pursued by the nations of the world; and it is written (Deut. 7:6), “the Lord your God has chosen you […].” R. Judah bar Simon said in the name of R. Nehoray, “Here also (in the case of sacrificial animals), the bull is pursued by the lion; the sheep is pursued by the wolf; the goat is pursued by the leopard. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘You shall not bring me a sacrifice from the pursuer but from the pursued.’ [Thus it is stated] (Lev. 22:27), ‘When a bull or a sheep or a goat […].’”
(Lev. 9:1) “And it came to pass on the eighth day….” This text is related (to Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry….’” What is the meaning of [the words], “I say to the merrymakers (rt.: hll), ‘do not make merry (rt.: hll)?’” (This root can also mean “act with abandon” and is to be taken in that sense here. For another interpretation of the word, see Lev. R. 20:2.) [The verse refers] to whoever sings in a mahanaim dance (mahol), (As in Cant. 7:1 [6:13]. In comparing these two words, the midrash assumes that both words come from the root HLL and ignores the fact that in the first case the H is a he while in the second case the H is a het.) and so it says (in Jud. 21:21), “to dance (lehol) in the dances.” [Because no happiness endures for a mortal] (Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry (rt.: hll).’” Why? The one who is happy today shall not be happy tomorrow; and the one who is depressed today shall not be depressed tomorrow. And so it says (in Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad (rt.: hll)….’” (Cf. PRK 26:2–3.) Are you willing to understand? As behold, even the happiness of the Holy One, blessed be He, did not endure. When? When the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world. He was very happy, as stated (in Ps. 104:31), “the Lord shall be happy in His works.” It also says (in Gen. 1:31), “Then God saw everything which He had made; and behold, it was very good.” [These verses are] to teach you that the Holy One, blessed be He, found pleasure in and took pride in His works. Then He gave the first Adam an easy commandment, but he did not fulfill it. Immediately He rendered him a verdict (Gk.: apophasis.) [of death], as stated (in Gen. 3:19), “for dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.” So He, as it were, did not remain in His happiness but said, “I created everything only for the human, and now he dies. What pleasure is there for Me? [Now surely if the Holy One, blessed be He,] did not remain [happy], how much the less shall people [remain happy! It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘do not make merry.’”] How happy Abraham was! He was blessed in the world, magnified, slew some kings and handed over heaven and earth to the Holy One, blessed be He. Also when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him a son at age one hundred, he circumcised him and reared him. Then finally he was told (in Gen. 22:2), “Please take your son, your only son…, [and go unto the land of Moriah,] and offer him there as a burnt offering.” So he made a three-day journey, as stated (in Gen. 22:4), “On the third day….” When he returned from Mount Moriah, he buried Sarah. He did not find a place to bury her until he bought one for four hundred silver shekels. Then after that, old age came upon him. Now surely if such was the case with Abraham the righteous, how much the more is it the case with the wicked! Isaac did not remain in his happiness: He escaped from the sword and from the men of Gerar. And [God] informed them about who he was, so that they came to him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:26, 28), “Then Abimelech came unto him from Gerar […. And they said, ‘We have clearly seen that the Lord is with you.’]” But he did not remain in his happiness. Rather (according to Gen. 27:1), “Now it came to pass, that when Isaac was old and his eyes were too weak to see.” So just as [this loss of happiness] happened in the case of Isaac the burnt offering of the Holy One, blessed be He, (according to Gen. 22:2), how much the more does it happen in the case of the wicked! Jacob was the first-born of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Exod. 4:22), “Israel is My first-born son.” How happy he was! He saw a ladder, and (according to Gen. 28:12-13) “the angels of god were ascending and descending [….] And behold, the Lord stood upon it and said, I am the Lord….” Then he went to Laban, fled from Esau, became Laban's servant for twenty years and in the end became wealthy, sired children and returned in peace. He also met Esau and was saved from him, and paid his vow. But in the end he did not remain in his happiness. Instead (according to Gen. 34:1), “Now Dinah [the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob] went out…,” and was raped]. There also came upon him the trouble over Joseph. Now surely if Jacob the righteous – one to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, had said, “In whom I will be glorified,” as stated (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified” – did not remain in his happiness, how much the less will the wicked [so remain! It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’”] How happy Joshua was! He slew thirty-one kings, gave Israel the land to possess, and distributed it. In addition all Israel gave him a [helping] hand and said (in Josh. 1:18), “Anyone who disobeys your command… [shall be put to death.” Such an honor was] something of which [even] Moses our master did not merit. Still he (i.e., Joshua) did not remain in his happiness, but rather died childless. It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’” How happy Eli was, when he was king, chief justice, and high priest! It is so stated (in I Sam. 1:9), “now Eli [the priest] was sitting on the throne by the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord.” “Now Eli the priest was sitting on the throne,” because he was king. [He was] “by the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord,” because he was chief justice. Still he did not remain in his happiness. Instead (according to I Sam. 4:18), “And it came to pass that when he (i.e., a messenger) mentioned the ark of God, he (i.e., Eli) fell backward from off the throne….” Moreover, his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas died. So just as this [shift in fortune] happened with Eli the righteous, how much the more [does it happen with] the wicked! You find neither man nor woman who saw joys like Elisheba bat Amminadab, [the wife of Aaron, as stated (in Exod. 6:23), “And Aaron took for a wife Elisheba bat Amminadab”]. (PRK 26:2; Zev. 102a; Tanh. (Buber), Lev. 6:2.) She saw her husband become high priest serving in the high priesthood and [as a] prophet. In addition, Moses, her husband's brother, was king and prophet. Moreover, her sons were deputies [to the high priest] in the priesthood, and her brother Nahshon was head of all of the princes of Israel. (According to Numb. 10:13, Nahshon was in command of the troops of Judah, and the troops of Judah headed those of the other tribes. See also Numb. 2:3; I Chron. 2:10.) Still she did not remain in her happiness. Rather, when two of her sons went in to offer a sacrifice, (according to Lev. 10:2,) “Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed them, so that they died before the Lord.” It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’” And so Solomon said (in Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad.’” There is a story about one of the great Babylonian [scholars], who married off his son, (PRK 26:2; Lev. R. 20:2.) and made a great banquet for the sages. He said to his son, “Go up and bring us a jar of such and such a wine from the attic.” He went up to the attic. [There] a snake [from] among the jars bit him, and he died. His father remained with those who were reclining [at his table]. So he delayed and did not come. [Finally,] his father said, “Let me go up and see what my son is doing.” His father went up [and] found him cast down dead among the jars. What did that saint do? He waited by himself until the guests had eaten and drunk sufficiently. When they had finished, he said, “You came to say a bridegrooms' blessing over my son. [But instead] say a mourners' blessing over him. You came to bring my son to the wedding canopy. [Instead] bring him to [his] grave.” They said about R. Zakkay of Kabul and they opened about him (in the words of Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad; and what does joy do?’”
Isaac made a covenant with the people of the land, when he sojourned in the land of the Philistines. He noticed that they turned their faces away from him. He went away from them in peace, and Abimelech and all his magnates came after him. He said to them: Ye turned aside your faces from me, and now ye come unto me, as it is said, "And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me?" (Gen. 26:27). "And they said, We saw plainly that the Lord was with thee" (Gen. 26:28). They said: We know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will give to thy seed in the future all these lands; make a covenant of an oath with us, that thy seed will not take possession of the land of the Philistines. He made a covenant of an oath with them. What did Isaac do? He cut off one cubit of the bridle of the ass upon which he was riding, and he gave it to them that it might be in their hands for a sign of the covenant of the oath.
“God seeks the persecuted” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). Rav Huna said in the name of Rav Yosef: God always seeks the persecuted. If you find a righteous person persecuting a righteous person, “God seeks the persecuted”; a wicked person persecuting a righteous person, “God seeks the persecuted”; a wicked person persecuting a righteous person, “God seeks the persecuted”; even if a righteous person is persecuting a wicked person, in any case, “God seeks the persecuted.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Nehorai: The Holy One blessed be He always demands the blood of the persecuted from the persecuters. Know that it is so, as Abel was persecuted by Cain and the Holy One blessed be He chose Abel, as it is stated: “The Lord turned to Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4). Noah was persecuted by his generation and the Holy One blessed be He chose only Noah, as it is stated: “As I have seen you to be righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). Abraham was persecuted by Nimrod, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Abraham, as it is stated: “You are the Lord God who chose Abram” (Nehemiah 9:7). Isaac was persecuted by the Philistines, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Isaac, as it is stated: “We have seen that the Lord is with you” (Genesis 26:28). Jacob was persecuted by Esau, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Jacob, as it is stated: “For Jacob, the Lord chose him” (Psalms 135:4). Joseph was persecuted by his brothers, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Joseph, as it is stated: “He established it as testimony for Joseph” (Psalms 81:6). Moses was persecuted by Pharaoh, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Moses, as it is stated: “Were it not for Moses, His chosen one” (Psalms 106:23). David was persecuted by Saul, and the Holy One blessed be He chose David, as it is stated: “He chose David, His servant” (Psalms 78:70). Saul was persecuted by the Philistines, and the Holy One blessed be He chose Saul, as it is stated: “Have you seen the one whom the Lord has chosen?” (I Samuel 10:24). Israel is persecuted by the nations and the Holy One blessed be He has chosen Israel, as it is stated: “The Lord has chosen you to be His treasured people” (Deuteronomy 14:2). Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra said: It is so regarding offerings as well. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The bull is pursued by the lion, the goat by the leopard, the sheep by the wolf; do not sacrifice before Me from the pursuers, but rather, from the pursued.’ That is what is written: “A bull, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born.”
ויהי בעת ההיא, “It was around that time;” the “time” described was when Sarah had given birth and the various kings in the region were now convinced and afraid that G-d would keep His promise to Avraham to give the entire region to the descendants of Avraham. As a result, Avimelech was prompted to seek an alliance with Avraham that would put off such an event for several generations, at least. He did not dare ask for a longer period as G-d had assured Avraham that the fourth generation of his descendants at the latest would see fulfillment of His promise. This is also why when the second Avimelech in Yitzchok’s time, asked for this alliance to be confirmed. He made no mention of a future generation. (Genesis 26,28)
לא־לוהי אביו יצחק, “to the G-d of his father Yitzchok. His father Yitzchok had offered a sacrifice at the same altar, as we know from Genesis 26,28.
When Laban and Bethuel answered Eliezer, saying, “the thing proceedeth from the Lord,” (32. Gen. 24:50.) even though they knew only of “God,” (they mentioned “Lord”) because Eliezer the servant of Abraham had attributed everything to the Lord, irr saying, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham,” (33. Gen. 24:42.) as with all his statements. Similarly Abimelech said to Isaac, “We saw plainly that the Lord was with thee,” (34. Gen. 26:28.) i.e., “the Lord who is your God in some way gives you strength and success.”
ביום ההוא כרת ה' את אברם ברית לאמור לזרעך נתתי את הארץ הזאת, “on that day G-d concluded a covenant with Avram, saying; ‘to your descendants I have given this land.’” After G-d had previously already twice mentioned giving the land to Avram and to his descendants, i.e. in 12, 7 where it is phrased as “I will give,” and in 1,15 “to your descendants I shall give it,” G-d now phrases the promise as something that had already been fulfilled, i.e. “I have given it” (past tense). He mentions the gift He had already given to Avram in the past. The word נתתי means the same as נשבעתי, “which I have sworn.” When G-d gives something by way of a promise it is as if the promise was equivalent to an oath. We have numerous examples of this in Scripture. I myself have explained this already in connection with Genesis 9,13 where G-d spoke about the rainbow He had placed in the sky. After this gift, i.e. the oath on the occasion of this covenant, there followed the practical part of the covenant, the passing between the parts of the animals which had been sacrificed. We have another example of such a procedure in Jeremiah 34,18 ואת העגל אשר כרתו לשנים ויעברו בין בתריו , “and the calf which they had cut in half so as to pass between the halves.” This covenant was in the nature of a חרם, “consecration,” a warning to remain true to this oath as if to say to the party who would default: “may your fate be similar to that of the animals which lie before you cut in half if you do not honour the agreement we have just now concluded.” This is also why Onkelos translates ברית simply as קים, “something that remains in effect.” The “something” is the oath preceding the sacrifice confirming it. This is also what Avimelech said to Yitzchak (Genesis 26,28) תהי נא אלה בינותינו, בינינו וביניך ונכרתה ברית עמך, “let there be an oath between us, between us and between you, and let us conclude a covenant with you.” The “covenant” was to confirm the oath mentioned previously. Of course, such a “covenant“ is not applicable to G-d (seeing it would be frivolous to assume that G-d would not honour His oath). However, the general tenor of a covenant is applicable to G-d’s promise. It is as if by passing between these cut up pieces of the animals G-d had said: “just as it is impossible to reconstitute these cut up animals, so it is impossible for Me to retract from My oath to give your descendants this land.”
Personally, I would like to add that according to tradition the “prime minister” in that parable is one of the senior ministers at G’d’s court. In order to make plain that the natural born Jews had not been the ones who had initiated the sin of the golden calf, He determined that henceforth the ox would be the primary animal to feature in sacrificial offerings. You will find that similarly the fruit of the עץ הדר, “the tree whose fruit Chavah had eaten in Gan Eden,” became the favourite fruit amongst the four species of plants with which we praise the Lord on the festival of Tabernacles. The fact that the Torah mentions the etrog before the palm frond, a much larger plant, is to indicate that whereas Chavah sinned because she was a victim of deception by the serpent, her husband Adam sinned both in thought and in deed when he ate of that fruit also. We find that history repeats itself in that Adam atoned for his sin by offering an ox as a sacrifice; similarly his descendants, especially highly placed ones, have to offer an ox as their sin-offering when such an offering is called for. This is the deeper meaning of the verse in Hoseah we quoted, that with the very item which their sin consisted of they subsequently pleased the Lord. According to Chulin 60 Adam offered a single-horned bull as his sin-offering. We find a verse which combines both the word שור and the word הדר, thereby alluding to the two examples of the instrument of the sin becoming the instrument of pleasing the Lord. The verse in question is in Deut. 33,17: בכור שורו הדר לו, which we may translate allegorically as: “just as we praise Him with the fruit of the tree הדר, so we atone for our sins by means of the ox, the symbol of original forgiveness.” In a verse preceding the verse from Hoseah we quoted, the prophet said (Hoseah 6,7) והמה כאדם עברו ברית, “they violated the covenant like just like Adam,” an allusion to the comparison of the sin of the golden calf by the Israelites and that of Adam in Gan Eden. On the one hand, the animal which had helped Adam atone for his sin had become the one atoning for the sins of the Israelites. On the other hand, looked at from a philosophical point of view, the Israelites thought that this animal had proven to be the salvation of mankind, i.e. Adam, once, hence it might again become the symbol of their future, seeing Moses had not come back. In fact, Adam had been the original cause of the sin the Israelites participated in. [— My own phraseology in trying to convey this line of reasoning. Ed.] The reason that the Torah permitted just three categories of ritually pure beasts as potential sacrifices for the altar is in deference to the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The ox symbolises Avraham, of whom the Torah wrote that he ran to the cattle in order to serve a meal to the three angels who visited him as reported in Genesis 18,1-15. The sheep is in deference to Yitzchak, when it was offered as a burnt-offering in his stead in Genesis 22,14. The goat was selected in deference to Yaakov who took the two goats at the behest of his mother in order to secure the blessing from his father (Genesis 27,9) (compare Tanchuma Emor 12). These goats were described in the Torah as טובים, “good,” meaning they were to be good both for him personally as well as for his descendants, seeing that by means of two male goats the Jewish people, Yaakov’s descendants, would secure atonement for their sins on the Day of Atonement. When the Torah therefore wrote: “an ox, a sheep, or a goat which will be born, etc.”, it referred to known functions of these animals on behalf of the Jewish people. This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Kohelet 3,15: “What has been already exists, and what is still to come has already been, and G’d always seeks out the pursued.” What Solomon meant was that if someone were to say to you: “if Adam had not sinned at the time when he ate from the tree of knowledge would he still be alive and well nowadays?” You may answer him that the prophet Elijah did not sin and he did indeed not die but is alive to this day. As to the words אשר להיות, “what is still to come,” if someone believes that the idea of G’d resurrecting the dead is something which occurs only in the future [i.e. we have no proof of something like that being possible, Ed.], tell him that it has already occurred, i.e. that both the prophet Elijah, the prophet Elisha, as well as the prophet Ezekiel are on record as having revived the dead (Tanchuma Emor 9). Finally, the words והאלוהים יבקש את הנרדף in the verse from Kohelet which we quoted, means that whereas the righteous pursue (imitate and try to emulate) the other righteous people who preceded them this is normal and appropriate. The wicked persecute both other wicked people as well as righteous people; this is their nature; however, G’d seeks out the persecuted (righteous ones to save them). If you look for proof, read history. Hevel had been persecuted by his brother Kayin; in response G’d turned to Hevel’s offering while rejecting the gift of Kayin (Genesis 4,4-5). Noach had been ridiculed and persecuted by the people of his generation. G’d responded to Noach positively as stated in Genesis 6,8: “Noach found favour in the eyes of G’d.” Shortly afterwards we are told that all the remainder of mankind was wiped out (Genesis 7,23). Avraham was persecuted by Nimrod; he was saved as we know from Nechemyah 9,7 where it is written: “You are the Lord G’d who have chosen Avraham and removed (rescued) him from the fire of the Chaldaens.” Yitzchak was persecuted by the Philistines; in the end Avimelech (King of the Philistines) acknowledged his rigtheousness, G’d’s power and asked to make a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28). Yaakov was persecuted by Esau; nonetheless we have been told in Psalms 135,4: “for G’d chose for Himself Yaakov, Israel, etc.” Joseph was persecuted by his brothers only to become a most successful individual, i.e. “the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man” (Genesis 39,2). Moses was persecuted by Pharaoh, but G’d thwarted Pharaoh’s efforts to kill him. The Jewish people were persecuted by the pagans; this is why G’d chose them as His people, as we know from Deut. 14,2: “and the Lord chose you to be His special people.” In our situation we find something parallel. The animals mentioned here are normally the innocent victims of predatory animals. The ox is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by the leopard. G’d chose the animals as suitable for sacrificial offerings because they were the persecuted ones, saying: “do not offer Me animals which are pursuers, predators, but certain categories of their victims, the persecuted.”
A Midrashic approach to the words: “it was on the eighth day” (based on Tanchuma Shemini 2) David says in Psalms 75,5: אמרתי להוללים אל תהולו, “I said to the frivolous men: ‘do not be frivolous!’” Instead of reading אל תהולו, read אל תחולו, “do not break out in dance.” The reason is that true joy does not linger with man in this world but only in the world to come. Many people who rejoice and are happy today may find that on the morrow they have no such cause for happiness and exuberance. This is why Solomon, [using the same expression as David, מהולל, Ed.] said: (Kohelet 2,2) לשחוק אמרתי מהולל, “of revelry I said: ‘it is mad!’” If you require proof of the truth of both statements take a look at what happened at the creation. When G’d completed His handiwork at the end of 6 days and He reviewed it (Genesis 1,31) He was very pleased as we know from Psalms 104,31: “may the glory of the Lord endure forever, may the Lord rejoice in His works!” In the verse from Genesis we are told that “G’d looked at His entire handiwork and behold, it was very good!” Only a few chapters later (Genesis 6,6) the Torah reports וינחם ה' כי עשה את האדם בארץ ויתעצב אל לבו, “Hashem had to comfort Himself that He had made man on earth, and it caused Him sadness in His heart.” Keeping this verse in mind, Assaph said in Psalms 75,5 not to indulge in frivolous merriment. If even G’d’s joy did not endure, how much less is the chance that man’s joy on earth will endure! Avraham progressed in his life and became exceedingly great and wealthy killing the most powerful kings on earth in the process. In his old age G’d gave him a son from Sarah. His joy was unbounded. A few years later G’d commanded him to take his son and to offer him up as a sacrifice. Even after having mastered that trial and being commended by G’d (Genesis 22,16-17), he went back from Moriah and had to bury his beloved wife Sarah. His joy had been short-lived. He even had trouble being given a suitable plot where to bury Sarah. In the end, he was literally fleeced, having to pay an astronomical sum of 400 shekel for a hole in the ground. Yitzchak who enjoyed phenomenal success in Gerar, seeing his investment returned one hundred-fold, (Genesis 26,12) faced expulsion shortly thereafter as the Philistines became jealous of his wealth. His joy had been very short-lived. After Avimelech realized that he had wronged him and apologized and made a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28) and he surely thought that “he had it made,” we read that his eyesight failed him and that he almost made a fatal error bestowing the blessing on a son whom he had considered worthy but who in the event had been unworthy all along. His joy had proven to be short-lived. If a Yitzchak who had been a living example of what it means to be a “total-offering, i.e. burnt-offering,” was not allowed permanent joy on earth, i.e. the fruits of his total dedication to G’d’s command, how much less may we ordinary mortals expect joy on earth to be enduring. Yaakov experienced great joy when he had the dream with the ladder, seeing angels ascending and descending, a promise from G’d that He would be with him, etc. (Genesis 28, 12-13). Not long afterwards he experienced a whole string of misfortunes, beginning with being tricked out of his chosen wife Rachel, the rape of Dinah, and concluding with the disappearance of Joseph. If Yaakov the righteous, of whom G’d had said that He would boast of such a man (Isaiah 49,3), could not hold on to his joy in this life, what can we lesser individuals expect in the way of enduring joy on earth? Joshua experienced great joy in his time, he settled the Jewish people on their land, killed 31 Kings, was promised by G’d that no one would rise against him successfully, and enjoyed unchallenged authority by his people (compare Joshua 1,18) but died without leaving behind any children. Surely, this must have dimmed his joy on earth. If this was his lot, how much less joy can the righteous in our time expect to enjoy while on earth! The High Priest Eli who did have sons had to experience the loss of the Holy Ark, the curse on his children who had disgraced him. When he died at a ripe old age the immediate cause of his death was the news that both his sons had been killed in battle (compare Samuel I 1,9; 1,10). If this happened to a righteous person such as the High Priest Eli, what sort of joy can there be in store in this world for the wicked? Consider the fact that on this day, Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav experienced greater joy than any man or woman before her. She saw her husband begin his career as High Priest; Her brother-in-law, Moses, became king of Israel. Two of her sons became deputy High Priests. Her brother Nachshon became the first of the princes to be honoured with bringing the sacrifices by laymen. Even she did not long remain in such a blissful state of joy seeing that two of her sons, Nadav and Avihu, died on the very same day at the hands of G’d. Considering all these examples we need not be surprised at Solomon’s warning not to be frivolous, not to dance with joy, as such joy is apt to be all too brief.
BEIN HA’ARBAYIM’ (AT EVENTIDE). “The period beginning at the sixth hour and onward, [counted from the beginning of the day, which in Torah-law is always divided into twelve hours], is called bein ha’arbayim (at eventide), because the sun inclines in the direction of its setting there to become darkened. It appears to me that the expression bein ha’arbayim denotes those hours which are between the beginning of the darkening of the day and the final darkening at night. The darkening of the day is at the beginning of the seventh hour of the day, from the time the shadows of the evening are stretched out, (Jeremiah 6:4.) and the darkening of the night is at the beginning of the night. The word erev (night) is an expression of gloom and darkness, just as in the verse, All joy is ‘arbah’ (darkened).” (Isaiah 24:11.) Thus the language of Rashi. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra refuted [this explanation of Rashi] by pointing to the verse which says, And when Aaron lighteth the lamps ‘bein ha’arbayim’ (Further, 30:8.) [‘There is no doubt that he lights the lamps at sundown”], as it is written there, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning. (Ibid., 27:21.) [Thus it proves that bein ha’arbayim does not begin with the seventh hour of the day as Rashi would have it, but at sundown near night.] Besides, the verse regarding the paschal offering itself states: There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering at even, at the going down of the sun, at the time thou camest forth out of Egypt, (Deuteronomy 16:6.) and “the going down of the sun” occurs at sunset. [How then could Rashi explain bein ha’arbayim mentioned here as commencing at the seventh hour of the day?] But this is no refutation of the Rabbi’s [Rashi’s] explanation. Our Rabbis have already said (Berachoth 9a.) that the meaning of the verse is as follows: “At even, you slaughter [the Passover-offering]; at the going down of the sun, you eat it; at the time thou camest forth out of Egypt, [i.e., in the morning of the fifteenth day of Nisan, it becomes nothar] (Literally, “left over.” Portions of sacrifices left over after the prescribed time within which they are to be eaten must be burnt. See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 103-4. Now since the Passover-offering is to be eaten only on the night of the fifteenth day, whatever is left by the morning of that day is to be burnt. The actual burning, however, takes place on the morning of the sixteenth day, since it is not permissible to burn nothar on a Festival day.) and you burn it.” The Rabbi [Rashi] has already so commented [in his commentary to Deuteronomy 16:6]. The correct interpretation on this matter appears to me to be that the night is called erev, as it is said, ‘ba’erev’ ye shall eat unleavened bread. (Further, Verse 18.) and this is at night, as it clearly states, And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread. (Ibid., Verse 8.) Similarly, And there was ‘erev’ and there was morning, (Genesis 1:5.) means the beginning of night when the stars do come forth. The same applies to the verse, In the twilight, ‘ba’erev’ of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness, (Proverbs 7:9.) [where the word ba’erev, coming after “the twilight,” must signify the night]. Now the end of the day is also called erev, as the verses indicate: And the two angels came to Sodom ‘ba’erev,’ and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; (Genesis 19:1. In view of the fact that Lot surely did not sit in the gate at night, ba’erev must mean at the end of the day.) And it came to pass ‘ba’erev’ that the quails came up, (Further, 16:13.) and the quails did not come at night. (Ibid., Verse 12: At eventide ye shall eat flesh. This clearly indicates that the quails came before the night. The word ba’erev in the verse, And it came to pass ‘ba’erev’ that the quails came up, must therefore mean at the end of the day.) There are many other such cases. It is further written: ‘Erev,’ and morning, and at noonday, I will sigh and moan. (Psalms 55:18.) Now these three periods include the whole day [of twenty-four hours. Therefore, if we interpret erev as meaning actual night, the hours from noonday to night will be missing here. We must] thus conclude that [the period] immediately after noonday is called erev, [which lasts from the latter part of the day till morning. Thus the verse encompasses the whole day of twenty-four hours]. Morning is so called from sunrise and thence onward as long as the sun remains in the east. This period lasts four hours, just as the Rabbis testified (In Tractate Eduyoth 6:1. This testimony is attributed to Rabbi Yehudah ben Baba.) that the morning Daily Whole-offering [for the entire congregation of Israel] may be offered in the [first] four hours of the day [but not later]. After morning, the time is called tzohorayim (noonday), just as it is said, from morning until ‘tzohorayim’ (noon). (I Kings 18:26.) It consists of two hours: the fifth and the sixth hours of the day. The word tzohorayim is of the root ‘tzohar’ (A light) shalt thou make to the ark, (Genesis 6:16.) and implies brightness. It is written in the plural [tzohorayim] because it is the two [brightest parts of the day] which, so to speak, make two tzohorayim. It may be that it is written in the plural because light is then disseminated on all sides. In the morning the light is centered in the east, and towards evening it is in the west, but in the middle of the day when it is high in the sky, it gives light on all sides. When tzohorayim (noonday) passes and the sun departs from shining upon two sides, the time of the day is called arbayim — [from the root erev (darkness)] - because the sun has darkened from [its state of shining on] those two sides. This period [of arbayim] lasts as long as the sun shines in the sky [and is permissible for the slaughtering of the Passover-offering]. But beginning with sundown, which is about an hour and a quarter [before the day terminates with the coming out of the stars], it is no longer the time for the slaughtering thereof according to the opinion of our Rabbis, (Mechilta Pischa, 5: “At eventide. I might understand this to mean at the evening twilight. Scripture therefore says, etc.”) for that period of time is no longer arbayim but rather erev yom (the evening of the day). (In the twilight, ‘b’erev yom’ (in the evening of the day) (Proverbs 7:9).) The reason it is called bein ha’arbayim [in the Torah, and not just arbayim], is not that the word bein signifies here “between,” [as Rashi above explained that the expression bein ha’arbayim denotes that time-period which is “between” the beginning of those hours, etc.], but it is something like “in their midst,” similar to these verses: Let there now be an oath ‘beinotheinu beineinu ubeinecha'; (Genesis 26:28. It is generally translated: between us, even between us and thee. But according to Ramban, the meaning thereof would be: “let there be an oath in our midst, even in us and in thee.”) A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that ‘beini ubeincha’?; (Ibid., 23:15. It is generally translated: between me and thee. Ramban understands it: “in the midst of me and you, the value of the land is not worth discussing.”) And her stature was exalted ‘al bein’ (among) the thick branches; (Ezekiel 19:11. Ramban would explain it: “her stature was exalted in the midst of the thick foliage.”) Take fire ‘mibeinoth’ the wheelwork, (Ibid., 10:6. It is generally translated: “from ‘between’ the wheelwork.”) which means from “within their midst”; Take up their fire-pans ‘mibein’ the burning, (Numbers 17:2.) which means “from the midst thereof,” similar to the expression, She rises also ‘be’od’ night, (Proverbs 31:15. It is generally translated: “she rises also ‘while it is yet’ night.”) which means in the midst of the night. And so is the expression bein ha’arbayim, [which signifies “in the midst of that part of the day called arbayim,” as explained above]. It does not state ba’arbayim, for that might have indicated the erev of many days. Thus Scripture is saying that we should slaughter the Passover-offering in the midst of the arbayim, since the time prescribed by the Torah for the slaughtering of the Passover-offering is from after the sixth hour of the day till the commencement of sunset. And Scripture also says, In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month ‘bein ha’arbayim’ (at eventide) is the Passover of the Eternal, (Leviticus 23:5.) which refers to the time of the slaughtering [of the Passover-offering]. Similarly, the verse, In the fourteenth day of this month ‘bein ha’arbayim’ ye shall observe it, (Numbers 9:3.) refers to the beginning of the observance, which is the slaughtering, [while the eating of the Passover-offering takes place on the following night]. The verse stating [in connection with the quails], ‘bein ha’arbayim’ ye shall eat flesh, (Further, 16:12.) also refers to the hours mentioned, [i.e., from after the sixth hour of the day till the start of sunset], since they had extensive time for the eating of meat. The following verse there which states, And it came to pass ‘ba’erev’ (at even), that the quails came up, (Ibid., Verse 13.) is [so stated] because on the first day, the quails came up for one hour within that period called erev. (In other words, Scripture is stating that during the part of the day called erev which, as explained above, extends from immediately after tzohorayim until the end of the day — making a period of six hours — the quails came up for a time. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 327, for further discussion of this text.) [Therefore it does not say, “and it came to pass bein ha’arbayim that the quails came up,” for that would have signified that the quails came up during the whole stretch of time from after the sixth hour of the day till sundown.] It is possible to explain the expression bein ha’arbayim in accordance with the explanation of Rashi, (The plural form of arbayim suggests two kinds of erev, and the word bein signifies “between.” Thus bein ha’arbayim denotes those hours which are between the darkening of the day and the darkening of the night. Thus is the explanation of Rashi. Ramban proceeds to confirm Rashi’s explanation that the word bein means “between,” but adds that the plural form of arbayim denotes two different periods of the day, unlike Rashi who wrote that it is between the darkening of the day and the darkening of the night, as will be explained.) i.e., that there are two kinds of erev, an erev of the morning and an erev of the day, for Scripture so calls them: the ‘minchah’ of the morning, (Further, 29:41. Ramban will explain the word minchah.) and the ‘minchah’ of the evening, (II Kings 16:15.) as it is said, And it came to pass in the morning, about the time of making the ‘minchah’, (Ibid., 3:20.) and it further says, And I sat appalled until the ‘minchah’ of the evening. And at the evening ‘minchah’ I arose up from my fasting. (Ezra 9:4-5.) Now the word minchah is an expression denoting the resting of the sun and the diminution of its great light, just as the Targum rendered [l’ruach hayom] l’manach yoma (where the day comes to rest). (In Genesis 3:8, we read: And they [Adam and Eve] heard the voice of the Eternal G-d walking in the garden of Eden ‘l’ruach hayom,’ which Rashi interpreted: “in that direction towards which the sun travels, which is the west.” Onkelos rendered it: l’manach yoma, “in the afternoon,” or literally, “when the day comes to rest.” Thus it is seen that the word minchah denotes rest.) And the plural form of arbayim connotes the two afternoons: “the greater afternoon,” [i.e., the time from six and a half hours after the beginning of the day], and “the smaller afternoon,” [i.e., from nine and a half hours after the start of the day until sunset], which the Sages have mentioned. (Berachoth 26b.) Now during this entire period [of bein ha’arbayim], it is permissible to kindle the lamps of the candelabrum [in the Sanctuary] (Unlike the opinion of Ibn Ezra mentioned above, i.e., that the kindling of the lamps of the candelabrum in the Sanctuary was done at sundown.) and to burn the incense, both of which are not permissible to be done at night but only at the time of the Daily Whole-offering of the eventide, and in fact their performance precedes the actual offering of the sacrifice upon the altar. Onkelos’ opinion seems to incline towards this explanation [that the plural form of arbayim denotes two different parts of the day], for he translated bein ha’arbayim as bein shimshaya (between the suns), meaning the times when the sun is in the east and the sun is in the west. The verse stating, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning, (Further, 27:21. From this verse, Ibn Ezra had proven at the beginning of this discussion — see at Note 123 — that the lamps of the candelabrum are kindled at sundown. Ramban proceeds to explain that the purport of the verse is that the priests are to put into the lamps their due measure of oil so that they will burn from evening to morning, but not that it mattered that they were kindled only at sundown. As explained above, that could be done anytime during “the greater afternoon” and “the smaller afternoon.” Thus Ibn Ezra’s strictures on Rashi are removed.) means [that it be given its due measure of oil] so that it may burn a whole night [although the actual kindling thereof could be done anytime in the bein ha’arbayim. It does not mean, as Ibn Ezra explained, that this verse teaches that the kindling of the candelabrum took place at sundown]. Thus we can explain the verse, There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering ‘ba’erev’ (at even), (Deuteronomy 16:6. See above at Note 124 how Ibn Ezra brought this verse in proof against Rashi’s explanation. Ramban already refuted it above on the basis of the teaching of the Rabbis. Here he refutes Ibn Ezra on the basis of the plain meaning of what he has shown, i.e., that erev also means the afternoon, etc. Ramban’s own explanation of this verse is yet to follow.) to mean at the above-mentioned time, [i.e., the afternoon], for that is called erev [as explained]. The following expression there, at the going down of the sun, is connected with the following verse, And thou shalt roast and eat it. (Ibid., Verse 7.) There are many such cases in Scripture [where an expression in one verse is connected with the following verse]. (See Vol. I, pp. 437-8.) In my opinion however, the verse, There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering, does not at all refer to the time of the slaughtering thereof, [which took place on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of Nisan]. Rather, the purport thereof is to state that at the place which the Eternal thy G-d chose to establish His name in, there thou shalt observe [the commandment concerning] the Passover-offering at night, at the going down of the sun, which is the time thou camest forth out of Egypt. It is concerning this performance that Scripture says [in the following verse], And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place (Ibid., Verse 7.) mentioned. The sacrifice itself is called zevach, (Ramban’s intent is to clarify that the word tizbach — There thou shalt ‘tizbach’ the Passover-offering — does not mean “slaughter,” in which case it would necessarily be referring to the afternoon of the fourteenth day of Nisan. Instead, Ramban proceeds to show that the word zevach refers to the sacrifice itself, and the verse therefore refers to the eating thereof which takes place on the following night of the fifteenth day. All this, however, is from the standpoint of the plain meaning of Scripture. Ramban has already noted that the Rabbis in the Talmud (see Note 125), as well as Rashi in his commentary to Deuteronomy 16:6, have explained tizbach as “slaughter.”) as Scripture says, Thou shalt not offer the blood of ‘zivchi’ (My sacrifice) upon leaven, (Further, 34:25.) which means “My Passover-offering.” This then is the purport of the whole chapter [in Deuteronomy]: Observe the month of Aviv, and observe the Passover unto the Eternal thy G-d; for in the month of Aviv the Eternal thy G-d brought thee forth out of Egypt by night, etc. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. (Deuteronomy 16:1-3.) Thus He mentioned the observance of the Passover-offering and the night, [clearly indicating that in those verses, He refers only to the time of the eating of the Passover-offering, which occurs on the night of the fifteenth day, and not to the slaughtering thereof which takes place in the afternoon of the fourteenth day]. Commanding how they are to eat it, He then mentioned that [we must eat no leavened bread] for seven days. (Ibid., Verse 3.) But in this entire chapter, there is not a single reference to the fourteenth day of Nisan on which the slaughtering of the Passover-offering takes place. Similarly He said there, Neither shall any of the flesh which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning, (Ibid., Verse 4.) Now the expression, the first day at even, [definitely] means the fifteenth day of Nisan, the first of the seven days mentioned, (Ibid., Verse 3.) since the fourteenth day is not mentioned here at all. So also, the verse stating, On the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, (Further, Verse 18.) means the night of the fifteenth day. Thus the intent of the expression, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, (Ibid., Verse 4.) is that neither shall any of the flesh of the offering which you are eating on the night of the first day [of the seven-day festival] remain until the morning.
NOW THEREFORE SWEAR UNTO ME HERE BY G-D ‘IM’ (IF) YOU WILL BE FALSE TO ME. The word im always expresses doubt — do not think of it in any other way (Ramban’s intent is to differ with Rashi, who, in Leviticus 2:14, explains im to mean “that.” See Ramban there, where he explains it in a manner consistent with his teaching here.) — and it appears in most places in connection with an oath: If you will be false to me; (In the present verse.) And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli ‘im’ (if) the iniquity of Eli’s house shall be expiated; (I Samuel 3:14.) Once I have sworn by My holiness ‘im’ (if) I will be false unto David; (Psalms 89:36.) ‘im’ (if) they should enter into My rest; (Ibid., 95:11.) And he was wroth, and swore, saying, ‘im’ (if) one of these men will see. (Deuteronomy 1:34-35.) The purport of this is that since oaths are given with imprecation, Abimelech is stating, “Swear to me, saying, G-d do so to me, and more also (II Samuel 3:35.) if you will be false to me.” Likewise it is said, Let there now be an oath between us. (Further, 26:28.) And in the matter of a Divine oath: I have sworn by My holiness if I will be false to David; (Psalms 89:36.) if the iniquity of Eli’s house shall be expiated, (I Samuel 3:14.) meaning “If that will be so, then My word is not true,” and in similar cases, since it does not want to expressly state the condition. (Namely, that “if that be so, My word is not true.”) Scripture modifies and shortens these expressions. A similar case of a shortened condition is the verse, And Jabez called on the G-d of Israel, saying: Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, etc., and that Thou wouldest work deliverance from evil that it may not pain me. And G-d granted him that which he requested. (I Chronicles 4:10.) Here the entire condition (Namely, his vow of offering to G-d.) is missing. A similar example is the verse, If they will see the land, (Numbers 14:23.) referring back to the first verse, As I live, and all shall be filled with the glory of the Eternal, (Ibid., Verse 21.) and Scripture shortens the Divine oath. The expression, false to me, is because Abimelech was a king, and Abraham dwelt in his land. [Thus, if Abraham were to do him evil, it would be an act of disloyalty towards him in his royal capacity], or it would be a betrayal of Abimelech’s love for him, as he [Abimelech] was his trustworthy friend, honoring him and doing his will. For you see that Abraham found no fault with him except the well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away, (Verse 25 here.) and the king said to him, According to the kindness that I have done unto thee. (Verse 23 here.)
THAT THE ETERNAL WAS WITH HIM. The name of G-d was a familiar word in his mouth. This is Rashi’s language. But it does not appear to be correct. (For, according to Rashi, the text should have read: “that the name of the Eternal was familiar in his mouth”) Instead, And his lord saw that the Eternal was with him, means that he saw that his endeavors were always more successful than that of anyone else, so he knew that success came to him from G-d. In a similar sense is the verse, We have surely seen that the Eternal was with thee. (Above 26:28.) Thus Joseph found favor in his lord’s eyes, and he appointed him as his personal attendant and overseer of his house.
They said, We have indeed seen that Adonoy is with you [the Word of Adonoy is your support], and we said, Let there now be an oath between us, [Let the oath that was between our fathers now be established] between ourselves and you, and let us make a covenant with you;
And they answered, Seeing, we have seen, that the Word of the Lord is for thy help, and for thy righteousness' sake all good hath been to us; but when thou wentest forth from our land the wells dried up, and our trees made no fruit; then we said, We will cause him to return to us. And now let there be an oath established between us, and kindness between us and thee, and we will enter into a covenant with thee,
| אִם־תַּעֲשֵׂ֨ה עִמָּ֜נוּ רָעָ֗ה כַּאֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א נְגַֽעֲנ֔וּךָ וְכַאֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשִׂ֤ינוּ עִמְּךָ֙ רַק־ט֔וֹב וַנְּשַׁלֵּֽחֲךָ֖ בְּשָׁל֑וֹם אַתָּ֥ה עַתָּ֖ה בְּר֥וּךְ יְהֹוָֽה׃ | 29 J | that you will not do us harm, just as we have not molested you but have always dealt kindly with you and sent you away in peace. From now on, be you blessed of יהוה!” |
Genesis 26,29. “if you were to do with us something evil, considering that we have not harmed you, etc.;” we assume that the reader is familiar with the commentary of Baal haturim according to which Avimelech had indeed planned to harm Yitzchok, but that G’d converted this to Yitzchok’s benefit, something G’d does all the time when evil persons try to harm tzaddikim. According to Baal haturim, the words “as we have not harmed you,” are to be understood as an admission by Avimelech that he had indeed intended to harm Yitzchok, but that he had been prevented from doing so by Yitzchok’s G’d. Avimelech now pleaded with Yitzchok to respond to their deeds and not to their evil intentions. He implied that if Yitzchok were planning to do him and his country harm, this too would backfire.
לא נגענוך, “we have not harmed you bodily;” this was the reply to Yitzchok’s accusation that they had displayed their hatred for him. (verse 27) They used the fact that they had allowed him to leave unharmed as proof that they had not hated him, as they had made no attempt to harm him or his family physically. We may understand the words: לא נגענוך, as well as the words: “we have only done good with you,” as referring to the past as well as to the future. We find a similar formulation in the Scriptures in Psalms 9,19: כי לא לנצח ישכח אביון תקוות עניים תאבד לעד, “not always shall the needy by ignored, nor the hope of the afflicted forever lost.”'
אתה עתה ברוך ה, “you are now the one blessed by the Lord.” They wanted to forestall Yitzchok saying to them that before making him swear as the son of Avraham to keep the peace, they should first secure such a sworn undertaking from his brother Yishmael. [Yitzchok understood that the word עתה, “now,” reflected their worry about Yitzchok saying this to him. After all, when the Philistines breached the covenant made with Avraham for three generations they had also freed Yishmael from the obligation to observe its terms. Ed.] By using the words 'אתה עתה ברוך ה, they implied that they had reason to be afraid of him, whereas they had no reason to fear that they could not cope with Yishmael. G-d, after all, had not promised their land to Yishmael’s descendants. They were aware that G-d had bestowed the blessing He had given to Avraham, especially his power to bless and cure, to Yitzchok, as soon as Avraham had died. (25,11)
כאשר לא נגענוך וכאשר עשינו עמך רק טוב ונשלחך בשלום וגו', “just as we have not harmed you physically, and we have done you nothing but good, and allowed you to depart unharmed, etc.;” when reading this line our author was reminded of the parable concerning the type of gratitude a lion boasted as having displayed. A lion once had a fishbone stuck in his throat. He announced that anyone who would remove it would be richly rewarded. Upon hearing this, a bird known as Agron which has an exceptionally long neck, succeeded in removing this bone from the lion’s throat. Having done this, he asked the lion for his reward. The lion responded as follows: “is it not enough for you that while you had your head in my mouth I did not kill you? You have a nerve in asking me for an additional reward.” Avimelech acted in a similar manner by boasting that he had done Yitzchok a great favour by allowing him to leave his country without harming him when he had had a chance to do so. He implied that it was his custom and that of his people to take advantage of uninvited visitors.
אם תעשה עמנו, "if you will do with us, etc." They were careful to include in the wording of the covenant that it was in recognition of favours they had done to Isaac, whereas they referred to the eventuality that Isaac might reciprocate by doing harm to them. This is the reason that the whole verse is worded so unusually, as if it had been interrupted in the middle. The words "if you will do evil with us" should by rights have been part of the previous verse, providing the rationale for Avimelech seeking this agreement.
When you keep in mind what we have said, it becomes clear that the words are in their proper place, however. Avimelech and company stressed that just as they had not done any harm to Isaac in the past they now expected him to swear that he in turn would not do something that would harm them in the future. Isaac could not be expected to understand what they meant by the טוב, the good they had done for him, until they explained that the very fact that they let him depart whole in body and assets was in itself an act of kindness. Kings, i.e. governments, sometimes pass legislation to extend financial aid to some of their subjects. They do so for one of two reasons. 1) If the day would come when the government is in need of financial aid they would have wealthy citizens to call upon to provide loans to the government. 2) In order to enhance the economic standing of their countries. A country which contains many wealthy people thereby adds to the glory of its rulers. As a result one could have argued that any favours Avimelech had done for Isaac were not of an altruistic nature but were designed to enhance the king's personal reputation as a ruler over a successful country. Avimelech denied such an interpretation of his motives by saying: "just as we never harmed you," meaning that there were no selfish motives in that part of the טוב they had done for Isaac. The very fact they had let Isaac depart with all his assets intact [and had not imposed an emigration tax Ed.] had made Avimelech's country poorer. According to their reasoning this proved that every kindness they had shown Isaac had been genuine, not self-interest. All of this was alluded to in the words ראו ראינו.
[At this point the author quotes a line he saw in Bereshit Rabbah according to which Avimelech's words are proof that the Philistines did not do Isaac any true favours. He finds this difficult and deals with it. Since I have not found such a line in my edition of Bereshit Rabbah, I have omitted this paragraph. Ed.]
אתה עתה ברוך ה', "you are now the one who is blessed by the Lord." They had come to this realisation when they saw that Isaac continued to prosper in spite of having been expelled from their midst. Seeing that Isaac had not been deprived of any of the favours they used to bestow on him as a result of their having expelled him, he had no reason not to render the oath they requested from him as a quid pro quo.
The author argues that in spite of the definition of the Rivash that what constitutes an oath which is rendered as a quid pro quo is the favour which is rendered at the time of the oath, the same holds true if the oath was sworn in recognition of favours received previously.
Avimelech also wanted to explain with this statement why they did not invite Isaac to return to Gerar. Seeing that after leaving Gerar Isaac had prospered even more than while he had been there, there was no point to invite him to come back there. Previously it could have been argued that he was the beneficiary of the help of G'd extended by means of intermediaries such as the local government in Gerar, i.e. Avimelech himself. Now that he lived in no-man's land it was clear that his success was due entirely to G'd's direct help.
Avimelech also wanted to deny the argument that they had caused Isaac's good fortune to be interrupted by their expulsion; this could not have been the case seeing that G'd had been its author. The fact that he was still better off today than when he resided amongst them was the proof; עתה ברוך ה', "now that they had already done all that was in their power with the means at their disposal, it was clear that he was blessed by the Lord" since he had found the real source of such blessing. All these arguments were designed to elicit an oath the legality of which would be unassailable under any circumstances. There is a discussion in Gittin 46 why the Jewish people did not make war against the Gibeonites when they found out that the latter had tricked them into a promise to treat them as allies instead of as Canaanites (Joshua 9,18). Rabbi Yehudah holds that since the oath was sworn by the leaders of the Jewish people, Israel could not take action denying the validity of that oath. The other rabbis disagree, claiming that the Israelites' undertaking was never valid as it had been based on the Gibeonites' declaration that they were a people who lived far from the land of Canaan. Clearly, Rabbi Yehudah was concerned with the image of Jewish leaders who by defaulting on an undertaking denigrate the reputation of G'd whom they represent. Rashi explains that Rabbi Yehudah's point is not that the oath was valid, but that the Gentiles must not be allowed to say that Jewish leaders were guilty of perjury. We must remember that Rabbi Yehudah's point is not a legal one, i.e. a Mosaic law, but an act of piety that Jewish leaders have to impose upon themselves. Besides, even according to Rabbi Yehudah, such a consideration is in place only when the oath was as public as that of the Jewish people to the Gibeonites. Oaths between a relatively small group of people such as Isaac and Avimelech's entourage would certainly not fall under that heading.
Furthermore, an additional reason why the other rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Yehudah is that the Gentiles are well aware of the mechanics and the conditions when oaths are subject to annulment. This being so, the question of חלול השם, public desecration of G'd's name which troubled Rabbi Yehudah did not even arise.
אם תעשה, they knew that if Yitzchok so intended he was able to harm them, seeing that the people of Beer Sheva would assist him in all that he would ask them to. [Avimelech’s trip to Yitzchok who had labeled him and his cohorts as hating him had been akin to going to the lion’s den. Ed.] For the people around Beer Sheva Yitzchok was a prince of G’d who could do no wrong. He was the personification of his father whom they had greatly admired. This is why Avimelech prefaced with words with the remark: אם תעשה עמנו רעה כאשר לא נגענוך, as if to say: “surely you are not going to repay our kindness with an act of hostility merely because you are now in a position to do so!” The phrase is to be understood as if the word אשר (כאשר) is to mean the same as בעבור, “on account of, in return for.” The word אשר appears in that sense in Kings I 15,13 אשר עשתה מפלצת לאשרה, “on account of the abominable thing she had done.” Another such usage of the word אשר occurs in Deuteronomy 4,40 אשר ייטב לך ולבניך אחריך, “in order that He will do good for you and your children.”
וכאשר עשינו עמך רק טוב, the word וכאשר at the beginning of Avimelech’s words must be imagined as having been repeated after the word טוב, as if he had said ובעבור שלא עשינו עמך רק טוב, “and on account of the fact that we have only treated you kindly.” We find a similar construction in Psalms 9,19 ותקות ענוים תאבד לעד,”the hope of the afflicted will not be lost forever;” in that phrase the word “not” appears in the first half of the verse, i.e. כי לא לנצח ישכח אביון, “for the hope of the destitute will not be ignored (forgotten) forever. There are many such constructions throughout Scripture where a word at the beginning of the verse is doing double-duty, i.e. must be assumed to have been written also in the second half of the same verse in order to make it intelligible.
'אתה עתה ברוך ה, seeing that G’d has made you so successful you are now in a position to do us harm if you so desire. This would not be appropriate seeing that we have throughout treated you in a friendly manner while we had been in a position to inflict harm upon you. Even when we expelled you we did so in a manner that did not make you suffer an indignity. When we told you to leave, this was only on account of the envy your success had aroused among the Philistine man in the street. We wanted to insure that they would not allow their envy of you to provoke them into harming you.
IF THOU WILT DO US HURT, AS WE HAVE NOT TOUCHED THEE. The king is saying: “If you will do us hurt [and we could do nothing against you], just as we have not touched you because thou art now the blessed of the Eternal and we do not have it in our power to harm you, the time will yet change on account of the violence you will do against us and you will need to return to our land. Then we will requite you accordingly.” The meaning of the phrase, We have not touched thee, is: “We did not persuade our hearts concerning your wife, causing her to be touched by one of them.” This is similar in expression to the verse, He that toucheth this man or his wife. (Verse 11 here.) “We have done thee nothing but good, guarding whatever you had, by our commanding the people to beware of you. And we have sent thee away in peace for even when we were jealous of you we took nothing of all the wealth you amassed with us, and we sent you away in peace with all you had.” The reason for their being fearful of him could hardly have been the apprehension of the king of the Philistines lest Isaac come to war against him. Instead, it was because Abraham had promised them a covenant, “to him, to his son, and his son’s son,” (Above, 21:23.) and now they thought, “Since we annulled our covenant with Isaac and sent him away from us, he too will annul his covenant with us, and his children will drive our children from the land.” This was why they made a new covenant with him, excusing themselves by telling him that they did not annul the first covenant, since they have done him nothing but good. And this is the meaning of their saying, Let there now be an oath between us: (Verse 28 here.) “We will now come with you in oath to express a ban upon whoever will transgress the covenant.” This is similar in meaning to the verse, That thou shouldst enter into the covenant of the Lord thy G-d, and into His oath. (Deuteronomy 29:11.) It is possible that Abraham was very great and mighty in power, having in his household three hundred men (Above, 14:14.) that drew sword, and also many confederates; and he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, (II Samuel 17:10. The verse refers to David, but Ramban uses it also in connection with Abraham, since as pointed out he was also mighty in battle.) and he chased after four powerful kings and subdued them. (Above, 14:14-15.) When they saw Abraham’s success which clearly was from G-d, the king of the Philistines was then fearful of him lest he conquer his kingdom, since this would be easier than the war against the four kings. Perhaps the king of the Philistines had also heard the matter of G-d having given the land to Abraham. Hence he made a covenant with him, making him swear that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son, (Above, 21:23.) it being considered an act of falsehood if Abraham were to rebel against the king, and considering it possible that Abraham might live until his grandson will rule, [he also mentioned my sons’s son]. And as the fathers are, so are the sons. Isaac was as great as his father, and the king therefore feared lest Isaac war against him because he had driven him from his land.
אתה עתה, therefore conclude a pact with us and let us go home, just as we have allowed you to leave our country unmolested.
אתה, you are blessed by the Lord. (verse 31)
(3) BLESSED OF ADONAI. Similar to "Come, blessed of Adonai," written about Lavan. And that is what Yitzhak did (v. 31), "they departed from him in peace."
לא נגענוך WE HAVE NOT TOUCHED THEE when we said to you “Go from us”.
אתה THOU — thou, also, do with us in a like manner.
אם תעשה עמנו רעה, “that you shall not do any evil to us.” אתה עתה, just as we did not harm you.
You, also... Rashi inserts the word גם to indicate that the Torah’s word אתה means גם אתה (“You, also, do with us likewise”). This is the prevalent version of Rashi’s text. Accordingly, עתה ברוך ה' is an independent phrase, [not to be read together with the preceding word אתה,] and comes to explain what was stated above: Why are we asking this of you? Because now we have seen that you are the blessed one of Hashem. question: Is not the phrase בינותינו בינינו וביניך redundant? He answers that the phrases in this verse are not written in sequence. It should say תהי אלה בינותינו, נא ביני וביניך. This means, “Let that oath, which already exists between us, continue now.” Rashi adds a ה to אלה, and inserts אשר, because it is recounting what happened to Avraham. And he inserts גם because Avimelech is seeking to make the same covenant with Yitzchok that he made with Avraham. Thus he says גם עתה. It is evident that Rashi, when he says עתה (now), is explaining נא. [Accordingly, נא means “now,” rather than “please.”]
If you will or so that you will 14 do us no harm, when we have not touched you, and when we have done only good with you, and we sent you in peace. While it is true that we feared you and banished you from our land, nevertheless you lived among us for a certain period and were not sent away in a violent manner or with hatred. Perhaps we were mistaken in dismissing you; in any case we see that you are now the blessed of the Lord, and therefore we wish to establish a covenant with you.
אם תעשה עמנו רעה, “If you will do us any harm, etc.” Nachmanides writes that Avimelech’s concern was not that Yitzchok would invade his country, an unlikely scenario, seeing that he was only a stranger in his country, but he was concerned because of the treaty Avraham had concluded with his father and committing several generations into the future. Now that he had been guilty of expelling a descendant of Avraham, he worried that Avraham’s descendants, in due course, would no longer feel bound by the original non-aggression pact between the Philistines and themselves.
כאשר לא נגענוך, “just as we have not laid a hand on you, etc.” We issued a decree that anyone harming you would be severely punished.
וכאשר עשינו עמך רק טוב, “and seeing that we have only treated you well.” We protected your property against looting, etc., and warned the people not to damage what is yours.
ונשלחך בשלום, “and we let you depart in peace.” Even though all my countrymen had become jealous of your new found wealth, all of which originated in our land, and they would have liked nothing better than to deprive you of it, we did not allow this to happen. In view of all the foregoing, we are entitled to ask you to renew the pact your father made with my father. It is entirely possible that, although, in his time, Avraham was very powerful so that he had defeated the four most powerful kings with an army of only 318 men, Yitzchok may have become even more powerful so that Avimelech had reason to fear him if he would incur his displeasure.
אתה עתה ברוך ה', “clearly you are now blessed by the Lord.” The word “now” is important here. Avimelech, while acknowledging that Yitzchok at this time is more powerful than he is, hints that times may change, and a time may come when their relative positions will be reversed, so that having a treaty will also be of benefit to him.
Other sources similarly describe holy people as potent warriors. The Rambam (Hilchot Melachim, Chapter 11) presents a profile of the Messiah. He studies Torah and is devoted to the Written and Oral Torah. He will compel the entire Jewish people to follow the Torah, and he will lead the nation in battle. The Ramban (Bereishit 26:29) explains what motivated Philistine kings to make covenants with our forefathers, who led a small nomadic tribe, seemingly posing little threat to the Philistine emperor:
“They said: We saw that the Lord was with you, and we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between us and you, and we will establish a covenant with you” (Genesis 26:28). “If you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and just as we have done only [rak] good with you, and we sent you in peace; you are now the blessed of the Lord” (Genesis 26:29). “They said: We saw” – we have seen your actions and the actions of your fathers. “Let there now be an oath…if you will do us [no harm…and just as we have done only [rak] good with you]” – rak is restrictive, as they did not perform absolute good with him. In the days of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, the evil empire (The evil empire is the Roman Empire.) decreed that the Temple should be constructed. Papus and Lulyanus set tables from Akko to Antioch, and they provided those ascending from the exile with silver and gold, and all their needs. The Samaritans went and said: “Let it be known to the king…that [if] this rebellious city is built, and its walls finished, they will not pay minda, belo, or halakh” (Ezra 4:12–13) – minda is property tax, belo is poll tax, and halakh is head tax. He said to them: ‘What can I do, I issued a decree.’ They said to him: ‘Send and say to them: Either move it from its place, or add five cubits to it, or subtract five cubits from it, and they will relent on their own.’ The assembly of Israel were gathered together in the Beit Rimon valley. When those missives arrived, they began weeping. They wanted to rebel against the empire. They said: ‘Let one Sage enter and calm the assembly.’ They said: ‘Let Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who is the greatest Torah scholar, enter.’ He entered and expounded: ‘A lion mauled prey and a bone was stuck in its throat. He [the lion] said: Anyone who extracts it, I will give him a reward. An Egyptian heron with a long beak inserted its beak and extracted it. It said to it [the lion]: Give me my reward. It [the lion] said to it: Go, boast, and say that you entered the mouth of a lion in peace and emerged in peace. So, it is sufficient that we entered into dealings with this nation in peace, and emerged in peace.’ “It was on that day that Isaac's servants came and told him regarding the well that they had dug, and said to him: We have found water” (Genesis 26:32). “Isaac's servants came” – we do not know whether they found or did not find. (We do not know whether they found a new source of water.) From what is written: “They found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19) – that is, they found fresh water.
Three people in the Torah use this expression – and all of them are non-Jews, people outside the Abrahamic covenant. The first is Noah: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem” (Gen. 9:26). The second is Abraham’s servant, presumed to be Eliezer, whom he sends to find a wife for Isaac: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned His kindness and faithfulness to my master” (Gen. 24:27). The third is Yitro in this parasha. (There are two other oblique examples. Laban calls Abraham’s servant, “You who are blessed by the Lord” (Gen. 24:31). Avimelekh king of Gerar says of Isaac, “You are blessed by the Lord” (Gen. 26:29). Again note that neither of the speakers is part of the covenant.)
THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. For many years I asked myself why Scripture employs the phrase ed sheker (false witness) and not edut sheker (false testimony). I now believe that Scripture is addressing the false witness, and our verse is to be interpreted as if it read, “Thou shalt not give testimony if thou art a false witness.” The implication of this clause is the same as that of neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another (Lev. 19:11). We find that a bet follows the word for testimony in and hath testified (anah) falsely against his brother (be-achiv) (Deut. 19:18). We also find this verb employed without a bet following it in yishma El ve-ya’anem (God shall hear, and testify against them) (Ps. 55:20). (Translated according to I.E.) Now ve-ya’anem is a compound of ve-ya’aneh (and shall testify) and bam (against them). (In effect, a bet follows “to testify,” for the mem suffix stands for the word bam.) The phrase lo nega’anukha (not touched thee) in as we have not touched thee (Gen. 26:29) is similar, as the meaning of lo nega’anukha is lo naganu bakh (we have not touched thee). (In other words, the kaf suffix stands for the word bakh. Thus in both cases the suffix stands for a bet.) There is a type of false witness who incurs the death penalty, namely, the one concerning whom it is written, then shall ye do unto him, as he had purposed to do unto his brother (Deut. 19:19). (If the false testimony would have resulted in an innocent person’s execution, then the false witness is put to death.)
My anointed ones. [This means]: My great ones, My princes. For [the Patriarchs] were highly regarded by kings, as though they had themselves been anointed kings. Thus, the Hittites said to Abraham, “You are God’s elect among us” (Gen 23:6). Also, Abimelech came to Isaac to make peace and to make a covenant with him (Gen 26:26–29).
They responded: "These days are recalled and observed" (Esther 9:28) - just as they are observed by an individual, so too are they recalled by an individual. They also said: the reading of the Megillah is like Hallel (Megillah 14a) - just as the recitation of Hallel at its time is done by an individual, so too with the Megillah. As it is written (Psalms 22:3) "My God, I cry by day—You answer not; by night, and have no respite" (This Psalm is attributed to Esther, see Yoma 29a:4) - all this in first person singular. So too, "This is my God, I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15:2) - first person singular. Some time later they responded again: "Isaac spoke and said, why have you come to me, and you hate me, etc." "And they said to him, behold we have seen that God is with you etc.," "And we shall send you in peace, for you are now blessed by God." "Let there be a bond between us, and let us make a covenant with you." (Genesis 26:27-29) "Like an apple among the trees of the forest is my lover among men, I craved to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my tongue." (Song of Songs 2:3) All this they reported to me in truth, in my dream, exactly as I have written. (The last set of verses seems to be an account of a conversation in the heavenly Yeshiva, where the Rif (Isaac) defends his position from that of the others.)
that you will do us no harm, just as we did not touch [injure] you. We did nothing but good to you, and sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed one of Adonoy.
lest thou do us evil. Forasmuch as we have not come nigh thee for evil, and as we have acted with thee only for good, and have indeed sent thee away in peace; thou art now blessed of the Lord.
| וַיַּ֤עַשׂ לָהֶם֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה וַיֹּאכְל֖וּ וַיִּשְׁתּֽוּ׃ | 30 J | Then he made for them a feast, and they ate and drank. |
Genesis 26,30. In response to this request, ויעש להם משתה, “Yitzchok prepared a feast for Avimelech and his entourage;” ויאכלו וישתו וילכו מאתו בשלום, “they ate and drank, and they went away from him in peace.” It would appear that these various anecdotes from the lives of our forefathers, the patriarchs, have been recorded in the Torah, so that during periods of exile and persecution, their descendants would recall that their forebears too had been subjected to difficult periods and that their lives had been in danger on account of their being ‘Hebrews’ on numerous occasions. We should remember that although the early Israelites were frequently in a politically weak position, this did not prevent powerful kings from soliciting their goodwill.
We need to explain the absence of the expression: ויעש להם משתה, “he made a festive meal for them.” We find such an expression even when Lot served the angels a meager meal (Genesis 19,3) consisting primarily of unleavened bread of indeterminate age. We also find it when Esther prepared a sumptuous meal for her husband King Ahasverus (Esther 4,4, as well as 7,8) to which she had invited the wicked Haman, also. In that instance, it is clear that quantities of wine were served, hence the word משתה, which suggests liquid refreshments. We have a rule that when a righteous person shares a meal with a wicked person, the wicked person’s spiritual status will become enhanced thereby. This is the moral justification for the joy at such a meal. During such a meal the tzaddik is able to elevate the sparks of the Shechinah which had descended into the terrestrial domains as a result of man succumbing to the seduction of the serpent. [Compare what we wrote on page 21-22.Ed.] The word משתה is basically a variant of the word שמחה, joy, so that when Lot offered the angels a meal which the Torah described as משתה, it was not a reference to the number of courses served, but to the atmosphere that prevailed during that meal. In that instance it was Lot’s moral status that became elevated due to the company of celestial beings at his table. As a result of the angels having eaten at his table, (and their having rescued him from Sodom) the soul of the messiah, that had lain dormant within Lot, was awakened somewhat so that he could become the father of a child whose descendant, Ruth, eventually became the ancestor of David, who in turn is the ancestor of the messiah. The joy generated at the meal Esther served the King and Haman, resulted in the salvation of the Jewish people at her time, due to her having elevated some of the sparks of the Shechinah that had lain dormant within her husband. Since Avraham was on a far higher moral/ethical level than either Lot or Ahasversus, there was no need for a משתה to bring the participants’ spiritual qualities to the fore. Hence there is no mention of this word, although Avraham had spared not effort to make it a tasty repast.
He made a feast for them. It is the way of the righteous to be easily appeased.
ויעש להם משתה, in order to preserve the friendly atmosphere he prepared a feast for them and they ate and drank together.
Isaac agreed, and he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank, in accordance with the custom after establishing a covenant.
And it came to pass in those days, after the days of Abraham, that the Lord brought, in the same year, a very heavy famine upon the earth; and when the famine was in the land of Canaan, Isaac arose to go down unto the land of Egypt on account of the famine, as Abraham, his father, once did. And in that night the Lord appeared unto Isaac, saying: Do not go down to Egypt; arise and go unto Gerar, to Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, and remain there until the famine is over. And Isaac arose and went to Gerar, according to the command of the Lord, and he tarried there a whole year. And when Isaac came to Gerar the inhabitants of the land saw Rebekah, his wife, and behold she was very beautiful in appearance. And the people of Gerar made inquiries of Isaac concerning his wife, and he said: She is my sister, for he was afraid to acknowledge her as his wife, lest the people of the land might slay him on her account. And the princes of Abimelech went and praised the woman to the king, yet he made no reply, nor did he listen unto their words. And when he heard them say that Isaac proclaimed her to be his sister, the king kept that within himself. And when Isaac had dwelt in the land for three months, Abimelech looked out through the window and behold Isaac was very affectionate to Rebekah, his wife; for Isaac dwelt in one of the king's out-houses, which was opposite to the king's own house. And the king said unto Isaac: What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have come near thy wife and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. And Isaac replied unto Abimelech: Because I was in fear lest I die for her, therefore I proclaimed her to be my sister. And at that time Abimelech charged all his princes and nobles to take Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and to bring them unto the presence of the king. And the king gave orders to dress them in royal garments, and cause them to ride through the streets of the city, and to call out before them: This is the husband and this is his wife, and whosoever will touch this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. And Isaac returned unto the king's house, and the Lord was with Isaac and he continued to grow in greatness, and he lacked nothing. And the Lord caused Isaac to find favor in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all his servants, and Abimelech did well with Isaac, for Abimelech well remembered the covenant which was cut between his father and Abraham. And Abimelech said unto Isaac: Behold the entire land is before thee, dwell wherever it seemeth good in thine eyes until thou returneth unto thy land. And Abimelech gave unto Isaac fields and vineyards and the best land of Gerar, to sow and to reap and to eat of the fruit of the ground until the famine should cease.
Eating serves as a powerful bonding experience, as is evident from Bereishit 26:26-30 and 31:43-46. Shemot 34:15-16 and Bemidbar 24:1-3 describe a shared meal with idolaters as a prelude to our worshipping Avoda Zara (Yoma 39a records how non-kosher food makes one unreceptive to spirituality, Timtum HaLev.) .
He [Yitzchok] made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
| וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣ימוּ בַבֹּ֔קֶר וַיִּשָּׁבְע֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ לְאָחִ֑יו וַיְשַׁלְּחֵ֣ם יִצְחָ֔ק וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ מֵאִתּ֖וֹ בְּשָׁלֽוֹם׃ | 31 J | Early in the morning, they exchanged oaths. Isaac then bade them farewell, and they departed from him in peace. |
וישכימו..וישלחם, they rose early and he sent them off after accompanying them for the appropriate distance.
They awoke in the morning and took oaths to one another that they would keep the covenant and maintain friendly relations from that time forward. Isaac sent them back, and they went from him in peace.
Performance of certain mizvot, including circumcision, is traditionally accompanied by a celebratory meal. (The covenants entered into between Isaac and Abimelech and between Jacob and Laban were accompanied by festive banquets designed to demonstrate and to promote a convivial relationship between the covenanting parties. See Genesis 26:31 and 31:54. R. Yitzchak Meir Schorr, Koveẓ Bet Aharon ve-Yisra’el, Nisan-Iyar 5761, p. 114f., suggests that circumcision is similarly accompanied by a celebratory repast because of its covenantal nature. It seems to this writer that each of the miẓvot requiring a celebratory repast is imbued with a covenantal aspect and that it is for that reason that precisely those miẓvot are accompanied by a festive meal.) Hokhmat Adam 149:24 emphasizes that the repast should be a meal in the halakhic sense of the term, i.e., that it must be served with bread as distinct from a collation consisting of coffee or whisky and pastries or the like. He adds that a person who can afford a proper repast but seeks to economize by offering his guests less than usual "does not act properly" and that R. Elijah of Vilna protested against such behavior. (Shitah Mekubbeẓet, Beiẓah 16a, cites Ritva in asserting that the sustenance ordained for an individual on Rosh ha-Shanah is exclusive of any expenses incurred in fulfilling a miẓvah just as it is exclusive of expenditures incurred in honoring the Sabbath and the festivals. See also R. Moshe Bunim Pirutinsky, Sefer ha-Brit 265:161.)
(Exodus 13:17) "And it was, when G–d sent ("shalach") the people": "sending" in all places is accompaniment, viz. (Genesis 18:16) "And Abraham went with them to send them," (Ibid. 26:31) "And Israel sent them." The mouth (of Pharaoh) that said (Exodus 5:2) "Israel, too, I will not send," it is that (mouth) which said (Ibid. 10:10) "I will send you and your children." How was he rewarded for this? (Devarim 23:8) "You shall not abominate an Egyptian." The mouth which said (Exodus 5:2) "I do not know the L–rd," it is that (mouth) which said (Ibid. 14:25) "I will flee from before Israel, for the L–rd wars for them against the Egyptians." How was he rewarded for this? (Isaiah 19:19) "On that day there will be an altar to the L–rd in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at its border to the L–rd." The mouth which said (Exodus 5:2) "Who is the L–rd that I should hearken to His voice," it is that mouth which said (Ibid. 9:27) "the L–rd is the Tzaddik, and I and my people are the wicked" — wherefore He gave them a place for burial, as it is written (Ibid. 15:12) "You inclined Your right hand — the earth swallowed them up."
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go (Exod. 13:17). The word let go (shallah) indicates “to escort,” as in the verse Abraham went with them to bring them (leshalleham) on the way (Gen. 18:16). Similarly it states; And Isaac sent them away (vaye-shallehem), and they departed from him in peace (ibid. 26:31). Why does this scriptural portion open with this verse? Because the mouth (i.e., Pharaoh) that had declared: And moreover, I will not let Israel go (Exod. 5:2), now retracted and said: I will let you go (ibid. 8:24). This explains why this portion of Scripture begins with the words When Pharaoh had let the people go. What was his reward for doing so? Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian (Deut. 23:8), for the mouth that had said: I know not the Lord (Exod. 5:2) reversed itself and declared: The Lord is righteous (ibid. 9:27). What was his reward for saying this? He gave them a burial place, as it is said: Thou stretchest out Thy right hand—the earth swallowed them (ibid. 15:12).
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
They got up early in the morning, and they each swore to the other. Yitzchok sent them away and they left in peace.
And they arose in the morning, each man with his brother; and he broke off from the bridle of his ass, and gave one part to them for a testimony. And Izhak prayed for them, and they were enlarged. And Izhak accompanied them, and they went from him in peace.
| וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ עַבְדֵ֣י יִצְחָ֔ק וַיַּגִּ֣דוּ ל֔וֹ עַל־אֹד֥וֹת הַבְּאֵ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָפָ֑רוּ וַיֹּ֥אמְרוּ ל֖וֹ מָצָ֥אנוּ מָֽיִם׃ | 32 J | That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water!” |
In the verse, Isaac's servants came (Gen. 26:32): It is stated in the Midrash, “We do not know if they found water or not; when it says, We have found water (Gen. 26:32), we see they found water” (Genesis Rabbah 64.10).
To understand this matter we will begin with the verse, they have forsaken me, the source of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13). Its meaning is that Blessed God is the source from whom comes the flow of life-force to all living things in all manners, there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35); and anyone who is attached to [God] is attached to the root of life-force whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11) – but only so long as there is no blockage from his side. For if, God forbid, on account of his sins he blocks himself from the source, his life-force will become absent; but from Blessed [God’s] side there is no blockage as the verse says, but your iniquities have made a separation [between you and your God] (Isaiah 59:2). But one whose life-force is from the Other Side, who are called broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13) since they are gathered waters into which fell sparks of life-force at the moment of breaking, and for this reason they are called broken cisterns – such a person is blocked from his Upper Root and is called separator of close friends (Proverbs 16:28, 17:9). And therefore the Ancestors of the World, who opened the pipelines of intelligence in the world and taught awareness to all people, how to dig himself into the aspect of a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), to be attached to the source from which comes the root of his life-force. And [the Ancestors’] disciples are called by the name “servants,” as the verse says, Isaac’s servants (Gen. 26:32), since their service of the Blessed Creator came by way of the Ancestors.
ויהי ביום ההוא, before Avimelech and his entourage had departed. This was deliberately timed by G’d to demonstrate to Avimelech the extent of Yitzchok’s success so that they would remain in awe of him.
AND ISAAC’s SERVANTS CAME AND TOLD HIM CONCERNING THE WELL WHICH THEY HAD DIGGED. This is the same well mentioned above in the verse, And there Isaac’s servants digged a well. (Verse 25 here.) They had begun to dig it, and Abimelech came to him during that period, and on the day of the making of the covenant, when Abimelech and his retinue had left, Isaac’s servants brought him the tidings that they had found water. It appears feasible to me that this is the same well which Abraham dug, in connection with which he gave Abimelech seven lambs as a witness [to his ownership of the well]. (Above, 21:30.) The Philistines, however, stopped it together with the other wells, whereupon Isaac dug it again and called it by the same name which his father had called it. It is for this reason that the name of the city is Beer-sheba: on account of the well (be’er) which both the father and the son called by that name because there they swore both of them. (Ibid., Verse 31. The verse there refers to Abraham and Abimelech. Ramban uses it here only as an expression to indicate that both Abraham and Isaac called the same well by the same name and both had occasion to swear over it. The name of the city “Beer-sheba” thus derives its historical significance from both the first patriarch and his son.) This well of theirs alludes to the Tabernacle at Shiloh, which the Philistines stopped when the Ark of G-d was taken captive by them. (I Samuel 4:11.) And they redug it, indicating that the Philistines indeed returned the Ark together with the honorary gift to G-d. (Ibid., 6:11.)
It was on that day that Avimelekh left, and Isaac’s servants came and told him with regard to the well that they had dug. Isaac’s servants had continued digging wells. They said to him: We have again found water.
ויבאו עבדי יצחק, “The servants of Yitzchok arrived just then, etc.” According to Nachmanides this statement refers back to what had been written in verse 25 i.e. ויכרו שם, “they dug there (Beer Sheva). The digging had already begun before Avimelech set out to conclude this treaty with Yitzchok. Their efforts were rewarded with success on the very day the agreement was concluded. I believe that it is most likely that this was the same well which Avraham had dug in the same location, and that he had at the time given 7 sheep to Avimelech as testimony that that well had been dug by his servants and that the water was his. (Genesis 21,24) The Philistines had stopped up that well after the death of Avraham. Yitzchok now renamed the well with the name given to it by his father at the time.
“They said: We saw that the Lord was with you, and we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between us and you, and we will establish a covenant with you” (Genesis 26:28). “If you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and just as we have done only [rak] good with you, and we sent you in peace; you are now the blessed of the Lord” (Genesis 26:29). “They said: We saw” – we have seen your actions and the actions of your fathers. “Let there now be an oath…if you will do us [no harm…and just as we have done only [rak] good with you]” – rak is restrictive, as they did not perform absolute good with him. In the days of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, the evil empire (The evil empire is the Roman Empire.) decreed that the Temple should be constructed. Papus and Lulyanus set tables from Akko to Antioch, and they provided those ascending from the exile with silver and gold, and all their needs. The Samaritans went and said: “Let it be known to the king…that [if] this rebellious city is built, and its walls finished, they will not pay minda, belo, or halakh” (Ezra 4:12–13) – minda is property tax, belo is poll tax, and halakh is head tax. He said to them: ‘What can I do, I issued a decree.’ They said to him: ‘Send and say to them: Either move it from its place, or add five cubits to it, or subtract five cubits from it, and they will relent on their own.’ The assembly of Israel were gathered together in the Beit Rimon valley. When those missives arrived, they began weeping. They wanted to rebel against the empire. They said: ‘Let one Sage enter and calm the assembly.’ They said: ‘Let Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who is the greatest Torah scholar, enter.’ He entered and expounded: ‘A lion mauled prey and a bone was stuck in its throat. He [the lion] said: Anyone who extracts it, I will give him a reward. An Egyptian heron with a long beak inserted its beak and extracted it. It said to it [the lion]: Give me my reward. It [the lion] said to it: Go, boast, and say that you entered the mouth of a lion in peace and emerged in peace. So, it is sufficient that we entered into dealings with this nation in peace, and emerged in peace.’ “It was on that day that Isaac's servants came and told him regarding the well that they had dug, and said to him: We have found water” (Genesis 26:32). “Isaac's servants came” – we do not know whether they found or did not find. (We do not know whether they found a new source of water.) From what is written: “They found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19) – that is, they found fresh water.
[78] The well, entitled Oath, in which, as history says, no water was found, is a place most appropriate to that which grew there. What we read is this: “The servants of Isaac came and brought word to him concerning the well which they had dug, saying ‘We found no water,’ and he called it ‘Oath’ ” (Gen. 26:32 f.). Let us observe the force of these words.
(α) 74–93. Abraham’s planting (Gen. 21:33). The tree the “hide” of 10,000 cubits; the place the well, which is without water (Gen. 26:32 LXX), and so symbolic of the fruitless search for knowledge, and of the discovery of our own ignorance; the fruit the invocation of the Name “Eternal God,” which connotes “Benefactor,” whereas “Lord” connotes Master.”
This is why the diggers of this well say that they found no water in it (Gen. 26:32), inasmuch as the ends pursued in the different branches of knowledge prove to be not only hard to reach, but absolutely beyond finding.
[38] To say that she “stood still from bearing” (Gen. 29:35) differs not at all from saying that the servants of Isaac found no water in the fourth well (Gen. 26:32), since what is brought out by each of the figures is that all things are athirst for God, through Whom the birth of things, and their food when born, is watered into fruitfulness.
On that day Yitzchok’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug; and they said to him, We have found water.
And on that day the servants of Izhak came and told him concerning the well they had digged, and said to him, We have found water;
| וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֹתָ֖הּ שִׁבְעָ֑ה עַל־כֵּ֤ן שֵׁם־הָעִיר֙ בְּאֵ֣ר שֶׁ֔בַע עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃ | 33 J | He named it Shibah; (Shibah As though “oath.”) therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day. |
על כן שם העיר באר שבע, “this is why the name of the town was B’eer sheva. If you were to question that that name for this well (site) had already been given to it by Avraham, so why does the Torah let us think that this was something new? We must understand the meaning of the verse as follows: Yitzchok named the well mentioned in verse 32 shivah, “seven,” because he had named the town B’eer sheva. Actually, originally the name was a reminder of the “oath” שבועה, not the “number” שבע. As to the question how Yitzchok could enter into a business arrangement with a pagan, the Talmud Avodah Zarah considers the prohibition based only on such deals leaving a wrong impression on other Jews, something that was not relevant as yet. This was also the reason that the Philistines came to Yitzchok there, as they wanted to renew the oath at the place it had been concluded originally. There is also the problem of Exodus 23,13 that “the name of an alien deity shall not cross your lips,” i.e. you must not be heard uttering it. [I have not understood how Yitzchok could have become guilty of this in this connection. Ed.]
BEER-SHEBA. There were two reasons why the city was so called. (In Gen. 21:30 Abraham tells Abimelech, Verily, these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. Scripture then adds, Wherefore that place was called Beer-Sheba because there they swore both of them. However, here we are told that Beersheba was so called because of the oath (shevu’ah) taken by Isaac and Abimelech (cf. Rashi). I.E. points out that Beersheba was so called because of the oaths taken by Abraham and Isaac. Or possibly the two reasons for the name are: Abraham’s setting aside the seven (shevah) lambs and his oath (shevu’ah). Isaac merely repeated Abraham’s oath (Weiser). Or Abraham called the place Beersheba because of the setting aside of the seven lambs and Isaac called it thus because of the oath (Cherez).) On the other hand, it is possible that this Beersheba is not to be identified with the Beersheba previously mentioned (Gen. 21:28-31). (This would explain the two accounts for the name Beersheba in Scripture. According to this interpretation the two reasons given for Beersheba are the two oaths, viz., Abraham’s and Isaac’s. Each took place in a different city.)
As though “oath.”
ויקרא אותה שבעה, on account of the oath that Yitzchok and Avimelech had sworn there. Avraham had done the same. (21,31) Even though he had not named the well itself שבעה, he named the entire region Beer Sheva, both on account of the oath and on account of the seven sheep which had been the physical symbol of that oath. Both Avraham and Yitzchok named the event in the presence of Avimelech.
As to the Torah writing: על כן שם העיר באר שבע, and we know that the place had been known by that name already since the days of Avraham, the Torah informs us that the name Avraham gave it might not have endured, but that this event now ensured that the name would be permanent. When a certain location commemorates two historic events both in the life of the father and that of the son, this will be remembered for far longer as everyone recognises that more than coincidence was the reason why the historic event which produced the name occurred precisely there.
על כן שם העיר באר שבע this was not the same Beer Sheva we read about in connection with Avraham. There were two towns called Beer Sheva, as we know from Kings I 19,3 ויבא באר שבע אשר ליהודה, “he came to Beer Sheva in Yehudah.” [If there had not been another Beer Sheva the additional words “which is in Yehudah” would have been unnecessary. Ed.]
שבעה [AND HE CALLED IT] SHIBAH (swearing), in allusion to the Covenant (cf. v.31; “And they swear” etc.).
Abraham hatte למקום, den Ort, die Gegend באר שבע genannt, Jizchak den Brunnen שבעה — entweder von dem dort geleisteten Eide, oder weil ihm dort Gott sichtbar im Bunde mit seinen konkreten, irdischen Verhältnissen (das Siebte mit den Sechsen), sich gezeigt; es war dies der Glanzpunkt in Jizchaks Leben — durch beides erhielt die später dort gebaute Stadt ihren Namen.
He called it Shiva, in allusion to the oath [ shevua ] ; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
על כן שם העיר באר שבע, “this is why the town became known as באר שבע.” The fact that both Avraham the father, and Yitzchok the son, had called the well באר שבע resulted in the urban center surrounding it becoming known by the name given to it by these two prominent people. From a mystical perspective, this name is an allusion to the Tabernacle which stood at Shiloh for over 300 years When the Philistines captured the holy ark which Eli’s sons had taken to war with them, they stopped up that well again, until the Israelites, once the Hoy Ark was returned by the Philistines, reopened it. Ibn Ezra comments that there were two separate reasons why the well and the town were called Beer Sheva. On the other hand, seeing that this is somewhat unlikely, it is possible that the city Beer Sheva is not the site at which this well was dug and the treaty concluded.
Know and be faithful that no creature in the world has existence except in the One, blessed be He, of these seven Sefirot. (The Holy One, blessed is He, is the Sefirah of Tiferet-תפארת, in that both its light and its vessel is the Name HaShem-יהו"ה, whereas with the other Sefirot, only their inner light is the Name HaShem-יהו"ה, but their vessel is one of HaShem’s-יהו"ה titles. For example, the name of the vessel of Kindness-Chesed is E”l-א"ל and the name of the vessel of Might-Gevurah is Eloh”im-אלהי"ם etc. Now, this refers to the lower Name HaShem-יהו"ה, which is how HaShem-יהו"ה relates to His world, and is called the Unified Name-Shem HaMeyuchad-שם המיוחד in that it includes all the other names and titles of the Sefirot that branch out from it, like the trunk of a tree. That is, this Name HaShem-יהו"ה is as He relates to His world, rather than how He totally preexists and transcends it. However, the upper Name HaShem-יהו"ה, which is called the Name of the Essential Self-Shem HaEtzem-שם העצם, is utterly transcendent.) Thus, if a person makes a false oath, he becomes uprooted from all seven Sefirot and is left without a root in the heavens and the earth. This is as scripture states about someone who makes a false oath, (Zechariah 5:4) “It shall lodge in his house and demolish it and its wood and stones.” That is, everything, both root and branch, becomes uprooted. Now my son, hear this and contemplate the gravity of an oath and its punishment, in that if the name of heaven comes out of one’s mouth without [a justifiable] purpose, even not in an oath, he is punished for it, how much more is this so if he swears falsely. May HaShem-יהו"ה save us from such punishment and send us pardon and atonement for whatever we have transgressed in this regard. Since the matter of oaths is the matter of seven of the ten Sefirot that are included in His Name, blessed is He, it says in the Torah, (Deuteronomy 10:20) “Fear HaShem-יהו"ה your God. Serve Him, adhere to Him and swear in His Name.” This is because everything depends on His Name and (Isaiah 65:16) “whosoever shall make an oath in the land shall swear in the God of Truth-B’Eloh”ei Amen-באלה"י אמן.” Our sages therefore said, (Sifri Matot 1) “An oath is like swearing in [the name of] the King Himself.” The matter of an oath is inclusive of seven, as scripture states, (Proverbs 9:1) “She carved out her seven pillars,” and it is written, (Genesis 26:33) “And he called it Seven-Shivah-שבעה, therefore the name of the city is Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.” Moreover, it is written, (Genesis 21:31) “Therefore he called that place Be’er Sheva-באר שבע, because they both made an oath there.”
Know that in Torah the term Oath-Shevuah-שבועה is founded on the foundation of this Sefirah, as will now be explained. Know that any oath that a person makes, depends on this Divine quality called the Living God-El Chai-א"ל חי. The reason is because all terms of oath-Shevuah-שבועה come from the term seven-Shiv’ah-שבעה. This is the matter of what our forefather Avraham said to Avimelech, (Genesis 21:30-31) “So that you may take these seven-Sheva-שבע ewes from me, in order to be a witness for me that I dug this well. He therefore called that place Be’er Sheva-באר שבע, (The name Be’er Sheva-באר שבע has a double meaning. It means, “The Well of the Seven” and it means, “The Well of the Oath.”) because they both made an oath-Nishbe’u-נשבעו there.” As you see, the three terms mentioned about this place all relate to each other. He first said, “So that you may take these seven-Sheva-שבע ewes from me,” as testimony regarding the well. It then states, “He therefore called that place Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.” It then states, “Because they both made an oath-Nishbe’u-נשבעו there.” The explanation is that all three terms became unified as one in this oath. The Torah thus states, “He therefore called that place Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.” What does Torah mean by the term, “therefore”? It means because of the seven ewes and the oath. That is, he called it Be’er Sheva-באר שבע for two reasons: Because of the seven ewes and because of the oath. However, elsewhere it is written, (Genesis 26:33) “He called it Seven-Shiv’ah-שבעה. Therefore, to this day the name of the city is Be’er Sheva-באר שבע.” As you see, here the city is called Be’er Sheva-באר שבע corresponding to the number seven-Shiv’ah-שבעה, whereas the oath-Shevuah-שבועה is not mentioned. The explanation is that the essential matter is dependent on the matter of seven-Shiv’ah-שבעה, whereas the place of the well is dependent on the oath-Shevuah-שבועה.
“Isaac again dug the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, but the Philistines had sealed them after the death of Abraham. He called them names like the names that his father called them” (Genesis 26:18). “Isaac again dug…” – how many wells did our patriarch Isaac dig in Beersheba? Rabbi Yehuda said: Four. Corresponding to that, his descendants were arrayed into four banners in the wilderness. (The tribes of Israel were divided into four camps, or banners, in the wilderness (Numbers 2:1–32).) The Rabbis say: Five, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying: The water is ours. He called the name of the well Esek, because they involved themselves with him” (Genesis 26:20). “He called the name of the well Esek [because they involved themselves [hitaseku] with him]” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He became involved and created the world. “Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of fresh water” (Genesis 26:19). “They dug another well, and they quarreled over it as well. He called it Sitna” (Genesis 26:21). “He called it Sitna” (Enmity.) – corresponding to the book of Exodus, after, “they embittered their lives with hard work” (Exodus 1:14). “They found there a well of fresh water” – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is filled with many halakhot. “He called it Shiva; therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day” (Genesis 26:33). “He called it Shiva” – corresponding to the book of Numbers, (The book of Numbers is divided into three books, which is why there are seven books.) which completes the seven [shiva] books of the Torah. But are they not five? Ben Kappara made Numbers into three books: From: “And He spoke” (Numbers 1:1) until: “It was when the Ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35) – a book in and of itself; from “it was when the Ark traveled” and the verse after it – a book in and of itself; and from the end of that passage until the end of the book – a book in and of itself. “He moved from there and dug another well and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Reḥovot and he said: As now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (Genesis 26:22). “He called its name Reḥovot” – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, due to, “when the Lord your God will expand [yarḥiv]” (Deuteronomy 12:20) – “as now the Lord has expanded [hirḥiv] for us and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Rabbi Yehuda says: "It says in Numbers (33:36), 'And they journeyed from Ebronah and encamped at Ezion-geber.' "Ezion-geber," "white," "Hazeroth," "enclosures," and "Di-zahav," "enough gold," are the ten trials with which our forefathers tested the Omnipresent in the wilderness. These are the two with the sea, the two with water, the two with manna, the one with the quails, the one with the golden calf, and the one in Paran, with the spies. Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskit said to him, "Rabbi Yehuda, you have explained to us the places where the trials occurred. But they are only names of places for the purpose of relating the events, as it says (Genesis 26:33), 'And he called it Shebah (Oath).' Similarly, it says (Genesis 26:20), 'And he called the name of the well Esek (contention) because they strove with him.'"
Rabbi ' Aḳiba said: Every place where our forefathers went, the well went in front of them, and they dug three times and found it before them. Abraham dug three times and found it before him, as it is said, "And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham" (Gen. 26:18). And Isaac dug in the land (of Canaan) four times, and found it before him, as it is said, "And Isaac's servants digged in the valley" (Gen. 26:19). And it is written about Jerusalem, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem" (Zech. 14:8). This refers to the well which will arise in Jerusalem in the future, and will water all its surroundings. Because they found (the well) seven times, he called it Shib'ah (seven).
And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn over, Sarah, and to weep over her, and he stood up from before his dead and spoke unto the sons of Heth, the in habitants of the land, saying: I am a stranger and so journey with you; give me a possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him: Behold the land is before thee, in the choice of the land bury thy dead, for verily, no man will pre vent thee from burying thy dead. And Abraham said unto them: If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is in the end of his field, and I will purchase it of him for whatsoever he may desire for it. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth, and they went and called him, and he came into the presence of Abraham; and Ephron said unto Abraham: Whatsoever thou wishest thy servant will do. And Abraham said: Nay, but I will buy the cave and thy field for its full value, as a possession for a burial place forever. And Ephron answered, saying: Behold the field and cave are before thee, give me whatsoever pleaseth thee. But Abraham said: Nay, only for its full value shall I purchase it from thy hands and from the hands of all those that go in at the gate of thy city, and from thy seed forever. And Ephron and all his kinsmen heard this, and Abraham weighed unto Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, into the hands of Ephron and his brethren; and Abraham wrote down these proceedings and had it testified by four witnesses, and these are their names: Ami gal, son of Abishna, the Hittite; Adihoron, son of Ashu nash, the Hivite; Abdon, son of Ahirom, the Gomrite, and Bakdil, son of Abidos, the Zidonite; and Abraham took the book of the sale and placed it in his treasury, and these are the words that Abraham wrote into the book saying: That Abraham bought the cave and the field from Ephron, the Hittite, and from his seed, and from all those that went in at the gate of his city and from their seed forever, to be the purchased possession of Abraham and his seed, and of all those that go forth from his loins for a possession of a burying place forever. And he put a seal thereto and had it testified by witnesses. Thus the field and the cave therein and the entire ground were secured for Abraham and his seed after him, from the children of Heth; and behold it is before Mamre, even in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan. And after this Abraham buried there Sarah his wife, and that place with all its boundaries became the possession of Abraham and his seed for a burying place. And Abraham buried Sarah in great display, as it is customary with the burials of kings, and she was interred in very beautiful and costly garments. And her bier was attended by Shem and his sons Eber and Abimelech, also by Auer, Eshcol, and Mamre, and all the dignitaries of the land followed her bier. And the days of Sarah were a hundred and seven and twenty years when she died, and Abraham made a great and heavy mourning, and he observed that mourning for seven days. And all the inhabitants of the land consoled Abraham and Isaac his son concerning Sarah. . And when their days of mourning were over Abraham sent away his son Isaac to go unto the house of Shem and Eber to learn the ways and instructions of the Lord. And Isaac remained there for three years. At that time Abraham arose with all his servants and they started to return home, towards Beer-sheba. And when the year was around, Abimelech king of the Philistines, died in that year. He was one hundred and ninety-three years old when he died. And Abraham went with all his people into the land of the Philistines to comfort the household of Abimelech, and all his household, and then he returned to his home. And after the death of Abimelech the people of Gerar took his son Benmelech, who was then only twelve years of age, and they made him king in his father's place; and they called his name Abimelech after his father, for such was their way of doing in Gerar. And Abimelech ruled in the place of his father and he sat upon his throne. And Lot the son of Haran died also in these days, in the thirty-ninth year of Isaac's life; and all the days that Lot lived were one hundred and forty years when he died. And these are the sons of Lot, born unto him by his daughters. The name of the first-born was Moab and the name of the second was Benamy. And the two sons of Lot took unto themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they bare unto them children. And these were the children of Moab: Ed, and Majon, and Tarsus, and Canvil, four sons, and they are the fathers of the children of Moab even unto this day. And all the families of the children of Lot went forth to dwell wherever they should find a suitable place, for they were very fruitful and they increased greatly. And they went out and built cities unto themselves in the land of their habitation, calling the names of the cities which they built after their own names. And Nahor son of Terah, Abraham's brother, died in those days, in the fortieth year of the life of Isaac; and all the days of Nahor were one hundred and seventy-two years, and when he died he was buried in Haran. And when Abraham heard of his brother's death he was full of grief and sorrow and he mourned over him many days. And Abraham called Eliezer, his head-servant, to give him orders concerning his house, and he came and stood before him, and Abraham said unto him: Behold I am old, I do not know the day I may die, for verily I am advanced in years. And now arise and go forth and do not take a wife for my son from this place, nor from this land, from the midst of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom we are dwelling. But go thou to my land and to my native place and take from there a wife for my son. And the Lord God of heaven and earth who hath taken me from the house of my father and brought me to this place; and who hath said unto me: To thy seed I will give this land for an inheritance forever, he will send his angel before thee and give thee success on thy way that thou mayest procure a wife for my son from my family and from the house of my father. And the servant answered unto Abraham his master saying: Behold I will go to thy birth-place and to thy father's house to take a wife for thy son from there. But per adventure the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land; must I need bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him: Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord before whom I have walked will send his angel before thee to make thy way a success. And Eliezer did according to Abraham's orders and Eliezer swore unto Abraham, his master, concerning this matter. And Eliezer arose and took ten camels of the camels of his father, and ten men from the servants of his master he took likewise, and they departed for Haran, the city of Abraham and Nahor, to bring thence a wife for Isaac the son of Abraham. And while they were gone Abraham sent to the house of Shem and Eber, and they brought thence his son Isaac. And Isaac came back to his father's house in Beer-sheba at the same time that Eliezer and his men arrived in Haran. And they stopped in the city near the watering place, and Eliezer made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of wa ter, and they remained there; and Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, prayed, saying: O, Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham, and appoint this day a wife for the son of my master from his own family. And the Lord hearkened to Eliezer's voice for the sake of his servant Abraham, and he happened to meet the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and Eliezer came into her house. And Eliezer related unto them all his affairs, and that he was the servant of Abraham, and they were greatly rejoiced with him; and all of them blessed the Lord for bringing about this event, and they gave him Rebekah, Bethuel's daughter, to be the wife of Isaac, and the young maiden was very comely of appearance; she was a virgin and ten years old at that time. And Bethuel, and Laban and his children, made a great feast that night, and Eliezer and his men came and ate and drank and were exceedingly rejoiced that night; and in the morning Eliezer and his men arose and he called the whole household together, saying: Let me depart now that I go to my master. And they arose and sent away Rebekah, and her nurse Deborah, daughter of Uz, with her. And they gave her silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and they blessed her. Thus they sent away Eliezer with his men and the servants that took Rebekah, and he went and returned unto his master into the land of Canaan. And Isaac took Rebekah and she was unto him a wife, and he brought her into the tent, and Isaac was forty years of age when he took Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, his uncle, for a wife. And at that time Abraham again took a wife in his old age, from the land of Canaan, and her name was Keturah; and she bare unto him: Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah—six sons. And the sons of Zimran were: Abihen, and Molech, and Marim. And the sons of Jokshan were: Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Medan were: Amido, and Joab, and Gochi, and Elisha, and Notach. And the sons of Midian were: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abi da, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ishbak were: Makiro, and Bejodua, and Tator. And the sons of Shuah were: Bildad, and Mamdad, and Meman, and Mehan. All these are the families of the children of Keturah, the Canaanitish woman, which she bare unto Abraham, the Hebrew. And Abraham sent all of them away, giving them gifts, and they went away from Isaac his son, to locate wheresoever they should find a suitable place; and they went all unto the mountains eastward and they built unto themselves six cities and they dwelt therein even unto this day. And the children of Shebah and Dedan, the sons of Jokshan, did not dwell with their brethren in their cities, and they journeyed about camping in the countries and in the deserts even unto this day; and the children of Midian, son of Abraham, went eastward of the land of Cush, where they discovered a large valley in the country of the east, and they located there and built a city, and they dwelt in it. That is the land of Midian unto this day. And Midian dwelt in the city which he built, with his five sons and all belonging unto him; and these are the names of Midian's sons, according to their names and their cities: Ephah, and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ephah were: Methach, and Meshar, and Avi, and Tzanua. And the sons of Epher were: Ephron, and Zur, and Alirun, and Medin. And the sons of Chanoch were: Reuel, and Rekem, and Azi, and Alyoshub, and Alad. And the sons of Abida were: Chur, and Melud, and Keruy, and Molchi. And the sons of Eldah were: Miker, and Reba, and Malchiyah, and Gabol. These are the names of the Midianites according to their families; and afterwards the families of Midian spread throughout the land of Midian. And these are the families of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. - - And Ishmael took a wife from the land of Egypt, and her name was Ribah, the same is Meribah. And Ribah bare unto Ishmael: Nebayoth, and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and their sister Bosmath. And Ishmael disowned his wife Ribah, and she went from him and returned to Egypt to the house of her father, and she dwelt there, for she had been very wicked in the sight of Ishmael, and in the sight of his father Abraham. And Ishmael afterward took a wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she bare unto him: Nishma, and Dumah, and Masa, and Chadad, and Tema, and Yetur, and Naphish, and Kedma. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, twelve princes according to their nations; and the families of Ishmael spread forth, and Ishmael took his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to locate where they should find a suitable place, And they went and dwelt near the wilderness of Paran and their dwelling was from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt as thou comest toward Assyria; and Ishmael and his sons dwelt in the land, and they had chidren born unto them, and they were fruitful and increased greatly. And these are the names of the sons of Nebayoth, the first born of Ishmael: Mend, and Send, and Mayon; and the sons of Kedar were: Alyon, and Kezem, and Chamad, and Eli. And the sons of Adbeel were: Cha mad, and Jabin; and the sons of Mibsam were: Obadiah, and Ebedmelech, and Yeush—these are the families of the children of Ribah, the wife of Ishmael; and the sons of Mishma, the son of Ishmael, were: Shamua, and Zecaryon, and Obed; and the sons of Dumah were: Kezed, and Eli, and Machmad, and Amed; and the sons of Masa were: Melon, and Mula, and Ebidadon; and the sons of Chadad were: Azur, and Minzar, and Ebed melech; and the sons of Tema were: Seir, and Sadon, and Yakol; and the sons of Yetur were: Merith, and Yaish, and Alyo, and Pachoth; and the sons of Naphish were: Ebed, and Tamed, and Abiyasaph, and Mir; and the sons of Kedma were: Calip, and Tachti, and Omir—these were the children of Malchuth, the wife of Ishmael, according to their families. All these are the families of Ishmael according to their generations, and they dwelt in those lands wherein they had built themselves cities unto this day. And Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s son, was barren in those days, she had no offspring. And Isaac dwelt with his father in the land of Canaan, and the Lord was with Isaac; and Arpachshad, son of Shem, the son of Noah, died at that time, in forty-eighth year of Isaac’s life; and all the days of Arpachshad’s life were four hundred and thirty years when he died.
And a desparate struggle ensued between Esau and the two men that were with Nimrod, and they yelled terribly at Esau; when Esau turned suddenly upon them smiting them to death with his sword. And all the great men of Nimrod, who were out hunting with Nimrod in the wilderness, when they heard the terrible yelling recognized at once the voices of those two men, and they hastened to ascertain the cause thereof, and behold the king and the two men that were with him lay dead in the wilderness. And when Esau saw from a distance the mighty men of Nimrod coming towards him, he fled and escaped; and Esau took along with him the costly garments of Nimrod, bequeathed to Nimrod by his father, and by virtue of which garments Nimrod prevailed over all the people of the earth; and Esau ran hastily and concealed those garments in his house. And Esau ran very swiftly with those garments. towards the city, to escape Nimrod's men, and when he reached his father's house Esau was wearied and exhausted and almost dead with excitement, as he approached his brother, Jacob, and sat down before him; and he said unto his brother Jacob: Behold, I shall surely die this day, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob acted cunningly with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright unto Jacob, for thus it was the pleasure of the Lord. And the share of Esau in the cave, which is in the field of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the Hittites for the possession of a burying place, Esau sold unto Jacob likewise, and Jacob became the owner thereof for a consideration. And Jacob wrote down the whole transaction in a book, and he had it testified to by witnesses and he annexed a seal thereto, and the book remained in Jacob’s possession. And when Nimrod, the son of Cush, was dead, his men took him up and carried him away midst great consternation, and they buried him in his city. And all the days that Nimrod lived were two hundred and fifteen years when he died, and the days of his reigning over the people of the earth were one hundred and eighty five years. Thus Nimrod died by the sword of Esau in shame and disgrace, and his death was caused by the seed of Abraham, as he himself foresaw it in his dreams. And after Nimrod's death his kingdom became divided into many provinces, and all the countries ruled over by Nimrod were restored to their previous kings who recovered them after Nimrod's death. And all the people of Nimrod's household were enslaved for many days by the other kings of the earth.
Genesis 26:12-33
Confirmation of Yitzhak’s status as heir comes in vv.12–14, in the form of material blessings (already referred to immediately after Avraham’s death, 25:11). It will be Yaakov’s task to reclaim and continue the spiritual side of the tradition. The first episode is centered around not Yitzhak but Avraham. The phrase “his father” reverberates; and Avimelekh returns. In the second episode, Avraham’s treaty with that king (Chap. 21) is replayed, with the same result as before: an explanation of the name Be’er-Sheva.
He named it Shiva. Therefore the city is called Beer Sheva until this very day.
and he called it Sheba (the Swearing); therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
| וַיְהִ֤י עֵשָׂו֙ בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וַיִּקַּ֤ח אִשָּׁה֙ אֶת־יְהוּדִ֔ית בַּת־בְּאֵרִ֖י הַֽחִתִּ֑י וְאֶת־בָּ֣שְׂמַ֔ת בַּת־אֵילֹ֖ן הַֽחִתִּֽי׃ | 34 P | When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite; |
“And Eisav was forty years old, and he took for a wife Yehudit daughter of Beeri the Hitite, and Basmat daughter of Eilon the Hitite.” (Bereshit, 26:34) Here Eisav “put forth his hooves (showed his true colors).” The name Yehudit teaches of drawing power, for the letter Yud is a single point that is ready to be made into other letters. She had a gentle demeanor about her, and seemed to be drawn after Yitzchak and Rivka. The name Basmat teaches of peace of mind, from the word for “sweetened” mevusam (a sweetened mind is peace of mind), as it says in the Gemara (Yoma, 76b), “Rava said, wine and fragrant spices made me wise.” Therefore it follows immediately that Basmat did not have this effect, only causing a bitter spirit, “marat ruach,” for Yitzchak and Rivka (verse 35). Mara, “bitter,” is like zaken mamre, the rebellious elder. In other words, a bad smell. This is why in the Aramaic translation of Onkles it reads, “mesarvan u’margezan,” contentious and infuriating. Contentious in corresponding to the name Yehudit to show that in actuality she had no affinity for Yitzchak and Rivka, and infuriating corresponding to the name Basmat, for this was her nature even though her name signified a calm spirit.
The daughter of Be’eri the Chittite. From the fact that Yitzchok did not warn him against marrying a Canaanite it is clear that he knew that Yaakov alone was to be his heir (see Rashi 28:15). Nevertheless, he loved Eisov because he thought him resourceful and decent.
JUDITH. Judith is a proper name. (Yehudit (Judith) can be taken to be an adjective, viz., Yehudi, hence I.E.’s comment (Krinsky).) She did not bear Esau any children. (In chapter 36 Scripture lists Esau’s wives and children. Judith is not mentioned. I.E. explains that this is due to the fact that Judith did not bear any children.)
BASEMATH. Basemath is to be identified with Adah. (In our verse we read, Basemath, the daughter of Elon, the Hittite. However, in Gen. 36:2 we read, Adah, the daughter of Elon, the Hittite. I.E. explains the discrepancy by saying that she had two names.) She had two names. There are hundreds of similar instances in Scripture. (See I.E.’s comments on Gen. 13:7 and 15:19.)
ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה ויקח אשה את יהודית בת בארי החתי ואת בשמת, “when Esau had reached the age of forty he took as a wife Yehudit daughter of Be-eri the Hittite and Bosmas.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,1 interpreted the wording to mean that during the first forty years of his life Esau chased married women. When he attained the age at which his father had married his mother, he decided to emulate his father’s example and to take a wife also. He reasoned: “just as my father married at the age of forty, I shall do the same.” Concerning this strange attack of sudden piety on the part of Esau, Rabbi Pinchas quoted Rabbi Simon that it is strange that the pig has been mentioned only on two occasions by the prophets. Once by Moses who emphasized that it is unfit to be eaten by Jews (Leviticus 11,7), and the second time by Assaph in Psalms 80,14 “the wild boar gnaws at it and creatures of the field feed on it.” The psalmist uses the pig as an example of a creature which when “lying down” extends its hooves to display that it is a pure animal, while at all other times it unabashedly disregards civilized conduct. Esau, when getting ready to settle down, pretended to be following in the footsteps of his father by choosing the age at which his father had gotten married to emulate him. The nation descended from Esau also excels in pretending to apply civilized standards as something demanded of others while they themselves rob, plunder and murder. They have a record of perpetrating evil under the cloak of being servants of the Lord. Both Esau’s wives were Hittites, Canaanites, members of the seven tribes whom the Jewish people have been instructed to exterminate if they do not vacate the land of Canaan first (Deut. 20,17). The Torah informs us that wicked Esau married wives belonging to a wicked people. The verse applied to the marriages of the wicked is found in Psalms 125,5: “but those who in their crookedness act corruptly, let the Lord make them go the way of the evildoers; peace on Israel.” The psalmist means that when the wicked join other evildoers the ultimate result will be peace for Israel as the wicked will self-destruct. Hail to Israel who do not act in this fashion. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,3 have stated “when a starling is seen joining a raven, this is not by accident. It proves they have something in common.” [In current parlance this is the meaning of the expression “birds of a feather.” Ed.] If Esau, though biologically descended from a father who epitomized holiness nevertheless married such women, it proved that spiritually he was totally corrupt.
ויהי עשו, the reason why he did not marry until he was 40 years of age was that he wanted to emulate his father who had married at the age of 40. He wanted to create the impression that he was walking in the footsteps of his father. However, he did not observe his father’s ways who had not been allowed to marry a woman of Canaanite descent. In that respect he followed his eyes, judging by external appearances, not ancestry, and personal virtues. He had not bothered to consult with his father. He was guided by the influence the family of his wives wielded in the land of Canaan, for after mentioning the names of the wives it becomes clear that the father of each was a well known personality. Seeing Esau appeared a great man to the fathers of these girls, they consented to let him marry them.
ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה, at that point Yitzchok was 100 years old seeing that he had been 60 years old at the time the twins had been born. The only reason the Torah draws our attention to the age at which Esau got married was to give us a better understanding of Yitzchok’s age when he is described as getting old, (27,1) He must have been well over 100 years old by then.
בן ארבעים שנה [AND ESAU WAS] FORTY YEARS OLD —Esau is compared to a boar, as it is said, (Psalms 80:14) “The boar from the wood doth ravage it”. The boar when it lies down stretches forth its cloven hoof as much as to say, “See, I am a clean animal” (whilst really cloven hoofs are a feature of clean animals only in conjunction with another that is lacking in the swine). In the same way these dukes of Esau rob and extort and pretend to be honorable (Genesis Rabbah 65:1). For the whole forty years Esau enticed women from their husbands and ill-treated them; when he reached the age of forty he said, “My father took a wife when he was forty and I shall do the same” (Gen. R. 65).
Mit dieser Heirat und noch dazu zugleich zweier Chitterinnen hatte Esau vollständig seine Unfähigkeit zur Tragung des Abrahamsberufes besiegelt. In einem Hause, wo gar zwei Töchter Chets walteten, war das abrahamitische Prinzip begraben. Wir haben gesehen, wie Jizchak und Rebekka es als ihre Aufgabe erkannten, sich zu isolieren, und nun denke man sich: Jizchak baut einen Altar und ׳ויקרא בשם ד, und sein eigener ältester Sohn bringt die ע"ז ins Haus. Natürlich heißt es dann, daß sie מורת רוח וגו׳ waren.
ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה, at that point Yitzchok was 100 years old and he did not bother to see to it that both of his sons should be provided with suitable wives. As a result,
ויקח אשה, את יהודית בת בארי החתי, apparently Yitzchok did not object to his sons marrying Canaanite girls, something his father had objected to strenuously.
Esau was forty years old. Esau tried to imitate his father, at least on the superficial level. Just as Isaac married at forty, at an age when one’s mind is already settled, 15 Esau did the same. And he took as a wife Yehudit, daughter of Be’eri the Hitite, and Basmat, daughter of Eilon the Hitite, who were two Hitite women.
“When Esau was forty years old, he took a wife” [26:34]. Esau was just like a pig that sticks out its foot and shows it, that is to say, I am also kosher like an ox or a cow; they have cloven hooves on their feet. The pig also has cloven hooves, but the pig does not chew its cud. That means, it does not regurgitate its food from its stomach. So too, Esau said: I want to compare myself to my father Isaac who took a wife at forty years; I will also take a wife at forty years old. Until forty, he took women from their husbands by force, and now he made himself out to be righteous. (Rashi, Genesis, 26:34.)
“Judith the daughter of Beeri” [26:34]. He married wives from the nations and gave them Jewish names. That is to say, he had pious wives, but they were all sinners as was Esau himself. Isaac and Rebecca were not happy with these wives.
“Esau was forty years old, and he took as a wife Yehudit, daughter of Be'eri the Hitite, and Basmat, daughter of Elon the Hitite” (Genesis 26:34). “Esau was forty years old” – that is what is written: “The swine from the forest gnaws at it” (Psalms 80:14). Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Simon: Of all the prophets, only two of them publicized it (The qualities of the evil empire of Rome.) – Moses and Asaf. Moses said: “The pig because it has a split hoof” (Deuteronomy 14:8). Asaf said: “The swine from the forest gnaws at it.” Why does he analogize it to a pig? Just as this pig, when it lies, it extends its hooves, saying: ‘I am pure,’ so, this evil empire robs and takes forcibly, [yet] it appears as though it is arranging the courtroom. So, Esau, all forty years, would ensnare married women and violate them. When he reached forty years of age, he likened himself to his father. He said: ‘Just as Father took a wife at forty years of age, I, too, will take a wife at forty years of age.’ That is what is written: “Esau was forty years old.”
“He took as a wife Yehudit” – Rabbi Yudan began: “God settles the lonely in a home…” (Psalms 68:7). This is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as Rabbi Yehuda said: ‘Even if there is a mamzer at the end of the world and a mamzeret at the end of the world, the Holy One blessed be He brings them and matches them with one another.’ What is its source? “God settles the lonely in a home.” So, because it is written: “Rather, you shall destroy them: The Hittite, the Emorite” (Deuteronomy 20:17) – let this one, may his name be blotted out, come and marry that one, may her name be blotted out. “Esau was forty years old, and he took…”
“Every raven after its kind” (Leviticus 11:15) – in the days of Rabbi Ḥiyya Rabba, a certain starling ascended to the Land of Israel. They took it and carried it to him. They said to him: ‘Is it permitted to eat it?’ He said to them: ‘Go and place it on the roof; any bird that comes and alights next to it, it is of that species.’ They went and placed it on the roof and an Egyptian raven alighted next to it. He said: ‘It is impure, as it is of that species. That is what is written: “Every raven after its kind.”’ They said: (Meaning, this is a known phrase.) ‘The raven went to the starling only because it is of the same species.’ So, because it is written: “Rather, you shall destroy them” (Deuteronomy 20:17) – let this one, may his name be blotted out, come and marry that one, may her name be blotted out. “Esau was forty years old.”
And his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Be’eri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebecca (Gen. 26:34–35), and this is followed by the verse And his eyes were dim. Hence, they must have become dim because of his unhappiness.
עשו לקח את נשיו מבנות כנען וגו, “Esau had taken his wives from the daughters of the Canaanites, etc.;” here the Torah fails to mention the daughter of Beeri, although in Genesis 26,34 we have been told that Esau took Yehudit who was a daughter of Beeri, a Hittite as a wife. We must therefore assume that the reason she is not mentioned here is that she died without having provided Esau with any sons. All the sons mentioned in this chapter therefore must have been born by עדה בת אלון, who is identical with the wife called בשמת בת אלון, in Genesis 6,34 She had changed her name, just as had the daughter of Yishmael, which has now been called בשמת, whereas when she had first been introduced she had been called מחלת. (Compare 28,9.)
Third, just before the episode of the blessing we read: “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebecca” (Gen. 26:34). This too was evidence of Esau’s failure to understand what the covenant required. By marrying Hittite women he proved himself indifferent both to the feelings of his parents and to the self-restraint in the choice of marriage partner that was essential to being Abraham’s heir.
ואחות תובל קין נעמה, “and the sister of Tubal-Kayin was Naamah.” Bereshit Rabbah 23,4 claims that Naamah became the wife of Noach. It is claimed that the Torah calls her Naamah to reflect her lovely disposition, her good deeds. There is a different tradition (compare Zohar Chadash Midrash Ha-neelam 19,2) which claims that Naamah was the wife of the demon Ashmadon if the demons Ashmadai and others were born by her. We have a tradition that four women (compare Nachmanides) became the mothers of demons. They were Lilith, Naamah, Igrat, and Machalat. Each one of them disposes of whole camps of followers and a spiritually negative aura emanates from them all. It is said that each one of these is dominant during one of the four seasons of the year and that they gather at the mountain Nishpeh (a simile for a high mountain mentioned in Isaiah 13,2.) This mountain is located near mountains called חשך, and each one holds sway during one of the four seasons of the year from sundown until midnight, they and all the members of their respective camps (entourage). Solomon alluded to all these עבדים ושפחות servants and servant maids. What he referred to was that he had made these demons subservient to him. The four women we enumerated were the four wives of the שרו של עשו the spiritual counterpart of Esau in the celestial regions. Esau on earth also married four wives corresponding to the number of wives of his celestial counterpart. These four wives are mentioned in Genesis 26,34 and 36,2 respectively; their names are יהודית, בשמת, עדה, אהליבמה Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 24,6 elaborated on the subject when they said that during the 130 years after the death of Hevel when Adam did not cohabit with his wife he produced all kinds of demons and destructive agents as a result of seminal emissions. It is one of the “advantages” of the superior being called man that he could “beget” intangible offspring, forces which inhabit the atmosphere. He also produced abstract intellectual beings which inhabit the celestial spheres. [The author refers to the “angels” created by good deeds performed by man which have been mentioned repeatedly. Ed]
BUT UNTO THE SONS OF THE CONCUBINES, THAT ABRAHAM HAD. By way of the plain meaning of Scripture, since it was said to Abraham, For in Isaac shall seed be called to thee, (Above, 21:12.) and in no other seed, all his consorts were concubines to him, not as wives since their children would not be among his heirs. Thus, Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid, was his concubine. However, Keturah he took unto himself as a wife for if she whom he took as a concubine had been a handmaid in his house, Scripture would not have said, And Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. (Verse 1 here.) She is called “concubine” in Scripture — it is written in Chronicles, And the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine (I Chronicles 1:32.) — only for the reason that I have explained, [namely, that it had been said to Abraham, For in Isaac shall seed be called to thee]. Thus we note that Abraham took unto himself a wife from the daughters of Canaan! And should you say that she was an Egyptian or from the land of the Philistines, we may yet question why he did not send to his country and to his kindred as he did in the case of his son. But the answer is that he guarded only the seed of Isaac since it was concerning him that the Covenant was made. Furthermore, Scripture does not say, “And Abraham took a wife by the name of Keturah, the daughter of a certain Hivite or Philistine or Egyptian from a certain land,” as it says concerning Esau’s wives (Further, 26:34 and 28:9.) and similar cases. Rather, Scripture mentions only Keturah’s name because she was a Canaanite, and therefore it cut short her genealogy. Scripture does so in many places where it is not concerned with the genealogy. Perhaps Keturah was called “concubine” because she was a handmaid who was descended from a family of slaves. And if she was a handmaid in his [Abraham’s] household and he had connection with her, Scripture would not mention her genealogy since even among the matriarchs, such as Zilpah and Bilhah, it mentions only their names. Now Rashi wrote, “Wives are those whom a man marries with a marriage-contract; concubines have no marriage-contract, as it says in reference to the wives and concubines of David, in Tractate Sanhedrin.” (21a.) But the matter is not so. A woman is called a concubine only when there is no betrothal, for a marriage-contract is only a Rabbinic ordinance. And the correct text in Tractate Sanhedrin is: “A concubine has no marriage-contract or betrothal.” However, it is possible that the sons of Noah (See Seder Bereshith, Note 222.) too when they married wives, as is their law, by intercourse, were accustomed to write them a marriage-contract which granted dowry and gift. (Further, 34:12.) However, for one who wished to be a concubine to them, whom he could send away when he pleased and whose children would not be among his heirs, he would not write anything. But according to the opinion of our Rabbis that Keturah is Hagar, (Bereshith Rabbah 61:4.) she was certainly a concubine [since it clearly says that Hagar was Sarah’s handmaid]. (Above, 16:1.)
ADAH THE DAUGHTER OF ELON. She is identical with Basmath the daughter of Elon, (Above, 26:34.) and she was called Basmath because she burned incense (besamim) to the idols. And Oholibamah, (mentioned here), is identical with Judith. (Above, 26:34.) In order to deceive his father, the wicked Esau changed her name to Judith (Jewess) to suggest that she had abandoned idol-worship.
Intensifying increasingly. Very vexing, contrarios, in O.F., as in, “who will rebel [יַמְרֶה] against your command,” (Yehoshua 1:18.) [and as in,] “You have been contrary [מַמְרִים],” (Devorim 9:24.) [and as in,] “and they were a source of spiritual bitterness [מֹרַת רוּח].” (Bereishis 26:38.) Others interpret מוֹרֶה מְאֹד as “very low,” an expression of, “He hurled [יָרָה] into the sea.” (Shemos 15:4.)
A careful reading of Esav’s story shows many other deficiencies in his personality, (See, for example, Bereshit 26:34–5, where his choice of wives meets the clear disapproval of his parents. Moreover, his disdain for his own birthright (Bereshit 25:34) is also commonly understood to show poor character.) but even if all we had to go on was his stated intention to murder his brother, that would be enough in order to understand him as someone who sees others as mere objects. One who is prepared to murder another human being is showing that another’s right to life is purely dependent upon the aggressor’s own needs or preferences – similar to how most of us think about inanimate objects.
4. Now when Esau, one of the sons of Isaac, whom the father principally loved, was now come to the age of forty years, he married Adah, the daughter of Helon, and Aholibamah, the daughter of Esebeon; which Helon and Esebeon were great lords among the Canaanites: thereby taking upon himself the authority, and pretending to have dominion over his own marriages, without so much as asking the advice of his father; for had Isaac been the arbitrator, he had not given him leave to marry thus, for he was not pleased with contracting any alliance with the people of that country; but not caring to be uneasy to his son by commanding him to put away these wives, he resolved to be silent.
Eisov was forty years old and he married Yehudis, the daughter of Be’eri, the Chittite and Bosmas, the daughter of Eylon the Chittite.
And Esau was the son of forty years; and he took to wife Yehudith daughter of Beari the Hittah, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittah.
| וַתִּהְיֶ֖יןָ מֹ֣רַת ר֑וּחַ לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּלְרִבְקָֽה׃ | 35 P | and they were a source of bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah. |
ותהיין מורת רוח, “both of these daughtersinlaw became sources of frustration to both Yitzchok and Rivkah. We see this from Rivkah’s justifying her wishing to take a wife from her family (27,46) by telling her husband that if Yaakov were to take wife from the local Hittite population she would get fed up with her very life. What can describe more graphically her and her husband’s frustration at the choice of wives Esau had made? Moreover, it is likely that if these daughtersinlaw had been compatible with them they would all of them have lived in one house. The fact that they did not live under one roof is clear, as Yaakov would never have gotten away with deceiving his father by pretending to be Esau if Esau’s wives had lived in the same house! He had expelled them from his house on account of their conduct. [I find this argument very weak, as in Genesis 2,24 already the Torah describes a son marrying and setting up house for himself and his wife as being the norm and not the exception. Ed.]
ליצחק ולרבקה, “to Yitzchok and to Rivkah.” According to our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 65,4, Yitzchok was the first to experience this dissatisfaction with Esau’s wives’ conduct. It is explained that the reason is psychological. Rivkah, who had grown up in an environment of pagans, did not become affronted so easily by Hittite girls not yet having abandoned every nuance of their former pagan backgrounds, whereas Yitzchok, used be surrounded only to holiness,at least in his father’s house and his wife’s housewas far more sensitive to this. [Another exegesis: Normally, women spend most of their time in the home and therefore become aware of what other women in their homes do. Men, whose lifestyle usually requires them to spend more time outdoors, are not privy to what goes on inside the house. Yitzchok, being blind, and therefore housebound, not being preoccupied with mundane activities in the kitchen, etc., had a keener sense of hearing and overheard more inappropriate remarks made by his daughter in law than did Rivkah.]
A BITTERNESS OF SPIRIT. Each one of Esau’s wives (And they were is in the plural; morat is a singular. Scripture should have used the plural morot. Hence I.E.’s comment.) was a morat ru’ach (bitterness of spirit) to Isaac and Rebekah. Some say that morat (bitterness) is similar to the word moreh (rebellious) in If a man have a stubborn and rebellious (moreh) son (Deut. 21:18). (According to this interpretation the verse reads: and each one of them was rebellious (morat) against the wishes of (ru’ach) Isaac and Rebekah.) However, I believe that morat comes from the same root as marah (bitter) in bitter (marah) as wormwood (Prov. 5:4). (According to this interpretation morat is not a verb meaning rebellious but a noun meaning bitter. The meaning of morat ru’ach is: they were a bitterness of the spirit; i.e., Isaac and Rebekah were displeased with having Canaanite daughters-in-law. In this case one does not have to interpret morat ru’ach as each one was a morat ru’ach, because it can be interpreted as both were a bitterness of spirit. Thus there is no problem with And they were being in the plural and morat ru’ach in the singular (Krinsky).) Indeed, it is explicitly written, and Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased not (The Hebrew literally reads: were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father; that is, Isaac did not like them. In other words, they were a bitterness of spirit to him because they were Canaanites, not because they rebelled against him.) Isaac, his father (Gen. 28:8). The account of Esau’s wives was recorded so that the Israelites would keep themselves from taking Canaanite women.
ותהיינה מורת רוח ליצחק ולרבקה, “they were a source of aggravation for both Yitzchak and Rivkah.” Satisfaction with something as well as knowledge of something are called רוח in our tongue as we know from Sifri Pinchas on (Numbers 27,16) that the leader must be able to confront every individual’s spirit and make it amenable to his own. We are told in our verse that each of the wives of Esau refused to fall in with the wishes of either Yitzchak or Rivkah. They angered both Yitzchak and Rivkah in all they did, as they did so provocatively. According to a Midrash Tanchuma Toldot 8 the words מורת רוח mean מרימת רוח, “they caused the holy spirit which had previously rested on Yitzchak as well as on Rivkah to lift itself off Yitzchak and Rivkah and to depart from them.” Departure of holy spirit from a person may be due to two reasons. 1) Because a person becomes angry and loses his “cool.” We have a tradition that holy spirit rests on a person only when he is in a joyous frame of mind (Berachot 31). 2) Another reason why the holy spirit departs from a person is when he keeps company with wicked persons. We have observed a classic example of this when the Torah did not report G’d as communicating with Avraham until the latter had separated himself from Lot (compare Genesis 13,14). Bereshit Rabbah 65,4 states that one of Esau’s wives was a daughter of a priest. Seeing that Rivkah herself was a daughter of an idolatrous priest, she did not mind so much when she saw garbage of idolatry. [My version of this Midrash. All of this would only explain why Yitzchak reacted earlier to this phenomenon than Rivkah. Ed.].
ותהיין מורת רוח, they angered their in-laws and opposed them in every way. They even reversed the customs practiced by Rivkah in her household.
מרת, a noun, just as מרת נפש in Proverbs 14,10. The root of the word is מרר, embitter, the only difference between the word here and that in Proverbs being the vowel under the letter מ. Here we have the vowel cholem, whereas in Proverbs it is written with a kametz chataf, abbreviated vowel kametz. It is also possible that the root of the word here is מרה, in the sense of Isaiah 63,10 מרו ועצבו את רוח קדשו, “they rebelled, and grieved His Holy Spirit.” This too is a variation of the theme of bitterness. If we accept this word as the root of the word מרת in our verse, the meaning would be that these women actively engaged in causing anger, frustration to Yitzchok and Rivkah. The whole story would then have as its purpose to show how disdainful Esau was of the sensitivities of his parents. He did not even protest his wives’ behaviour or move them out of the patriarchal home.
ויקח אשה את יהודית....ותהיין מורת אוח, seeing that Rivkah is reported in 27,46 as becoming fed up with her life if she would have to live to see Yaakov also marry a Canaanite girl, the Torah had to explain what had produced such a prejudice in Rivkah against the local girls. מורת רוח, the construction of the word מורת, with the vowel patach under the letter ר needs to be understood by comparing it to the root עשה, also a root ending with the letter ה. In Psalms 148,8 we have the formulation ossah devaro, which is feminine, seeing it describes the activity of the רוח סערה, a stormy wind, which is feminine. The construct form of the word ossah there would be ossat, Similarly, the word מורת in our verse is a construct form of the feminine form of the word מורה, not with the vowel segol under the letter ר but with the vowel kametz. [as in numerous similar nouns that appear sometimes as feminine and sometimes as masculine. Ed.] The word מורה meaning being contrary, rebellious, also appears in a slightly different form, i.e. ממרה as for instance, in Joshua 1,18 ימרה את פיך, “someone who will rebel against your orders.” When it appears in a genitive, construct form, it becomes morat. In Proverbs 14,10 we encounter a similar construction (though it is written with the vowel kametz under the letter מ) The verse reads: אבל לב יודעת מרת נפשו, “a heart knows its soul’s bitterness.” The use of the chataf kametz under the letter מ there converts the word from adjective to being a noun. It is derived from מררות, “something bitter.” (compare Deuteronomy 32,32) In our verse here the word מורת is not a noun but a construct form of a verb, similar to Lamentations 1,20 כי מרה מריתי, “for I am experiencing a great deal of distress.” Here (in our verse) the vowel cholem instead of kametz as in Lamentations, is a manifestation of the abbreviated, chataf vowel often found with the middle letter of the root
מרת רוח [AND THEY WERE] A VEXATION OF SPIRIT — the expression means opposing the spirit of a person. The first word is of the same root as (Deuteronomy 9:24), “Ye have been rebellious (ממרים)”: all their actions tended to be a grief
ליצחק ולרבקה TO ISAAC AND REBEKAH, because they worshipped idols (Genesis Rabbah 65:4).
מרה ,מורת רוח, Grundbedeutung: entgegengefahren, daher מוֹרָה Schermesser, das im rechten Winkel gegen das Haar fahren muß. (Ähnlich מול gegen und beschneiden.) מרה auf Gemüt und Handlungsweise übertragen, heißt demnach: gerade etwas darum wollen oder nicht wollen, weil es der andere nicht will oder will. Sie waren beiden, Jizchak und Rebekka, trotzig entgegen, obgleich diese sonst in ihren Sympathien nicht übereinstimmten, und zwar bedeutsam Jizchak zuerst. Daß Schwiegertochter und Schwiegermutter sich nicht ganz vertragen, ist nichts so Ungewöhnliches, zumal wenn die letztere auch dem Sohne nicht ganz hold ist. So aber heißt es ליצחק zuerst; denn es war hier nicht ein Gegensatz in gleichgültigen Dingen. Sie waren ein vollendetes Widerspiel gegen den Geist, der in Jizchak und Rebekka lebte.
Diese beiden Verse sind eine höchst bedeutsame Einleitung zu der nun folgenden Geschichte.
ותהיין מורת רוח, they became like a razor and a knife, shortening the lives of both Yitzchok and Rivkah. The expression מורת is the same as in Judges 13,5 where the angel told the wife of Manoach that the as yet unborn Shimshon must be a Nazirite and ומןרה לא יעלה על על ראשו, no “hair-trimming tool must touch his head.” Even now Yitzchok did not realise the extent of his son Esau’s wickedness. He did not protest his behaviour with a single word. This led to his ultimate error in setting out to bestow the blessing on his son Esau. This, in turn, [i.e. Esau first having been promised a blessing and then not getting it Ed.], led to Esau getting the blessing or advice that he would live (be successful) by his sword. Because of this blessing he hated his brother to the extent that Yaakov had to flee for his very life to another country in order to get away from his murderous intentions.
An expression meaning: a spirit of rebellion, as in: “You were rebellious.” For if it meant מרירות (bitterness), it would not have a ת in the construct state, since the root would be מרר. Whereas the root of ממרים is מרה, and the ת of the construct state replaces the ה, since it is the third letter of the root. מרת רוח conveys that each of Eisov’s wives possessed a rebellious spirit, whereas bitterness does not relate to one’s spirit.
Because they worshiped idols. It seems that Rashi deduced this since Scripture mentions Yitzchok before Rivkah, to say that the pain was greater for Yitzchok. [Perforce,] this was because all his life he was not accustomed to idol worship. But Rivkah was accustomed to her father’s and brother’s idolatry.
The Torah attests: They were a source of bitterness to Isaac and to Rebecca.
ותהיינה מורת רוח, “Their conduct caused both Yitzchok and Rivkah mental anguish.” The Torah writes this so as to explain that due to their not visiting Yitzchok and Rivkah often, it is not surprising that they were not on hand to reveal Yaakov’s masquerading as Esau.
[3] Another interpretation: when Isaac grew old, it is written above that "Esau was forty years old, and he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah." (Genesis 26:34-35). "A foolish son is a vexation to his father, and bitterness to her that bore him." (Proverbs 17:25). Yet, despite all of this, his father called him "the elder." "And Isaac called Esau his elder son" (Genesis 27:1), and his mother called him "the elder," as it says, "And Rebekah took the goodly garments of her elder son Esau" (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Behold, there are the old and the aged who lack understanding, but I called him 'small,' as it is said, 'Behold, I have made you small among the nations'" (Obadiah 1:2). This is similar to a person who had a text to write that said, "heroic knights." Someone came to him to have his son's name inscribed and said to him, "Look at my son. He is young, but tall and sturdy." His mother also said, "Look at our son. He is tall and sturdy." He replied to them, "He is tall and sturdy before you, but I do not know. After all, the scale (i.e., measuring tool) will determine his true height. If he is indeed tall, then he will be measured and found to be tall. However, if he is not tall, then he will be measured and found to be small and disqualified." Thus, Rebekah called him "the elder," and Isaac called him "the elder." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "Who else in My world is sovereign and rules without Me? As it is said, 'Who is he that speaks, and it comes to pass, unless the Lord commands it?' (Lamentations 3:37). He said to them, "Why do you insist on calling him 'the elder' in My house? I made him small." And you call him 'the elder,' but he is only small, as it is said, 'Behold, I have made you small among the nations'" (Obadiah 1:2).
“They were a source of bitterness for Isaac and for Rebecca” (Genesis 26:35). “They were a source of bitterness” – why for Isaac first? Because Rebecca was the daughter of idolaters, she was not particular about the filth of idol worship. But this one, because he was the son of the holy, he was particular about the filth of idol worship. That is why it was for Isaac first. Another matter, why for Isaac first? It is because the matter was attributable to her, as it is stated: “The Lord said to her: Two peoples are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23). (It was because of her lineage that one of the twins was wicked.) That is why it was for Isaac first. Another matter, why for Isaac first? It is because it is the way of women to sit inside the house, and the way of men to go out on the road and learn understanding from people. But this one, because his eyes dimmed, and he was sitting inside the house, that is why it was for Isaac first. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He [Esau] caused the Divine Spirit to depart from his parent.
“Rebecca said to Isaac: I loathe my life due to the daughters of Ḥet. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Ḥet, like these, from the daughters of the land, why do I need life?” (Genesis 27:46). “Rebecca said to Isaac: I loathe my life [due to the daughters of Ḥet]” (Esau’s wives. See Genesis 26:34–35.) – Rav Huna said: She began collecting mucus from her nose and casting it down. “If Jacob takes…from the daughters of Ḥet, like these” – she was striking this one, then that one, and that one, then this one. (Esau’s wives were standing there.)
And there stood Samuel before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he said: Sovereign of all the Universe ! Do not forget the sin which Esau did to his father, || for he took strange women (for his wives), who offered sacrifices and burnt incense to idols, to embitter the years of the life of his parents. Remember his sin unto his sons and unto his grandsons unto the end of all generations, as it is said, "Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord" (Ps. 109:14). Samuel heard the voice of Agag muttering with his mouth, saying: Perhaps the bitterness of the evil death has passed from me, as it is said, "And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past" (1 Sam. 15:32). Samuel said to him: Just as the sword of Amalek thy ancestor consumed the young men of Israel who were outside the cloud, so that their women dwelt (as) childless women and widows, so by the prayer of the women all the sons of Amalek shall be slain, and their women shall dwell (as) childless women and widows. And by the prayer of Esther and her maidens all the sons of Amalek were slain and their women remained childless and widowed, as it is said, "And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women" (1 Sam. 15:33).
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, for he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great many servants; and when the days of the famine had passed by the Lord appeared unto Isaac, saying unto him: Arise and leave this place and return unto thy land, even to the land of Canaan. And Isaac arose and returned to Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all that were his, according to the command of the Lord. And soon after, Shelach, the son of Arpachshad, died, in the eighteenth year of the lives of Jacob and Esau. And all the days of Shelach were four hundred and thirty-three years when he died. At the same time Isaac sent his youngest son, Jacob, unto the house of Shem and Eber to acquire the knowledge of the Lord, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years. And Esau, his brother, went not with him, for he refused to go, and he remained in his father's house in the land of Canaan. And Esau was always hunting in the field, bringing home whatsoever he could procure. Such was Esau’s occupation all the time; and Esau was a man cunning and deceitful, prevaricating, and “stealing the minds” of the people, yet he was very courageous in the field, being on the hunt most the time, and going as far as Seir, which is Edom. And he tarried in the land of Seir hunting in the fields for one year and four months. And Esau saw in the land of Seir the daughter of a Canaanite, and her name was Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the son of Epher, from the families of Heth, the son of Canaan; and Esau took her to be his wife and he came unto her. And Esau was forty years old when he took her, and he brought her to Hebron, which was the land of his father's dwelling-place, and he dwelt there. And it was in those days in the one hundred and tenth year of Isaac’s life, which was the fiftieth year of the life of Jacob that Shem, the son of Noah, died in that year; and Shem was six hundred years old when he died. And when Shem died Jacob returned unto his father, to Hebron, which was in the land of Canaan. And in the fifty-sixth year of Jacob’s life some people arrived from Haran, bringing Rebekah tidings concerning her brother Laban, the son of Bethuel. For Laban's wife had been barren in those days without any off spring, nor did the maid-servants of Laban bare children unto him. And after some time the Lord remembered Adinah, Laban's wife, and she conceived and bare two daughters, twins, and Laban named his daughters, calling the name of the oldest one Leah, and the name of the youngest one Rachel. And when those people arrived and told Rebekah these things, Rebekah rejoiced greatly that the Lord had remembered her brother and that he had been blessed with children.
מורה, “rebellious;” compare Genesis 26,35: מורת רוח, “of rebellious spirit.”
They were rebellious of spirit to [They were rebels and aggravators against the words of] Yitzchok and Rivkah.
And they were refractory, swelling in spirit with strange worship, and would not receive instruction either from Izhak or Rivekah.
And they bowed in strange worship, and set themselves to rebel in their evil conduct against Izhak and against Rivekah.
| וַֽיְהִי֙ כִּֽי־זָקֵ֣ן יִצְחָ֔ק וַתִּכְהֶ֥יןָ עֵינָ֖יו מֵרְאֹ֑ת וַיִּקְרָ֞א אֶת־עֵשָׂ֣ו ׀ בְּנ֣וֹ הַגָּדֹ֗ל וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ בְּנִ֔י וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו הִנֵּֽנִי׃ | 1 J | When Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” He answered, “Here I am.” |
And this is what our sages of blessed memory said: whoever averts their eyes from tzedakah is as if they serve idols (Ketubot 68a), "avert eyes" specifically, since the essence of tzedakah is the aspect of eyes, to continue the Providence of God's eyes on us, as it is written regarding gifts to the poor "look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel" (Deut. 26:15). This is because the essence of poverty is a continuation of the hurt to the Moon, which is the aspect of darkness, "and his eyes were weak of seeing" (Genesis 27:1), which is the aspect of decrease and concealment of Providence. This is because all income and wealth is the aspect of eyes, as it is written "what good is there to their owner, saving the beholding of them with his eyes" (Eccl. 5:10). And as it is written "The eyes of all wait upon You; and You give them their food in due season"(Ps. 145:15). This is because wealth is a continuation of the aspect of Left, as it is written "on her left is wealth and honor" (Prov. 3:16), and the left is the aspect of after creation, as it is explained in the preceding Torah. And every time that the left is not included in the right, God forbid, meaning, when it is not included in the entirety of creation, which is the aspect of left, before creation, which is the aspect of complete right, then obviously it is impossible to receive the Flow and income, given that we are far away from the root which is the One Who Makes All Live.
[For example,] ashrei connotes seeing or gazing—the antithesis of the kelipah, whose main strength comes from the marring of sight, from the aspect of “His eyesight had faded” (Genesis 27:1). This is the aspect of “Let there be me’orot (luminaries)” (ibid. 1:14)—spelled “missing” (Pesachim 117a). Our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: This is Lilith (Tikkuney Zohar #44). Thus it is that her main strength comes from marred sight, whereas ashrei, which connotes sight, is her inverse.
2. Moshe’s soul embodied the three Patriarchs. He thus had the power to draw these three influxes. The “well of living water” (Genesis 26:19) is the aspect of Avraham, [the aspect of] the waters of lovingkindness; and Avraham began to dig wells. The cloud is the aspect of Yitzchak, the aspect of “darkness, cloud and mist” (Deuteronomy 4:11) ; the aspect of “[Yitzchak’s] eyes grew dim and he could not see” (Genesis 27:1). And manna is the aspect of Yaakov, the aspect of “to nourish His people, Yaakov” (Psalms 78:71) .
But know! this is the concept of “his eyes grew dim and he could not see” (Genesis 27:1). On account of his getting too close to the light of Godliness, the light then dims his eyes and harms him. It is like when a person looks directly at the sun. The sun’s light harms his eyes. However, there is the concept of segol, as it is written: It is a segol when it is between the two arms of the King (Tikkuney Zohar #18, p .32b).
“And it came to pass that Yitzchak was old, and his eyesight was fading.” (Bereshit, 27:1) Yitzchak Avinu’s circumstances were precisely the opposite of Moshe Rabeynu’s. Yitzchak was not permitted to leave the land of Israel, and yet he went blind. Moshe Rabeynu was not permitted to enter the land of Israel, and yet it was said to him in Parshat Vaetchanan, “see with your eyes that you will not cross this Jordan.”
He called Eisov. He intended to bless Eisov with the bounties of this world and Yaakov with those of the next. But Rivkah was afraid that if Eisov ruled the world and Yaakov fell into his hands, he would not survive. Therefore she wanted Eisov’s rule to be limited and Yaakov to inherit this world as well.
ותכהינן עיניו, his eyes had become weak; but not Rivkah’s eyes; this is so because woman was created from man’s bone, as were the wives of Esau, and we have a rule that one bone does not harm another bone. {Tanchuma Toldot 8)[When bone hits bone nothing breaks. When bone hits vessels made of earth(enware) the latter is liable to be shattered. When G-d made Adam, He used earth. Ed.] An alternate exegesis: Rivkah’s eyes, which had been used to the smoke emanating from sacrifices offered to idols, had become immune to that smoke from childhood.
ותכהינן עיניו מראות, “his eyes had become weak from seeing (too much).” One opinion cites Exodus 23,8 where the Torah tells us that accepting a bribe corrupts, i.e. blinds the eyes of even normally honest judges. Yitzchok accepting venison hunted by his son Esau, caused him to overlook the numerous shortcomings of his son Esau without rebuking him. An alternate explanation of the word: מראות, “from seeing.” G–d weakened his eyesight in order to enable Yaakov to secure Esau’s blessing for himself. This is presumably the reason why Rashi wrote that his eyesight became impaired from the smoke rising from the animals offered as sacrifices to a variety of idols. (Tanchuma, 8) The Midrash there explains this by means of a parable. When a person has two implements at his disposal, one made of bone, the other of earthenware. When he chooses to perform certain tasks with the earthenware implement for which it was not designed, it is liable to break into pieces. On the other hand, if he were to perform the same task with the implement made out of horn, it would not break into pieces. Yitzchok who was Avraham’s son, i.e. made of earth as G–d had made Adam, could not tolerate the smoke from these offerings of his daughters-in-law. Rivkah, being a woman, i.e. her origin was the bone of the first woman from which Chavah had been constructed, was not affected by that smoke.
ויקרא את עשו בנו הגדול, “he called his senior son Esau.” From this adjective used by Yitzchok when calling Esau, we learn that when fortune smiles on the wicked it is permitted to flatter them. An alternate explanation for the word הגדול: seeing that Esau was such an important person at that time, replacing Nimrod, he is described as “the great.”
ויהי כי זקן יצחק, It came about when Isaac was old, etc. The reason that the Torah prefaces the paragraph by reporting that Isaac's eyesight failed him was to explain that Jacob took the blessings at a time when he was not afraid that his father would recognise him. The reason the paragraph is introduced with the word ויהי, which always introduces a painful episode, is to remind us that the subterfuge Jacob had to employ had many fateful consequences for the history of the Jewish people.
את עשו, Esau. The reason the Torah does not say ויקרא אל עשו, that Isaac called out to Esau, is that the latter was not present. Isaac merely called out Esau's name.
בנו הגדול, his older son. The Torah may have given as the reason that Isaac called first on Esau the fact that he was the firstborn; this would presuppose that Isaac did not know about the sale of the birthright. Alternatively, Isaac may have ignored the fact of the sale of the birthright and have based himself on Esau's being the elder, biologically speaking. The reason that Isaac wanted to give the wicked Esau a blessing was that he hoped to effect a change in Esau's character on account of the blessings he would bestow on him. In view of the statement in Bereshit Rabbah 80,1 that Dinah's rape was a punishment for Jacob who had hidden her from Esau's view at the moment of reconciliation, thus preventing Esau from marrying her, we may assume that had Rebeccah and Jacob not interfered with Isaac's intention Esau might indeed have become a penitent as a result of receiving such a blessing.
ותכהין עיניו מראות, ”his eyes weakened due to seeing.” According to the plain meaning of the text, a decline in the quality of vision is a normal phenomenon in people who reach a certain age, We find such a phenomenon as occurring to the prophet Achiyah Hashiloni (Kings I 14,4). When the Torah testified that Moses at 120 had not lost any part of his vision or any other bodily functions, (Deut. 34,7) this is reported precisely because it was a miracle. A Midrashic approach: Bereshit Rabbah 65,7 attributes Yitzchak’s failing eyesight to his being bribed with venison by his son Esau. The Torah had taught in Exodus 23,8 that one must not accept bribes and that accepting bribes “blinds the eyes of the seeing.” At that point, the Torah addresses judges and warns them not to accept bribes. Continuing with that subject, Rabbi Yitzchak said: “if someone who accept bribes from someone (such as his son who is obligated to feed him in his old age) is punished for accepting such favours, how much more is this true of someone who accepts such favours from a person who does not owe him anything!” Another approach of an homiletical nature is this: Yitzchak’s eyesight was impaired in order to enable Yaakov to obtain the blessing (Tanchuma Toldot 8). Still another approach: Yitzchak’s failing eyesight was due to the smoke from the incense his daughters-in-law offered to idols. [This leaves open why Rivkah’s eyes were not similarly affected. Maybe because she was so much younger. Ed.] Yet another reason offered in the Midrash: It was to prevent Yitzchak from leaving his house so that when people saw him they should not point to him as the father of the wicked Esau (compare Bereshit Rabbah 65,10). G’d hit on a stratagem to keep him indoors by blinding him. This would be reflected in the verse (Proverbs 28,28) “when the wicked rise up, other men go into hiding;” this prompted our sages to say that if someone raises a son who turns out to be wicked his eyes will become dimmed. They quote what happened to Yitzchak as proof for their contention. The reason that Achiyah Hashiloni lost his eyesight was that Jerobam ben Nevat, the King who placed golden calves on the road to Jerusalem to prevent his subjects from travelling to the Temple, was his star pupil. A totally different approach (Bereshit Rabbah 65,10) ascribes Yitzchak’s failing eyesight not to his age but to the fact that while he was bound on the altar he had beheld a forbidden vision of G’d, something which G’d did not want to punish him for at that stage. However, G’d decreed at that very hour that He would deprive Yitzchak of his eyesight at some time in the future. If G’d had punished Yitzchak immediately, He would have subjected not only Avraham to a test but also Yitzchak; this was not His intention at the time. This is based on the Torah writing מראות, “as a result of seeing something.” Had the Torah simply wanted to inform us that Yitzchak’s failing eyesight was a normal phenomenon it would have written מלראות, i.e. “his eyes became too weak to see.” Bereshit Rabbah 65,10 illustrates this with a parable. A King went for a private stroll behind the gate of his palace. When he raised his eyes he noticed that the son of a dearly beloved friend espied him from his window. Thereupon the King reasoned as follows: “if I kill that son, I will cause anguish to my friend. I will instead decree that the windows all be closed so that the son in question can no longer use it to spy on me.” A similar thing happened during the binding of Yitzchak. If G’d had punished Yitzchak for not closing his eyes and watching something he was not supposed to watch, He would be causing anguish to Avraham at the very moment when He was testing him. This is the meaning of Isaiah 5,23 מצדיקי רשע עקב שוחד וצדקת צדיקים יסירו ממנו, “who vindicate him who is in the wrong in return for a bribe, and withhold vindication from him who is in the right.” The prophet alludes to Yitzchak who, because of the venison he used to provide for his father, enjoyed his father’s favour. The second half of the verse refers to Moses and the fact that his eyesight was not withheld from him even at the age of 120 as he had never accepted any bribe.
ויקרא את עשו בנו הגדול, “he called in Esau his elder son.” Both his father and his mother referred to Esau as גדול, “senior.” Rivkah is on record as doing so in verse 15 when the Torah tells us where Esau kept his valuable clothes. G’d, on the other hand, referred to Esau as קטן, “junior.” We know this from Ovadiah 2 הנה קטן נתתיך בגוים, “here I have made you junior amongst the nations.” The meaning of the word גדול is justified according to the popular proverb לקבל תורא טבחא, “one hands over the fully grown ox for slaughter.” Compare Isaiah 34,6: “For the Lord holds a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.” The prophet speaks of retribution being meted out to the descendants of Esau. Ed.] On the other hand, the reason the description “junior” when applied to Yaakov may be appropriate on occasions is that in verse 30 where he is so described by his mother, G’d retaliated in due cause by referring to Israel as ומי גוי גדול בארץ, “who is a great nation on earth such as Israel” (Deut. 4,5).
ויהי כי זקן, the word זקן is a verb in the past tense. The Torah relates that Yitzchok kept on aging until his eyesight was badly impaired. Yaakov experienced a similar problem; (48,10) In fact most people experience the problem of failing eyesight in their old age. In some instances this is a sudden phenomenon, in others it is a phenomenon experienced gradually. In the case of Yitzchok he was struck with this affliction more than 20 years before he died. He misinterpreted the onset of this phenomenon considering it as foreshadowing that his death would occur soon. In the event he was proven wrong. However, this is what prompted him to call in Esau at this time to bestow his blessing upon him before his death. Perhaps this failure of his eyesight at a premature time was one of the afflictions with which the righteous are sometimes afflicted. It may be that the reason why the Torah bothers with telling us this detail is to inform us that G’d subjects some of the righteous to some afflictions in this life in accordance with His wisdom. Some commentators attribute Yitzchok’s premature blindness to the smoke of the incense burned by his daughters-in-law to their respective deities. (quoted by Rashi).
ותכהינה עיניו, due to old age, as we find in Samuel I 3,20 when the eyesight of the High Priest Eli failed due to old age.
ותכהין HIS EYES WERE DIM through the smoke raised by these women in offering incense to idols (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 8). Another explanation is: When Isaac was bound upon the altar and his father was about to slay him, at that very moment the heavens opened, the ministering angels saw it and wept, and their tears flowed and fell upon Isaac’s eyes which thus became dim (Genesis Rabbah 65:10). Another explanation is: They became dim just in order that Jacob might receive the blessings (Genesis Rabbah 65:8).
Wir folgen, wie schon wiederholt bemerkt, unseren Weisen, und halten es nicht für unsere Aufgabe, die Apologeten unserer großen Männer und Frauen zu sein, so wenig wie das Gotteswort es unterlässt, auch Verirrungen und Schwächen von ihnen zu berichten. Hat Rebekka Jakob veranlasst, den Vater zu täuschen, so steht da ungeschminkt: בא אחיך במרמה. R. Chanina äußert sich ( 67, 4 ב"ר) über die in diesem Kapitel erzählten Vorgänge: כל מי שאומר הב"ה וותרן הוא, "wer etwa sagt, Gott lasse seinen Frommen etwas hingehen, "fromme" Männer dürfen sich schon etwas erlauben, יותרון מעיר, dem sollen die Eingeweide umgewendet, (eigentlich losgerissen) werden", אלא מאריך רוחיה וגבי דיליה ,זעקה אחת הזעיק יעקב אבינו לעשו אימתי נפרע לו בשושן הבירה ויזעק זעקה גדולה ומרה Gottes Langmut (Esther 4, 1 wie Bereschit 27, 34) borgt lange und fordert doch zuletzt das ihre, einen Schrei ließ Vater Jakob den Esau schreien, und der ward in Susa bezahlt, wo Jakobs Enkel über Esaus Enkel ebenso bitter schreien mußte". ג׳ דמעות, "drei Tränen׳, heißt es im Tanchuma, ג׳ דמעות הוריד עשו אחת מימינו ואחת משמאלו ואחת נסתלקה בתוך עינו והיא האכילתם לחם דמעה ותשקמו ברמעות שליש ,"drei Tränen weinte Esau, eine entquoll seinem rechte, eine seinem linken Auge und eine unterdrückte er, und sie, die bitterste, die nichtgeweinte hat uns das Brot des Exils mit Tränen gesalzen und uns die Tränen in vollem Dreimaß zu kosten gegeben". — Allein wenn eine besonnene, ruhige Betrachtung dieses Ereignisses eine Überzeugung aufnötigen sollte, bei welcher daßelbe viel von seinem Herben verlieren dürfte, so glauben wir nicht dieselbe deshalb unterdrücken zu müssen, um nicht als Apologeten zu erscheinen. Wird ja immer noch genug übrig bleiben, das sich der Billigung entzieht, zumal wenn es an dem Charaktermaßstab eines Volkes gemessen wird, dessen Ehrennamen, "ישורן" lautet, das nur auf "geradem" Wege alle seine Ziele erreichen, und dem jede Krümme für jedes Ziel widerstehen soll. —
Suchen wir denn ein Verständnis der Handlungsweise der drei Hauptpersonen in diesem häuslichen Drama, so ist uns Jakobs Verfahren völlig klar und durchsichtig. Von vorn herein appelliert die Mutter an seinem blinden Gehorsam gegen ihren Befehl (V. 8). Sie erwartet nicht, daß er es um seines Vorteils willen tun werde, erwartet, daß sein ganzer Charakter als איש תם sich dagegen sträuben werde, und schneidet daher jede Einwendung durch den mütterlichen Befehl und die Pflicht des kindlichen Gehorsams ab. Alles dabei geschehende Unrecht und alle daraus entstehenden Folgen übernimmt sie; er hatte nur zu gehorchen. Was Jakob that, geschah daher nur aus Gehorsam gegen seine Mutter, und seine Handlungsweise trifft nur der Tadel, daß auch der kindliche Gehorsam seine Grenze in dem Gebote des Sittengesetzes findet, wo man auch aus Gehorsam gegen eine Mutter keine Täuschung begehen darf.
Allein, was hat Rebekka wollen? Der ärgste Juden- und Bibelfeind wird doch Vernunft, oder wenn man lieber will, Klugheit in ihrem Verfahren suchen müssen, ja, je verschmitzter ein solcher eine jüdische Ältermutter darstellen möchte, um so weniger wird er ihr die vollendete Imbezilität, die kinderhafteste Dummheit anmuten wollen. Und gleichwohl, wenn ihre Absicht nichts anderes gewesen sein sollte, als durch diesen Betrug den Vatersegen auf das Haupt ihres geliebten Jakob zu lenken, welchen irgend nur denkbaren Erfolg konnte sie davon erwartet haben! Schreibe man in ihrer Ansicht dem Vatersegen welche Wirkung man wolle zu, immer musste unausbleiblich der Erfolg in das Gegenteil ihrer Erwartung ausschlagen. Sollte der Vatersegen den vorzüglichen Gottessegen auf das Haupt des Gesegneten herabrufen, wie konnte sie glauben, — gelänge es auch den blinden Vater —, Gott den Allsehenden, durch eine so erbärmliche Mummerei zu täuschen, oder glauben, der Abrahamssegen, den Gott an die Bedingung des zu übenden צדקה ומשפט geknüpft hatte, könne von demselben Gott auf dem Wege einer solchen List und Täuschung erschlichen werden! War aber mit dem Vatersegen irgend ein konkreter Vorteil verbunden, etwa ein Vorzug in der einstigen Erbschaft, wie hätte eine solche, auf Betrug beruhende Erteilung nicht מקח טעות, nicht durch und durch in ihren Folgen nichtig sein sollen! War doch die Entdeckung des Betruges unausbleiblich. Wenn auch die Ausführung der Mummerei gelang, mit Esaus Heimkehr war unabweislich alles an dem Tag — das musste sich ja Rebekka sagen! Und dabei, wie plump die ganze Komödie, ein paar Ziegenfelle um Hals und Hände, wer als die vollendetste Arglosigkeit konnte damit getäuscht werden! — Was konnte sie mit einer solchen Komödie beabsichtigt haben? — Was anderes als eben die Komödie! Nur so, nur wenn die unausbleibliche Entdeckung von vornherein mit berechnete Absicht gewesen, gewinnt alles Sinn und Verstand, und wird von Rebekkas Standpunkt aus — begreiflich, und — wenngleich nicht völlig zu billigen — doch zufällig gleichzeitig auch sehr wohl zu entschuldigen.
Als Einleitung zu diesen Vorgängen haben wir den Bericht gelesen, wie Esau der großen abrahamitischen Aufgabe aus freien Stücken den doppelten Faustschlag ins Angesicht gegeben, indem er zwei chittische Frauen geheiratet. Wenn etwas Jizchak über die vollständige Unwürdigkeit seines ältesten Sohnes hätte die Augen öffnen können, so wäre es ja dies gewesen. Gleichwohl sehen wir Jizchak seinen ältesten Sohn rufen, um ihn zu segnen, d. h. ihn zum künftigen Führer und Lenker des abrahamitischen Hauses zu machen. Was muss Esau für ein "Jäger mit dem Munde" gewesen sein, wie muss er sich zu verstellen gewusst haben, daß er trotz seines ganzen unabrahamitischen Lebens den Vater getäuscht und sein Herz gefangen genommen!
In dem Wörtchen הנה נא זקנתי — נא — "siehe ich bin ja doch schon alt" — liegt klar, daß er schon lange den Entschluss gehabt, einen solchen Segen zu erteilen, daß dagegen aber remonstriert worden. Rebekka hatte ihm wahrscheinlich stets gesagt: lasse es doch noch, hat ja noch Zeit, bist ja noch nicht so alt u. dergl, und hatte gehofft, inzwischen Jizchak zu enttäuschen. Es war ihr aber nicht gelungen. Was wollte sie nun? Was konnte sie wollen? Nichts, als ihm einmal ad hominem zu demonstrieren, daß, und wie er getäuscht werden könne! Wenn ihm gegenüber selbst ein Jakob, ein איש תם, sich als גבור ציד verstellen kann, wie viel leichter einem Esau, sich ihm als איש תם zu verstellen! Und das — Jizchaks Enttäuschung durch diese Täuschung — gelang auch Rebekka vollkommen. Sobald ihm die Täuschung zum Bewusstsein kam, fasste ihn ein jäher Schreck — er sah, nach dem Ausdruck der Weisen, das Gehinnom vor sich geöffnet, sah, wie er sein Leben lang getäuscht worden. Sofort fiel ihm die Binde von den Augen, er fasste sich rasch und fügte bewusstvoll und aus freien Stücken: גם ברוך יהיה hinzu.
So hat auch ר׳ יהושע בן לוי wohl diese Vorgänge aufgefasst, indem er (ב"ר z. St.) äußert: לא ממה שהיתה רבקה אוהבת את יעקב יתיר מעשו עשתה את הדיהבר הזה אלא אמרה לא יעול ויטעי בההוא סבא, "nicht etwa weil Rebekka den Jakob mehr als Esau liebte, hat sie dies getan, sondern, damit dieser nicht mehr komme und den alten Vater täusche".
Auch Jizchaks Verfahren dürste bei näherer Betrachtung des Segens, den er Esau erteilen wollte, sich klarer herausstellen. Esau selbst hatte gar nicht erwartet, daß Jizchak ihm den ganzen Segen hätte erteilen wollen, fragt er ihn ja sogleich: הלא אצלת לי ברכה hast du denn nicht mir einen Segen vorbehalten, d. h. du hättest doch gewiss, wenn du mich gesegnet hättest, noch einen Segen für Jakob zurückbehalten, gib diesen Segen mir! Wohl gesteht ihm dies Jizchak zu, indem er ihm aber den Inhalt des Jakob erteilten Segens mitteilt, zeigt er ihm, daß nur dieser Segen sich für Esau geeignet hätte, der für Jakob zurückbehaltene Segen für Esau völlig ungeeignet war.
Zwei Elemente waren durch seine beiden Söhne in seinem Hause vertreten, in Esau die materielle Macht, in Jakob die geistige. Beide Richtungen, das war Jizchak wohl bekannt, sind für das Gedeihen der Nation nötig. Es war Jizchak ferner wohl die Prophezeiung bekannt: ורב יעבר צעיר, der materiell Stärkere werde dem materiell Geringeren dienen. Jizchak durfte aber geglaubt haben, die abrahamitische Bestimmung solle von einem Esau und einem Jakob in brüderlicher Vereinigung und gegenseitiger Ergänzung fortgetragen werden, und hatte deshalb Esau einen Segen materiellen Inhalts bestimmt, für Jakob aber einen geistigen in petto. Dieser für Jakob reservierte Segen hatte nun aber für Esau keine Bedeutung, dem Naturell und Sinn für diese geistige Seite des abrahamitischen Hauses abging. Rebekka aber kannte aus Labans Hause die Unmöglichkeit und den Unsegen einer solchen Zerklüftung, sie wusste aus Erfahrung, wie auch das Materielle nur in einem vom Abrahamsgeiste durchwehten Hause, in einer vom Abrahamsgeiste geleiteten Hand zum Segen und zur Heilesblüte gelangt, sie schaute das Richtige, sie erkannte in dem entgeistigten Materiellen den Fluch, und sah den Segen nur ungeteilt auf einem Haupte erblühen. Solche Erwägungen dürften die Handlungsweise beider erklärlich finden lassen. Sehen wir nun das Einzelne.
ותכהינה עיניו, just as what happened to the High Priest Eli who had not protested the wrongs committed by his sons. (Samuel I 3,13) In that instance the expression used is ועיניו קמה ולא יכול לראות, (Samuel I 4,15) Neither Avraham nor Yaakov experienced such problems in their old age at the age at which Yitzchok was struck by this affliction. They were both far older than Eli who died at the age of only 98. In fact, the Torah reports Avraham’s youthfulness in 25,1 when it reports him as taking another wife. Yaakov, with all the troubles he had experienced during his life was still able to see at 147 years of age, though with difficulty, (may be was very shortsighted then) as in Genesis 48,8 he is reported as clearly seeing Joseph’s sons, though they may have resembled each other so that he could not tell apart which one was Efrayim and which one was Menashe, This was in spite of the Torah (48,10) having told us ועיני ישראל כבדו מזוקן, “Yaakov’s eyes were heavy with old age,” (problems keeping the lids open?) At any rate, he could see, though not with clarity.
Because of the smoke of these. This follows its simple meaning: smoke is bad for the eyes. But Rivkah was used to it, as explained in the previous entry. It seems to me that all three reasons are needed, as follows. First Rashi explains that Yitzchok’s blindness was from the smoke, as Scripture juxtaposed it right afterward. But this raises the question: Why did Hashem bring this misfortune on him? [Rashi answers:] Perforce, Hashem did not save him from this cause [of blindness] so that Yaakov could receive the blessing. But a question remains: In any case, if there was smoke, why did not Rivkah, too, become blind? Thus Rashi explains that Yitzchok’s eyes were already weakened from the akeidah, and the smoke caused him to lose his sight altogether. (Maharshal)
It was when Isaac was old, and his eyes dimmed from seeing, as he became blind, or his sight diminished considerably; he summoned Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son. He, Esau, said to him: Here I am. Esau responded in the proper manner, as there was a mutually positive relationship between father and son.
ויהי כי זקן יצחק, “it happened when Yitzchok aged, noticeably;” According to Nachmanides, Yitzchok at that point had intended to bless Esau seeing that he would inherit the land of Canaan being the firstborn, and as such it would be his duty to uphold the covenant G’d had made with Avraham. Rivkah had never revealed to her husband the prophecy she had received while pregnant with the twins in her womb, according to which the older of the brothers would be subservient to the younger one. Had Rivkah revealed this information to him, Yitzchok would have been violating an express commandment by G’d if he had accorded the blessing of Avraham to his son Esau. The reason Rivkah had not revealed this information to her husband, was her innate modesty. She did not want Yitzchok to feel slighted that G’d had revealed information to her that He had not seen fit to reveal to her husband. Alternately, she thought that Yitzchok, being a saint, had to be aware of anything she knew and more than that, so that revealing to him something that he already knew would appear as if she had underestimated her husband’s close relations to his Creator. At any rate, she feared that due to his open preference for Esau, Yitzchok might not bestow a blessing on Yaakov at all. She was afraid that if she would reveal her prophetic vision to Yitzchok at this time, he would decide not to bestow a blessing on either son, but leave everything to heaven, as his father had done before him. Rabbi Joseph Kimchi does not believe that Yitzchok ever had the intention of bestowing on Esau the blessing of Avraham [which carried with it the power to bless or to curse effectively, Ed.] He did not feel that Yaakov needed a blessing, seeing that he was a righteous individual in his own right. He felt that Esau was in need of a blessing precisely because he was a wicked individual. He hoped that by providing Esau with the opportunity of pleasing his father by bringing him venison to eat, the pleasure he would experience eating it would restore a measure of Holy Spirit to him, something that had been lacking in his life of late. Even the prophet Elisha had suffered from the absence of such Holy Spirit until it had been restored to him as a result of the music played for him, something that relieved his mental depression. [in both cases the mental depression had been brought on by the person’s failure to see his words of benevolent instruction take root in the listener. Ed.] (Kings II 3,15)
Now that you know this, I must tell you why, “the eyes of Yitzchak were dimmed from seeing.” Know, that HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, diminished the quality of judgment-Din-דין, so that it could not be exacting with every sin. This is the secret of the verse, (Genesis 27:1) “His eyes were dimmed from seeing.” Now, why does the verse begin by telling us, “And it came to pass, when Yitzchak had become elderly” and only afterwards continues, “and his eyes were dimmed from seeing”? Behold, with the help of HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, I will enlighten your eyes about this.
Know, that Above in HaShem’s-יהו״ה Godliness, there is a quality of complete and absolute mercy-Rachamim, called Eheye”h-אהי״ה and called the Elder-Zaken-זקן. (This will be further explained in the Tenth Gate.) This is a quality of total mercy-Rachamim, without any admixture whatsoever of judgment-Din. When people sin, the quality of judgment-Din becomes outstretched against them, and when they stand in judgment, and the Name HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, sees that if judgement will be meted out against them, all the worlds would be obliterated, He then removes the quality of judgment-Din and elevates it to the quality of mercies-Rachamim called the Elder-Zaken-זקן. When the quality of judgment-Din withdraws and is elevated to that place, it loses the powers to speak or see. This is the secret of the verse, (Isaiah 5:16) “HaShem of Hosts-HaShem Tzva’ot-יהו״ה צבאו״ת will be elevated in justice-Mishpat-משפט, and the Holy God-HaE”l HaKadosh-הא״ל הקדוש will be sanctified in charity-Tzedakah-צדקה.” About this the verse states, (Genesis 27:1) “When Yitzchak had become elderly-Zaken-זקן and his eyes were dimmed from seeing.” In other words, the verse speaks both about him and about his Divine quality. Therefore, in times of harsh judgment, HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, has mercy upon His world, and says, (Isaiah 48:11, see Rashi and Radak there.) “For My sake, for My sake, I will act, for how can I let [My Name] be profaned!?” About this our sages, of blessed memory, said, (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 98a) “The son of David will only come in a generation that is entirely guilty etc.” This also is the secret of the verse, (Leviticus 13:14) “[The priest (Kohen) shall look, and behold! – the affliction has covered his entire flesh; then he shall declare the affliction to be pure;] having turned completely white, it is pure.” (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 97a – “The son of David will not come until the entire kingdom will be overturned into heresy. Rava said, from what verse [is this derived]? From the verse (Lev. 13:14), “Having turned completely white, it is ritually pure.” Rashi writes there, “That is, just as when the affliction spreads over the whole skin [it is declared pure], so likewise, when the kingdom is entirely overturned into heresy, the redemption comes.” In other words, in such a case, the redemption comes about by way of that which is expressed in the verse (Ezekiel 36:22-38), “It is not for your sake that I act… but for My Holy Name… I will sanctify My great Name… then the nations will know that I am HaShem-יהו״ה… I will take you from amongst the nations and gather you from the lands, and I will bring you to your own soil… Then I will sprinkle pure water upon you, so that you will be cleansed… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you etc.”)
This being so, contemplate the secret of the verse, (Genesis 27:1) “And it came to pass, when Yitzchak had become elderly-Zaken-זקן, and his eyes were dimmed from seeing,” and you then will grasp the secret of the verse, (Psalms 81:4; Also see Zohar III 231b; Zohar III 100b) “Blow the Shofar at the moon’s renewal, when it is concealed-בכסה for our festive day,” and the secret of the verse, (Psalms 89:16) “Happy is the nation who know the cry of the Shofar (Teru’ah-תרועה); HaShem-יהו״ה, they walk in the light of Your face (b'Ohr Panecha-באור פניך).” You will then perceive what the Shofar of the ram of Yitzchak is. If you contemplate these matters, you then will enter the secret of the words we recite every day, (In the morning (Shacharit) liturgy, in the blessing preceding the Shema.) “Blessed are You HaShem-יהו״ה… Who forms the luminaries-Yotzer HaMe’orot-יוצר המאורות,” and, (In the Havdalah liturgy.) “Blessed are You HaShem-יהו״ה… Who creates the lights of fire-Boreih Me’orei Ha’Aish-בורא מאורי האש.” (See at length in Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla’s Ginat Egoz, translated as HaShem Is One, Vol. 2, (The Letters of Creation, Part II), section entitled, “The Three Letters Yod-Hey-Vav-יו״ד ה״א וא״ו.” Also see Zohar I 20b; Zohar II 207b.) You then will understand the difference between “Who forms the luminaries-Yotzer HaMe’orot-יוצר המאורות,” and, “Who creates the lights of fire-Boreih Me’orei Ha’Aish-בורא מאורי האש.”
Woe to the soul when it becomes enclothed in their blackness! (Gen. 27:1) And upon it is stated:... and his eyes were dimmed from seeing...
It is this that is written: (Gen. 27:1) ... and his eyes were dimmed ‘from seeing’, ... from seeing (mei-re-ot) ... into the redemption specifically, which is the light of the ‘visions’ (mare-ot) of prophecy, of which it is stated: (Ez. 1:1) ... the heavens were opened, and I saw ‘visions’ of ELQYM. And this is the meaning of... and his eyes were dimmed ‘from seeing’ (Gen. 27:1) – from the side of ‘the left’, and it is stated at that time of the blessed Holy One: (Is. 50:3) I shall dress the heavens with blackening...
And of ‘the other side’, there is a candle of darkness of hell (gehinom) , and it has three colours. The colour red is the liver: (Gen. 36:1) ... Esau is Edom. The gall bladder is green, the spleen is the colour black, and of it is stated: (Gen. 27:1) ... and his eyes were dimmed from seeing...
Darkness is a black fire that is strong in color, because no other color can change black. It is also a red fire that is strong in its appearance, as red is the most noticeable color. It is a green fire, which is solid in form, as all forms reach perfection by the green color. And it is a white fire, which is the basis of all other colors. Darkness is strong, because it contains all kinds of fires and it attacks the formlessness. Darkness is a fire that consists of four colors, and it is usually not a dark fire except when it attacks the formlessness. This is the secret of the verse: "his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau..."(Genesis 27:1). The face of evil is darkness, so Isaac, who was kind to evil, to Esau, was then called 'darkness,' as he rested upon it so that it may attack it....
"And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old" (Beresheet 27:1). Rabbi Shimon said, It is written, "And Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night" (Beresheet 1:5). This verse had already been explained; nevertheless come and behold, All the actions that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs, are true, and in the secret of the upper world. And all the words of the Torah are words of faith and supernal mysteries, as they should.
Thus, it is written, "And Abraham was old, advanced in age" (Beresheet 24:1), that is, in the shining lights (of benevolences). And he is old, as it is written, "that shines ever more brightly until the height of noonday" (Mishlei 4:18). Therefore, "And Elohim called the light Day." "And the darkness he called Night." This is Isaac, who is dark, and gets to receive the night within him. Therefore, when he grew older, it is written, "And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see" (Beresheet 27:1). (he had become completely dark). Assuredly he had to be (totally) dark to cleave well to his grade.
"He called Esau his eldest son..." This means that he was included within strict Judgment. "And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death." Rabbi Elazar opened the discussion with the verse, "Happy is the man, whose strength is in You..." (Tehilim 84:6), happy is the man who is strengthened by the Holy One, blessed be He, and puts his trust in Him.
Chapter 40: Torah [1] And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). Twenty generations passed until Abraham, in which old age is not mentioned except for him, as it says, "Now Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And Isaac also stood [before God] and it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Genesis 27:1). And Jacob also stood [before God], as it says, "And the eyes of Israel were dim with age" (Genesis 48:10). The verse (Psalms 102:17) says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The only way [to achieve this level of prayer] is through old age, as it says, "The beauty of young men is their strength, and the glory of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29). Abraham merited his son through five things, as our Rabbis taught: the father merits a son through five things: through his [the father's] name, through his [the father's] good deeds, through his [the father's] wealth, through his [the father's] strength, and through his [the father's] wisdom. Similarly, Isaac [merited his son through five things], and similarly Jacob [merited his son through five things]. Similarly, Jacob merited Joseph [through these five things], who resembled him in appearance and in title, as it says, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Genesis 39:6). [He resembled him] in wisdom, as it says, "Behold, he is the master of dreams" (Genesis 37:19). He had beauty, appearance, and wisdom. And in Isaac's case, it is written, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with wisdom. And just as Joseph stood up to his brothers in strength, so did Isaac stand up in strength against all the men of Gerar. Just as Joseph was wealthy, so was Isaac wealthy, as it says, "And the man became great and went forward and became very great" (Genesis 26:13). The verse (Genesis 26:8) explains [the word] "wisdom" as meaning "the greatness of his children." From where do we learn that Isaac was handsome like Joseph? It is written about Joseph, "And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance," and when he went to his brothers, what did they say? "Behold, the master of dreams is coming!" (Genesis 37:19). And it is said about Isaac, "Who is this man?" (Genesis 24:65). What is the meaning of "this man" in reference to Joseph? That he was handsome and had wisdom. Likewise, Isaac was also built with strength, as it says, We know this from the fact that he dug many wells, as it says, "Isaac dug again the wells of water" (Genesis 26:18), and "Isaac's servants dug in the valley" (Genesis 26:19), and "they dug another well" (Genesis 26:21). He had strength in his hands. From where do we know that he was wealthy? It says, "The man became great, and he grew richer and richer until he was very wealthy" (Genesis 26:13). And from where do we know that he lived to a ripe old age of 180 years? It says, "And Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years" (Genesis 35:28). Abraham was the son of Terah, and Isaac was the son of Abraham. Why does the Torah mention this? Because God said to Isaac, "You have merited these five things, so I will add another five years to your life, like your father Abraham." That is why it says, "Look upon your servants" (Psalms 119:16). Anyone who has merit will receive these five things, and anyone who does not have merit will receive five calamities in return. And who was this? Joab, as it is said: "Let Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their bloodshed. May they be afflicted with leprosy, jaundice, and starvation." (2 Samuel 3:29) Leprosy corresponds to strength; one who has leprosy has no strength. Jaundice corresponds to beauty; even if someone is young and jaundiced, there is no beauty in them. Starvation corresponds to wealth, as it says, "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live" (Proverbs 9:5-6). One who is starving has no leisure to engage in Torah study. Falling by the sword corresponds to the five aspects of praise. These are five calamities corresponding to five aspects of praise. One who does not merit praise inherits these five kinds of calamities, like Joab. But one who does merit praise receives them like Isaac, as it is said, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old" (Genesis 27:1), and David cries out, "May your children be like your ancestors" (Psalms 45:17). Therefore, it says, "And it came to pass, when Isaac was old."
[3] Another interpretation: when Isaac grew old, it is written above that "Esau was forty years old, and he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah." (Genesis 26:34-35). "A foolish son is a vexation to his father, and bitterness to her that bore him." (Proverbs 17:25). Yet, despite all of this, his father called him "the elder." "And Isaac called Esau his elder son" (Genesis 27:1), and his mother called him "the elder," as it says, "And Rebekah took the goodly garments of her elder son Esau" (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Behold, there are the old and the aged who lack understanding, but I called him 'small,' as it is said, 'Behold, I have made you small among the nations'" (Obadiah 1:2). This is similar to a person who had a text to write that said, "heroic knights." Someone came to him to have his son's name inscribed and said to him, "Look at my son. He is young, but tall and sturdy." His mother also said, "Look at our son. He is tall and sturdy." He replied to them, "He is tall and sturdy before you, but I do not know. After all, the scale (i.e., measuring tool) will determine his true height. If he is indeed tall, then he will be measured and found to be tall. However, if he is not tall, then he will be measured and found to be small and disqualified." Thus, Rebekah called him "the elder," and Isaac called him "the elder." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "Who else in My world is sovereign and rules without Me? As it is said, 'Who is he that speaks, and it comes to pass, unless the Lord commands it?' (Lamentations 3:37). He said to them, "Why do you insist on calling him 'the elder' in My house? I made him small." And you call him 'the elder,' but he is only small, as it is said, 'Behold, I have made you small among the nations'" (Obadiah 1:2).
[4] Another explanation: Eli, he was very old. Three elders hastened their death because of their sons' wrongdoing. Isaac was first due to his troubles with his son Esau, who was bowing down to idols and offering incense to them, causing smoke to rise, which caused Isaac's eyes to become dim. Therefore it is written, "And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim" (Genesis 27:1). Likewise, Eli was old due to the troubles of his sons, as it is written, "And Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did" (1 Samuel 2:22). Even Samuel was old due to the troubles of his sons, as it is written, "And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment" (1 Samuel 8:1-3). Although all his days he was a prophet and judge, old age overtook him because of his sons' troubles, as it is written, "And his sons did not walk in his ways" (ibid.). Rabbi Simon said, "The sons of Eli were exonerated from this matter, as it is written, 'And they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tent of meeting' (1 Samuel 2:22). Rather, this is what they did: they did not offer sacrifices at the appointed time, and the daughters of Israel brought them flour or doves for their purification, as it is written, 'And when the days of her purification are fulfilled' (Leviticus 12:6). And there it is written, 'The doors of the temple were open at the beginning of the tent of meeting' (1 Samuel 2:22)." And they were taking and passing the hours, and they were not offering sacrifices at their appointed time, and the daughters of Israel thought they were pure and went and served in their homes, as it is said, "This is what they do when they lay with women." It does not say "the people," but "the women." They were allowing women, who were impure due to relations with their husbands, to lie with them. Who caused them to do this? They were neglecting the sacrifices and not offering them at their appointed time, as it says, "Passing [over the offering] with the Lord" (1 Samuel 2:24). The word "sinning" is not written here, but "passing [over]." They were passing over the hours. God began to say to them, "Say to My children" (Jeremiah 2:2). God said to them, "You are spoiling your children by calling them 'My children.'" Solomon cried out, "Do not withhold discipline from a youth" (Proverbs 23:13). "You are a tribe," he said (Proverbs 5:14). They answered and said to him, "If so, Israel, if this is the case, then woe to your people in your tribe" (Micah 7:14).
“Avimelekh took flocks and cattle and slaves and maidservants and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him” (Genesis 20:14). “To Sarah he said: Behold, I have given your brother one thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes for all who are with you, and for all, it is proven” (Genesis 20:16). “Avimelekh took flocks and cattle…to Sarah he said: Behold, I have given your brother one thousand pieces of silver” – Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Ilai said: [Avimelekh said:] ‘You went to Egypt and gained financially from her [Sarah] there. (When Pharaoh took her for himself (Genesis 12:16).) You came here and gained financially from her. If it is money that you seek, here is money for you, and [now,] conceal people’s eyes from her.’ (Do not let any more people see her and desire her.) “It is for you a covering of the eyes” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: [Avimelekh said to him:] ‘Make a covering for her, (With the money I have given you, buy her nice clothing, so as to distract people from her own beauty.) so everyone would look at it and not at her beauty.’ “A covering of the eyes” – a covering made of many colors. Rabbi Berekhya said: He made her a noblewoman; [it was] a covering that rendered her [as if] obscured from sight. (Wearing the garb of nobility, no one would dare express a desire to take her. It would be as if people would not see her at all.) Reish Lakish said: He sought to cause strife with her husband. [He was saying:] ‘All these years she has been with him, and he never did anything for her. But this one [myself], after one night, treated her accorded her such honor.’ (He sought to have her cover her eyes from her husband.) Another interpretation, he said to them: ‘You obscured my eyes from seeing, (By lying to me about Sarah.) [therefore] the son that you will produce will have his eyes covered.’ (Isaac was blind (Genesis 27:1). This is what he meant by: “It is for you a covering of the eyes” – the covering of eyes will happen to you.) “And for all, it is proven [venokhaḥat]” – he said to her: ‘The rebuke [tokhaḥa] of this man [myself], (The rebuke due to me for having deprived you of your husband for one night.) is already in his possession,’ as it is taught: If a woman rebels against her husband, (By refusing to fulfill her marital duties.) one deducts from her marriage contract seven dinars per week. (Ketubot 63a.) Why seven dinars? It corresponds to the seven duties that a woman performs for her husband: She grinds, bakes, cooks, launders, nurses her child, makes his bed, and works wool [into thread]. That is why it is seven. One who rebels against his wife, one adds to her marriage contract three dinars per week. (Ketubot 63a.) Why? It corresponds to the three matters that he is obligated to do for her: [Provide] food, clothing, and conjugal rights. That is why it is three. Say that she brought [into the marriage] servants and maidservants [to do all the work], so that she has no obligations toward him. Say that he declined to provide her food, clothing, and conjugal rights, (He made this stipulation, and she consented.) so that he has no obligations toward her. (Since in this case neither spouse has any obligations toward the other, why is the women penalized more than the man for refusing to fulfill her marital (conjugal) duty?) Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The suffering of the man (When deprived of conjugal relations.) is greater than the suffering of the woman. That is what is written: “It was as she tormented him daily with her words and pressured him” (Judges 16:16) – [this means] that she would slip herself away from beneath him. “He became irritated to death” (Judges 16:16) – but she did not become irritated, as she would see to her needs elsewhere.
“His eyes dimmed from seeing” – Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: From seeing evil– from seeing the evil of the wicked one. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Isaac will walk out to the marketplace and the people will say: This is the father of that wicked one. Instead, I will dim his eyes and he will remain inside his house.’ That is what is written: “With the rise of the wicked, a person should hide” (Proverbs 28:28). From here they said: Anyone who produces a wicked son or a wicked student, ultimately his eyes will dim. A wicked student, from Aḥiya the Shilonite – “Aḥiyahu was unable to see, for his eyes had dimmed due to his old age” (I Kings 14:4); he had produced Yerovam, a wicked student. A wicked son, from Isaac – “it was when Isaac was old, and his eyes dimmed.” Another matter. “from seeing [mereot]” – as a result of that sight [re’iya]; when Abraham our patriarch bound his son atop the altar, the ministering angels wept. That is what is written: “Behold, their angels cry out outside…” (Isaiah 33:7). Tears fell from their eyes into his eyes, and they had an effect inside his eyes. When he grew old, his eyes dimmed. That is what is written: “It was when Isaac was old…” Another matter. “from seeing [mereot]” – as a result of that sight [re’iya]; when Abraham our patriarch bound his son atop the altar, he [Isaac] directed his eyes heavenward and looked at the Divine Presence. They say a parable, to what is the matter comparable? It is comparable to a king who was strolling at the entrance of his palace and glanced and saw his friend’s son peering at him through the window. (It was forbidden to look at the king.) He said: ‘If I kill him, I will now cause my friend to collapse. Instead, I will decree that his windows should be sealed.’ So, when Abraham our patriarch bound his son atop the altar, he directed his eyes and looked at the Divine Presence. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘If I kill him, I will now cause Abraham my friend to collapse. Instead, I decree that his eyes will dim.’ When he grew old, his eyes dimmed – “it was when Isaac was old…”
“He summoned Esau his elder son” – Rabbi Elazar bar Shimon said: This is analogous to a province that made a list of mighty people for the king. (To serve in his army.) There was a certain woman there who gave birth to a puny son, and she would call her son: Tall and Quick. She said to them: 'My son is tall and quick, but you do not conscript him?' They said: 'If, in your eyes, he is tall and quick, in our eyes he is puniest of the puny.' So, his father called him great [gadol], as it is stated: “He called Esau, his elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:1). His mother called him great [gadol], as it is stated: “The garments of Esau, her elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘If, in your eyes, he is great, in My eyes, he is insignificant,’ as it is stated: “Behold, I rendered you insignificant among the nations, you are greatly despised” (Obadiah 1:2). (The prophecy was given with respect to Edom, the nation descended from Esau.) Rabbi Berekhya said: The slaughterer corresponds to the bull. (He is called great based on the fact that his slaughterer, the Holy One blessed be He, is great.) That is what is written: “There is a sacrifice for the Lord in Botzra and a great [gadol] slaughter in the land of Edom” (Isaiah 34:6). “And said to him: My son, and he said to him: Here I am” – that is what is written: “When he ingratiates with his voice, do not trust him…” (Proverbs 26:25). Ḥizkiyahu the translator said: “As there are seven abominations in his heart” (Proverbs 26:25). [When] you find one “abomination” written in the Torah, ten [sins] are written in its regard: “There shall not be found among you anyone who passes his son or his daughter through the fire…an enchanter, a medium, an oracle, [or a necromancer, one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead; for anyone who performs these things is an abomination to the Lord]” (The list consists of nine categories, rather than ten; Maharzu explains that the son and the daughter passed through fire are counted separately, to make ten.) (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Here, where “seven” is written, all the more so. That is, “as there are seven abominations,” [means that] there are seventy abominations “in his heart.”
“He said: Behold, I have now grown old; I do not know the day of my death” (Genesis 27:2). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: When a person reaches the age of his parents, five years before or five years after, he should be concerned about death, as Isaac said: ‘If I will reach the years of Father, now there are many remaining; if I will reach the years of my mother: “He said [to him]: Behold, I have now grown old; I do not know the day of my death.” (Isaac was 123 years old. Abraham died at age 175 and Sarah died at age 127.) It is taught: There are seven matters that are obscured from people: The day of [their] death; the day of consolation; (The redemption (Etz Yosef).) the profundity of justice; a person does not know through what he will profit; a person does not know what is in the heart of another; a person does not know what the woman is carrying in her pregnancy; and when the evil empire will fall. The day of death, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “For a person, too, does not know his time” (Ecclesiastes 9:12). The day of consolation, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “At its time, I will hasten it” (Isaiah 60:22). A person does not know the profundity of justice, as it is stated: “For judgment is God’s” (Deuteronomy 1:17). A person does not know through what he will profit, as it is written: “It is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:13). A person does not know what is in the heart of another, as it is written: “I, the Lord, probe the heart” (Jeremiah 17:10). A person does not know what the woman is carrying in her pregnancy, as it is written: “[You do not know]…how the fetuses grow in a womb of the pregnant” (Ecclesiastes 11:5). And when the evil empire will fall, as it is written: “For a day of vengeance is in My heart” (Isaiah 63:4).
“It was when Isaac was old, and his eyes dimmed from seeing, he summoned Esau his elder son, and said to him: My son, and he said to him: Here I am” (Genesis 27:1). “It was when Isaac was old” – Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “Those who exonerate the wicked due to [ekev] a bribe” (Isaiah 5:23) – anyone who takes a bribe and exonerates the wicked – ultimately. (He will ultimately be punished.) “And remove the innocence of the righteous from him” (Isaiah 5:23) – “the innocence of the righteous” – this is Moses. (The Matnot Kehuna explains that Moses did not justify an evil person. Rather he called the person who wanted to strike his friend an evil person. See Exodus 2:13.) “Remove…from him” – this is Isaac. Because he exonerated the wicked, (He loved Esau.) his eyes dimmed – “it was when Isaac was old, [and his eyes dimmed…].”
“One who exonerates the wicked and one who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15) – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It was not because Rebecca loved Jacob more than Esau that she performed this action, but she said: ‘Let him [Esau] not enter and mislead that elder [Isaac],’ based on: “Both of them are an abomination to the Lord.” Because he exonerated the wicked, his eyes dimmed – “it was when Isaac was old, and his eyes dimmed.”
Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “You shall not take a bribe [for bribes blind the clear-sighted…]” (Exodus 23:8) – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: If one who took a bribe from one who owed him, (Esau owed Isaac due to the mitzva of honoring one’s father.) his eyes dimmed, one who takes a bribe from one who does not owe him, all the more so – “it was when Isaac was old.”
Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa began: “Much, Lord my God, You have done; Your wonders…” (Psalms 40:6) – Rabbi Ḥanina said: All the actions and thoughts that you performed on our behalf, were for our benefit. Why did Isaac’s eyes dim? It was so Jacob could come and take the blessings – “it was when Isaac was old.”
Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: Abraham demanded aging. He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, a man and his son enter a place and no one knows which of them to honor. Because you adorn him with aging, a person knows whom to honor.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, you have demanded a good thing, and it will begin with you.’ From the beginning of the book until that point, aging is not written. When Abraham stood, He granted him aging – “Abraham was old” (Genesis 24:1). Isaac demanded suffering. He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, a person dies without suffering, the attribute of justice is outstretched against him. When you bring suffering upon him, the attribute of justice is not outstretched against him.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, you have demanded a good thing, and I will begin with you.’ From the beginning of the book until here, suffering is not written. When Isaac stood, He granted him suffering – “it was when Isaac was old, and [his eyes] dimmed.” Jacob demanded illness. He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, a person dies without illness and does not settle matters between his children. When he is ill for two or three days, he settles matters between his children.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, you have demanded a good thing, and it will begin with you’ – “One said to Joseph: Behold, your father is ill” (Genesis 48:1). Rabbi Levi said: Abraham introduced aging, Isaac introduced suffering, Jacob introduced illness, Hezekiah introduced illness that is cured. He said to Him: ‘You would sustain one until the day of his death. (In good health.) But because a person is ill and recovers, is ill and recovers, he repents.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, you have demanded a good thing.’ That is what is written: “A composition of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he became ill and recovered from his illness” (Isaiah 38:9). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: From here [we learn], that between illness and illness, there was an illness that was more severe than both of them.
“This is the blessing” – that is what the verse said: “Many women have performed valiantly, but you have surpassed them all” (Proverbs 31:29). What is, “but you have surpassed them all”? It is speaking of Moses, because he was exalted over them all. How so? Adam the first man says to Moses: ‘I am greater than you, as I was created in the image of the Holy One blessed be He.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). Moses says to him: ‘I am more exalted than you, as you, the glory that was given to you was taken from you, as it is stated: “Man [Adam] does not abide in honor” (Psalms 49:13). But I, the radiance of my face that the Holy One blessed be He gave me, it remains with me.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “His eye had not dimmed, and his vitality had not departed” (Deuteronomy 34:7). Another matter, Noah said to Moses: ‘I am greater than you, as I was delivered from the generation of the Flood.’ Moses said to him: ‘I am more exalted than you, as you saved yourself, but you did not have the ability to save your generation. But I saved myself and saved my generation when they incurred liability to be eradicated due to the [sin of the Golden] Calf.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The Lord reconsidered the evil that He had spoken of doing to His people” (Exodus 32:14). To what is the matter comparable? It is to two ships that were at sea, and there were two captains in them. One saved himself but did not save his ship, and one saved himself and his ship. Whom do they laud? Is it not the one who saved himself and his ship? So, Noah saved only himself, but Moses saved himself and his generation. That is, “but you have surpassed them all.” Another matter, Abraham said to Moses: ‘I am greater than you, as I would provide sustenance to the passersby.’ Moses said to him: ‘I am more exalted than you, as you would provide sustenance for uncircumcised people, but I provided sustenance for circumcised people. Moreover, you would provide sustenance in the settled area, and I would provide sustenance in the wilderness.’ Isaac said to Moses: ‘I am greater than you as I extended my neck upon the altar and saw the countenance of the Divine Spirit.’ Moses said to him: ‘I am more exalted than you, as you saw the countenance of the Divine Presence and your eyes dimmed.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “It was when Isaac was old, his eyes dimmed from seeing” (Genesis 27:1). What is “from seeing”? It is from seeing the Divine Presence. ‘But I would speak with the Divine Presence face to face and my eyes did not dim.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant” (Exodus 34:29). Jacob said to Moses: ‘I am greater than you, as I encountered the angel and overcame him.’ Moses said to him: ‘You encountered the angel in your environment, but I ascended to them in their environment, and they fear me.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The kings of armies [malkhei tzevaot] (This is being interpreted as referring to angels. ) flee again and again…” (Psalms 68:13). That is why Solomon said: “Many women have performed valiantly, [but you have surpassed them all].” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Since he was exalted above everyone, he will bless Israel’ – “this is the blessing.”
R. Elazar said in the name of R. Chanina: "Never shall the blessing of even a common man be considered insignificant in your eyes; for two great men of their generation were blessed by simple men and their blessings were fulfilled. They were David and Daniel. David, as it is written (II Sam. 24, 23) And Aravnah said unto the king, 'May the Lord thy God receive thee favorably.' Daniel was blessed by King Darius, as it is written (Dan. 6, 17) May thy God, whom thou worshippest continually, truly deliver thee." R. Elazar said again in the name of R. Chanina: 'Never shall the curse of even a common man be considered unimportant, for Abimelech cursed Sarah, saying (Gen. 20, 16) 'This is to thee a covering to the eyes, and it was fulfilled through her children as it is said (Gen. 27, 1) And Isaac's eyes became dim." Again said R. Elazar, in the name of R. Chanina: "Come and see how the custom of the Holy One, praised be He! differs from the custom of frail man! A frail man sets the pot [on the fire] first and then pours water into it, but the Holy One, praised be He! poureth the water first into the pot and then sets it on the fire, to sustain the passage (Jer. 10, 13) At the sound when he giveth a multitude of water." Another thing did R. Elazar say in the name of R. Chanina: "When the righteous is lost (dies) it is a loss to the generation only [not to himself]. This might be compared with a diamond which was lost by a man, wherever it is its name is there, the loss is merely to its owner." Again said R. Elazar in the name of R. Chanina: "What is the meaning of the passage (Ib. 5, 13) Yet all this profiteth me nothing. Infer from this that all treasures of that wicked (Haman) were engraved upon his heart, and as soon as he saw Mordecai sitting in the king's tower he said. Yet all this profiteth me nothing." Is it really because he (Haman) saw Mordecai sitting in the king's tower that he said this? Yes, as R. Chisda explained it: "The latter [Mordecai ] had come as a member of the Prosbul and the former [Haman] had come to court as a member of the Prosbuli" (Ib. b."); i.e., Buli signifies the rich, as it is said (Lev. 26, 19) I will break the pride of your power, and R. Joseph explains that this refers to the rich of Juda; Buli signifies poverty, and so reads the passage (Deut. 15, 8) Thou shalt surely lend him. R. Papa said: "Haman was called 'the slave that sold himself for a loaf of bread.'" R. Elazar said further in the name of R. Chanina: "In the future, the Holy One, praised be He! will put a crown on the head of every righteous man, as it is written (Is. 28, 5) On that day will the Lord of hosts he for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty. What is the meaning of a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty? It is for those who do His will, and hope for His glory. One may think that this will be for all of them? Therefore it is said. Unto the residue of his people; i.e., for those who are so modest that they consider themselves like the remnant of the people. (Ib. 6) And for a spirit of judgment; i.e., to him who sitteth in judgment — and does justice. And for strength. It is to him who overcomes his inclination. To those that drive back the battle, this refers to those who debate over the Torah. To the gate, refers to the scholars who arise early to go to the gates of the houses of prayer and learning, and remain late there. The divine attribute of justice pleaded before the Holy One, praised be He! saying, 'Sovereign of the Universe! Wherein is the difference between this (Israel) and all other nations [that Thou art honoring Israel so much]?' Whereupon the Holy One, praised be He! answered 'Israel studied the Torah, and the idolaters did not.' To this the attribute of Justice replied (Ib. 7) But these also are now stumbling through wine, and reeling through strong drink — they are (Paku) unsteady in giving judgment. Paku (unsteady) refers to Gehenna, as it is said (I Sam. 25, 31) That this shall not be a cause of offence; and Pliliya [judgment] refers to the judges as it is said (Ex. 23, 21) And they shall pay this by the decision of (Phlilim) the Judges."
Another interpretation (of Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD. Three people loudly demanded three things, and from them they had their beginning. (Gen. R. 65:9; 97:1 (Vatican MS); BM 87a; Tanh., Gen. 5:1; PRE 52. See also above, 2:20.) Abraham demanded old age. Abraham said: When a father and his son enter into a city, no one knows which is the older and which is the younger. The Holy One said: You have loudly demanded old age. By your life, I am beginning with you. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD. Isaac demanded afflictions. Isaac said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, when someone sins, you exact retribution from him all at once. Afflict him little by little, and you are exacting retribution from him. If you had brought afflictions upon the generation of the flood, they would not have rebelled against you. You, however, bestowed prosperity upon them. They therefore rebelled against you. Thus it is stated (in Job 12:6): THE TENTS OF ROBBERS PROSPER, AND THOSE WHO PROVOKE GOD HAVE SECURITY. The Holy One said to him: You have loudly demanded afflictions. By your life, I am beginning with you. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:1): AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT ISAAC WAS OLD, [AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE]. Jacob demanded illness. Jacob said to the Holy One, Sovereign of the World, one dwells in contentment. Then his life departs, and strife comes into the world. For that reason it is required for one to be in the hands of others; or, in the case of others, it is required for them to be in his hand. Now he dies suddenly and strife comes about in the world. Rather let [one] become [ill] for five or six days until he has ordained for his children everything that is necessary. Then let him depart from the world. The Holy One said to him: Jacob, you have demanded illness. By your life, I am beginning with you. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 48:1): AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THESE THINGS {THAT IT WAS TOLD} [THAT ONE SAID] TO JOSEPH: BEHOLD, YOUR FATHER IS ILL. Ergo: The three patriarchs established these three things. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD.
(Deut. 25:17:) REMEMBER WHAT AMALEK (Esau's grandson) DID TO YOU. This verse is related (to Ps. 109:14): MAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED BEFORE THE LORD…. Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (Tanh., Deut. 6:4; PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14): MAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED! simply a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how did he sin against his fathers? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham (The “only” is found in the parallel account of Tanh., Deut. 6:4.) lived a hundred and seventy-five years. (The Tanh. parallel adds here: “Why so? Because he did not foresee Esau’s shame.”) Rabbi Levi said: During the five years that were withheld from Abraham's life, Esau committed two serious transgressions. He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29): THEN ESAU CAME FROM THE FIELD, AND HE WAS EXHAUSTED. Now FIELD can only be a reference to a BETROTHED MAIDEN [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25): IF IN THE FIELD THE MAN FINDS A MAIDEN WHO IS BETROTHED, ] Moreover, EXHAUSTED can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31): WOE TO ME, NOW! FOR MY LIFE IS EXHAUSTED BEFORE THOSE WHO KILL. Rabbi Zakkay [the Elder] said: He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 5): IF THIEVES HAVE COME TO YOU. (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One said: I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15): YOU SHALL GO UNTO YOUR ANCESTORS IN PEACE; YOU SHALL BE BURIED . But now he would see his grandson, when he was robbing with violence, practicing seduction, and shedding blood. At that time he was a good grandfather; it was better for him as a righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4 [3]): FOR STEADFAST LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE. And what sin did he commit against his father? He caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said: Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his eyes to grow dim during his lifetime. A wicked son came from Isaac, as written (in (Gen. 27:1): AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE. [Why? Because he produced Esau the Wicked.] In regard to a wicked disciple, from Ahijah the Shilonite, as stated (in I Kings 14:4): NOW AHIJAH {THE SHILONITE} COULD NOT SEE, BECAUSE HIS EYES WERE DIM FROM OLD AGE. Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) AND LET NOT THE SIN OF HIS MOTHER BE BLOTTED OUT.] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and masters . R. Judah says: When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) {i.e., placenta}, with the result that she would not bear . This is what is written (in Amos 1:11): BECAUSE HE (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND DESTROYED HIS WOMB. (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED ALL PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says: You should not say in reference to when he had left . (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) {i.e., fist} was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob). What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4 [3]:) THE WICKED GO ASTRAY (zoru) FROM THE WOMB. R. Nehemiah says: He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes, since Rav Huna has said: Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23): AND THE LORD SAID TO HER: TWO NATIONS ARE [IN YOUR WOMB. (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here] are two. (Ibid., cont.:) AND TWO PEOPLES. Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ONE PEOPLE SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER. Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. Here are eight. (vs. 24:) AND BEHOLD THERE WERE TWINS IN HER WOMB. Here are ten. (vs. 25:) THE FIRST CAME OUT RUDDY. [Here are eleven.] (vs. 26:) AND AFTERWARD HIS BROTHER CAME OUT. Here are twelve. There are also some who apply a passage to her (from vs. 22): AND SHE SAID: IF SO, WHY AM I HERE (ZH)? By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) Z (=7) + H (=5) twelve. But masters have said: He was the cause of her bier not going forth publicly . You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying: Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-aram. Should Esau the Wicked go before her? Then people would say : (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man {i.e., : cursed be the breasts that have suckled one like this man}. What did they do? They brought out her bier at night. R. Jose bar Hanina said: Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8): THEN REBEKAH'S NURSE, DEBORAH, DIED [AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon-bacuth)]. What is the meaning of Allon-bacuth? Two weepings. (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance of mourning for {his} [her] nurse, the news about his mother came to him. This is related (to Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN […,] AND BLESSED HIM. With what blessing did he bless him? He blessed him with the blessing mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One said: Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grand[father] pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? So should I pay him back with evil? When you mention his name below, I shall blot out his name above. (Ps. 109:15:) LET THEM (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) ALWAYS BE BEFORE THE LORD. Whatever he has done, he has done against me. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): AND MAY HE HAVE THEIR MEMORY CUT OFF FROM THE EARTH. [Ergo] (in Deut. 25:17): REMEMBER WHAT AMALEK (Esau's grandson) DID TO YOU.
{Isaac did not remain in his happiness.} [In the case of Isaac also, how happy he was!] The Holy One saved him from the sword and from {burning} [the fire] {and from the men of Gerar}. He also delivered him from the men of Gerar and informed them [about who he was, so that they came to him]. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:26, 28): THEN ABIMELECH CAME UNTO HIM FROM GERAR […. AND THEY SAID: WE HAVE CLEARLY SEEN THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU.] But he did not remain in his happiness. Rather (according to Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE. So just as < this loss of happiness > happened in the case of Isaac, (according to Gen. 22:2) the burnt offering of the Holy One, how much the more does it happen in the case of the wicked! [It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5 [4]): I SAY TO THE MERRYMAKERS: DO NOT MAKE MERRY.]
[(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY < GOD > GIVE TO YOU.] What is written above of the matter (in Gen. 27:1, 6, 17)? NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >…. THEN REBEKAH SAID UNTO HER SON JACOB…. THEN SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite said in the name of R. Helbo: She brought him in as far as her partition, as far as she had authority to enter. (Gen. R. 65:17.) She said to him: My son, I have accompanied you in this far. From here on your God will accompany you in. He entered as he said to him (to Isaac in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. R. Johanan said: When he said: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, (See above, 6:10; Gen. R. 65:19.) Isaac said: This language is not the language of Esau, but the language of Jacob, as stated (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You know that it is so. When Jacob entered, what did he say (in vs. 19)? PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. But when Esau entered, [what did he say to him (in vs. 31)? LET MY FATHER ARISE. Look at] what he is saying, how he speaks with difficulty: LET MY FATHER ARISE…. Isaac began saying to Jacob (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, < MY SON >…. R.Joshua said: When he said (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER, his body trembled, and he hung back like wax. (Cf. Gen. R. 44:3; 65:19.) What did the Holy One do? He spoke to two of the angels, to Gabriel and Michael, and they assisted him, Michael to his right and Gabriel to his left, with that one in his glory, may his name be blessed, supporting him from his rear. Then he said to him: Jacob, why are you afraid, with your body buckling over upon itself? I am God. My army (Gk.: stratia.) < has come > to help you, and they are supporting you. Still, you are afraid! Thus it is stated (in Is. 41:10): FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU; BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU, I ALSO HELP YOU, AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU. Let not your body sink down, FOR I AM WITH YOU. BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU with Michael. I ALSO HELP YOU with Gabriel. AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. Immediately [Isaac] said to him (in Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. Your power is stronger than his. If Esau captures anyone, see, he is in his hand; but if [that one] flees, he cannot do a thing to him. With you, however, even though someone flees from one end of the world to [the other], (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You say something in the synagogue; and look, it comes to pass of its own accord.
Thus has R. Tanhuma interpreted (Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >. You find that there are twenty generations from Adam to Abraham, and there is no < mention of > old age written about < any of > them except Abraham, as stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD. (For parallel accounts, see above, 5:4.) Isaac arose, < and > it is also written (in Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD. Jacob arose, < and > it is also written (in Gen. 48:10): NOW ISRAEL'S EYES WERE DIM WITH AGE. This text is related (to Ps. 90:16): LET YOUR WORK BE WORTHY FOR YOUR SERVANTS AND YOUR GLORY ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN. Now GLORY can only be old age and gray hair, as stated (in Prov. 20:29): THE BEAUTY OF THE YOUNG IS THEIR STRENGTH; BUT THE GLORY OF THE OLD IS GRAY HAIR. Ergo (in Ps. 90:16): AND YOUR GLORY ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN. < These words mean > that Abraham endowed Isaac with five things. Thus have our masters taught (in 'Eduy. 2:9): A FATHER ENDOWS HIS SON WITH FIVE THINGS: WITH BEAUTY, WITH STRENGTH, WITH WEALTH, WITH WISDOM, AND WITH < LENGTH OF > YEARS. How is it shown about BEAUTY? In that Isaac was as handsome as Joseph. It is written of Joseph (in Gen. 39:6): NOW JOSEPH WAS WELL BUILT. Also, when he went to his brothers, they said (in Gen. 37:19): HERE COMES THIS (hallazeh) DREAMER. It is also said of Isaac (in Gen. 24:65): WHO IS THIS (hallazeh) MAN < WALKING IN THE FIELD TO MEET US >? Thus Isaac was as handsome as Joseph. How is it shown that Isaac was mighty in STRENGTH? Look at how many wells he dug! Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:18-22): THEN ISAAC REDUG < THE WELLS OF WATER >…. AND ISAAC'S SERVANTS DUG…. AND THEY DUG ANOTHER WELL…. THEN HE MOVED FROM THERE AND DUG < ANOTHER WELL >…. Look at the power which he had! Where is it shown about WEALTH? Where it is stated (in Gen. 26:13): AND THE MAN GREW < RICHER AND RICHER >…. It also says (in vs. 14): AND HE POSSESSED FLOCKS < AND HERDS >…. Where is it shown about WISDOM? Where he said to his father (in Gen. 22:7 at the time of his being bound): HERE ARE THE FIRE AND THE WOOD…. [How is it shown] about < LENGTH OF > YEARS? In that he was one hundred and eighty years old < when he died >, while Abraham was < only > one hundred and seventy-five. On account of these five things {through which he had attained merit}, five years more than his father's were added to him. It is therefore stated (in Ps. 90:16): LET YOUR WORK BE WORTHY FOR YOUR SERVANTS…. Anyone who has merit is meritorious in these five things, and anyone who does not have merit is not meritorious and receives five retributions that correspond to them. (See yQid. 1:7 (61a).) And who is this anyone? This is Joab, of whom it is stated (in II Sam. 3:29): MAY IT (Abner's blood) FALL UPON THE HEAD OF JOB AND HIS SON; (Masoretic Text: ALL HIS FATHER’S HOUSE.) [MAY THE HOUSE OF JOAB NEVER LACK ONE WITH A DISCHARGE, A LEPER, A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE, ONE WHO FALLS BY THE SWORD, AND ONE LACKING BREAD]. ONE WITH A DISCHARGE corresponds to STRENGTH. In the case of one who has a discharge, there is no one weaker than he. A LEPER corresponds to BEAUTY. In the case of one who is a leper, even a young < leper >, there is no one more ugly than he. A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE corresponds to WEALTH; for he [is one] {like a poor woman is one} who, if not spinning flax, has nothing of which to eat. ONE LACKING BREAD corresponds to WISDOM, as stated (in Prov. 9:5, where Wisdom says): COME AND EAT OF MY BREAD. And ONE WHO FALLS BY THE SWORD corresponds to < LENGTH OF > YEARS. The one who sins is afflicted by them, but the one who is meritorious receives, as did Isaac. David also gave praise (in Ps. 45:17 [16]): INSTEAD OF YOUR PARENTS THERE WILL BE YOUR CHILDREN.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >. This text is related (to Prov. 17:8): A BRIBE IS A STONE OF GRACE (i.e., A PRECIOUS STONE) IN THE EYES OF THE ONE USING IT; WHEREVER HE TURNS, HE PROSPERS. (Cf. Tanh., Gen. 6:8.) Do not say it this way (i.e., with the word GRACE), but A BRIBE IS A STONE IN THE EYES OF THE ONE USING IT. Come and see what the Holy One's burnt offering (i.e., Isaac at his binding) has said: It is not seemly for him to be weak in the eyes. Should one who would give his life for the name of the Holy One and was bound upon the altar have had his eyes weakened? Nevertheless, the Holy One said: I have written in my Torah (in Exod. 23:8): AND DO NOT TAKE A BRIBE. Why? (Deut. 16:19:) BECAUSE A BRIBE BLINDS THE EYES OF THE WISE. So, when he received a bribe from Esau, I weakened his eyes. Now surely, if Isaac the Righteous had his eyes weakened because he took a bribe, how much the worse is it for < just > anyone who receives a bribe from others! It is therefore stated (in Prov. 7:8): A BRIBE IS A STONE OF GRACE. Therefore (in Gen. 27:1): NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD AND < HIS EYES > WERE TOO WEAK < TO SEE >. The word "deception" was not mentioned here.
(Gen. 27:1, cont.:) AND HE SAID UNTO HIM (Esau): MY SON; AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: HERE I AM. The Holy Spirit also proclaims (in Prov. 26:25): WHEN HIS (Esau's) VOICE IS GRACIOUS, DO NOT TRUST HIM; FOR THERE ARE SEVEN ABOMINATIONS IN HIS HEART. (Cf. Gen. R. 65:11.) < I.e., > seven sanctuaries are going to be destroyed: the Tent of Meeting, Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob, Gibeon, the first Temple, and the second Temple. Ergo: FOR THERE ARE SEVEN ABOMINATIONS IN HIS HEART.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:1): AND HE SAID UNTO HIM (Esau): MY SON; AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: HERE I AM. Solomon proclaimed (in Prov. 26:23): SILVER DROSS LAID OVER EARTHENWARE ARE BURNING LIPS AND AN EVIL HEART. To what was Esau comparable? To a caldron (Gk.: miliarion; Lat.: miliarium.) with an outside of gold inlaid with pearls but an inside of earthenware. [Thus did Esau say to his father: HERE I AM, while in his heart he was saying: When will he die?] Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:41): AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MOURNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB. Ergo (in Prov. 26:23): SILVER DROSS LAID OVER EARTHENWARE…. And so you find that the seed of [Esau], Haman, said in his heart (in Esth. 6:6): NOW HAMAN SAID IN HIS HEART. (Is. 14:13f.:) THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART: < THERE IS NO GOD >. (Is. 14:13:) AND YOU SAID IN YOUR HEART: I WILL ASCEND TO THE HEAVENS…. < I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH >. (Ezek. 38:10:) IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY THAT THOUGHTS SHALL COME UPON YOUR HEART, < AND YOU WILL DEVISE AN EVIL DESIGN >. (Ps. 10:11:) HE HAS SAID IN HIS HEART: GOD HAS FORGOTTEN. (Is. 47:8:) AND NOW {PLEASE} HEAR [THIS], {YOU} ELEGANT WOMAN WHO DWELLS IN SECURITY, WHO SAYS IN HER HEART: [I AM, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE]. Ergo (in Prov. 26:25): FOR THERE ARE SEVEN ABOMINATIONS IN HIS HEART; and Solomon proclaimed (in Prov. 26:23): SILVER DROSS < LAID OVER EARTHENWARE ARE BURNING LIPS AND AN EVIL HEART >.
[(Gen. 49:1:) THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS.] This text is related (to Job 12:20): HE DEPRIVES THE TRUSTWORTHY OF SPEECH AND TAKES AWAY THE REASON OF ELDERS. (Tanh., Gen. 12:8; Gen. R. 96, New Version, on Gen. 49:1 (= pp. 1276—1277 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); also Gen. R. 99 (another version):5 (= pp. 1200—1202 in the Theodor-Albeck edition).) This refers to Isaac and Jacob, in that both of them wanted to reveal a mysterion (The Greek word means “secret thing” or “mystery.”) of the Holy One (i.e., his secret). Isaac called for Esau. He wanted to reveal the end to him, but the Holy One concealed it from him, as stated (in Gen. 27:1): HE CALLED FOR HIS ELDER SON, ESAU; < AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: MY SON; AND HE SAID: HERE AM I >…. (Since both patriarchs used the same verb (CALLED) when death was near, the midrash assumes that the purpose for the calling is the same here as in Gen. 49:1. Isaac, however, got no further in his revelation than MY SON.) Jacob also wanted to reveal the end to his sons, (See above, 12:1; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 49:1.) as stated (in Gen. 49:1): < THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS AND SAID >: GATHER TOGETHER AND LET ME TELL YOU < WHAT SHALL HAPPEN TO YOU IN THE LATTER DAYS >. To what is the matter comparable? To a slave whom the king trusted with everything that he had. (PR 21:13.) When that slave came to die, he called for his sons in order to make them free and tell them where their manumission document (Gk.: diatheke (“testament”).) was. The king stood over him. When he saw him standing < there >, he discarded the thing which he had wanted to reveal to them. He began saying to them: Will you slaves of the king please honor him in the same way that I have honored him all my life? Similarly (according Gen. 49:1), Jacob called for his sons to inform them when the end would be. Immediately the Holy One was revealed over him. He said to him: You called for your sons but did not call for me. < It is so stated > (in Is. 43:22): BUT YOU HAVE NOT CALLED ME, O JACOB. When he saw the Holy One revealed over him, he immediately began saying to them: Will you please honor the Holy One just as my ancestors have honored him. It is so stated (in Gen. 48:15): THE GOD BEFORE WHOM MY ANCESTORS < ABRAHAM AND ISAAC > WALKED…. They said to him (the Shema' of Deut. 6:4): HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE. (Deut. R. 2:6; cf. Sifre to Deut. 6:4 (31).) Immediately (according to Gen. 47:31): ISRAEL BOWED DOWN UPON THE HEAD OF THE BED. He began to say in a whisper: Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom forever and ever. (These words follow the first line of the Shema‘ in the liturgy before “And you shall love….” According to yBer. 5:8 (or 9) (14c) (bar.), the words were used after benedictions instead of Amen in the Temple. See also Pes. 56a, where R. Judah maintains that the words used to be omitted.) The Holy One said to him (in Prov. 35:2): IT IS THE GLORY OF GOD TO CONCEAL A MATTER.
(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.” This verse is related (to Ps.109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord […].” Were the fathers of Esau wicked? (PRK 3:1; cf. 12:4; PR 12:4. In note 16 on PR 12:4, W. G. Braude, Pesikta Rabbati (“Yale Judaica Series”; New Haven; Yale, 1968) p. 221, n. 16, suggests that the verse was understood as referring to Esau, because vs. 17 in the psalm identifies him as one who DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN A BLESSING.) And were they not righteous? His grandfather was Abraham. His father was Isaac. Yet are you saying (in Ps. 109:14), “May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered?” [The verse is] simply [referring to] a sin that he sinned against his fathers. (The Hebrew of Ps. 109:14 can also be understood in this sense.) And how? (Above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 6:3; Gen. R. 63:12.) You find that Isaac got his vitality from Abraham; yet he lived a hundred and eighty years, while Abraham only lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Why so? So he would not see Esau’s shame. Abraham had [Isaac] when he was a hundred years [old]. (Gen. 25:26-27:) “And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. And the lads grew.” Both of them went to the elementary school, and both of them were equal until the age of fifteen. R. Levi said, “To what were they comparable? To a myrtle and a thorny plant. As long as they are small, no one [can] distinguish one from the other. After they have grown up, the one gives off its pleasant smell, but the other brings forth its thorns. Thus, so long as Esau and Jacob were small, no one distinguished between them. After they were grown up (in Gen. 25:26, cont.), ’Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.’” And Esau would go out and rob and extort, and people would maledict him. And during the five years [that were withheld from Abraham's life], Esau committed two serious transgressions: He violated a betrothed maiden, and he took a life. The one is what is written about (in Gen. 25:29), “then Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted.” Now field can only be a reference to a betrothed maiden [of whom it is stated (in Deut. 22:25), “If in the field the man finds [a maiden who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her…].” Moreover, exhausted can only be a reference to a murderer, of whom it is stated (in Jer. 4:31), “woe to me, now; for my life is exhausted before those who kill.” Rabbi Zakkay said, “He also stole, as stated (in Obad. 1:5), ‘If thieves have come to you.’” (The Midrash, of course, is identifying the Edom of Obadiah with Esau.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I had already promised my beloved Abraham (in Gen. 15:15), ‘And you shall go unto your ancestors in peace; [you shall be buried at a good old age].’ But now he would see his grandson go to bad culture and hear what people say about his grandson; [that he was] transgressing sexual prohibitions and shedding blood. He would [then] wonder and say, ‘Are these the stipulations that the Holy One, blessed be He, being fulfilled with me?’ And he would voice a complaint, ‘And this is not “a good old age.”’ What should I do for him?” [So] He gathered him from the world. It is better for the righteous man to be gathered (to his ancestors) in peace, as stated in Ps. 63:4), “For Your steadfast love is better than life.” Behold, he [thus] sinned against his grandfather. He sinned against his father, as he caused his eyes to become dim during his lifetime. Hence they have said, “Whoever produces a wicked son or a wicked disciple causes his [own] eyes to grow dim during his lifetime.” From where [in Scripture] do you learn [this]? A wicked son, from Isaac, as stated (in (Gen. 27:1), “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old [and his eyes were too dim to see].” [In regard to] a wicked disciple, [we learn] from Ahijah, as it is written (in I Kings 14:4), “now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.” Why? Because he produced a wicked disciple in Jeroboam. [(Ps. 109:14:) “And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.”] But how had he sinned against his mother? R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and [our] masters [differ]. R. Judah says, “When he left his mother's belly, he severed her uterus, (Metrin: Gk.: metra; cf. Lat.: matrix.) with the result that she would not bear [any more children]. This is what is written (in Amos 1:11), ‘because he (i.e., Edom, which is Esau) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his pity (rachamiv),’ as it is written, ‘his uterus (rechemo).’” (I.e., the womb from which he had been born. The Masoretic text here reads WOMB in the plural. As such, an idiomatic reading of the text would be rendered: BECAUSE HE PURSUED HIS BROTHER WITH THE SWORD AND REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Moreover, R. Berekhyah says, “You should not say [this] in reference to when he had left [his mother's uterus]. (Gen. R. 63:6.) Rather, as he was leaving his mother's uterus, his zerta' (The Aramaic word means “fist” or “hand,” as the bracketed explanation correctly translates. The reason for this rather unusual word here is to play on the word zoru from Ps. 58:4, which he is about to cite.) [i.e., fist] was stretched out against him (i.e., against his brother Jacob).” What is the reasoning? (Ps. 58:4:) “The wicked go astray (zoru) from the womb.” R. Nehemiah says, “He was the cause of her not producing twelve tribes.” As Rav Huna has said, “Rebekah was worthy of producing twelve tribes, as stated (in Gen. 25:23), ‘And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are [in your womb].” (See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 12:16.) Here are two. (Ibid., cont.:) “and two peoples.” Here are four. (Ibid., cont.:) “And one people shall be stronger than the other.” Here are six. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the elder shall serve the younger.”’ Here are eight. (Vs. 24:) ‘And behold there were twins in her womb.’ Here are ten. (Vs. 25:) ‘The first came out ruddy.’ That is eleven. (Vs. 26:) ‘And afterward his brother came out.’ Here are twelve.” And there are some who bring this [idea] from here (vs. 22); “and she said, ‘If so, why am I here (zh)?’” By gematria (Gk.: geometria.) z (=7) + h (=5) [for a total of] twelve. But [our] masters have said, “He caused her bier to not go forth publicly [to her funeral]. You find that when Rebekah died, they were saying, ‘Who will go before her? Abraham is dead. Isaac's eyes are dim, and he is sitting at home. Jacob has gone to Paddan-Aram. Should Esau the wicked go before her? Then people would say [in Aramaic], (Much of this paragraph is in Aramaic.) “Cursed be her breasts for suckling this man.”’ What did they do? They brought out her bier at night, so that Esau not go out in front of her, and all say, ‘Cursed are the breasts suckled this evil man.’” R. Jose bar R. Hanina said, “Because they brought out her bier at night, the text only explained about her obliquely. Thus it is written (in Gen. 35:8), ‘Then Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died [and she was buried under the oak below Bethel] and its name was called Weeping Oak (Allon-Bacuth)],’ as they wept two weepings (bekhiot).” (Bacuth, of course, means “weeping,” and allon can be understood as a Greek adjective in the neuter that means “other” or “another.” Thus the name can be read as “another weeping” and imply a second weeping. So PRK 3:1; Gen. R. 81:5; cf. Eccl. R. 7:2:3.) While Jacob was seated in observance [of mourning] for her nurse, the news about his mother came to him, as stated (to Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob again […,] and blessed him.” With what blessing did He bless him? He blessed him with the blessing of [consolation given to] mourners. (The blessing informed Jacob that his mother was dead.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Did his father pay him (i.e. Esau) back with evil? Did his mother pay him back with evil? Did his brother pay him back with evil? Did his grandfather pay him back with evil? Did you pay him back with evil? I shall pay him back with evil, as his children destroyed My house. You and I shall rise against him, as stated (Obad. 1:1), “Rise, and we shall rise up against her for war.” Israel said to him, “Master of the world, we cannot [overcome] him.” [So] the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, “You mention his name below, and I shall blot out his name above, as stated (Ps. 109:15) ‘Let them (the iniquity against his fathers and the sin against his mother) always be before (neged) the Lord.’ Whatever he has done, he has done against (neged) Me.” [Therefore] (ibid., cont.), “and may He have their memory cut off from the earth.” Ergo (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek (Esau's grandson) did to you.”
And God almighty give you mercy before the man (Gen. 43:14). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: For this let everyone that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found (Ps. 32:6). R. Abba maintained: In a time when Thou mayest be found refers to old age. It is essential that a man pray for an old age in which his eyes may see, his mouth may eat, and his feet may walk. Normally, when a man becomes old, his faculties leave him. For example, it is written about Isaac: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see (Gen. 27:1). And concerning Jacob, Scripture states: Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see (Gen. 48:10). As to a mouth that could not eat, we find that Barzillai said to David: Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear anymore the voice of singing men and singing women? Therefore, then, should thy servant be a burden unto my lord the king? (II Sam. 19:35).
(Lev. 9:1) “And it came to pass on the eighth day….” This text is related (to Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry….’” What is the meaning of [the words], “I say to the merrymakers (rt.: hll), ‘do not make merry (rt.: hll)?’” (This root can also mean “act with abandon” and is to be taken in that sense here. For another interpretation of the word, see Lev. R. 20:2.) [The verse refers] to whoever sings in a mahanaim dance (mahol), (As in Cant. 7:1 [6:13]. In comparing these two words, the midrash assumes that both words come from the root HLL and ignores the fact that in the first case the H is a he while in the second case the H is a het.) and so it says (in Jud. 21:21), “to dance (lehol) in the dances.” [Because no happiness endures for a mortal] (Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry (rt.: hll).’” Why? The one who is happy today shall not be happy tomorrow; and the one who is depressed today shall not be depressed tomorrow. And so it says (in Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad (rt.: hll)….’” (Cf. PRK 26:2–3.) Are you willing to understand? As behold, even the happiness of the Holy One, blessed be He, did not endure. When? When the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world. He was very happy, as stated (in Ps. 104:31), “the Lord shall be happy in His works.” It also says (in Gen. 1:31), “Then God saw everything which He had made; and behold, it was very good.” [These verses are] to teach you that the Holy One, blessed be He, found pleasure in and took pride in His works. Then He gave the first Adam an easy commandment, but he did not fulfill it. Immediately He rendered him a verdict (Gk.: apophasis.) [of death], as stated (in Gen. 3:19), “for dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.” So He, as it were, did not remain in His happiness but said, “I created everything only for the human, and now he dies. What pleasure is there for Me? [Now surely if the Holy One, blessed be He,] did not remain [happy], how much the less shall people [remain happy! It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘do not make merry.’”] How happy Abraham was! He was blessed in the world, magnified, slew some kings and handed over heaven and earth to the Holy One, blessed be He. Also when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him a son at age one hundred, he circumcised him and reared him. Then finally he was told (in Gen. 22:2), “Please take your son, your only son…, [and go unto the land of Moriah,] and offer him there as a burnt offering.” So he made a three-day journey, as stated (in Gen. 22:4), “On the third day….” When he returned from Mount Moriah, he buried Sarah. He did not find a place to bury her until he bought one for four hundred silver shekels. Then after that, old age came upon him. Now surely if such was the case with Abraham the righteous, how much the more is it the case with the wicked! Isaac did not remain in his happiness: He escaped from the sword and from the men of Gerar. And [God] informed them about who he was, so that they came to him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:26, 28), “Then Abimelech came unto him from Gerar […. And they said, ‘We have clearly seen that the Lord is with you.’]” But he did not remain in his happiness. Rather (according to Gen. 27:1), “Now it came to pass, that when Isaac was old and his eyes were too weak to see.” So just as [this loss of happiness] happened in the case of Isaac the burnt offering of the Holy One, blessed be He, (according to Gen. 22:2), how much the more does it happen in the case of the wicked! Jacob was the first-born of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Exod. 4:22), “Israel is My first-born son.” How happy he was! He saw a ladder, and (according to Gen. 28:12-13) “the angels of god were ascending and descending [….] And behold, the Lord stood upon it and said, I am the Lord….” Then he went to Laban, fled from Esau, became Laban's servant for twenty years and in the end became wealthy, sired children and returned in peace. He also met Esau and was saved from him, and paid his vow. But in the end he did not remain in his happiness. Instead (according to Gen. 34:1), “Now Dinah [the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob] went out…,” and was raped]. There also came upon him the trouble over Joseph. Now surely if Jacob the righteous – one to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, had said, “In whom I will be glorified,” as stated (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified” – did not remain in his happiness, how much the less will the wicked [so remain! It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’”] How happy Joshua was! He slew thirty-one kings, gave Israel the land to possess, and distributed it. In addition all Israel gave him a [helping] hand and said (in Josh. 1:18), “Anyone who disobeys your command… [shall be put to death.” Such an honor was] something of which [even] Moses our master did not merit. Still he (i.e., Joshua) did not remain in his happiness, but rather died childless. It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’” How happy Eli was, when he was king, chief justice, and high priest! It is so stated (in I Sam. 1:9), “now Eli [the priest] was sitting on the throne by the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord.” “Now Eli the priest was sitting on the throne,” because he was king. [He was] “by the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord,” because he was chief justice. Still he did not remain in his happiness. Instead (according to I Sam. 4:18), “And it came to pass that when he (i.e., a messenger) mentioned the ark of God, he (i.e., Eli) fell backward from off the throne….” Moreover, his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas died. So just as this [shift in fortune] happened with Eli the righteous, how much the more [does it happen with] the wicked! You find neither man nor woman who saw joys like Elisheba bat Amminadab, [the wife of Aaron, as stated (in Exod. 6:23), “And Aaron took for a wife Elisheba bat Amminadab”]. (PRK 26:2; Zev. 102a; Tanh. (Buber), Lev. 6:2.) She saw her husband become high priest serving in the high priesthood and [as a] prophet. In addition, Moses, her husband's brother, was king and prophet. Moreover, her sons were deputies [to the high priest] in the priesthood, and her brother Nahshon was head of all of the princes of Israel. (According to Numb. 10:13, Nahshon was in command of the troops of Judah, and the troops of Judah headed those of the other tribes. See also Numb. 2:3; I Chron. 2:10.) Still she did not remain in her happiness. Rather, when two of her sons went in to offer a sacrifice, (according to Lev. 10:2,) “Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed them, so that they died before the Lord.” It is therefore stated (in Ps. 75:5), “I say to the merrymakers, ‘Do not make merry.’” And so Solomon said (in Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad.’” There is a story about one of the great Babylonian [scholars], who married off his son, (PRK 26:2; Lev. R. 20:2.) and made a great banquet for the sages. He said to his son, “Go up and bring us a jar of such and such a wine from the attic.” He went up to the attic. [There] a snake [from] among the jars bit him, and he died. His father remained with those who were reclining [at his table]. So he delayed and did not come. [Finally,] his father said, “Let me go up and see what my son is doing.” His father went up [and] found him cast down dead among the jars. What did that saint do? He waited by himself until the guests had eaten and drunk sufficiently. When they had finished, he said, “You came to say a bridegrooms' blessing over my son. [But instead] say a mourners' blessing over him. You came to bring my son to the wedding canopy. [Instead] bring him to [his] grave.” They said about R. Zakkay of Kabul and they opened about him (in the words of Eccl. 2:2), “Of laughter I said, ‘It is mad; and what does joy do?’”
And it came to pass that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a blind man is permitted to stand before the ark to lead the congregation in prayer. Thus did our master teach us: A blind man may recite the prayers preceding the Shema (“Hear, O Israel,” etc.), and he may also recite the Targum (Aramaic translation) of the Torah, but he may not lead the congregation in the prayers that follow the Shema, nor may he read from the Torah, nor lift his hands in the priestly benediction. (For certain prayers the leader must be able to see the minyan. In addition, the law requires that the reader look into the Torah scroll as he reads it..) R. Judah, however, contended that a man who was born blind was prohibited from reciting the prayers preceding the Shema as well, for he would be acting as a false witness if he did so. He would be compelled to say: “Blessed be He who created the luminaries,” when, in fact, he had never seen them.
You find that everyone who becomes blind is considered as though dead. How do we know this? R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: The Holy One, blessed be He, never associates His name with righteous men during their lifetimes. He waits until they have died, as it is said: As for the holy that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight (Ps. 16:3). When are men regarded as truly holy? Only after they have been buried in the earth. During their lifetimes, however, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not associate His name with theirs. And why not? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, is not certain whether or not the evil inclination within them will ultimately lead them astray. When they are dead, however, He does couple His name with theirs. Nevertheless, we find that the Holy One, blessed be he, did couple his name with that of the righteous Isaac during his lifetime, when he said to Jacob: I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac (Gen. 28:43). R. Berechiah and the rabbis discussed this matter. The rabbis maintained that He considered Isaac’s ashes as though they were heaped upon the altar, (Even though the sacrifice of Isaac was not completed, the Akedah was proof that Isaac would never succumb to the evil inclination.) while R. Berechiah insisted that he was considered as dead because he had already lost his sight. Because of his blindness he remained secluded within his home, and the result was that the evil inclination departed from him. Hence it is written: And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1).
And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere: A gift (bribe) is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it; whithersoever he turneth, he prospereth (Prov. 17:8). What may the gift (mentioned in this verse) be compared to? To a precious stone which shatters whenever it falls. (The gift becomes a bribe and ultimately brings harm to the recipient.) This verse aptly refers to Isaac, for it is said: Now Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison (lit. the game was in his mouth) (Gen. 25:28). What is the meaning of the game was in his mouth? It means that Esau ensnared (A play on words: tzayid (venison) and tzud (trap)) the righteous Isaac with the words he spoke. You find that Esau committed every sin which the Holy One, blessed be He, detests; There are six things which the Lord hateth, yea, seven which are an abomination unto Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that deviseth wicked thoughts, feet that are swift in running to evil; a false witness that breatheth out lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren (Prov. 6:16–19). Whenever Esau entered the house, he would ask his father: “My father, is one obliged to tithe for salt?” Isaac would exclaim in amazement: “Observe, how scrupulous this son of mine is concerning the commandments!” And when his father would ask him: “Where were you today, my son?” “At the house of study,” the youth would reply and he would add: “Is this not the law under certain circumstances; are not these things prohibited and these permitted?” By such remarks, he entraped his father with his mouth. That is why he loved him. Thereupon, the Holy Spirit exclaimed: When he speaketh fair believe him not; for there are seven abominations in his heart (ibid. 26:25). Why did Isaac’s eyes become weak? They became weak because he beheld the countenance of the wicked Esau; also because he ate the venison he brought him, as it is said: For the gift blinded them that hath sight (Exod. 23:8).
And his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Be’eri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebecca (Gen. 26:34–35), and this is followed by the verse And his eyes were dim. Hence, they must have become dim because of his unhappiness.
He called Esau his greater son (Gen. 27:1). Why did he call him his greater son? To teach us that one must flatter wicked men when they are in power. Isaac foresaw that Esau’s descendants would dominate the world, and therefore he called him his greater son. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Inasmuch as Esau is now in control you must flatter him, for My kingdom is not yet firmly established, but in the future, when My kingdom is firmly established, I will call him to account, as is said: And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau at that time, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s (Obad. 21).
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make princes in all the land (Ps. 45:17). R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean maintained: The descendants born to every Israelite in the future will be as numerous as those who departed from Egypt, as it is said: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons. This verse refers to our patriarchs Isaac and Abraham. Abraham was blessed, as it is said: And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything (Gen. 24:1), and Isaac was likewise blessed, as is written: And the Lord blessed him (ibid. 26:12). Abraham begot both a righteous and a wicked son, Isaac and Ishmael; and Isaac begot both a righteous and a wicked son, Jacob and Esau. Abraham’s wife was barren (at first), and Isaac’s wife was also barren (at first).
And Jacob called unto his sons (Gen. 49:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: He removeth the speech of men of trust, and taketh away the sense of the elders (Job 12:20). This verse refers to Isaac and Jacob, for both of them desired to disclose the secrets of the Holy One, blessed be He. Concerning Isaac it is written: And he called Esau, his eldest son (Gen. 27:1), to reveal to him what was to transpire in the Messianic age. That was the reason the Holy One, blessed be He, withdrew the knowledge of it from him. Jacob likewise wanted to reveal to his sons what would occur in the Messianic age, as it is said: He called unto his sons and said: “Gather yourselves together that I may tell you” (ibid. 49:1).
Nabal also said about Esau, the wicked one who speaks one thing with his mouth and another in his heart, that in his heart he said (Genesis 27:41), "Behold, now I am old, I know not the day of my death." But with his mouth, he said (Genesis 27:1), "Behold, I am here." The Lord said to him, "You are a wicked man, you flatter your father with your words," as it is said (Genesis 27:34), "Bless me, even me also, O my father." This is what the scripture means when it says (Proverbs 26:25), "When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart." Everything that I hate, he loves, as it is said (Proverbs 6:16-19), "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him." Another thing that Nabal said in his heart was that the Lord said to the wicked, "You think in your heart, so I will not punish you, but the sword shall enter into your heart," as it is said (Psalm 37:15), "Their sword shall enter into their own heart."
Rabbi Simeon said: In the hour when Isaac was bound, he lifted up his eyes heavenwards and saw the glory of the Shekhinah, as it is written, "For man shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20). Instead of death his eyes grew dim in his old age, as it is said, "And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, that his eyes were dim, so that he could not see" (Gen. 27:1). Hence thou mayest learn that the blind man is as though he were dead.
The night-fall of the festival day of Passover came, and Isaac called unto Esau his elder son, and said: O my son ! To-night the heavenly ones utter songs, on this night the treasuries of dew are opened; on this day the blessing of the dews (is bestowed). Make me savoury meat whilst I am still alive, and I will bless thee. || The Holy Spirit rejoined, saying to him: "Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties" (Prov. 23:6). He went to fetch it, and was delayed there. Rebecca said to Jacob his (other) son: On this night the treasuries of dew will be opened, and on this night the angels utter a song. Make savoury meat for thy father, that he may eat and whilst he still lives he may bless thee.
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
Another matter, “these are [ve’eleh] the ordinances.” “It was on the third day when it was morning” (Exodus 19:16), in the morning the Torah was given, and in the evening the ordinances were given. (The vav at the beginning of ve’eleh links the ordinances in the upcoming passage to the previous portion, in which the Torah was given. The midrash understands this to mean that they were given on the same day. ) That is what is written: “From morning to evening they are broken; [forever unaware, they perish]” (Job 4:20). (The wicked are punished due to their having ignored the Torah, which was given in the morning, and the ordinances, which were given in the evening. ) This is analogous to two men who went to court, (This translation is based on Etz Yosef; see also Matnot Kehuna. ) one was a professional [lawyer] and one was a layman. What caused the layman to be punished? It is that he had no one to teach him. So too, the Holy One blessed be He was standing on Mount Sinai and was holding back judgment, as it is stated: “My hand grasps judgment” (Deuteronomy 32:41). David said: “Judge me, Lord, in accordance with my righteousness” (Psalms 7:9). He checked, but he did not find anyone to teach him, (He believed that he was righteous because there was no one to teach him the parameters of the divine attribute of justice.) and he was punished. He began shouting: “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant” (Psalms 143:2). When was all this? It was before he organized the ordinances for himself, to realize what is stated: “From morning to evening they are broken; [forever unaware [mesim], they perish]” (Job 4:20). (The term mesim is taken as an allusion to the ordinances, of which it is stated: “These are the ordinances that you shall place [tasim] before them.” Thus, the punishment is due to an insufficient knowledge of the ordinances, and of the extent to which an individual is held accountable in the Divine process of judgment. ) Another matter, “these are the ordinances.” What is: “Forever unaware, they perish”? (Job 4:20). Job said to the Holy One blessed be He: “If only I could know and find Him…I would organize my case before Him” (Job 23:3–4). This is analogous to a ruffian who was intoxicated. He kicked the prison [door] and freed the prisoners. He stoned the statue of the governor of the city, cursed a policeman, and said: ‘Show me the place where the governor of the city is located and I will teach him justice.’ He entered; they showed him the mayor of the city sitting on the podium. [The governor] incarcerated a noblewoman and expelled a city official, blinded a duke, sentenced a judge, and placed a magistrate in stocks. When [the ruffian] saw the governor of the city doing so, he was afraid. He said: ‘I implore you, I was intoxicated and was unaware of the power of the governor of the city.’ So too, Job was standing and screaming: “If only I could know and find Him…I would organize my case before Him.” He stoned the image, as he said: “Perish the day I was born” (Job 3:3). (Man is created in the image of God. By cursing the day of his birth, it was as though Job stoned the image of God. ) He kicked the prison and freed prisoners: “Let the stars of its twilight be dark” (Job 3:9). (The stars are like prisoners imprisoned in darkness.) He cursed the officer: “May that night be taken by blackness” (Job 3:6). (Night is viewed as an officer in charge of darkness (see Bereishit Rabba 3:6; Maharzu). ) He saw the king sitting on the podium. [The King] incarcerated the noblewoman: “Behold, Miriam is leprous as snow” (Numbers 12:10). He expelled Moses: “Therefore, you will not bring this congregation [into the land which I have given them]” (Numbers 20:12). He blinded the duke, this is Isaac, as it is stated: “His eyes were dimmed from seeing” (Genesis 27:1). He sentenced Abraham, as it is stated: “Know that your descendants will be strangers” (Genesis 15:13). He placed Jacob in stocks: “He was limping on his thigh” (Genesis 32:32). When Job saw, he said: ‘I implore You, I was intoxicated,’ as it is stated: “Indeed I erred, my error rests with me’ (Job 19:4). Why to that extent? It is because they did not know the power of judgment. (They did not understand how exacting Divine judgment is. ) That is, “forever unaware, they perish.”
Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Yudan said: “Little foxes,” these are Esau and his noblemen, just as it says: “Behold, I made you small among the nations” (Obadiah 1:2). (This prophecy is said regarding Edom, the descendants of Esau. The Sages identified Edom with Rome.) Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: This is analogous to a province that would produce great swordsmen for the king. There was a certain woman there who gave birth to a puny son, and she would call her son: Tall and Quick. She said to them: ‘My son is tall and quick and you do not make him a great swordsman?’ They said to her: ‘If, in your eyes, he is tall and quick, in our eyes he is puniest of the puny.’ So too, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This wicked Esau, his father called him great [gadol],’ as it is stated: “He called Esau, his elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:1). His mother called him great, as it is stated: “The garments of Esau, her elder [hagadol] son (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘If, in your eyes, he is great, in My eyes, he is small,’ as it is stated: “Behold, I made you small among the nations” (Obadiah 1:2). And if he is great, the slaughterer corresponds to the bull. That is what is written: “There is a sacrifice for the Lord in Botzra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom” (Isaiah 34:6). “That ruin the vineyards,” this is Israel, as it is written: “For the house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 5:7). “As our vineyards are in bloom,” just as it says: “There is no cluster to eat, or a first fruit that my soul desires” (Micah 7:1). (The Romans are able to persecute Israel, compared to a vineyard, because the fruits of the vineyard are just beginning to bloom, but there are none that are fully formed yet. This represents the fact that the Jews were not sufficiently righteous.) Rabbi Berekhya said: “Little foxes,” these are the four kingdoms, as it is stated: “There are four upon earth that are little” (Proverbs 30:24). “That ruin the vineyards,” this is Israel, as it is written: “For the house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 5:7). “As our vineyards are in bloom,” who caused our vineyards to be in bloom? (The midrash should read: What caused our vineyard to be damaged? The fact that they are [merely] in bloom (Rabbi David Luria).) “I sought from among them a man who builds a fence [and stands in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it,] but I did not find” (Ezekiel 22:30); were it not for Noah, Daniel, and Job. (This phrase should be interpreted as though it continued: Were it not for Noah, Daniel, and Job, no one would have been left. There was no one righteous enough to save the generation from destruction, but these individuals and people like them were righteous enough to at least save themselves (Maharzu; see Ezekiel 14:13-14).)
The fourth section: One who attaches himself to an evildoer. It is not enough for him that he does not reprimand him with the rod of his mouth and surely distance him; but he rather brings him close like a friend. And it is stated (II Chronicles 20:37), “As you have made a partnership, etc., the Lord will break up your work.” Whereas the righteous are surely disgusted by the evildoer, as it is stated (Psalms 15:4), “A contemptible man is disgusting in his eyes.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Kamma 92b), “Not for naught did the starling go to the raven, but because it is its kind. And it stated, ‘All fowl will live with its kind, and men with those like him’ (Book of Ben Sira 13:17).” And they said (Megillah 28a), “It is prohibited for a person to gaze at the likeness of a wicked man, as it is stated (II Kings 3:14), ‘Were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judea, I would not look toward you, nor see you.’” And they [continued], “[Any one who gazes at the likeness of an evil man,] his eyes become dim [at the time of his old age], as it is stated (Genesis 27:1), ‘And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see’ - because he gazed at the wicked Esau.” And we have already discussed very well that there are many ways of death found by one who attaches himself to an evildoer.
There are numerous references to this in our Midrashic literature. Shemot Rabbah 30,11, quoting Job 23,3-4, "would that I could find Him, reach His dwelling place, I would set out my case, משפט, before Him, fill my mouth with arguments," explains this in the following parable. A drunken prison guard rebelled, opened the gates to let the prisoners escape, cursed the picture of the ruler, and demanded to see the king, threatening that he would tell the king to his face what he thought true justice should be. He even went as far as stoning the king's image. He was shown the ruler sitting on a platform, dispensing punishment to a lady of aristocratic bearing, he observed the king handing down a verdict against his provincial governor, etc. At that point the palace guard became frightened and apologised, explaining that his drunken stupor had been the reason for his outrageous conduct, which included not recognising his king when he saw him. Similarly Job 23,4. When Job cursed the day he was born (Job 3,3/4) he in fact cursed the angel in charge of who will be born when and under what mazzal. This angel is called לילה. Later on Job reflected how G–d had punished Miriam for speaking out against Moses (Numbers 12,10); he further observed how G–d had punished Moses not allowing him to enter the Holy Land because he had struck the rock instead of merely speaking to it (Numbers 20,12). He also noted that G–d had blinded Isaac (for having loved the wicked Esau), see Genesis 27,1. He realised moreover that G–d had punished Abraham for having asked: "how do I know that I will inherit?" (Genesis 15,8) G–d had responded by telling Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for four hundred years before being liberated (Genesis 15,13). G–d had also קרב קיסין, struck at Jacob with a piece of wood, causing the latter to limp as a result of the nocturnal encounter with the שרו של עשו, the guardian angel of Esau, to use the words of the Midrash. When Job had reflected on all this, he begged G–d's forgiveness for having spoken out rebelliously, and he excused himself by having been drunk. This is why it says in Job 19,4: “ואף אמנם שגיתי, אתי תלין משוגתי,” If indeed I have erred, my error stays with me overnight." All of this, because he did not realise the power of דין. So far the Midrash.
And know about these forefathers: Avraham's beginning was with pain, as he was pursued by Nimrod. But afterwards all of his days were with goodness and blessing. It was only in the days of his youth that he was in pain - before God, may He be blessed, acquired Avraham. But from the time that God, may He be blessed, acquired Avraham, he had goodness all of his days. And that is why at the beginning - before God, may He be blessed, acquired them as a people, when they were in Egypt - Israel was in pain; but when God, may He be blessed, acquired them as a people, Israel had blessing all the time of their beginning. And Yitzchak's beginning was with goodness and blessing; but at the end, his eyes dimmed from seeing. And in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 65:9): "Yitzchak originated afflictions, as it is stated (Genesis 27:1), 'And when Yitzchak grew old, and his eyes were dimmed, etc.'" And this shows about Israel that at first they would be with goodliness; but at the end, their eyes would dim as a result of the exile and the subjugation under the nations. And Yaakov also had a unique trait, as most of his days were with pain. And that is that which it states (Genesis 43:14), "And God, the Omnipotent (Sha-ddai)" - the One who said, "Enough" (sheamar, dai) to His world - should say, "Enough," to my distress (Rashi on Genesis 43:14); and as he said to Pharaoh, "the days of my years have been few and bad" (Genesis 47:9). However at the end of his days, when he came to Yosef, he was already restored from all of his distress. And this too is the reality of the end of Israel. For the exile will be very long; but at the end of days, the exile will recede and they will have goodness.
The Mystical Meaning of the Four Cups of Wine The sages decreed that we should drink four cups of wine and that they should be consumed as a sacred act and not as an ordinary act of consumption. The Midrash teaches that the four cups are for the four expressions for redemption: "I will take you out of the burdens of Egypt...." There are many interpretations for these expressions. One interpretation is related to the prophecies that God gave to Abraham: “Your offspring shall be strangers;” “they shall be subjugated;” “they shall be afflicted for four hundred years” (Gen. 15:13) Each of these prophecies are more severe than the previous one.Your offspring shall be strangers: meaning that his descendents shall live as strangers in a foreign land. They will have no autonomy and will be live under the domination of others just as a strange is must live under the domination of his or her host. But they will not be subjugated to by their host. (One of the characteristics of exile is powerlessness. While we may not be subjugated to our hosts we also do not have the power and autonomy to choose our own destiny.) They shall be subjugated: Then they will become enslaved to their masters in Egypt but this will not be worse than the fate of any other slaves who must serve a masters. They shall be oppressed: This is the worst stage of all: they will be oppressed by their masters. It is not the way of masters to oppress their slaves. They are simply subjugated to them. Therefore, “oppressed” is the worst status of all. When God redeemed Israel, He fulfilled the promises that He made to Abraham in the order opposite the original promises. (Exodus 6: 6-7. Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the LORD. 1. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians (oppression) In Genesis (They shall be oppressed) 2. I will deliver you from their bondage. (slavery) In Genesis, They shall be subjugated 3. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm (status as outsiders) - In Genesis, Your offspring shall be strangers 4. I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. (Redemption by establishing a relation with God)) First God promised, “I will take you out from the burdens of Egypt” that is, first God will free them from oppression. Afterwards, God said, “I will save you from slavery” meaning, then God will remove their status as slaves. Finally God promises, “I will redeem you” that is, he will remove them from living under the domination of another people, in a strange land. Regarding this act, God promised, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” Once God has redeemed them from a foreign nation, they were still lacking a connection to the Holy One. Regarding this, God promises, “I will take you to be My people.” This is how we explain the four promises of redemption. In addition to explaining the redemption through the Passover symbols of pesach, matzah and maror, the sages added the four cups which represent a higher level of redemption than the Passover foods. There is a separation between eating and drinking. Eating is a more physical act. Drinking is more refined and anything that is more refined is more distant from the material. (Pesach, matzah and maror represent Israel’s liberation from physical slavery while the four cups of wine represent the inner spiritual process of redemption. The food is physical while the wine represents the spiritual.) This is especially true in the case of wine which is separate from the materiality and the coarseness of the grapes. Therefore drinking the four cups represent a higher level of redemption. When leaving Egypt, the Israelites were compared to an infant that enters the world. The four cups of wine symbolize the completion of this process of redemption. The infant that has already been born and have entered the physical world but its form is not quite complete and fitting yet. (This notion of the infant still being in formation would explain why, in Jewish law, one does not sit shiva for an infant that dies with the first thirty days of life. The Conservative movement has suggested today when still born infants are less common that parents should sit shiva during the first month, or if an infant is born still born.) This is a higher level of redemption because it must complete its formation. Yet if the wine represents the higher form of redemption, why doesn’t the Torah also contain a commandment to drink four cups of wine? This is not surprising. Physical liberation, represented by the food, was represents the outer aspect of the Exodus while wine was the spiritual redemption, through which the people of Israel connected to the Holy One. The four expressions: “I took you out,” “I saved you,” “I redeemed you,” and “I took you to be my people” represent the redemption as it went forth from God as a kind of divine order. They are represented by wine because the wine is hidden in the grapes, as the sages taught: yayin (wine) and sod (mystery) both have the gemartria, the numerical value, of seventy. “Where the wine goes in, mystery goes forth.” (Eruvin 65a) (The expression is frequently quoted in rabbinic medieval literature. It is close to the Latin, “in vino veritas,” but a lot more fun since the words yayin and sod have the same numerical value!) This is not just a play on words and numerical values. Rather, this is a truth about the essence of wine. The wine is the hidden essence which is found in the grapes. It represents the hidden mysteries of the universe since it is hidden in the wine "When a person drinks wine the mystery goes forth." The redemption comes from a higher world. It is a world of unity and simplicity. The world we live in is a world of plurality. That which comes from the upper world into this world is divided into a plurality of four parts which are the four expressions of redemption. These four are the four sides of existence which are connected to the four types of redemption. (The four “sides” of existence may represent the four elements of the created world: fire, air, water and earth. It may also be four dimensions of reality Maharal connects the four aspects of redemption with the four elements of creation…) This mystery is found in the story of the Garden of Eden. The Torah states, “A river issued from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches…” (Gen. 2:10) From this passage we learn that all things that go forth from the exalted world (The Hebrew expression here is olam hanivdal, literally the separated world. It is the expression that Maharal uses for the spiritual world above. The upper world is unified when something enters the physical world, it becomes multiplied into many. The upper world is one while the lower world (this world) is complex and many parts)) just as the river flows from Eden to water the garden. When it enters the natural universe it becomes a plurality, which we refer to as the world of plurality. There is also a fifth cup of wine which is not obligatory. (The Talmud discusses whether there should be a fifth cup of wine at the seder.) Later the matter of the fifth cup will be explained, what its source is, and how it is still a commandment even though it is not obligatory to drink it. All of these cups are part of the process of redemption, and he exalted level that they are associated with. Eating matzah is not on the same spiritual level as the drinking of the four cups of wine. Whatever is on the highest spiritual level includes that which is below it, therefore, the cups of wine are associated with the meal: two before the meal and two after the meal. In this way the wine includes the Passover meal. Because the third cup of wine is associated with, “I shall redeem you with and outstretched arm,” and the fourth cup is, “I will take you to be My people,” the law is that one cannot drink in between the third and fourth cups of wine. These two steps are connected with one another: God redeemed Israel so that God could make them His nation and they could make God their God. This explains why we find that wherever the Exodus is mentioned in Scripture, Scripture continues with, “I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt.” This explicitly suggests that the purpose of the Exodus was to create a relationship between God and Israel. That is why the Exodus is the foundation of faith. Similarly, the beginning of the Ten Commandments is, “I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt…” There should be no separation between the redemption and the covenant with God to one who understands the mysteries of Torah…. There is another homiletical explanation that connects the four cups of wine with pesach, matzah and maror. These three symbols represent the fact that we were taken out of Egypt because of the merit of the ancestors. It was because of them that Israel was redeemed. The Passover offering represents Jacob. He is the chosen one of the forefathers. We are to bring a ‘pure sheep;’ Jacob is also called, “Israel is a scattered sheep.” (Jer. 50:17)… Thus we learn that Jacob is a sheep and like the offering we must strive to be a pure sheep. Isaac is compared to maror, the bitter herbs. He was bitter when he lost his eye sight. In the Midrash, it is stated that Isaac was the forefather who introduced suffering. He said to God, “Master of the Universe – is it proper that a person should die without having experienced suffering? As a result, if a person faces no suffering then he will ultimately face the attribute of judgement. By experiencing suffering now, he will not face judgment in the world to come. God answered Isaac, “By your life you have made a good claim! From your time on I shall begin doing this.” (The concept here is that by suffering in this life, we are exempted from some of the punishment – din – in the world to come.) While Isaac was still standing before God, God caused him to experience suffering, as it is stated, “When Isaac grew old, his eyes grew dim.” (Gen. 27:1) Abraham is compared to matzah. Abraham was set apart from the leaven that is found among the other nations just as unleavened bread is separated from the leaven. (In the Talmud “leaven” is a code word for the evil impulse.) Thus, the sages suggest in many Midrashim that pesach, matzah, and maror represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The four cups of wine which are combined with these symbols represent the four matriarchs. As we have already said, the drinking of the wine is secondary to the eating. Since the pesach, matzah, and maror represent the merit of the patriarchs, the four cups of wine come to represent the merit of the matriarchs, since they are secondary to the men. (Referring to the women as secondary is troubling to us as moderns but not uncommon in the Maharal’s writings and in Kabbalah in general. He has already said above that the wine is more spiritual than the symbolic foods and that it then represents the spiritual journey from slavery to redemption.) It was through the merit of the matriarchs and the patriarchs together that Israel gained the merit to be redeemed from Egypt, as the sages said regarding the following verse, “The voice of my beloved! Behold he comes leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills.” (Song 2:8) The Holy One said “If I judge Israel on their deeds, they would not be redeemed. But if I look at the merit of their ancestors then they are worthy of redemption, as it said, “Leaping upon the mountains – the word mountains refers to the forefathers, as is stated, “Hear O mountains, the Lords controversy and you strong foundations of the earth.” (Micah 6:2) (Foundations, eitanim, is a code word often used by the sages to refer to the patriarchs. Also, the word mountains, in Hebrew harim, is masculine, so he takes it as another reference to the patriarchs. Gevaot, hills, has a feminine suffix and so it must refer to the matriarchs.) According to this the reference to the hills refers to the matriarchs. These four cups, then, refer to the four mothers, as in the verse, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine.” (Ps. 128:3)
AND HE FEARED NOT. This refers to Amalek. Yare (feared) is a verb in the perfect. (Words in the third person past are usually vocalized kamatz, pattach in the kal. However, yare is vocalized kamatz, tzere. Hence I.E.’s comment.) It is like the word kaved (heavy) in for the thing is too heavy for thee (Ex. 18:8); zaken (old) in that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1), and ahev (loveth) in such as he loveth (Ibid., 8). (All of these words are vocalized kamatz, tzere in the third person perfect.)
THE PLAGUE BE DIM. Many of the wise men say that the word kehah (dim) means dark. (According to this interpretation kehah ha-nega (the plague be dim) means the affliction is black.) They offer proof from vatikhhena (were dim) in and his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). (According to this interpretation the clause should be rendered, and his eyes were dark.) They say that the phrase kehot levanot (dull white) (v. 39) is similar to le-vanah adamdamet (reddish-white) (v. 19) (In other words, kehot levanot (dull white) means black white.) in that it contains both colors. However, I believe that the word kehah (dim) is the reverse of pasah (spread). (It means diminished.) It is related to the word va-tikhhena (were dim) in and his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). The word khihah (stopped) in and he diminished (Translated according to I.E. See Krinsky.) them not (He did not “cut them down to size.”) (I Sam. 3:13) is close to it. The meaning of kahah ha-nega (the plague be dim) is that the plague did not spread to another place. Note, there are two signs, namely, the size of the affliction was diminished and it did not spread to the healthy part of the body.
AND BE GUILTY. Ashem (guilty) is a verb in the perfect. It is like zaken (was old) in when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1).
BECAUSE IT IS TOO HEAVY FOR ME. The word kaved (heavy) is a verb in the perfect. (And also a present. In our case, it is a past.) Compare, zaken (was old) in And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). (The word zaken can be a perfect or a present form. In Gen. 27:1, it is a perfect.) On the other hand, the word hu (it) might be missing from our text. (In other words, our text should be read as if written ki khaved hu mi-menni. In this case, khaved is a present.)
ואת כל ונוכחת, “and you are cleared before everyone.” Neither Avimelech’s gifts to Avraham nor his conciliatory words to Sarah had sufficed to put her at ease. In spite of all this Sarah still argued with Avimelech and was not willing to forgive him for the shame of having been abducted. This was due to Sarah’s extreme modesty. If we understand the verse in this fashion the words ואת כל belong to the following word ונוכחת. Another way of understanding these words is to assume that they belong to the previous words לכל אשר אתך, “for all the people that form part of your entourage.” In that case the word ונוכחת means that “as of now you are vindicated.” The Talmud Baba Kama 93 understands the words כסות עינים, “cover for the eyes,” as a curse Avimelech applied to Sarah’s offspring. The Talmud claims that this curse was fulfilled when Yitzchak became blind in his old age (Genesis 27,1). The Talmud uses this example to teach that one should never discount the curse uttered even by seemingly unimportant people. Another lesson learned from this incident is that Avimelech criticized Sarah with these words saying: “let the fact that you incorrectly described your husband as your brother be a lesson to you. Act more honestly in the future.”
Our sages in Tanchuma Toldot 8 have said that Esau used to ask his father such questions as “does salt have to be tithed?” This would impress Yitzchak favourably and he would wonder how careful Esau was with the performance of all the commandments. When he used to ask Esau: “my son where have you been today?” Esau would reply that he had been in the house of study. He would proceed to tell his father what he had learned on that day. The Holy Spirit, when hearing such lies, would proclaim: “When he speaks graciously, do not believe him; for there are seven abominations in his heart.“ (Proverbs 24,25) Furthermore, the sages in the same Midrash derived from this wording that the reason Esau went hunting and was feeding the venison he hunted to his father was only in order to secure the blessing for himself. This is the mystical dimension of the Torah writing in Deut. 16,19 “for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise.” In connection with Yitzchak, the Torah had written “his eyes had become weak from seeing” (Genesis 27,1). Just as Esau was a man paying bribes, so his descendants were willing to receive bribes. The Torah (25,30) reports Esau as saying to Yaakov הלעיטני נא, “please feed me, etc.” Concerning this David said in Psalms 68,31 מתרפס ברצי כסף , “till they come cringing with pieces of silver.” They (Esau’s descendants) derive their power from their celestial counterpart (the scapegoat mentioned in Leviticus 16 offered to Azzazel) who accepts this offering as a bribe by the Jewish people on the Day of Atonement. (compare commentary on Leviticus 16,7). In a similar manner every single nation derives whatever power sustains it from its celestial representative at the court of the angels. It is the same source from which the original serpent had derived its power and ability to seduce Eve. Once it was able to seduce, it was capable of spilling the blood of its victims. Such seducers became the cause of all those who choose to eat blood. Such forces are diametrically opposed to the Israelites who are circumcised (i.e. had given up their blood for G’d instead of consuming it), and who therefore abstain from eating any kind of blood. When an accuser of the Jewish people wants to seduce us, one of the first laws he wants us to break is that of circumcising our male children. Once this law has been broken the consumption of blood is only a small step. [It appears that the author refers to philosophical attempts at converting Jews to Christianity seeing that the Moslems abide by circumcision. Ed.] Adhering to these two laws (circumcision and the prohibition to eat blood), is therefore cardinal in our effort to stave off conversion and this is why the prophet said of the descendants of Esau (Ezekiel 15,6) אם לא דם שנאת, ודם ירדפך, “surely you have hated blood (the prohibition of it) and blood will pursue you.” The prophet predicted Esau’s (Edom) eventual destruction because as descendants of Avraham they rejected the commandment of circumcision as they hated to lose blood (instead of consuming it) This is also the mystical dimension of Jeremiah 48,10 וארור מונע חרבו מדם,”cursed be he who withholds his sword from blood.” (The prophet speaks of the blood of circumcision).
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
Amalek, of God, so as not to harm you. [Rashi says this] so that you do not explain this as describing Yisroel, that Yisroel had no fear of Hashem, similar to "exhausted and weary" [that applies to Yisroel]. Therefore he explains, "Amalek, etc." They expound this from the punctuation that places a kamatz under the יו"ד, signifying that it is a past-tense verb similar to, "And when Yitzchok grew old (זקן)” (Bereishis 27:1). If it was an adjective [referring to Yisroel], it should have been punctuated with a sheva under the יו"ד.
“His eyes became dim” [27:1]. Isaac’s eyes became dark. Bahya writes about the midrash that Isaac became blind because he took bribes from Esau, as the verse says, “bribes blind the eyes” [Deuteronomy, 16:19]. Bribery makes blind. Another explanation for why he became blind was so that Isaac should not recognize Jacob and should bless him. Another explanation for why he became blind was that the smoke that Esau’s wives made before their idols destroyed his eyes. Isaac was not used to this, but Rebecca was used to this smoke because Laban did it before his idols. Another explanation why he became blind was that he would not walk in the streets, so that people should not curse Isaac, since he had an evildoer [as a son]. From here our sages learned that whoever has a son or a disciple that is an evildoer, the father or the teacher becomes blind. Another explanation is that Isaac was blind because when he was bound on the altar he saw the Shekhinah and that is why he became blind. (Bahya, Genesis, 27:1.)
The Gemara provides another lesson from the story of Abraham and Abimelech. And Rabbi Yitzḥak says: The curse of an ordinary person should never be regarded as light in your eyes, for Abimelech cursed Sarah and it was fulfilled in her descendant. The curse on Sarah is as it is stated: “Behold, it is to you a covering of the eyes” (Genesis 20:16), meaning that he said to her: Since you concealed your status from me and you did not reveal that Abraham is your husband, and you caused me this suffering, may it be God’s will that you should have children with covered eyes. And this curse was fulfilled in her descendant, as it is written: “And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see” (Genesis 27:1).
And Rabbi Elazar further said that Rabbi Ḥanina said: One should not regard the curse of an ordinary person as light in your eyes, for Abimelech cursed Sarah, saying: “Behold, it is to you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you” (Genesis 20:16), and indeed this was fulfilled in her descendant, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see” (Genesis 27:1). Abimelech’s curse of covered eyes was fulfilled through her son Isaac’s blindness.
Rabbi Elazar said: One who gazes at the likeness of an evil man, his eyes become dim, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see” (Genesis 27:1). This happened because he gazed at the wicked Esau.
When they were in Egypt there was a yeshiva with them, as it is stated: “Go and gather the Elders of Israel” (Exodus 3:16), indicating that there were Sages among them who studied Torah. And similarly, when they were in the desert, there was a yeshiva with them, as it is stated: “Gather for me seventy men from the Elders of Israel” (Numbers 11:16). Abraham our Patriarch was himself an Elder and would sit in yeshiva, as it is stated: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1). From the apparent redundancy of the terms old and advanced in years, it is derived that old means that he was a wise Elder and prominent in Torah, and advanced in years means that he was elderly. Similarly, Isaac our Patriarch was an Elder and sat in yeshiva, as it is stated: “And it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim” (Genesis 27:1). Similarly, Jacob our Patriarch was an Elder and sat in yeshiva, as it is stated: “And Israel’s eyes were heavy with age” (Genesis 48:10).
And when Yitzchok grew old his eyesight faded and he could not see. He called Eisov, his elder son, and said to him, My son. [Eisov] said to him, Here I am.
And it was when Izhak was old and his eyes were darkened from seeing,--because when his father was binding him he had seen the Throne of Glory, and from that time his eyes had begun to darken,--that he called Esau his elder son, on the fourteenth of Nisan, and said to him, My son, behold, this night they on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it. And he said, Behold, I am.
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הִנֵּה־נָ֖א זָקַ֑נְתִּי לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי י֥וֹם מוֹתִֽי׃ | 2 J | And he said, “I am old now, and I do not know how soon I may die. |
לא ידעתי יום מותי, I do not know when I shall die;” if I were to die suddenly, you (Esau) will lose all your money and your authority as you have sold your birthright to Yaakov. Therefore I wish to anticipate such an event by giving you my wealth while I am still alive so that Yaakov cannot deprive you of what was yours from birth. Gifts made during one’s lifetime cannot be challenged.
BEHOLD NOW. The word na means now. (See I.E.’s comments on Gen. 12:11.)
ויאמר...לא ידעתי יום מותי. Perhaps I will die suddenly so that I will not have a chance to bless you close before my death.
הנה נא, I beg of you, due to my old age and the fact that I want to bestow on you the blessing which is within my power to bestow, the blessing of Avraham concerning inheriting this land.
לא ידעתי יום מותי I KNOW NOT THE DAY OF MY DEATH — R. Joshua the son of Korcha said: When a person approaches the age at which his parents died he may well be anxious five years before and five years after. Isaac was then one hundred and twenty three years old and he said, “Perhaps I shall only reach the age of my mother who died at the age of 127 and I am now within five years of her age: therefore, I know not the day of my death —I may only reach the age of my mother or it may be the age of my father” (Genesis Rabbah 25:12).
(3-4) Was mochte Jizchak veranlasst haben, seinem Sohne, den er segnen wollte, zu sagen: koche mir erst ein schönes Gericht! Man hat sonderbarer Weise eine Parallele in Elischas Saitenspiel (Kön. II. 3, 15) finden wollen; als ob auch einem guten Braten eine das Gemüt begeisternde Kraft inne wohne! Man dürfte jedoch übersehen haben, daß nicht בעבור אברכך, sondern בעבור תברכך נפשי steht. Dies findet sich bei einem ähnlichen Segen sonst nie. Die Persönlichkeit segnet, aber nie irgend ein hervorgehobener Teil derselben, wie נפש. Ähnlich findet sich nur in Hiob: אם לא ברכוני חלציו (Kap. 31, 20). Da ist es klar. Die Lenden, der erwärmte Leib des nackten Armen fühlt die Wohltat des Wohltäters und segnet ihn dafür. Ebenso vom Menschen zu Gott: ברכי נפשי, wo nicht bloß allgemein der Entschluss Gott zu dienen ausgesprochen, sondern der Mensch angeregt werden soll, einmal durch und durch alles zu fühlen, was ihm Gott getan, damit jede Fiber seines Wesens ihm diene!
Somit dürfte es auch hier klar sein. Jizchak wollte Esau im Sinne seines künftigen Berufes segnen. Wie er hoffte, daß seine Anlagen sich einst für sittliche Zwecke segensreich betätigen sollten, so sollte er einmal im Momente des Segens erscheinen. Soll einmal das wilde Waidhandwerk für einen edlen menschlichen Zweck betätigen. Denn allerdings scheint es, daß dieses Jagen, um dem alten, schwachen Vater ein kräftiges Gericht zu bringen, nicht zu Esaus täglicher Beschäftigung gehörte. Er hatte Lust am Waidwerk, am rauchenden Blute, an Überwindung der Kraft der Tiere. Aber einem schwachen Kranken damit Labung zu erjagen, lag nicht in Esaus Charakter. "Nimm doch einmal die Geräte deines täglichen Berufes und erjage mir Wildbret und bereite du selbst mir schmackhafte Gerichte", sollst einmal die Geräte der wilden Jagdlust zu einer wohltätigen, einen alten Mann erquickenden Handlung verwenden, sollst einmal fühlen, wie wohl es tut, mit seiner Kraft andern eine Freude zu machen. Darum lenkt er auch in dem Segen, den er dem vermeintlichen Esau erteilt, ihn von dem Waidhandwerk zu dem "von Gott gesegneten Felde" zu dem Ackerbau hinüber, zur Wahrung des Wohlstandes im jüdischen Nationalleben. Dieses Erquicktwerden und dieses Gesegnetwerden durch die gewährte Erquickung liegt in dem: בעבור תברכך נפשי. Darum auch V. 5: Jetzt ging Esau einmal auf die Jagd mit dem Zweck, להביא, es nach Hause zu bringen!
לא ידעתי יום מותי. Although the blessing will prove more effective the closer the one dispensing is to death, as was the case in the blessings dispensed by Yaakov and Moses, seeing that their souls were already closer to heaven at the time when they dispensed the blessing, Yitzchok was not aware of when he would die so that he could to time his blessing accordingly.
He, Isaac, said: Behold, I have now 16 grown old; I do not know the day of my death. In actuality, Isaac lived far longer than he expected, for as it follows from various calculations, he did not die until many years after this episode. Perhaps due to his blindness and inactive life, he felt old and frail before his time.
הנה נא זקנתי לא ידעתי יום מותי, “here I have aged and I do not know how soon I will die.” If I were to die now, you would lose your share of the inheritance seeing that Yaakov bought it from you. I therefore decided to divide my estate in accordance with the principle that when a father decides to divide his estate between the sons allotting more to one than to the other, but not disinheriting one of them, this is legally acceptable, (Baba Batra 8,5 compare Bartenurah) even if the firstborn thereby loses his extra share of the inheritance.
“I am old now and I do not know how soon I may die” [27:2]. Isaac said to Esau: I am very old. I do not know when I will die. Hizkuni writes. Isaac said to Esau. When I will die, you will not have the money and the leadership and the respect, because you sold your birthright. Therefore, I will give you during my lifetime. Then Jacob will not be able to take it away from you. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:2.) Rashi writes. “I do not know how soon I may die” [27:2]. This means that when a person comes to the age of their father or mother, he should be afraid that he should not die [at the age] his mother or father died. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:2.)
Some difficulties in the text: 1) What kind of weak eyesight prevents a father from recognizing his son? Why would not Isaac's other senses such as hearing, touching etc compensate for his failing eyesight, and enable Isaac to recognize his sons? Why did Isaac issue instructions regarding the hunting of venison prior to his issuing the blessing? 2) Why did Rebecca change what Isaac had said? He had said, "I want to bless you before I die," whereas Rebecca related to Jacob that Isaac had said, "I will bless you before the Lord?" (compare Genesis 27,2 and 27,6). 3) Did it not occur to Jacob that his voice would give him away? 4) What is the relevance of "the odor of my son is like the odor of the field that the Lord has blessed?" 5) When Isaac discovered his error, he refers only to Jacob's deceit, not a word about his own error. Why? Why did Esau employ three arguments to secure a blessing, and why did he say that the days of mourning for his father would come "quickly?" Why not just "they will come?" Rebecca's fear she might be bereft of both sons in a single day seems to be somewhat ill founded. If Esau were to kill Jacob, who would kill Esau? 6) Why did Rebecca not reveal her true motives for sending Jacob away even at this late stage?
“He said: Behold, I have now grown old; I do not know the day of my death” (Genesis 27:2). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: When a person reaches the age of his parents, five years before or five years after, he should be concerned about death, as Isaac said: ‘If I will reach the years of Father, now there are many remaining; if I will reach the years of my mother: “He said [to him]: Behold, I have now grown old; I do not know the day of my death.” (Isaac was 123 years old. Abraham died at age 175 and Sarah died at age 127.) It is taught: There are seven matters that are obscured from people: The day of [their] death; the day of consolation; (The redemption (Etz Yosef).) the profundity of justice; a person does not know through what he will profit; a person does not know what is in the heart of another; a person does not know what the woman is carrying in her pregnancy; and when the evil empire will fall. The day of death, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “For a person, too, does not know his time” (Ecclesiastes 9:12). The day of consolation, from where is it derived? It is as it is written: “At its time, I will hasten it” (Isaiah 60:22). A person does not know the profundity of justice, as it is stated: “For judgment is God’s” (Deuteronomy 1:17). A person does not know through what he will profit, as it is written: “It is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:13). A person does not know what is in the heart of another, as it is written: “I, the Lord, probe the heart” (Jeremiah 17:10). A person does not know what the woman is carrying in her pregnancy, as it is written: “[You do not know]…how the fetuses grow in a womb of the pregnant” (Ecclesiastes 11:5). And when the evil empire will fall, as it is written: “For a day of vengeance is in My heart” (Isaiah 63:4).
(Genesis 45:8) "So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh." I am like a creditor to him, as it is stated (Exodus 22:24), "Do not impose interest upon him." Just as the way of a creditor is to lend to a borrower (Proverbs 22:7), in the book of Rabbi Meir, it is written, "And he has made me a father," as it says, "which the Lord, your God, gives you" (Deuteronomy 15:2). This is a legal judgment derived from the full texts written in the Torah, which emerged from Jerusalem during the Sabbatical year and ascended to Rome, and the scrolls were stored in the synagogue of Asvyros. "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). "For a man and his wife, leather tunics" (Genesis 3:21). "I will descend now and see their outcry" (Genesis 18:21). "The Lord who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth" (Genesis 24:7). "And he sold his birthright" (Genesis 25:33). "Behold, now, I am old; I do not know the day of my death" (Genesis 27:2). "The fragrance of a field that the Lord has blessed" (Genesis 27:27). "And Oholibamah bore Jeush" (Genesis 36:5). "Eliphaz, the son of Esau" (Genesis 36:10). "These were the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau" (Genesis 36:14). "They arose and went down to Egypt" (Genesis 43:15). "And I buried her there on the way" (Genesis 48:7).And he has made me a father to Pharaoh." And here are the names that came down to Egypt (Genesis 46:8). "So shall you say to the children of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:3). "The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses" (Exodus 12:37). "For it is a sign between Me" (Exodus 31:13). "Five for the planks on one side" (Exodus 26:27). "We have no barricade against it." "And the priest shall take from its blood" (Leviticus 4:34), for if it is a lamb. "And when the zav becomes purified with living water" (Leviticus 15:13). "One lamb of the first year without blemish" (Leviticus 14:10). "All who come to join the ranks must be counted in their census" (Numbers 4:3). "From the first of your dough, you shall give" (Numbers 15:20). "Avenge the vengeance of the children of Israel" (Numbers 31:2). "And they came to Moses and to the congregation of the children of Israel" (Numbers 12:1). "The heads of the families of the house of Joseph approached" (Numbers 36:1). "But I have not the power to go up" (Deuteronomy 1:26). "And they shall inherit it, they and all the people of the land" (Numbers 32:22). "To give us into the hands of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:27). "Nor take a mother upon her young" (Deuteronomy 22:6). "Brimstone and salt burning" (Deuteronomy 29:22). "Like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah" (Deuteronomy 29:22). "I said, I would scatter them" (Deuteronomy 32:26). So they are written in the Torah that emerged from Jerusalem.
Another matter, Moses said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, after all the glory and all the bravery that my eyes saw, will I die?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Moses, “Who is the man who lives and does not see death…?”’ (Psalms 89:49). What is “who is the man who lives”? Rabbi Tanḥuma said: Who is a man like Abraham, who descended into the fiery furnace and was saved? But then, “Abraham expired and died” (Genesis 25:8). Who is a man like Isaac, who outstretched his neck on the altar? But then he said: “Behold, I have now grown old; I do not know the day of my death” (Genesis 27:2). Who is a man like Jacob, who encountered the angel? But then, “the time of Israel approached to die” (Genesis 47:29). Who is a man like Moses, who spoke to his Creator face to face? But then, “behold, your days are approaching to die.”
(Gen. 27, 2) The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. The [first] voice alludes to the voice of lamentation caused by Hadrian, who had at Alexandria in Egypt massacred twice the number of Jews that had come forth out of Egypt. The voice is the voice of Jacob, refers to a similar lamentation occasioned by Vespasian, who put to death four hundred myriads in the city of Byther, or, as some say, four thousand myriads. The hands are the hands of Esau, that there is no victorious battle which is not fought by the descendants of Esau; and this is what is meant by the passage (Job 5, 21) Against the scourge of the tongue shall thou be hidden; i.e., from a strifesome tongue shalt thou keep aloof."
If Isaac is usually referred to as יצחק בן אברהם, this means that Abraham, who represented the attribute of חסד, was the natural forerunner of Isaac, who achieved the status of being worthy of the מדת הדין, attribute of Justice. The power of the son in this case proves to be greater than the power of the father, seeing that the attribute of Justice is the highest form of the attribute of Mercy. G–d, so to speak, rises from the throne called Justice and sits on the throne called Mercy. At that time the name יצחק, which is synonymous with Justice, will be revealed as the source of joy, the deeper meaning of that name spelled as ישחק, as in Psalms 105,9 for instance. The Zohar sees in the letters of Isaac's name when spelled ק"ץ ח"י, a hint of the attribute of Justice, since judgment ends in death, i.e. Ketz Chay. In the future his name will symbolize joy as in Psalms 105. We have repeatedly explained how Abraham was the real reason Heaven and Earth were created as hinted in the spelling of the word בהבראם in Genesis 2,4. Isaac, however, was the spiritual equivalent of Adam before his sin, since he was the first person who was both conceived and born by parents who had sanctified themselves. The removal of Abraham's foreskin repaired the damage Adam had done by sinning and acquiring a קליפה, husk (symbol of sin). Our sages expressed this by saying that אדם הראשון משוך בערלתו, Adam pulled, i.e. disguised, the fact that he had no foreskin, as distinct from Isaac, sanctified (from birth), who became the equivalent of first man who had been formed by G–d from holy soil. This may well account for the fact that he was not allowed to leave the holy soil of ארץ ישראל (Genesis 27,2).
Likewise, Isaac’s love for Esau is evident in his desire to bless him. Note that Abraham did not bless Isaac. Only on his deathbed, did Jacob bless his children. Moses blessed the Israelites on the last day of his life. When Isaac sought to bless Esau, he was old and blind, but not yet on his deathbed: “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death” (Gen. 27:2). This was an act of love.
THE VALE OF SIDDIM. Siddim means the same (Sid means lime, whitewash or plaster. Hence the valley of Siddim means the valley of plaster. It was so called because of the plaster pits found there.) as sid (plaster) in and plaster them with plaster (ba-sid) (Spelled sin, yod, dalet. I.E.’s point is that siddim means the same as sid. However, they come from different roots. Sid in Deut. 27:2 comes from the root sin, vav, dalet. Siddim comes from sin, dalet, dalet, which is also the root of the word sad in Job 13:27. Siddim cannot be the plural of sid (Deut. 27:2) because it is spelled without a yod and has a dagesh in its dalet. I.E.’s point is that sad and sid mean the same although they come from different roots (Weiser).) (Deut. 27:2) and sad (plaster) in Thou puttest my feet also in the plaster (ba-sad) (This is I.E.’s interpretation of the verse. In Job he explains the verse to mean God had plastered Job’s feet with whitewash so that He could follow Job’s every step. I.E. points out that siddim is the plural of sad in Job. The sin and samach interchange.) (Job 13:27). Sad, siddim, is like pat (morsel of bread), pittim. (We would expect the plural of sad (Job. 13:27) to be saddim. I.E. points out that this is not necessarily so. Thus the plural of pat is pittim and not pattim. Similarly the plural of sad is siddim and not saddim (Krinsky and Cherez).)
ויחר אף אלו-הים, “G’d’s anger was kindled.” G’d was angry because He realized Bileam had gone in order to curse. ויתיצב מלאך ה' בדרך לשטן לו, ”an angel of Hashem positioned himself on the way in such a manner as to obstruct him.” Bileam had tried to appropriate to himself a vocation which was meant to be exclusively that of the Jewish people, i.e. הקול קול יעקב, “the use of the voice is a use reserved for Yaakov” (Genesis 27,2). In retaliation for this trespass, the angel also made use of a weapon which is not really his own, i.e. the sword, the weapon allocated to Esau, as he was an angel dispatched by the attribute of Mercy. [Had it been an angel dispatched by the attribute of Justice he would have killed Bileam instead of preventing him from carrying out his sinful intent. Ed.]. We find here another demonstration of the principle מדה כנגד מדה, measure for measure.
This was the complex context into which Gad emerged: a son of Leah’s, yet with the liminality and lack of concrete placement we have seen in the maidservants’ children. (Although commentators stress the idea that the maidservants of Jacob were taken by him as wives rather than concubines (Radak 30:5; Bekhor Shor 30:9), midrashic strains emphasize the awareness by the brothers that there existed (at least in potential) a hierarchy among Jacob’s women, with Rachel and Leah clearly superior to their maidservants. Thus, Joseph falsely reported to Jacob that the sons of Leah were deriding the maidservants’ sons (BR 84:7; Tan. VaYeshev 7), or alternatively that the maidservants’ sons were eating limbs torn off living animals, a strong taboo within their family traditions (BR 84:7; PRE 38). Though the midrash also presented all four women as daughters of Laban, Bilhah and Zilpah started out life with the inferior status as offspring borne from Laban’s concubines (BR 74:13); their status remained that of maidservants until Jacob took them as wives (according to one midrash, this happened only after the deaths of Rachel and Leah; Pa’aneaĥ Razah, Genesis 27:2).) Like Dan, he, more than any of Leah’s natural-born sons, marked the furthest reaches of his mother’s salient characteristic. Leah was here at her most aggressive in pursuing her husband’s affections – and in securing her place of dominance as the head mother. His personality, like Dan’s, reflected the unique circumstances of his birth. His name reflected the complexity of his situation.
[Yitzchok] said, Behold, if you please [now], I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
And he said, Behold, now I am old; I know not the day of my death:
| וְעַתָּה֙ שָׂא־נָ֣א כֵלֶ֔יךָ תֶּלְיְךָ֖ וְקַשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וְצֵא֙ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה וְצ֥וּדָה לִּ֖י (צידה) [צָֽיִד]׃ | 3 J | Take your gear, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open and hunt me some game. |
Know! on a flawless slaughter knife it is possible to see how all the utensils of the Holy Temple look. This is what is written: When Yitzchak instructed Esav to inspect his knife and slaughter well, [he said,] “Take your utensils, [your sword…]” (Genesis 27:3). This hints to the utensils of the Holy Temple, which are visible on a proper knife, as explained above.
תליך, “your quiver,” the bag fastened around one’s midriff containing the supply of arrows;”
וצודה לי ציד, “and hunt some game for me.” If you were to question how it is possible for Yitzchok to have been eating the meat of animals that had not died through ritual slaughter even inadvertently, seeing that we have a statement by our sages that G-d protects the righteous from becoming guilty of this, seeing that He even protects their livestock from becoming guilty of this? (Talmud Chulin 7) We have to answer that Yitzchok stopped eating meat slaughtered by Esau after he found out that he was a heretic. He acquired his name as a ציד בפיו, before he had become a heretic.
צידה, the letter ה at the end of this word is unnecessary. Our sages explain it as an acronym, warning the ritual slaughterer of 5 possible problems that would invalidate the halachically acceptable slaughter of an animal, i.e ,שהייה דריסה, חלדה, הגרמה, עיקור, undue delay in completing the severing of the vital pipes; leaning on the knife performing the cutting; a rusty blade, sliding of the knife from the correct position, tearing loose either of the two pipes.
וצודה לי צידה, “and hunt some venison for me.” The word for venison, i.e. ציד, has been spelled here with the letter ה at the end, to remind us that there are five potential causes that invalidate a ritually acceptable slaughtering of animals from making them fit for consumption by Jews.
THY WEAPONS. Khelekha (thy weapons) is possibly a general term, the particulars being thy quiver and thy bow. (The verse should be understood as follows: take, I pray thee, thy weapons, namely thy quiver and thy bow.) Telyekha (thy quiver) is a sheath hanging (The root tav, lamed, heh means to hang.) from its bearer wherein arrows are placed. On the other hand, khelekha may refer to a sword. (The translation follows the Vat. Ebr. 38 text. The printed texts have telyekha referring to a sword. If this reading is accepted, why does I.E. say a vav should have been placed before telyekha? The first particular following a general term does not require a vav, as I.E. himself implies in his comment on Gen. 26:5. Furthermore, why should a vav be placed before telyekha if it means a sword and not if it means a quiver? For an attempt to explain the printed texts see Krinsky and Cherez. However, for the impossibility of the printed versions see Filwarg. The reading of Vat. Ebr. 38 seems correct.) However, in this case a conjunctive vav should have been placed in front of telyekha. (Since Scripture is listing three separate items, sword, quiver and bow, a conjunctive vav should be placed before quiver as it is before bow. The verse should read: take thy sword and thy quiver (ve-telyekha) and thy bow.) Nevertheless, it does not refute the latter interpretation, for we find a similar instance in Adam, Seth, Enosh (I Chron. 1:1). (Here, too, we find three separate individuals listed without a vav before the final two. The text should have read: Adam and Seth and Enosh. We thus see that Scripture at times leaves out the conjunctive vav.)
ועתה שא נא כליך, “and now, please make ready your gear, etc.” Yitzchak referred to Esau’s sword and to his bow. It is customary for the hunter to gird both his sword and to take his quiver and bow with which to hunt fowl. This, at any rate, is the plain meaning of these words. Yitzchak also hinted that the weapons Esau’s offspring would depend on were precisely these lethal instruments. According To Bereshit Rabbah 65,13 the words שא נא כליך are a reference to the Kingdom of Babylon as we read in Daniel 1,2 ואת הכלים הביא בבלה, “and the vessels (Temple utensils) he (Nebuchadnezzar) brought to Babylon.” The word תליך, “your quiver,” refers to the Medes as we read in Esther 7,10 ויתלו את המן, “they hung Haman.” The word וקשתך, “and your bow,” is a reference to the Greek Empire as we read in Zechariah 9,13: כי דרכתי לי יהודה קשת, “for I have drawn Yehudah taut as a bow, etc.;” finally, the words וצא השדה are a reference to the Roman Empire as we read in Genesis 32,2: ארצה שעיר שדה אדום, “to the land of Seir, which will become the field of Edom, Rome.”
ועתה...כליך, the tools you use to hunt with.
תליך וקשתך, now he spelled out the tools in detail. Possibly, there were other hunting instruments in addition to these. תליך, is the quiver in which one keeps the arrows. Onkelos translates it as סיפך, “your sword,” (the ending ך in the word as a personal pronoun.). A sword would also be a tool which is hung in a scabbard, or suspended from one’s belt, so. that the root תלה implied in the word תליך is part of his translation.
וצא השדה, Yitzchok issued this instruction as Esau did not go out hunting on a daily basis.
צידה, spelled with the letter ה, but read as ציד. According to a well known aggadic interpretation the letter ה is an allusion to 5 major halachic requirements in killing an animal to make it fit for consumption by Jews. (compare Torah Shleymah 23)
שא נא כליך, the reason for the repetition of the word נא both in verse 2 and verse 3 is similar to that in Genesis 12,11 where I have already explained it. [not found there. Ed.]
תלייך¸ his bag containing his arrows.
The word is derived from the root תלה, “to hang,” We find it used in this sense in Genesis 40,22 in connection with Pharaoh hanging the chief of the bakers, as well as in Judges 5,12 where the word שביך בן אבינועם is derived from the root שבה, Similarly, the word עניך in Genesis 16,11 כי שמע ה' אל עניך, “for the Lord has paid heed to your suffering,” is derived from the root ענה.
שא נא — The word שא means sharpen, similar to what שא read in the Mishna (Beitzah 28a) “One may not sharpen the knife in the usual manner but one may sharpen it by passing it (משיאין) over another”. Isaac said to Esau, “Sharpen your knife and slaughter an animal according to the regulations so that you may not give me to eat נבלה” (i.e. the flesh of animal that is not killed according to the ritual rules) (Genesis Rabbah 65:13).
תליך means thy sword which is usually hung (at the side).
צודה לי AND HUNT FOR ME [SOME VENISON] of animals that are ownerless, but not of such as are acquired by theft (literally, by robbery).
שא נא כליך, so that you will not return with your mission unaccomplished.
Sharpen your knife and slaughter properly... Meaning: there should not be a nick in the knife. Re’m asks: Granted that Yitzchok relied on Eisov, as he held him to be a good person. Nevertheless, since Eisov slaughtered birds in flight [with his bow], why was Yitzchok not concerned that the slaughter would be invalid because of chaladah [when the simonim — windpipe or esophagus — are cut under the cover of the feathers or skin]? Re’m answers as in Chulin 31a, [that the feathers around the neck were cut; see there]. But Re’m’s discussion is unnecessary, as Yitzchok never asked Eisov to bring fowl, only animals [such as deer]. This is as Rashi explains in v. 9: “The taste of kid is similar to the taste of deer.” Although our verse mentions the bow, which implies that Eisov was asked to shoot arrows at birds, however, the bow could be used for animals: he could shoot the animal so it cannot flee, but in a manner that does not render it a treifah, and then he would slaughter it with a sword. (Nachalas Yaakov)
From the ownerless and not from the robbedtherwise, why does it say, “For me,” when it is written (v. 4), “Bring it to me”? Thus Rashi explains: “From ownerless....”
Now, please take your hunting gear, your quiver, which is hung on one’s back, and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
תלייך, “your quiver.” According to Rashi this is a reference to Esau’s sword, swords being hung in their scabbard. [based on the root תלה, “he hung” Ed.] According to Ibn Ezra the word means “quiver,” i.e. the container within which the arrows are stored. Yitzchok told Esau to equip himself with his hunting tools, these consisting of a bow and arrows and their container, or the sword and its scabbard.
וצודה לי ציד, “and hunt some venison for me.” This reveals that Yitzchok was quite unfamiliar with Esau’s lifestyle, as if he had been familiar with it he would not have eaten anything that had been killed by his son. Still, it is problematic how Yitzchok could have eaten animals that had been killed by an arrow. Some commentators therefore explain that Esau had perfected a technique of luring animals by imitating their voices so that when they came close he could slaughter them. This is what the Torah alluded to when it wrote כי ציד בפיו, “he hunted with his mouth.”
“Take your gear, your quiver and bow, go out into the open and hunt me some game” [27:3]. Take your utensils and your sword and hunt some game. That is why Isaac said: sharpen your knife so that there should not be any nicks in your knife, in the hope that I will not eat improperly killed meat. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:3.) Hizkuni asks a question and Imre Noam also asks this question. How did Isaac eat what Esau had slaughtered? He was an apostate and if Isaac did not know that Esau was an apostate, then this is difficult. Also, how is it appropriate that God should cause such a righteous person to eat non-kosher meat? The Holy One watched over the animals of the righteous that they should not eat what they should not eat. How could God not watch over the righteous person himself? The explanation is that from the time that Esau became an idol worshiper, the Holy One protected Isaac so that he did not eat what Esau slaughtered. This time, when Isaac desired that Esau should bring him game that he slaughtered, to eat, the Holy One protected Isaac that he should not eat from what he slaughtered. Rather, the Holy One sent Jacob who brought two goats that Isaac ate. The Holy One had protected the righteous person that he did not commit a sin, and did not eat non-kosher food. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:3; Imre Noam, Genesis, 27:3.) Ba’al ha-Turim writes. “Hunt me some game” [27:3], is written in the Torah with an extra heh. It shows us that Isaac ordered Esau that he should be careful about the five things that a slaughterer must know: interrupting, tearing, thrusting, moving the knife, and plucking. (Ba’al ha-Turim, Genesis, 27:3. These five things, if done, would make the animal being slaughtered non-kosher.)
And as was written in the Raa-ya M’hemna (parshat Ehmore, 99b and 71), this is what it says (The Raa-ya M’hemna uses the biblical episode of Yitzkhak and the blessing he intended to give to his son Eisav to describe part of the process of heavenly judgment on Rosh Ha-shanna. Yitzkhak is cast as the judge and Eisav as the accuser/prosecutor (the Satan) who goes out into the world and returns with evidence of Israel’s crimes. The sins related to trespassing the negative commandments serve as sustenance for the Satan.) : “On Rosh Ha-shanna Yitzkhak goes out by himself and calls to Eisav to offer a taste of all the world’s food, for each person appropriately according to his way… and he reclines on the divan of judgment and calls to Eisav saying: ‘Hunt game for me and prepare for me delicious food…’ (Bereshit 27:3), ‘and as soon as he hurriedly left… and Eisav his brother returned from his hunting’—loaded down with burdens from all the world’s actions. ‘And he also made delicious food’—he sharpened his tongue to present [sharp legal] arguments… and he stated: ‘arise my father’, become aroused in [the function of] His judgment and ‘eat’ some of the evil deeds from all the world.’”
This is the advice necessary for the man whom the king wishes to honor (Esther 6:6). Peace of mind to the poor and lowly of spirit, who trembles at His word (Isa. 66:2). Let him not boast of the morrow (Prov. 27:1), “for the reward of [the performance of] a commandment is a commandment” (Avot 4:2). He desired it for his habitation (Ps. 132:13); until the day breathe (Song 2:17) man will go out to his labor (Ps. 104:23), [which] will be accepted for him (Lev. 1:4), his fruit in its time (Ps. 1:3). This tarrying in the house for a little (Ruth 2:7), for the command of the king was urgent (I Sam. 21:9). Prepare outside your sword and your bow (Gen. 27:3), and do all your labor (Exod. 20:9) in Scripture, Mishnah, and Gemara, and there will be stored for you in the field of apples (The “apple trees” symbolize the sefirot from Gedulah to Yesod. Malkhut is called the “Field of Apples” because she is filled with “apple trees.”) a heap of good deeds. Afterwards you will build your house “as a meeting house for the sages” (Avot 1:4), numerous and perfect (Nah. 1:12), seated upon judgment seats (Judg. 5.10) in holiness, and receiving one from another in whispers, crowned with their tefillin and fringes which they make for themselves (Deut. 22:12) to wrap themselves with awe and fear. They seclude themselves like standing Seraphim (Isa. 6:2), like brethren sitting together (Ps. 133:1). And if, as God lives (I Sam. 20:3), they speak of the face of the eagle (Ezek. 1:10), they were swifter and stronger than lions (I Samuel 1:23), and the noise of the wings of the living creatures (Ezek. 3:13) says, Blessed be the glory of God (Ezek. 3:12), who loves righteousness (Ps. 11:7), and the words rejoice as when they were given at Sinai from before God, the Lord of all the earth (Josh. 3:13).
Come and behold, When Isaac said to Esau "and go out to the field, and catch me some venison (Heb. צָיִדה)" (Beresheet 27:3), with a Hei, instead of using tzayid, without a Hei. This has already been explained. And Esau went (hunting) to be blessed by Isaac, who said to him "and bless you before Hashem" (Ibid. 7). It would have been well to say just "and I will bless you," but since he added "before Hashem," the Throne of Glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, then trembled and said, Could it be, that the serpent is freed from these curses, and Jacob remains subject to them?
“Now, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me” (Genesis 27:3). “Now, please take your gear” – sharpen your hunting tools, so you will not feed me unslaughtered carcasses or mauled animals. Take your hunting tools, so you will not feed me stolen or forcibly-taken items. “Your quiver [telyekha]” – he said to him: ‘The blessings are pending [teluyot]. The one who is worthy to be blessed, he will be blessed.’ Another matter, “please take your gear [kelekha],” this is Babylon – “and he brought the vessels to the treasure house of his god” (Daniel 1:2). “Your quiver [telyekha],” this is Media – “they hanged [vayitlu] Haman on the gibbet” (Esther 7:10). “Your bow,” this is Greece [Yavan] – “for I bend Judah for Me as a bow […on your children Yavan]” (Zechariah 9:13). “And go out to the field,” this is Edom – “to the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” (Genesis 32:4). “Prepare for me delicacies, as I like, and bring it to me, and I will eat; so that my soul will bless you before I die” (Genesis 27:4). “Prepare for me delicacies” – Rabbi Eliezer said in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Zimra: Three matters were stated regarding the tree from which Adam, the first man, ate: Good for eating, beautiful to the eyes, and adds wisdom. The three of them were stated in one verse: “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it is good for eating; “and that it was enticing to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it was beautiful to the eyes; “a source of wisdom [lehaskil]” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it adds wisdom, just as it says: “A contemplation [maskil] by Eitan” (Psalms 89:1). Likewise, Isaac said: “Prepare for me delicacies [matamim].” He said to him: ‘Initially, I would enjoy the sight, but now I enjoy only the taste [hataam].’ Likewise, Solomon said: “With the increase of goodness, its eaters increase; [and what use is it to its owner other than the sight of his eyes?]” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) (When someone is wealthy, his household is large and his food expenditures are great. He enjoys only the sight of the food.) – from here [we learn] that the blind are not sated. One who sees an empty basket and is hungry is unlike one who sees a full basket and is sated. (Somebody who sees an empty basket feels hungry, while somebody who sees a full basket does not feel hungry, since he knows that there will be food when he is hungry.) “Rebecca heard as Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring” (Genesis 27:5). “Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring” – if he finds, excellent, but if not, “to bring” – from stolen or forcibly-taken items.
(Gen. 27:3:) NOW THEN, PLEASE TAKE YOUR IMPLEMENTS, < YOUR QUIVER AND YOUR BOW, AND GO OUT TO THE FIELD >. R. Isaac the Smith said: [YOUR IMPLEMENTS] alludes to the Kingdom of Babylon. (Gen. R. 63:13.) Thus it is stated (in Dan. 1:2): THEN THE LORD GAVE KING JEHOIAKIM OF JUDAH INTO HIS HAND, WITH SOME OF THE IMPLEMENTS FROM THE HOUSE OF GOD. YOUR QUIVER (teli) alludes to [the kingdom of] Media. Thus it is stated (in Esth. 9:25): SO THEY (the Medes and the Persians) HANGED (talu) HIM (Haman) AND HIS SONS ON THE TREE. AND YOUR BOW alludes to Greece. (Gk.: iones.) Thus it is stated (in Zech. 9:13): FOR I WILL BEND JUDAH TO ME; A BOW < I WILL FILL WITH EPHRAIM; I WILL STIR UP YOUR CHILDREN, O ZION, AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF GREECE >. AND GO OUT TO THE FIELD alludes to Edom. (Edom had become a common code word for Rome.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 32:4 [3]): TO THE LAND OF SEIR, THE FIELD OF EDOM.
And also [difficult] is that the writer of the Akeida [commentary - R. Yitschak Arama] based this explanation on the midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 1:12), "'And Your humility enlarges me' (Psalms 18:36); A king of flesh and blood mentions his name first and afterwards his acts, but the Holy One, blessed be He, mentioned His name after He mentioned His acts;" and what His humility is in this needs to be understood; and that which it says "made me great," in what way did He enlarge us and make us great? And what appears most likely to me, is to say that Rashi wanted to fix all of this when he said that "this text says nothing if not 'interpret me' - [the term reshit, literally, the start or head of is used here] because of the Torah and Israel which are [both] called reshit;" which means to say that it is impossible to know about God's existence, may He be blessed, except through the Torah and Israel. That's why they are called reshit, since they are both an introduction through which one comes to the knowledge of God's existence, may He be blessed [and so precede the name of God in the first sentence of the Torah.] Since the Torah publicizes faith in His creation and Divinity, may He be blessed. And Israel also knew to publicize the existence of God, may He be blessed, from the angle of the transmission that they received, one person from another, back to Adam who saw the world destroyed and built, and is a faithful witness to the creation of the world, which is a sign [indication] of its Creator; and this transmission was spread by the offspring of Avraham, Yitschak and Yisrael.
Rabbi Yitschak said, "It was not necessary to begin the Torah, etc. but rather so that the nations should not say, 'you are thieves, etc.'" (Rashi on Genesis 1:1): And it is difficult; and what about it, if they will say, "you are thieves," and because of this, the order of the Torah should be changed? The answer to this is that this matter brings heresy to the world, since they will say, "there is no law and no Judge" [in the world] and 'whoever is strongest prevails;' since if the world had a Ruler, who sets up its matters - it comings and goings - why did He not protest against you when you took by force - by way of theft - the lands of the seven [Canaanite] nations? Since it is for this reason that the judgment of the generation of the flood was not sealed except on account of theft, as it is stated (Proverbs 28:24), "One who steals from his father and mother and says 'it is not a transgression' is the companion of a destructive person;" since the reason this sin is greater than others is not because of the sin itself, but rather because of the evil that comes out of it; as the sinner who steals does not place guilt upon himself and says, "there is no transgression, since there is no God that judges in the world;" and therefore he is the companion of a destructive person, which means to say, [he is a companion] of the generation of the flood, as it is stated about them (Genesis 6:12), "since all flesh destroyed its way," since they also denied a principle of faith and said (Job 21:15), "What is the Omnipotent, that we should serve Him, etc." And this is what [brought] them to practice extortion and theft in the world. And because the prevention of theft is fundamental to all of faith, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, made it come early and warned about it in the first commandment of (Exodus 12:2), "This month will be for you;" as over there, it is stated (Exodus 12:21), "And bring close and acquire for yourselves sheep," [meaning] from yours, and [not from] stolen ones; so explained the Ba'al HaTurim. And so too, Yitschak, when he commanded two kid goats to be brought to him, to make from them a Pesach sacrifice, he said (Genesis 27:3), "And hunt for me venison;" Rashi explained, from what is unowned and not from what is stolen, but since Esav's heart was not like that, it appeared to him that he could rather "hunt venison to bring," even form what is stolen; hence the Holy One, blessed be He, caused that he should not bring it, but rather that Ya'akov [should do so], as he was careful about theft. So too, the ox that Adam sacrificed, the Sages, of blessed memory, say that it had one horn on its forehead; to show that Adam [too] was one 'horn' in the world - meaning to say that he was by himself in the world - and did not steal from any creature; therefore, his sacrifice was accepted. And all this is in order to push away theft and robbery which brings heresy and apostasy.
The following are written with a he which is not pronounced: when I saw; (Josh. 7, 21, written wa’er’eh and read wa’erë’.) and I brought; (ibid. XXIV, 8, written wa’abih and read wa’abi.) the lion (2 Sam. 23, 20, written ha’aryeh and read ha’ari.) in the Book of Samuel; (This excludes the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 11, 22 where ha’ari is both written and read.) was he found; (Jer. 48, 27, written nimẓa’ah but the reading is nimẓa’.) and … saw; (ibid. III, 7, written wattir’eh and read watter’ë’.) this [city]; (ibid. XXVI, 6, written hazzothah and read hazzoth.) evil; (Micah 3, 2, written ra‘ah and read ra‘.) [the] evil; (Jer. 18, 10, written hara‘ah and read hara‘.) gone down; (ibid. XV, 9, written ba’ah and read ba’.) and he shall come; (ibid. XLIII, 11, written uba’ah and read uba’.) and a line; (1 Kings 7, 23, written weḳaweh and read weḳaw.) and a line; (Zech. 1, 16, as in the preceding note.) thoroughly; (V incorrectly gives the keyword as wera‘. Ps. 51, 4, written harbeh and read hereb.) them that love me; (Prov. 8, 17, written ’ohabehah and read ’ohabai.) and … friend; (ibid. XXVII, 10, written were‘eh and read were‘a.) deal; (Ruth 1, 8, written ya‘aseh and read ya‘as.) open; (Dan. 9, 18, written piḳḥah and read peḳaḥ.) a lion; (Lam. 3, 10, written ’aryeh and read ’ari. V incorrectly connects this with the next word joining them together as one.) these; (Ezra 5, 15, written ’elleh and read ’el.) venison. (V incorrectly reads ẓur. Gen. 27, 3, written ẓedah and read ẓayid.) The reverse is the case with the following: (In the preceding a written he is not pronounced, but the following are spelt without a he which is to be pronounced.) and multiplied; (Josh. 24, 3, written wa’ereb and read wa’arbeh.) on the housetop; (1 Sam. 9, 26, written haggag and read haggagah.) and they; (2 Sam. 21, 9, written wehem and read wehemmah.) be he; (1 Kings 1, 37, written yehi and read yihyeh.) and … shal be; (2 Kings 9, 37, written wehayath and read wehayethah.) and behold; (Isa. 41, 23, written wenerë and read wenireh.) behold; (ibid. LIV, 16, written hen and read hinneh.) planted; (In Jer. 17, 8, referring to yireh (shall … see) which is spelt without the final hei.) Gedaliah; (ibid. XL, 16, referring to ta‘aseh (do) which is without the final hei.) and … she doted; (Ezek. 23, 16, written watta‘gob and read watta‘gebah.) the measure; (ibid. XLV, 3, where ḥamesh (five) is written and ḥamishshah read.) and I shall be glorified; (Hag. 1, 8, written we’ekkabed and read we’ekkabedah.) three; (In Prov. 30, 18, we’arba‘ (yea, four) is written and we’arba‘ah read.) she considereth; (ibid. XXXI, 16, naṭa‘ (planteth) is written and naṭ‘ah read.) she perceiveth; (ibid. 18, ballayil (by night) is written and ballayelah read.) arise; (In Lam. 2, 19, the same variant occurs as in the preceding.) remember; (ibid. V, 1, habbeṭ (behold) is written and habbiṭah read.) turn Thou us; (ibid. 21, wenashub (and we shall be turned) is written and wenashubah read.) thou hast declared; (1 Sam XXIV, 19, we’at is written and we’attah read.) thou … hast cursed; (Eccles. 7, 22, where the same variant occurs as in the preceding.) Thou hast set; (Ps. 90, 8, written shatta and read shattah.) Thou hast made; (Neh. 9, 6, written ’at and read ’attah.) is sore affrighted; (In Ps. 6, 4 the same variant occurs as in the preceding.) the carved work thereof; (ibid. LXXIV, 6, written we‘at and read we‘attah.) with her harlotries; (In Ezek. 23, 43, written ‘at and read ‘attah.) turn back; (In Ruth 1, 12, lekna (go your way) omits the final hei.) disclose; (ibid. IV, 4, where we’eda‘ (that I may know) is written and read we’ede‘ah.) Thou [hast] made an hedge; (In Job 1, 10, ’at (Thou) is written and ’attah read.) and [he] saw. (ibid. XLII, 16, written wayyar and read wayyireh.)
Now [therefore] please [now] take your equipment, your sword and your bow, and go out to the field and trap [deer] for me.
but now take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow; and go forth into the field, and take me venison,
| וַעֲשֵׂה־לִ֨י מַטְעַמִּ֜ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהַ֛בְתִּי וְהָבִ֥יאָה לִּ֖י וְאֹכֵ֑לָה בַּעֲב֛וּר תְּבָרֶכְךָ֥ נַפְשִׁ֖י בְּטֶ֥רֶם אָמֽוּת׃ | 4 J | Then prepare a dish for me such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my innermost blessing before I die.” |
This [mitzvah] is the root of all the positive commandments, as it is written in the Tikkunim on the verse “Then prepare a tasty dish for me, the way I love it” (Genesis 27:4)—from the positive commandments (Tikkuney Zohar #21, p.51a, 52a) .
Taste corresponds to “Then prepare a tasty dish for me, the way I love it” (Genesis 27:4)—[namely,] from the positive commandments (Tikkuney Zohar #21, p.51a ff). In other words, the sense of taste corresponds to God tasting on Rosh HaShanah all the good deeds of the Jewish people.
10. Now, when the Holy Blessed One wants to sample a taste of the positive mitzvot performed by a Jew who is a tzaddik, that corresponds to the limb of a living creature, which may not be eaten and requires ritual slaughter to permit it. A person therefore has to experience embarrassment, which is spilled blood, a form of ritual slaughter, which makes a living creature’s limb fit for consumption. God can then taste his positive mitzvot, be it a single positive mitzvah or many mitzvot. For the mitzvot are called “a tasty dish,” as it is written, “Then prepare a tasty dish for me, the way I love it” (Genesis 27:4)—from the positive mitzvot, as is brought (Tikkuney Zohar #21, p.51a). And when his blood is spilled through embarrassment, he must then be careful to keep the known external forces who would draw energy from this spilled blood from doing so. It must therefore be covered—the Divine Presence covers Israel’s spilled blood with this love, the concept of “the way I love.” This is the concept of covering-the-blood.
This is indicated in the verse, “And make me delicacies such as I love.” ( The words (Genesis 27:4) spoken by Isaac to Esau are allegorically interpreted here according to Tikkunei Zohar.) The word mataamim (delicacies) is in the plural to indicate two kinds of gratification, and the words are those of the Shechinah to her children, the community of Israel, as explained in the Tikkunim. The analogy is to material food, where there are two kinds of relishes: one of sweet and luscious foods, and the other of tart or sour articles of food which have been well spiced and garnished so that they are made into delicacies which revive the soul.
והביאה לי ואוכלה, “and bring it to me so that I may eat it.” Yitzchok said to Esau that he had sold his birthright in order to taste part of a single meal. He would now restore it to him by his acquiring the merit of feeding his father a meal prepared by him. This is what was meant by the words: הוי גביר לאחיך “become senior to your brother.” (27,29) [The reader is reminded that the blessing Yitzchok bestowed on the brother who fed him, Yaakov, had been intended for Esau. Ed.]
בעבור תברכני נפשי, “so that my soul can bestow a blessing upon you.” Yitzchok said to Esau: “tonight is the night on which in the future the Israelites will all offer the Passover, and the angels will respond with many songs of praises to the Lord. This will make blessings pronounced today especially acceptable in heaven, as they will become part of the myriads of blessings uttered at this time.” (Based on Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer chapter 32.)
ועשה לי מטעמים ...בעבור תברכך נפשי, “and prepare them for me as a tasty dish,...in order that my soul may bless you.” When Yitzchak appeared to emphasize the taste of the food he asked Esau to prepare for him he did not allude to the physical enjoyment he would derive from this as an objective in itself. He meant that the pleasant frame of mind he would be in after eating such a meal would result in his enjoying a degree of holy spirit so that his blessing of his son would become effective. Our sages in Shabbat 30 are on record that the שכינה, the benevolent presence of G’d, does not rest on a person when he is inert, lazy, nor when he is sad, but only when he is in a joyous frame of mind. They base this on Kings II 3,15 (where Elisha could not muster the spirit of prophecy and he instructed that music be played) “as the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, etc.” This is the reason Yitzchak was careful to speak of his נפש, “his soul” enjoying the food; he did not want Esau to think that he wanted his body to enjoy this food. You will notice this repeated emphasis on נפשי, נפשך during this entire episode. The Torah wanted us to know the real reason Yitzchak ordered מטעמים, “delicious food,” to be prepared for him. If you were to ask why he did not simply order music to be played as did the prophets, or for that matter as did King Saul when he wanted to rid himself of a melancholy state of mind, the reason is that the blessing he was about to bestow was not of a spiritual kind but of a mundane nature, commanding earthly, bodily blessings to be granted to Esau by G’d. We see that in verse 19 Yitzchak called down “dew from the sky,” assured Esau (whom he thought he was addressing) the fat parts of the earth, corn and wine to be plentiful, etc.” It is quite understandable then that the frame of mind he was trying to achieve in order to pronounce these blessings with full concentration had to be based on his having enjoyed these very benefits himself recently. Here is an interesting excerpt of how our sages viewed the detail provided by the Torah in this whole paragraph. The Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16 asks: “why did the Torah command the libations of water which had to accompany the Mussaph offerings on the festival of Tabernacles?” Answer: “In order for G’d to bestow on us the blessings of an adequate water supply, Tabernacles being the season when we pray for this, i.e. for the rains to be rains of blessing.” Why did the Torah command the Jewish people to offer the “Omer” offering, (a measure of the first ripe barley of the season)?” Answer: “In order for G’d to extend His blessing for the grain harvest which begins around this time of year.” Why did G’d command the Jewish people to offer two loaves of the new wheat harvest in the Temple on the festival of Shavuot?” Answer: “In order for G’d to bless the fruit of the trees which begin to ripen at that time of year.” These blessings, if and when they materialise, would constitute a reward for the public offerings which the Torah commanded to be brought on those festivals. The Talmud is at pains to demonstrate the מדה כנגד מדה principle, i.e. that G’d always responds to us in the manner in which we have related to Him. We must not think that a good harvest constitutes the true reward for Torah observance, G’d forbid! After all, our sages have told us explicitly in Kidushin 39 that the real reward for Torah observance is not dispensed in this life at all. Whatever blessings we experience in this life are only in the nature of a “dividend” compared to the capital reward which we will receive in the hereafter. Our sages illustrated this with the following example: when someone is especially meticulous about observing the commandment involving ציצית, fringes, he will find that in due course he will have prestigious looking garments. When someone is especially meticulous in the manner he observes the commandment involving מזוזות, (attaching a parchment containing the words of this commandment on his door posts), he will find that in due course he will become the owner of an imposing residence., etc. etc. The idea the sages conveyed is that the “dividend” will correspond in a recognisable manner to the type of commandment observed meticulously; however, the sages only spoke about the “dividend,” not about the real reward which has not been revealed as it is reserved for the hereafter.
ועשה, he did not ask for venison because there was shortage of food in his home, for he was exceedingly wealthy. We observe that aged people progressively get tired of the food they are used to, and they crave something new to give them an incentive to eat and enjoy their food. Venison is a different kind of meat, not comparable in taste to the meat of sheep or goats or beef. Therefore Yitzchok asked Esau to bring him something which would put him in a pleasant frame of mind, the kind of good feeling which is a necessary prelude to bestowing a blessing with one’s entire heart. He was well aware that he needed something to put him into the right frame of mind as Esau’s general conduct was not one that commended itself to his father so that he would gladly volunteer such a blessing as he felt he was obligated to dispense. There would be no need to send Yaakov on such an errand prior to blessing him, as his righteousness made blessing him something natural.
THAT MY SOUL MAY BLESS THEE. It was Isaac’s intent to bless Esau that he merit the blessing of Abraham to inherit the land and to become the one with whom G-d would make the covenant since he was the firstborn. It would appear that Rebekah never told Isaac of the prophecy which G-d had related to her, i.e., And the elder shall serve the younger, (Above, 25:23.) else how would Isaac transgress the commandment of the Eternal, seeing that it shall not prosper. (Numbers 14:41.) Now at first she did not tell it to him due to ethical modesty, for the verse, And she went to inquire of the Eternal, (Above, 25:22.) suggests that she went without Isaac’s permission. (Hence due to ethical modesty she did not tell him of the prophecy for it would indicate a breach of wifely modesty for her to have gone without permission.) [Perhaps she did not tell him because] she said, “I need not relate a prophecy to a prophet for Isaac is greater than the one who told it to me.” (This is a reference to the tradition mentioned by Rashi (25:23), which says that the prophecy was told to Shem the son of Noah and he told it to Rebekah. Therefore Rebekah said: “There is no reason for me to tell Isaac since he is greater in prophecy than the one who told it to me.”) And now she did not want to tell him, “So was it said to me in the name of G-d before I gave birth,” for she reasoned that because of his love for Esau he will not bless Jacob, but he will leave everything in the hands of Heaven. And she further knew that by this arrangement of hers, Jacob will be blessed from Isaac’s mouth by an undivided heart and a willing mind. Perhaps these are causes induced by G-d so that Jacob would be blessed, and Esau as well with the blessing of the sword, And by Him alone actions are weighed. (I Samuel 2:3.)
Made it into a tasty dish. Yitzchok knew that Eisov was not worthy of the blessing that he wished to confer upon him. For this reason he instructed him to perform an act of honor towards him to give him merit. By contrast when he blessed Yaakov (28:3) he knew that he needed no additional merit.
Prepare for me tasty food from the animals you capture, such as I like. As stated above (25:28), Esau would regularly feed Isaac from the animals he hunted, and Isaac enjoyed such meals. And bring it to me, and I will eat, so that my soul will bless you before I die.
ועשה לי מטעמים ואוכלה, “and prepare it for me into a delicacy so that I will eat it.” Seeing you had forfeited your birthright through something that you ate, I will help you to regain it through the food you give me to eat.
“Bring it to me to eat” [27:4]. Isaac said: bring me something good to eat and I will bless you. Hizkuni writes. You Esau sold your birthright for the sake of food. I will bless you and give you back your rulership through eating. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:4.) Bahya writes. Isaac said: bring me food so that I will be happy and through joy I will be able to bless you. Our sages said that prophecy does not rest on a person when he is sad, but only when he is full of joy. Bahya asks a question here. Why did he desire to eat in order to be happy? Why did he not desire harps or violins to make him joyous as other prophets used to do when they were sad? The explanation is that Isaac wanted to be happy through the thing with which he would bless Esau, since the blessing of Esau was, “of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth, abundance of new grain and wine” [27:28]. (Bahya, Genesis, 27:4.) This means, from the dew of heaven, oil, wheat and wine.
See how the Torah attests that Jacob our father (Peace be upon him) had the quality of contentment, and did not seek excessive gains, but rather only what was necessary, who, when it was said, “If God gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear,” (Gen 28:20.) asked for what was necessary, what the Holy One Blessed be He provides for all His creatures, as it is said, “You give it openhandedly, etc.” (Ps. 148:16.) And our rabbis z”l taught in a midrash: “‘Bread to eat and clothing to wear:’ in all his days, this righteous man [Jacob] never grieved over his eating, but rather over ‘the inward and the outward.'” (Penimi ve-hitzon is an expression that refers to one’s personal integrity. The person who is inward is genuine; “their outside is like their inside.” What you see is what you get. One who is “outward” is a hypocrite; their outward behavior does not match their true inner feelings. The contrast between penimi and hitzon (“inward” vs. “outward”) has become a distinctive concept in modern Hasidic ethics. In any case, the point of the midrash is that Jacob worried much more about his personal integrity than what he was going to eat.) And know that the righteous person ought to direct his mind when he is eating only to the fact that the bodily meal by which he will sustain his body for the moment is so that his soul with it may show its powers and realize them in action, and by this prepare the eternal meal by which it will sustained forever. And look at the holy status prevalent among the elite of the people of Israel, who used to eat and look with the heart itself. This is what the Scripture means when it says, “They envisioned God and they ate and drank,” (Ex 24:11.) that the organs of the body which are the vessel of the soul would receive power and strength in the banquet, and the soul would be roused with its powers in them and strengthen them in this thought, and make it possible for holy spirit to descend upon it [the body] at the time of eating, when he is lifted up in this thought, and his body is clothed in the thought of his soul, and the two of them as one good enough for the Divine Presence [Shekhinah] to descend among them. This was the intent of Moses and the elders of Israel during Jethro’s banquet, and this is what the Scripture means when it says, “Aaron came and all the elders of Israel [to partake of the meal before God with Moses’ father-in-law],” (Ex 18:12.) and likewise Isaac our father in the tasty foods for which he asked, (Gen 27:4.) and in all the rest of the places that we find banquets for righteous people – that was the end to which they were intended.
Some philosophers thought that true love can exist only between opposites. Dry earth requires and longs for water, moisture. Water laden skies, clouds, need to empty themselves on earth. On the other hand, all craftsmen are jealous of one another. Aristotle on the other hand holds that likes are attracted to each other. Starlings keep company with ravens as they are of a kind (Chullin 65). Since G-d is neither similar to man nor totally his opposite, some hold that a love relationship with G-d is impossible. But the prophet Maleachi 1,2 says, "G-d says I have loved you Israel, and I have hated Esau... How can you question this?" (based on the premise that I am neither like you nor your exact opposite. More about this in chapter 90). The fact that two brothers (Jacob and Esau), who by nature should be similar, are treated so differently, proves that character traits rather than genetic affinity, i.e. outwardly similar human beings, determine between whom love occurs. Love has positive and negative aspects. Inasmuch as even trees have been compared to humans, especially fruit-bearing trees, their destruction has been prohibited (Deut. 20,19). Animals which share even more with human beings than trees, seeing that they are living creatures, must not be destroyed needlessly and must not be made to suffer even when their destruction is in order and serves a higher purpose (Baba Metzia 32). Examples are consumption by humans, which is restricted in the case of the mother animal and its young, which are not to be slaughtered on the same day. Mother birds must be dispatched before the newly hatched chicks may be taken. An animal needs to be at least eight days old before it may be slaughtered as a sacrifice to G-d, etc. Such considerations apply in even greater measure when dealing with fellow human beings, regardless of any formal agreements to that effect. Torah legislation, when dealing with the status of gentile slaves, is most specific in detailing the degree of concern that must be shown for the physical well being of such a slave. This mutual love for fellow human beings is observed in increasing measure when these humans are part of the same race or environment. The Torah emphasizes the positive aspects of love by commanding "Love your fellowman like yourself," i.e. when that fellowman is similar to yourself (Leviticus 19, 18). Love is not demanded for those utterly unlike you, such as animals etc. In fact, the feelings which we reserve for things or creatures unlike us is not love, but goodwill, pity etc. (see Psalms 102). We relate to the stones of Zion as something that we "want," not as something that we "love." The latter term would be a complete misnomer for phenomena not on our level. When Isaac asks Esau for "delicious dishes the way I "love" them" (Genesis 27,4), the term "love" does not describe the dishes, but the people whom he loves. He is saying to Esau, "When you do what I like....l will love you." Proof of this is found in the verse (Genesis 25,28) "Isaac loved Esau because he carried venison in his mouth." The term "love" cannot rightfully be applied even to parts of the body. Such parts become "nirtzah," appreciated, and may become the instrument through which their owner becomes "beloved." The term " ratzon," goodwill, appreciation, refers also to the parts of whole things which qualify for "love." For instance, Psalms 19, 15, "May the words of your mouth engender goodwill." The term "love" is reserved for the whole person. "Love the Lord your G-d;" "Love your fellowman like yourself,” i.e. identification with the other party is love. Such an identification is based on a complete appreciation of the other's qualities. This is what G-d describes when He said to Abraham, "Take your son, your only one, the one whom you love." (Genesis 22,2) Love cannot survive when one of the parties undergoes a drastic change either in moral or physical stature. Jonathan volunteered to become David's deputy, to enable his love for David to survive (Samuel I 23,17). For the appreciation of the foregoing, G-d required a covenant from the Jewish people, in order to maintain the love relationship that existed and to warn Israel that unless a mutuality of interests and the deeds arising from that mutuality of interests was maintained, the love relationship would disintegrate. The factors which were mutual, i.e. the common denominator between G-d and Israel, were Torah, Sanctuary (temple), and Priesthood. These factors were needed to ensure that by concentrating on them, both G-d and Israel would maintain their identity of purpose. When people try to upset this love relationship others have with G-d, it is like craftsmen who are jealous in their hearts of fellow craftsmen, seeing that we are all children of one father.
Solomon, in Proverbs, is a leading exponent of the significance of this structure. In chapter 30,21, he says "For three things the earth does quake, four it cannot endure. A slave when he becomes king; a scoundrel sated with food; a loathsome woman who gets married and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress." He describes natural processes as being a model for mechanical, artificial processes employed in the running of a household. There are four basic forces that need to be present and employed properly to ensure that a household runs smoothly. The body requires food to ensure its proper function. To that end, 1) the food needs to be channelled to all parts of the body. 2) There has to be a storage area for this food to preserve it in prime condition until it is needed to perform its function. 3) There is need for the power to break down the food, digest it etc. 4) There is need for the power to distribute the usable part of the food and expel the unusable part from the body. One may conceive of these four mechanisms as ministers who preside over a household. As long as each minister performs his specific function, the household will run smoothly. Neglect of his duties by even one of the ministers, brings in its wake disease and eventual collapse. (see Kohelet 12,3) In the mechanically operated household, there have to be four forces corresponding to those present in the natural household, i.e. the body, in order to ensure its smooth operation. Amongst men, four categories of vocations correspond to the four categories in the household team described. There is the hunter, who ensures the availability of a food and clothing supply. There are storage experts who know how to preserve supplies in good condition until these supplies are needed. There is need for a cook, i.e. a person who knows how to prepare the food so that it is both edible and digestible; clothing has to be made fit to wear. Finally, there is need for someone to distribute food and clothing fairly to all members of the household, and to arrange for disposal of any excess or waste products. Solomon refers to the inadequacies of three of these "ministers" when he says "the earth quakes." He refers to the failure of the fourth "minister" when he describes the earth as collapsing. Having established the principle, Solomon elaborates. Concerning the failure of the first "minister," he says "when the slave becomes the ruler." The slave's function is to go out and get supplies for the house to make these available to the household members. When he remains inside, instead of performing his duties, this act of insubordination is the first link in a chain leading to the breakdown of the whole meshek, economy. Jacob sent his sons to Egypt in order to forestall such a breakdown. The second "minister," if absent or inefficient, is "a miser who claims to be sated." When the one in charge of supplies is miserly in allocating same, he endangers the well being of all those entrusted to his care. When he who always claims not to have enough, claims to have ample, that is a reversal of his traditional function and signals danger. This was Jacob's complaint when it seemed to him that his sons were delaying the return trip to Egypt unduly, appearing to consider their supplies as ample. (Genesis 43,2) The third "minister" that must not be upset, is the wife of inferior status, the concubine. When a man has more than one wife, the task of grinding, cooking and baking is generally allocated to the less favoured of his wives, whereas his favoured wife is pampered, not having to perform menial tasks. When this arrangement is upset, and the concubine competes with her rival, both being idle, the kitchen will be neglected in the process. The whole household is then threatened with collapse. The fourth "minister" is the maid. When she, instead of performing her duties of disposing of waste products etc., assumes the function of her mistress and distributes supplies to each member of the household, the household will break down in short order, since there is no one to perform the menial tasks. Moreover, as soon as distribution of the supplies is entrusted to the hands of the unqualified, the deserving will wind up getting less than their fair share, whereas the undeserving will receive more than they can usefully absorb. This undermines everyone's well being, of course.
The answer: Scripture makes it clear that Isaac loved Esau, undoubtedly not knowing of his evil deeds, as our sages have apprised us (Tanchuma, Toldoth 8). And if there had come to him a prophecy that he put aside his eldest son, whom he loved, and bless Jacob instead, there is no doubt that this would have saddened him; and this sadness would have prevented the spirit of the L-rd from coming to rest upon him in perfection. For this reason the Blessed One desired him to think that he was blessing his beloved son, Esau, so that his heart expand in joy and he attain the godly spirit to the full extent of his powers. And this is, likewise, the reason for Isaac's saying to Esau (Genesis 27:4): "And make me savory food, as I love, and bring it to me and I will eat it, so that my soul bless you." That is, so that his soul expand and rejoice and the spirit of prophecy come to rest upon it. And it is because of this factor that the Blessed One desired that Jacob think he was blessing Esau when he was, in reality, blessing Jacob.
Now if you will ask: Why should the blessing avail for Jacob, and why did Isaac say (Ibid 37): "But I have made him your lord, and I have given him all of his brothers as servants … and what shall I do now for you, my son!" How could he have made Jacob a lord if he had intended to give all to Esau! Did we not learn in respect to vows (Nedarim 11:5): "If his wife made a vow and he thought his daughter made it, or if his daughter made a vow and he thought his wife made it … he must annul it again," for what is said to one person on the assumption that he is a different person does not avail him at all. This being so, why should Isaac have said "and what shall I do now for you my son?" Furthermore, why did Esau not challenge the blessing itself instead of merely protesting (Ibid 38): "Do you have just one blessing, my father?" He should have said: "That blessing was given in error and will not avail him; give it to me!"
Now, because of this Yitzchak said, “It is not fitting for Esav to inherit the supernal spiritual blessings of Godly intellect. It rather is more fitting for him to inherit the lower bodily blessing. It therefore is appropriate to bless him with physical things that the body delights in, such as food and drink.” This is why Yitzchak told Esav, (Genesis 27:4) “Make delicacies for me, such that I like, and bring them to me and I will eat, so that my soul-Nafshee-נפשי may bless you.” The verse specifies “my soul-Nafshee-נפשי,” certainly referring to the physical soul called the Nefesh-נפש, which receives the food, rather than the Godly and spiritual Neshamah-נשמה level of the soul. In this way, our forefather Yitzchak, peace be upon him, sought to lighten the punishment of the Jewish people in exile, and to extract them from the judgments of purgatory (Gehinom).
At that time: (Gen. 27:4) And make delicacies for me as I have loved... – from the positive precepts, that were given from love, and not from the negative precepts, which he, the appointed one of Esau, offers to me, by which to accuse Israel, because of which it is stated: (Mal. 1:3) ... and Esau did I hate...
At that time, the blessed Holy One will say to Israel: (Gen. 27:4) And make delicacies for Me – with the desire of the Shekhinah – such as I have loved – from the positive precepts, and the Shekhinah prepares ‘prayer foods’ with Israel, which are sacrificial-offerings.
Another word: (Gen. 27:4) And make delicacies for me such as I have loved – from the performance of positive precepts, and not such as I hate, from the transgression of negative precepts.
But after it ascends to its level, it will say to Israel: (Gen. 27:4) And make for me ‘delicacies’ (mat-’amim) , such as I have loved – from positive precepts, which are included in the Hei (ה) of AVRaHaM (Abraham) (248) , who incorporates 248 commandments, by which Hei (ה) is brought close towards Vav (ו) . And this ‘bringing near’ offering (qorbana) , is the ‘bringing near’ of the blessed Holy One with His Shekhinah, in each-and-every place [Var. each-and-every limb] – the bringing close of Y-H.
“Now, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me” (Genesis 27:3). “Now, please take your gear” – sharpen your hunting tools, so you will not feed me unslaughtered carcasses or mauled animals. Take your hunting tools, so you will not feed me stolen or forcibly-taken items. “Your quiver [telyekha]” – he said to him: ‘The blessings are pending [teluyot]. The one who is worthy to be blessed, he will be blessed.’ Another matter, “please take your gear [kelekha],” this is Babylon – “and he brought the vessels to the treasure house of his god” (Daniel 1:2). “Your quiver [telyekha],” this is Media – “they hanged [vayitlu] Haman on the gibbet” (Esther 7:10). “Your bow,” this is Greece [Yavan] – “for I bend Judah for Me as a bow […on your children Yavan]” (Zechariah 9:13). “And go out to the field,” this is Edom – “to the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” (Genesis 32:4). “Prepare for me delicacies, as I like, and bring it to me, and I will eat; so that my soul will bless you before I die” (Genesis 27:4). “Prepare for me delicacies” – Rabbi Eliezer said in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Zimra: Three matters were stated regarding the tree from which Adam, the first man, ate: Good for eating, beautiful to the eyes, and adds wisdom. The three of them were stated in one verse: “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it is good for eating; “and that it was enticing to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it was beautiful to the eyes; “a source of wisdom [lehaskil]” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it adds wisdom, just as it says: “A contemplation [maskil] by Eitan” (Psalms 89:1). Likewise, Isaac said: “Prepare for me delicacies [matamim].” He said to him: ‘Initially, I would enjoy the sight, but now I enjoy only the taste [hataam].’ Likewise, Solomon said: “With the increase of goodness, its eaters increase; [and what use is it to its owner other than the sight of his eyes?]” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) (When someone is wealthy, his household is large and his food expenditures are great. He enjoys only the sight of the food.) – from here [we learn] that the blind are not sated. One who sees an empty basket and is hungry is unlike one who sees a full basket and is sated. (Somebody who sees an empty basket feels hungry, while somebody who sees a full basket does not feel hungry, since he knows that there will be food when he is hungry.) “Rebecca heard as Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring” (Genesis 27:5). “Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring” – if he finds, excellent, but if not, “to bring” – from stolen or forcibly-taken items.
“Jacob called to his sons, and he said: Gather, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days. Assemble and hear, sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father” (Genesis 49:1–2). Why did he call them? He sought to reveal to them the End. It is written: “He removes speech from the trusted, and takes the sense of elders” (Job 12:20). Who are the “trusted” and the “elders”? They are Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, and Moses. In Moses’s regard it is written: “In all My house he is trusted” (Numbers 12:7). Likewise, in Aaron’s regard: “The Torah of truth was in his mouth” (Malachi 2:6). But because they said: “Hear now, defiant ones” (Numbers 20:10), they were sentenced because of their speech – “therefore, you will not bring this assembly [into the land that I have given them]” (Numbers 20:12). That is, “He removes speech from the trusted.” (Here the midrash interprets the verse to mean: “He removes the trusted due to speech,” meaning that God removed Moses and Aaron from their projected positions of leading Israel into the land due to their sin involving speech. ) “And takes the sense of elders” – this is Isaac and Jacob. Isaac was fond of Esau, whom the Holy One blessed be He hated, and he said to him: “Prepare delicacies for me” (Genesis 27:4), and sought to bless him and reveal the End to him. What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He stripped him of his sense, and he did not know, (God removed the divine spirit from Isaac. ) but he began trembling, as it is stated: “Isaac was overcome [with very great trembling]” (Genesis 27:33). When he was unable to find what to say, he said: “Indeed he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). Jacob, too, sought to reveal the End to his sons, as it is stated: “Gather, and I will tell you what will befall [you at the end of days]”; and the Holy One blessed be He concealed it from him, and he began saying: “Reuben, you are my firstborn” (Genesis 49:3). That is, “and takes the sense of elders.”
“With the increase of good, those who consume it increase; what use is there for its owner, other than the sight of his eyes?” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). “With the increase of good, those who consume it increase” – Rabbi Ḥananya and Rabbi Yonatan asked Menaḥem the confectioner, and Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥananya: Menaḥem the confectioner asked them: (The midrash is presenting two traditions as to whether they asked Menaḥem or he asked them.) ‘What is that [which is stated]: “He afflicted you and starved you” (Deuteronomy 8:3)? Was the manna that the Holy One blessed be He gave to the Israelites food of starvation?’ What did he do? He brought before them two cucumbers, one whole and one broken. (The whole cucumber and the broken one were the same size.) He said: ‘This whole one, how much [is it worth]?’ They said to him: ‘Two maneh.’ ‘And this broken one, how much [is it worth]?’ They said to him: ‘One maneh.’ He said to them: ‘Is the destiny of this one not to become like that one?’ (Ultimately, in the process of eating the whole one, it will become like the broken one. Why, then, is its price double?) He said: ‘They are not comparable, for just as one enjoys the taste, so too he enjoys the appearance.’ Rabbi Elazar [said] in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Zimra: Three matters were stated regarding the fig tree: It is good for eating, attractive to the eyes, and adds wisdom, and the three of them appear in a single verse. “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating” (Genesis 3:6) – from here that it was good for eating; “and that it was an enticement to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6) – from here that it is attractive to the eyes; “and that it was desirable for wisdom [lehaskil]” (Genesis 3:6) – from here that it adds wisdom. That is what is written: “A contemplation [maskil] of Eitan HaEzraḥi” (Psalms 89:1). Likewise, Isaac says: “Prepare tasty food for me” (Genesis 27:4). He said to him: ‘Initially, I enjoyed the appearance; now I enjoy only the taste.’ (This is because Isaac’s eyes had grown dim; see Genesis 27:1.) Likewise, Solomon says: “With the increase of good, those who consume it increase” – there is no comparison between one who sees his food basket empty and is hungry, and one who sees his food basket full and is satiated. (The meaning is that seeing one’s food basket empty makes one feel hungry and seeing one’s food basket full makes one feel satiated.) A certain Samaritan asked Rabbi Meir, he said to him: ‘Will the dead [yet] live?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Yes’. He said to him: ‘In private or publicly?’ He said to him: ‘Publicly.’ He said to him: ‘From where can you show me [that it is so]?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘It is not from the Bible, and not from the Mishna, but rather, from the way of the world that I respond to you.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘There is a trustworthy person in our city, and everyone deposits with him in private and he returns it to them publicly. If one deposited it with him publicly, how will he return it to him, in private or publicly? Is it not publicly?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Do your ears not hear what your mouth speaks? People [privately] deposit with their wives a white drop, and the Holy One blessed be He publicly returns that drop to them as a fine, whole person. The dead, who goes publicly, is it not all the more so that he will come publicly? Just as he went with loud cries, (Of mourning) so he will come with loud cries.’ (Of joy and thanksgiving) Rabbi Yonatan said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan of Beit Guvrin: It is written: “The grave, the barren womb” (Proverbs 30:16). What does this have to do with that? It is to say to you: Just as [a child emerges from a barren womb with loud cries, so too [the dead emerge from] the grave with loud cries. [The Samaritan] said [to Rabbi Meir]: ‘How do they come, unclothed or clothed?’ He said to him: ‘Clothed.’ He said to him: ‘From where can you show me [that it is so]?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘It is not from the Bible, and not from the Mishna, but rather, from the way of the world that I respond to you.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Have you ever sown beans?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘How did you sow them, unclothed or clothed?’ He said to him: ‘Unclothed.’ (Beans are planted individually rather than encased in a pod.) He said to him: ‘How do they come [out of the ground when they grow], clothed or unclothed?’ He said to him: ‘Clothed.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Do your ears not hear what your mouth is saying? If beans, when you sow them unclothed, they arise clothed, the dead person who goes [to the grave] clothed [in shrouds], is it not all the more so that he will come [back to life] with a garment?’ Rabbi Aivu [said], and some teach it in the name of Rabbi Natan: It is written: “It will be transformed like clay under the seal; and they stand like a garment” (Job 38:14). A garment that descends with a person to the grave in this world comes with him [when he comes to life] in the future. [The Samaritan] said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘Since they come alive and clothed, who provides them with food?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Have you ever been to Ḥamat Gader?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘In season or not in season?’ (Ḥamat Gader is the site of natural hot springs. The time of year when many people would gather there to bathe for medical reasons is referred to here as “in season” (Rabbi David Luria).) He said to him: ‘In season and not in season.’ He said to him: ‘How was the food there, available?’ He said to him: ‘Available.’ He said to him: ‘In season or not in season?’ He said to him: ‘In season and not in season; because of the crowds, [people] bring [food] to sell and to buy.’ (Because of the large crowds at certain times of year, the location developed an active market all year round.) [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘So too, the One who brings the crowds brings their food, as it is written by Solomon: “With the increase of good, those who consume it increase” – when the consumers of good increase, the good will increase.’ [The Samaritan] said to him: ‘Since they come [back] alive, clothed, and sustained, why do you cry over them [when they die]?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘May a curse come upon that person. (This is a reference to his interlocutor, the Samaritan.) Is there a person who loses something precious to him and does not cry? Rather, just as he came [into the world] with loud cries, so he leaves with loud cries.’
It is taught: When a fetus is formed in its mother’s womb, there are three partners in it, the Holy One blessed be He, its father, and its mother. Its father injects the white substance, from which come the white [substances of the body], and the brain, the nails, the white of the eye, the bones, and the tendons. Its mother injects the red substances, from which come the blood, the skin, the flesh, the hair, and black of the eye. The Holy One blessed be He, may His name be blessed and His memory exalted, places ten matters in it, and these are: Spirit, soul, countenance, eyesight, hearing of the ears, speech of the lips, lifting of the arms and walking of the legs, wisdom and understanding, counsel and knowledge, and strength. When the time of his passing arrives, the Holy One blessed be He takes His portion and leaves the portion of his father and his mother before them, and his father and his mother cry. The Holy One blessed be He says to them: ‘Why are you crying? Did I take anything of yours? I took only what was Mine.’ They say before Him: ‘Master of the universe, as long as Your portion was intermingled with our portions, our portions were protected from maggots and worms. Now that You have taken your portion from the midst of our portions, our portions are cast aside and subject to maggots and worms.’ Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi would analogize it; to what is the matter analogous? It is to a king who had a vineyard and entrusted it to a sharecropper. The king said to his servants: ‘Go and harvest my vineyard, take my portion, and leave the portion of the sharecropper in its place.’ Immediately, they went and acted in accordance with the king’s command. The sharecropper began screaming and weeping. The king said to him: ‘Did I take anything of yours? Did I not take only what was mine?’ He said to him: ‘My lord, the king, as long as your portion was with my portion, my portion was protected from plunder and theft. Now that you have taken your portion, my portion is cast aside for plunder and theft.’ The king [in the analogy] is the King, king of kings, the Holy One blessed be He. The sharecropper, this is a person’s father and mother. As long as the soul is in the person, he is protected. When he dies he is given to maggots and worms, as it is stated: “How much less so man, a maggot” (Job 25:6) – these are the lice [that afflict him] during his lifetime; “the son of man, a worm” (Job 25:6) – these are the worms that creep under him after his death. Shimon ben Elazar says: Even a living one-day-old does not require protection from a weasel, nor from mice, nor from snakes. The dog sees [him] and flees. The snake sees [him] and flees. But when dead, even one [mighty] as Og king of Bashan requires protection from a weasel and from mice and snakes. As long as a person is alive, his fear is cast on all creatures, beasts, and creeping creatures, as it is stated: “And your fear and your dread shall be upon every beast of the earth…” (Genesis 9:2). When a person dies, the fear of him is removed, and he requires protection. A living one-day-old baby, one may desecrate Shabbat on his behalf; [but even for] David king of Israel, [when he is] dead, one does not desecrate Shabbat on his behalf. This is as Solomon said: “For a living dog is better than a dead lion” (Ecclesiastes 9:4), and like what Rav Yehuda said that Rav said, as Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: What is it that is written: “Lord, inform me of my end, and the measure of my days, what it is” (Psalms 39:5)? David said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, inform me of my end.’ [God] said to him: ‘It is decreed before Me that one does not reveal the end of flesh and blood.’ [David said: ‘Let me know] “the measure of my days, what it is.”’ He said to him: ‘It is a decree of Mine not to reveal the measure of a person’s days.’ He said to Him: “Let me know how short-lived I am” (Psalms 39:5). He said to him: ‘You will die on a Shabbat.’ He said to Him: ‘Let me die on a Sunday.’ He said to him: ‘The [time for the] kingship of your son Solomon will have already arrived, and one kingdom does not overlap with another even one hairbreadth.’ He said to Him: ‘Let me die on the day before Shabbat.’ He said to him: ‘“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand” (Psalms 84:11) – a single day in which you sit and engage in Torah is preferable to Me than the thousand burnt offerings that your son Solomon will offer before Me on the altar.’ Each Shabbat he would sit and study all day. He had a garden behind his house, and when that day [arrived], (The day David was meant to die.) the Angel of Death came and shook the trees. [David] went out to see [what the source of the noise was]. As he was climbing the stairs, a stair broke beneath him, he was silent, and died. Solomon sent [word] to the study hall: Father died and is lying in the sun, and the dogs of father’s house are hungry. What should I do? They sent to him: Cut up a carcass and place it before the dogs. And your father, place a loaf or an infant on top of him, and move him [out of the sun]. (A corpse may not be moved on Shabbat due to the prohibition of muktze; however, if a loaf or an infant is placed on the corpse, it may be moved due to the presence of the non-muktze item.) Did Solomon not say appropriately: “For a living dog is better than a dead lion” (Ecclesiastes 9:4)?
(Gen. 47:29:) THEN, WHEN THE DAYS FOR ISRAEL TO DIE DREW NEAR…. This text is related (to I Chron. 29:15): FOR WE ARE SOJOURNERS BEFORE YOU AND TRANSIENTS LIKE ALL OUR ANCESTORS; {FOR} OUR DAYS UPON EARTH ARE [LIKE] A SHADOW, AND THERE IS NO HOPE. (Gen. R. 96:2; Tanh., Gen. 12:1.) And < they are > not like the shadow of a wall or like the shadow of a tree. Rather they are like the shadow of a bird, as stated (in Ps. 144:4): {OUR} [HIS] DAYS ARE LIKE A PASSING SHADOW. (Eccl. R. 1:2:1.) (I Chron. 29:15, end:) AND THERE IS NO HOPE: There is no one who does not expect to die. All know that they are going to die. Abraham said (in Gen. 15:2): FOR I AM GOING (i.e., dying) CHILDLESS. Isaac said (in Gen. 27:4): BEFORE I DIE. Jacob said (in Gen. 47:30): WHEN I SLEEP WITH MY ANCESTORS. When? When he was on the point of death (according to Gen. 47:29): THEN, WHEN THE DAYS FOR ISRAEL TO DIE DREW NEAR.
And there is no hoping implies that there is no one who can hope to escape death. All (our patriarchs) realized this and announced their deaths with their own mouths. Abraham said: I go hence childless (Gen. 15:2); Isaac declared: May my soul bless Thee before I die (ibid. 27:4); and Jacob said: When I sleep with my fathers (ibid. 47:30). When did he say this? When he was about to die. Thus it is written: And the time drew near that Israel must die.
The third approach to this meal is based on the mystical dimension behind the "delicacies," מטעמים, that Isaac wanted to taste before blessing Esau in Genesis 27,4. Our sages state that this was symbolic of the meal G–d will prepare for the righteous in the World to Come. The time frame for that event: After the world will have rejuvenated itself and has reached the spiritual level it should have maintained since the time Adam was created, and would have maintained if only Adam had not sinned. At such a time matter will have been so refined that men will need to wear only the כתנות אור, the garments woven of "light," as Adam had done before G–d had to provide him with leather aprons, i.e. כתנות עור. Then indeed G–d's blessing /command in Genesis 2,16 that man could eat from every tree in the garden will be fulfilled. Abraham alluded to this condition when he said to the angels "rest under the tree." He referred to it as representing the tree of life, seeing that at that time in the future death would be banished from the earth.
Hearing is also used in connection with acceptance and approval, which are at the basis of love; thus it is written (Ex. xxiv. 7), "We will do and we will hear." The performance of a thing is due to the love of a man therefore; thus it is said (Gen. xxvii. 4), "Make me savoury meat, such as I love."
And the one whose house it is shall come. Our Father, our King, our God teaches us the way of truth in order that we be enlightened to serve God. And this is that which we are obliged to place 'like a seal on our hearts' (ref. to Song of Songs 8:6): that there is nothing void of His watching, may He be blessed, and there is no teaching of pain which is not reproach for sin. And it is good to praise God for all pain which has not come, for if one's God were not in one's midst, these evils would have found one. And this is "And the one whose house it is shall come". The "telling" [that the homeowner gives to the priest] could have been "I have seen something like a plague in the house" -- but this is not what God has chosen, rather that they should say "something like a plague has appeared to me on my house". This is as if to say, for my sake it appeared on the house; for my sin God made me liable for a plague of tzara'at, it should have been on me and God placed it [instead] on my house. And this is why it says "appeared to me"; as if to say, it is suitable to say "like a plague appeared to me" for this has the substance of "to me". This is like what is said (Genesis 27:3-4) "prepare for me a dish"; "and trap for me"; "and bring it to me". And there are innumerable further examples.
The first reading, grammatically more plausible, is that it is the priests who must love. This is the basis of the statement in the Zohar that “a priest who does not love the people, or a priest who is not loved by the people, may not bless.” (Zohar III, 147b; see Magen Avraham, 128:18.) We can only bless what we love. Recall how the blind and aged Isaac said to Esau, “Prepare me the tasty food that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die” (Gen. 27:4). Whether it was the food that Isaac loved, or what it represented about Esau’s character – that he cared enough for his father to find him the food he liked – Isaac needed the presence of love to be able to make the blessing.
I will now comment on Remember and Observe. Note that the meaning, not the wording, is preserved. (Whenever Scripture repeats an account or a dictum.) Thus our father Isaac said to Esau, that my soul may bless thee before I die (Gen. 27:4). However, Rebekah told Jacob that she heard Isaac say, and bless thee before the Lord before my death (Gen. 27:7). Now lifne moti (before I die) (Ibid.) means the same as betrem amut (before I die). (The idea is the same although the words are different.) This being the case, (That Scripture preserves meanings.) why did Rebekah add, before the Lord? (When Isaac did not say this.) The answer is that Rebekah knew that Isaac was a prophet of the Lord and that the blessing which he would pronounce would be prophetically uttered. Hence she said, before the Lord to Jacob. (When paraphrasing to Jacob what Isaac had told Esau.) She was, as it were, explaining the meaning of the blessing. (She was telling Jacob that Isaac’s blessing would be prophetically uttered.) Moses acted in a similar fashion. The Ten Statements recorded in this chapter are God’s very words without any additions or subtractions, and they alone were inscribed on the tablets of the covenant. It is not as Saadiah says that Remember was on one side and Observe was on the second side. (According to Saadiah Gaon each tablet contained a different version of the Ten Statements. One tablet corresponded to the version of Exodus and one tablet corresponded to the version in Deuteronomy.) The Ten Statements recorded in the Torah portion Va-Etchannan are the words of Moses. The fact that the second version twice reads, as the Lord thy God commanded thee (Deut. 5:14,15. According to I.E. the meaning of the aforementioned is, as the Lord thy God commanded thee in the Ten Statements, the reference being to the first version.) is positive proof that this is so. (That the second version is Mosaic.) Note that memory is stored in the back of brain, which is in the head. The forms are there preserved. Now memory includes observance. (If one does not remember, he cannot observe.) The meaning of Remember is that one should keep in mind every day of the week what day that happens to be. (Calendars were very rare in the ancient world.) The reason for all of this is that one will observe the seventh day and do no work on it. The reason for remembering is for observance. (Remembering the Sabbath thus facilitates its observance.) Thus when God said, Remember, all the people understood that its meaning was, Observe. Hence Remember and Observe were, as it were, said simultaneously. Moses [similarly] had no need to mention for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth (v. 11) in the second version (Of the Ten Statements.) because he had at first stated, as the Lord thy God commanded thee (Deut. 5:13). The latter clause is to be understood as if it read, as the Lord thy God commended thee in “your Torah,” (It appears that Ibn Ezra follows the opinion that the Torah was given piecemeal. Thus when Moses repeated the Torah, the Israelites had the first four books of the Torah in their hands.) in the commandment opening with Remember (v. 8) and closing with and hallowed it (v. 11). Now God commanded that man- and maid-servants rest on the Sabbath. (Verse 10.) The Lord, however, did not give a reason for this. (That is, no reason for this was given in the first version of the Decalogue.) Moses therefore explained the reason. Moses said the reason God commanded that servants should rest on the Sabbath is that a person should remember that, like the servant, he too was a slave in Egypt, and God redeemed him from there. Note that eight of the statements are entirely negative commandments and that Honor thy father and thy mother (I.E. has already noted that I am the Lord thy God is a positive commandment; hence two of the Ten Statements are positive commandments and eight are negative commandments.) is a positive commandment. The rational wisdom which God has implanted in man’s heart teaches us that we are obligated to repay with good the good that a person has done for us. Now a child comes into the world only because of his parents. They nurse him, they care for him, they raise him, they give him to drink, they feed him, and they dress him. One has to honor one’s parents because they are the cause of his living upon the face of the earth. Hence the reward for honoring one’s parents is that thy days may be long upon the land (v. 12). God commanded a person to honor his parents because God breathed a soul into him (See Gen. 2:7.) through his parents who prepared the body, for he who honors them honors God. Now Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother (Deut. 5:16) and then added by way of explanation, as the Lord thy God commanded thee (Ibid.). (The verse continues, that thy days may be long.) As I will explain in my comments on the verse that opens with the words Thou shalt not eat it (Deut. 12:25), reward is given for the observance of the positive commandments and punishment is meted out for the violation of negative commandments. Moses thus said that one is obligated to honor one’s parents that thy days may be long (Deut. 5:16). The obligation to honor one’s parents is dictated by reason. In addition, one who honor’s his parents will receive a good reward, namely, thy days will be long because one listened to the voice of God who commanded us to honor them. Thus what was noted in the explanation of Rebekah’s words (Namely, that when Rebekah quoted Isaac she interspersed explanatory comments.) also applies to what Moses said. I have already noted that the terms onyx stones and and onyx stones mean the same thing. Thou shalt not commit adultery (v. 13) and Neither shalt thou commit adultery (Deut. 5:17), and ed sheker (false witness) (v. 13) and ed shav (false witness) (Deut. 5:17), are similarly “children of one father.” (That is, they have one meaning.) Thou shalt not covet (v. 14) and neither shalt thou desire (Deut. 5:18) likewise come out of one womb. (They have one meaning.) God said, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house (v. 14) because intelligent people first acquire a house and then a wife, next a man-servant and a maid-servant, and then an ox and an ass to plow their fields. Our chapter lists these items in this order. However, Moses (In Deut. 5:18.) listed them in another order, for young men first desire a woman, then a house. Now since Moses spoke of the house and the field, he next took note of the ox and the ass (See note 10.) because they are used in plowing one’s field. Moses next mentioned the man-servant and the maid-servant. At the very end Moses, like God, generalized and said, or any thing that is thy neighbor’s (Deut. 5:18). Scripture reads, These words the Lord spoke (Deut. 5:19), and not all these words (v. 1) as is first written, because God’s words are intermingled with Moses’ words.
On the other hand, my great teacher Rabbi Shlomoh (Aderet) felt that that the Midrash refers to a real meal which will be served to the righteous in the world to come. He understood the saying quoted in Vayikra Rabbah 7,3 by Rabbi Berechiah literally. [This is at variance with Maimonides who understood all such Midrashim as purely allegorical as Rabbi Chavell pointed out in his notes.] Rabbi Berechiah bases himself on the verse in Leviticus 7,24 which seemed to him extraneous and from which he derived that the righteous who had refrained from eating any diseased animals or any which had died of natural causes, i.e. טרפה ונבלה, would be compensated in the future by participating in a meal from the meat of the Leviathan. The text does not say that these righteous will feast on “Leviathan,” but “on the meat of Leviathan.” This word suggested to my Rabbi that the Talmud discussed a real meal. Naturally, what the sages had in mind with this meal was not something exclusively physical, designed to only provide satisfaction for the body; this would certainly not be germane to the domain of the world of the future. We know that spiritual forces are awakened and strengthened through the intake of physical food. The idea behind this feast therefore is that seeing it would be extremely satisfying from a gastronomic point of view, the spiritual benefits derived from it would be commensurate. It is not unlike the time when Yitzchak asked Esau to provide him with tasty venison to enable him to bestow a spiritual blessing on him (Genesis 27,4). We also encounter such a spiritually uplifting meal when Moses entertained his father-in-law Yitro in Exodus 18,12 where the eating is described as taking place לפני האלוקים, “in the presence of G’d,” i.e. it was a spiritual experience. Another example of such a meal is recorded in Samuel I where we are told that the young prophets stood and prophesied before Samuel as a result of having taken part of that meal. At any rate, it is likely that the meal G’d will serve the righteous in the future will have a similar effect on them. Some commentators believe that the food i.e. both meat and fish served at that meal, possesses special properties as the animals from which it will be prepared had been the original ones created during the six days when G’d made the universe. Our present world simply does not deserve that the people in it experience such delights. This is why the people who will be invited to participate in that meal will be the ones who have led exemplary lives in this life, denying themselves any forbidden pleasures. It is entirely possible that such pure foods had been prepared already when Adam and Chavah were still in Gan Eden prior to their sin. There may even have been an allusion to this when the Torah described the tree of knowledge as inspiring the desire to acquire additional knowledge (Genesis 3,4). Nowadays we are already familiar with a variety of drugs which are helpful in this regard. If that is so, then there can be no question that under the ideal conditions prevailing in Gan Eden some of the plants which were created during the six days of creation must have possessed such power. After all, the manna which the Israelites ate during their trek through the desert, though physical food, was designed for people of an especially high intellectual level. It was meant to enable the Israelites to comprehend abstract concepts and phenomena such as angels. The manna did not contain any superfluous ingredients which had to be excreted by the body as we know from Psalms 78,25 לחם אבירים אכל איש, “each man ate bread designed for highly intellectual persons.” Our sages in Yuma 75 explain that this means that all of the manna was absorbed by the body. Our sages have found an allusion to the food which will be provided for the righteous in the future when they said in Chagigah 12: “G’d grinds manna in the heavens for consumption by the righteous.” Perhaps the period when this meal will be served will coincide with the end of the period when man [his surviving soul? Ed.] will require physical food to sustain him. Subsequent to that meal the period which our sages have described as an era during which the righteous will “sit” with their crowns on their heads enjoying the splendour exuded by G’d’s presence will commence, so that the meal served from the remains of the Leviathan will be the very last physical meal these souls will ever imbibe. Just as the eighth day of the festival of Sukkot, שמיני עצרת, is so named as it represents the pinnacle of the previous seven days of the festival as well as its conclusion, so the meal consisting of the Leviathan may be the pinnacle of physical life on earth to be followed by life of a totally different, exclusively spiritual level.
A Midrashic approach based on Tanchuma Vayechi 1: the words “the days of Yisrael’s death were approaching” reflect what we have read in Chronicles I 29,15: “for we are sojourners with You, mere transients like our fathers; our days on earth are like a shadow, with nothing in prospect.” If at least the shadow would be that of a wall or a tree, i.e. an enduring shadow; but our days are only like the passing shadow of a bird which flies over us. This is what the psalmist had in mind when he wrote concerning man (Psalms 144,4): “Man is like a breath; his days like that of a passing shadow.” As soon as the bird flies over, his shadow departs with it. When David said in Chronicles that “there is no prospect,” he meant that there is no prospect of escaping physical death. Everybody knew and verbalised the fact that he would die. Avraham phrased it by saying (Genesis 15,2) “I am going to die without a child.” [Had he not known that he would die, having no child to replace him would not have bothered him. Ed.] Yitzchak had called in his son Esau in order to bless him “before I die” (Genesis 27,4). Yaakov referred to his impending death by saying “I want to be buried with my fathers” (Genesis 47,30). Seeing that he said these words close to his death, it is clear he spoke about the need to die, i.e. “when the days of Yisrael to die drew near.” When Yaakov was close to death he began to belittle himself in the presence of Joseph by saying: “if I please find favour in your eyes.” You find a similar phenomenon happening with David where the prophet describes the last days of his life as “the days for David to die drew near,” whereas nowhere else did the prophet refer to him as merely David instead of as “King David.” All of this proves that on or about the time of a man’s death he loses whatever control he used to possess over his spirit as mentioned in Kohelet 8,8: “No man has authority over the lifebreath- to hold back the lifebreath;” there is no authority over the day of death.”
ויקח יתרו חותן משה עולה וזבחים לאלו-הים, “Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law took burnt offering and meat offering for G’d.” This is the only time when we find the Torah mentioning the attribute אלו-הים in connection with sacrifices. Everyhwere else we have the attribute Hashem in connection with sacrificial offerings to G’d. Yitro had not yet become aware of that dimension of G’d; hence he had to address the attribute he was aware of. Moses tried to educate him in this respect when he told him in verse 8 about what Hashem had done to Pharaoh on account of the Jewish people. Yitro’s motivation in coming, significantly, referred to what אלו-הים had done for Moses (verse 1).
The first reading is grammatically more plausible. It states that it is the priests who must love. This is the basis of the statement in the Zohar that “a priest who does not love the people, or a priest who is not loved by the people, may not bless.” We can only bless what we love. Remember how Yitzḥak, when he was elderly and blind, said to Esav, “Prepare me the tasty food that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die” (Bereshit 27:4). Whether it was the food that Yitzḥak loved, or what it represented about Esav’s character – that he cared enough for his father to find him the food he liked – Yitzḥak needed the presence of love to be able to make the blessing.
Make it into a tasty dish for me, the way I like it, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul will bless you before I die.
and make me food such as I love, and bring to me, and I will eat, that my sould may bless thee ere I die.
| וְרִבְקָ֣ה שֹׁמַ֔עַת בְּדַבֵּ֣ר יִצְחָ֔ק אֶל־עֵשָׂ֖ו בְּנ֑וֹ וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ עֵשָׂו֙ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה לָצ֥וּד צַ֖יִד לְהָבִֽיא׃ | 5 J | Rebekah had been listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau had gone out into the open to hunt game to bring home, |
בדבר, spelled with the “strong” ב.
AND REBEKAH HEARD. Shoma’at (heard) should be translated, “was listening.” (Shoma’at is a participle. It literally means listening. Hence, the word “was” has to be added and the verse should be understood: Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son.)
ורבקה שומעת, and Rebeccah was listening, etc. The Torah tells us that Rebeccah was a prophetess who always listened to Isaac's words even though she did not speak up in his presence. The. Torah alludes to this by saying ורבקב שומעת בדבר יצחק, "Rebeccah was listening whenever Isaac spoke." Normally we would have expected the Torah to write: ותשמע רבקה, "Rebeccah happened to overhear." The present tense employed here by the Torah here is most unusual. Maybe Isaac spoke to Esau in a whisper and that is why he believed that Jacob was really Esau; Isaac thought that Jacob could not have have heard of Isaac's instructions to Esau. Although Isaac's eyesight had begun to fail him, he called Esau to help him with something confidentially. Both Isaac's call and Esau's response, "I am ready" may be an allusion to the conspirational nature of the conversation.
ורבקה היתה שומעת בדבר יצחק, she saw that Esau had gone to carry out his father’s instructions and she told Yaakov about it as she was jealous that Esau should obtain this blessing. She did not realise that Yaakov would be blessed even if he did not receive a blessing from his father, and that was also what his father had assumed. Yitzchok was a righteous man, and he would never have become guilty of depriving Yaakov of a blessing which he deserved by giving it to Esau instead. Rivkah was so consumed with her love for Yaakov that she advised him to engage in cheating in order to secure the blessing for himself. She did not feel that there was something sinful in doing that.
לצוד ציד להביא TO HUNT FOR VENISON IN ORDER TO BRING IT —What is the force of to bring it? It means that he intended that if he would find no venison (flesh of a wild, ownerless animal) he would bring home of the flesh of an animal acquired by theft (Genesis Rabbah 65:13).
Rebecca heard as Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field, in accordance with his father’s command, to hunt game in order to bring it to him.
“Esau had gone out into the open to hunt game to bring home” [27:5]. Esau though that he would hunt game in the field. However, if he could not find any game, Esau thought he would steal some cattle, in any event, something to eat. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:5.) Rebecca said to Jacob: your father desires food from Esau and wants to bless him. You go to the herd and take two good goats. I will make good food for your father that he loves, in the hope that he will bless you. Rashi asks a question here. Why did Rebecca say, “take for me” [27:9]? This means, take for me. That is to day, Rebecca said: take from my goats, since Isaac had written into the marriage contract for Rebecca, to give her two goats every day. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:9.)
In the words of our sages, there are many statements that require evidence and interpretation, such as in Pirkei Avot (3:4) "One who is awake at night" [referring to studying Torah at night], and in Pesachim (111a) "And [he] drank water" [referring to the wisdom of measurements]. And the matter of the letter of the daughter of the voice [the Shekhinah] is derived from the laws of the constellations. And the matter of the moon and its relationship with the sun is derived from the wisdom of the constellations. Similarly, many things in the Scriptures require interpretation, as mentioned by Kohelet regarding the four elements, which are the heavens, the earth, the wind, and the dust. It is written (Kohelet 1:5) "And the sun rises and the sun sets" corresponding to the heavens, (Kohelet 1:4) "And the earth stands forever," (Kohelet 1:6) "And the wind goes round and round," and it does not come to an end, (Kohelet 1:7) "All the rivers flow into the sea," and these four are mentioned in the portion of Bereishit (Genesis 1:1) "The heavens and the earth," (Genesis 1:2) "And the spirit of God hovered over the waters." And similarly, in Isaiah (40:12), "Who measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure," and in Psalms (104:2), "He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters," and His angels are the winds that roam over the water. And likewise, in Psalms (33:7), "He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He sets the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." And similarly, it is mentioned in Psalms (33:6) regarding the word of God, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth." And similarly (Job 28:25), "To establish a weight for the wind and apportion the waters by measure." For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees under the whole heavens. And thus it is written (Proverbs 30:4), "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name? Surely you know!" And thus it is written elsewhere (Job 38:18), "Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this!" And all is prepared for the understanding one. And many such things are mentioned at the end of the Book of Psalms, as fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling His word. And thus the waters are above the heavens, and how the luminaries and the stars are in one expanse, and all is true. And the sages of the Talmud in our generation are diverse in their approaches. There are those who delve into matters of prohibition and permission, and there are those who possess knowledge of the Midrashim, and they too provide new insights and seek meaning for every word, whether surplus or lacking. And now, let me state a general principle: Know that the prophets do not guard the words themselves in their years; rather, they guard the meanings alone, which are the essence, as in the words of Eliezer (Genesis 24), "The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you." And Isaac said to Esau (Genesis 27), "So that my soul may bless you before I die." And Rebekah said (Genesis 27), "So that I may bless you before the Lord before my death." And in the dream (Genesis 41), "Handsome in appearance and robust in form," and in the interpretation, it is not stated thus, but to Balaam (Numbers 22), it is said, "You shall not curse them at all, and indeed, you shall bless them." And in the words of Moses (Numbers 21), "And he sent messengers to Sihon, saying, 'Let me pass through your land; I will not turn aside into field or vineyard.'" But Moses changed it and said, "We will not pass through the field." And it is written (Exodus 32), "Now, leave Me alone, and let My anger flare up against them, that I may consume them." But Moses changed it and said, "Turn from Your burning anger and relent from this disaster against Your people." And there are many such instances. And behold, in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), "Remember" (Deuteronomy 5), "Observe" (Exodus 20), "You shall not covet" (Deuteronomy 5), "You shall not desire" (Exodus 20), "And any false oath" (Deuteronomy 5), "And any vain oath." The letters 'vav' (ו) in "Avnei" (אבני) are missing, and Moses changed it to have a 'vav' (ו). Also, "You shall not commit adultery" - this is an addition and a rebuke, and the intelligent one will understand.
The verse therefore states, (Genesis 27:5) “Rivkah heard when Yitzchak spoke to his son Esav,” and she commanded Yaakov to prepare the delicacies and receive the blessing of Esav. Had she not done so, not a single Jew would escape the sword of Edom during exile. Contemplate this very well, for I have enlightened you of the secret of Yitzchak’s blessing and love for Esav.
“Now, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me” (Genesis 27:3). “Now, please take your gear” – sharpen your hunting tools, so you will not feed me unslaughtered carcasses or mauled animals. Take your hunting tools, so you will not feed me stolen or forcibly-taken items. “Your quiver [telyekha]” – he said to him: ‘The blessings are pending [teluyot]. The one who is worthy to be blessed, he will be blessed.’ Another matter, “please take your gear [kelekha],” this is Babylon – “and he brought the vessels to the treasure house of his god” (Daniel 1:2). “Your quiver [telyekha],” this is Media – “they hanged [vayitlu] Haman on the gibbet” (Esther 7:10). “Your bow,” this is Greece [Yavan] – “for I bend Judah for Me as a bow […on your children Yavan]” (Zechariah 9:13). “And go out to the field,” this is Edom – “to the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” (Genesis 32:4). “Prepare for me delicacies, as I like, and bring it to me, and I will eat; so that my soul will bless you before I die” (Genesis 27:4). “Prepare for me delicacies” – Rabbi Eliezer said in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Zimra: Three matters were stated regarding the tree from which Adam, the first man, ate: Good for eating, beautiful to the eyes, and adds wisdom. The three of them were stated in one verse: “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it is good for eating; “and that it was enticing to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it was beautiful to the eyes; “a source of wisdom [lehaskil]” (Genesis 3:6) – from here [we learn] that it adds wisdom, just as it says: “A contemplation [maskil] by Eitan” (Psalms 89:1). Likewise, Isaac said: “Prepare for me delicacies [matamim].” He said to him: ‘Initially, I would enjoy the sight, but now I enjoy only the taste [hataam].’ Likewise, Solomon said: “With the increase of goodness, its eaters increase; [and what use is it to its owner other than the sight of his eyes?]” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) (When someone is wealthy, his household is large and his food expenditures are great. He enjoys only the sight of the food.) – from here [we learn] that the blind are not sated. One who sees an empty basket and is hungry is unlike one who sees a full basket and is sated. (Somebody who sees an empty basket feels hungry, while somebody who sees a full basket does not feel hungry, since he knows that there will be food when he is hungry.) “Rebecca heard as Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring” (Genesis 27:5). “Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring” – if he finds, excellent, but if not, “to bring” – from stolen or forcibly-taken items.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn” – Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] would say [an interpretation] of this as praise and [an interpretation] as criticism. You are firstborn, and Esau is firstborn. “Esau went to the field to hunt game [to bring]” (Genesis 27:5) – if he found, fine; if not, “to bring” from what he stole or took by force. But you, “Reuben went during the days of wheat harvest [and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah]” (Genesis 30:14). (Reuven took mandrakes that were ownerless and not from what belonged to others (see Bereshit Rabba 72:2), unlike Esau.) “My strength, and the first of my potency” – these are the vanguard in the battle. “Greater honor and greater power” – “their faces were like the faces of lions” (I Chronicles 12:9). (This is written regarding the Gadites, but since the Gadites and Reubenites both formed the vanguard in the conquest of Canaan, it is true of the Reubenites as well (Matnot Kehuna). ) He would say [an interpretation] about this as criticism – “Reuben, you are my firstborn” – you are firstborn and I am firstborn. (Jacob bought the birthright from Esau.) I, at the age of eighty-four years old, had never seen a drop of seminal emission, (That is, until Jacob married Leah and fathered Reuben. The midrash assumes that Reuben was conceived the first time Jacob had relations with Leah. ) but you: “[Reuben] went and lay with Bilha” (Genesis 35:22). “My strength, and the first of my potency” – the first of my toil and the first of my travail. (He was the one with whom Jacob first experienced the travail of raising children.) “Greater honor and greater power” – the birthright was yours, the priesthood was yours, the kingship was yours, but now that you sinned, the birthright was given to Joseph, the priesthood to Levi, and the kingship to Judah. Rabbi Aḥa said: The birthright was not yours. Is it not so that Jacob went to Laban only for Rachel? All the furrows that I plowed in your mother; was it not in Rachel that they should have been plowed? (This is a euphemism for marital relations. Reuben was conceived the first time Jacob had relations with Leah, when he thought she was Rachel, and therefore by right the firstborn should have been from Rachel (Nezer HaKodesh). ) Now, the birthright has returned to its owner. "Impetuous as water, you shall not excel; because you mounted your father's bed; then you desecrated, he who ascended my couch” (Genesis 49:4). “Impetuous as water, you shall not excel” – Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua: Rabbi Eliezer said: You were impetuous [paḥazta], you sinned [ḥatata], you engaged in harlotry [zanita]. (The Hebrew term for impetuous, paḥaz, is an acronym for paḥazta, ḥatata, zanita.) Rabbi Yehoshua said: You rebelled [parakta ol], you desecrated [ḥilalta] my couch, your evil inclination stirred [za] within you. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said: You trampled [pasata] the law, you forfeited [ḥavta] your birthright, you became a stranger [zar] vis-à-vis your gifts. They said: Even now, we still need the Moda’i. Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i came and explained: You shuddered [zata], you trembled [ḥaradta], the sin flew [paraḥ] from upon your head. (Reuben shuddered and trembled with remorse for his sin, and therefore was forgiven (Matnot Kehuna). ) Rabbi Pinḥas said: You acted like those impetuous ones who break their shins in the water. (They leap before they look.) “As water” – the Rabbis say: You sinned through water, (Water in the sense of liquid, a reference to semen.) let the one who was drawn from water come and draw you near: “May Reuben live and not die” (Deuteronomy 33:6). (This verse was stated by Moses, who was so called because he was drawn from the water (see Exodus 2:10). ) “As water” – just as water is released from place to place, so, you have been released. (Just as water flows, your sin has flowed away from you, i.e., you have been relieved of liability. Alternatively, the implication is: Your privileges have been taken from you (Matnot Kehuna). ) Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i says: One does not make a ritual bath of wine or of oil, but rather of water; so, you made yourself a ritual bath of water and you purified yourself in it. (Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i is of the opinion that Reuben sinned only in thought but not in deed, as he did not carry out his sinful thoughts. Therefore, his thoughts of sincere repentance restored him to a state of purity, as though he had immersed in a ritual bath (Etz Yosef). ) “You shall not excel [totar]” – Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, both of them said this: Nothing was relinquished [vitarta] for you. (You have not been absolved from punishment. This is derived from the fact that totar and vitarta are derived from the same root in Hebrew. ) Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i says: There will be nothing remaining [vitaron] for you from your sin. “Because you mounted [alita]” – Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, both of them said: Because you mounted in its plain sense. (They interpret the phrase “because you mounted your father’s bed” in the plain sense as indicating that Reuben literally sinned with Bilha. ) Rabbi Elazar said: Because you mounted [alita] (He interprets alita to mean “you elevated [he’eleita],” meaning that Reuben brought about benefit regarding his father’s bed. This occurred in the incident of the mandrakes, which led to the birth of Issachar.) – where? In the case of the mandrakes. “Your father’s bed [mishkevei avikha]” – Rabbi Berekhya said: It is not written here: Your father’s bed [mishkav] , but rather, “your father’s beds [mishkevei]” (The term mishkevei, generally translated “bed,” is actually a plural term, such that a literal translation would be “beds.” ) – the bed of Bilha and the bed of Zilpa. (Accordingly, not only did Reuben literally sin, but he did so with Zilpa as well as with Bilha. ) Rabbi Abbahu, and some say Rabbi Yaakov, in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya Rabba, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: We learned: One who is suspect in some matter neither judges in its regard nor testifies in its regard. (Mishna Bekhorot 4:10. ) Is it possible that he is destined to be one of the six tribes that were standing on Mount Eval and saying: “Cursed is one who lies with his father’s wife” (Deuteronomy 27:20), and he performed this very act? Rather, he was defending his mother’s honor. All the days that Rachel was alive, her bed was situated alongside the bed of Jacob our patriarch. When Rachel died, Jacob our patriarch took Bilha’s bed and placed it alongside his bed. [Reuben] said: Is it not enough that my mother was jealous during her sister’s lifetime, that she must be so even after her death? He rose and rearranged the beds. Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon disagrees with this and [says that] Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi [said] in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: This is analogous to one who was suspected of selling teruma as non-sacred produce. (Teruma, which could be eaten only by priests and the members of their households, and only in a state of ritual purity, would command a much cheaper price than non-sacred produce. ) They investigated him and inspected, but did not find any substance to these claims, and they appointed him in charge of setting prices in the marketplace. “Then you desecrated” – Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, both of them said: “Then you desecrated” – in its plain sense. “Ascended” – Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, both of them said: You ascended from your sin. Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i said: You ascended from your gifts. (Numerous commentaries suggest that the text should read that according to Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, “you ascended from your gifts,” meaning that due to his sin, Reuben lost out on the priestly gifts, and Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i says, “you ascended from your sin,” meaning that Reuben repented and achieved atonement for his sin. ) The Rabbis say: I am neither distancing you nor drawing you near. Instead I am leaving you in loose abeyance until Moses, in whose regard it is written: “And Moses ascended to God” (Exodus 19:3), comes, and does with you what he perceives to be correct. When Moses came, he began to draw him near: “May Reuben live” (Deuteronomy 33:6). The Rabbis say: The same was true of the congregation of Koraḥ, . (See the end of section 2. )
(Gen. 27:4f.:) AND MAKE ME DELICACIES…. NOW REBEKAH HAD BEEN LISTENING…. [THEN ESAU WENT TO THE FIELD]. When he had caught < some deer > and bound them, the angel went to set them free and drive them away. (Gen. R. 67:2; see Tanh., Gen. 6:11.) Again he caught them, but the angel set them free. And why so? Simply to drag out the hours until Jacob would go. So he would go, make < the meal >, enter in with his father, eat, and receive the blessings. Ergo (in Gen. 27:5): THEN ESAU WENT TO THE FIELD TO CATCH GAME TO BRING < HOME >.
(Deut. 14:22:) “You shall surely tithe.” Tithe ('sr) so that you may become rich ('shr), (In Hebrew letters the roots translated “tithe” and “become rich” are identical.) before you are in want (hsr). (PRK 10:10.) [Here is] a hint (remez) for those who sail the seas to take out one tenth for those who labor in Torah. (This interpretation understands the ALL in the commandment as expressing the universality of the YOU rather than modifying the predicate of the sentence. See the commentary of Enoch Zundel, ‘Ets Yosef on Tanh., Deut. 4:18, who cites the Tosafot to Ta’an 9a (top); cf. Sifre, Deut. 14:22 (105).) (Ibid., cont.:) “The produce of your seed.” If you are merit it, it shall go out to sow the field. But if not, the one who goes out to the field shall in the end engage in combat with you. This refers to Esau, of whom it is said (in Gen. 27:5), “and Esau had gone out into the field to hunt game.” Another interpretation (of Deut. 14:22), “the produce of your seed.” If you merit it, your end shall be that, when you go out to your field and see what is in need of rain, you shall pray and be answered. (On granting of rain for tithes, see Mal. 3:10; PRK 1:4.) But if not, it ends up that the enemies of Israel come out to bury their children in the field. (A euphemism warning that neglected tithes will lead to Israel’s enemies burying Israel’s children.) (Deut. 14:22:) “Year by year.” One does not set aside a tithe from one year for [the crops of] another. (According to this the restriction applies only to the second tithe, which was set aside in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of each septennial cycle. So Sifra to Lev. 27:30–34, 277: Behuqqotay, pereq 12 (115b). See Sifre, Deut. 14:22 (105 Ter. 1:5; TBekh. 7:1; RH 8a, 12b (bar.).) [These are] the words of R. Aqiva. (Deut. 14:23:) “Then in the presence of the Lord your God, in the place where he shall choose to have His name dwell, you shall consume the tithes of your grain, [your new wine].” If you tithe, [it is] your grain. But if not, [it is] My grain, according to what is stated (in Hos. 2:11), “Therefore I will take back My grain in its time.” If you merit it [it is] your new wine. But if not, [it is] My new wine, [according to what is stated (ibid., cont.),] “and My new wine in its season.” Resh Laqesh said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘I have told you to take your tithes from the choicest part. How so? When a Levite comes to you, if you give him a tithe from the choicest part, I will [also] give to you from the choicest part.’” Thus it is stated (in Deut. 28:12), “The Lord will open for you His finest storehouse.” But if you have given him some sword grass and some pulse, I have a right to give you something similar. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 28:24), “The Lord will make the rainfall of your land powder and dust.” (Deut. 14:29:) “Then the Levite, because he has no share or inheritance with you shall come….” R. Judah b. R. Simon said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘If you have four children in the house, you have (according to Deut. 16:14:) “And you shall rejoice during your festival, you, and your son, and your daughter, your bond servant, and your bondmaid.” And as for Me, I have four children in the house: (ibid., cont.:) “the Levite and the sojourner, the orphan and the widow.” [These are] mine. So they all are in a single verse. If you give joy to Mine during the festival days that I have given you, I will give joy to yours in the Temple (literally, in the house of choice). It is so stated (in Is. 56:7), “I will bring them unto My holy hill and give them joy in My house of prayer.”’ Amen, so may it be His will!”
FOR I HEARD THEY ARE SAYING. “I heard that they were saying.” (Ramban’s intent is to explain that the Hebrew shamati omrim, literally, “I heard they are saying,” is as if it were written, shamati shehayu omrim, “I heard that they were saying,” thus referring to a past event.) Similarly the expression, Rebekah hears, (Above, 27:5.) means that she heard. It is possible that he is saying: “The shepherds have gone from here for I heard people saying, (According to this interpretation, Gabriel spoke concerning people in general as if he did not recognize that these shepherds were his brothers.) ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ Perhaps they were your brothers.” The man thus spoke with him as if he were avoiding the subject.
OF TURTLEDOVES OR OF YOUNG PIGEONS. Scripture chose these two species [of birds] because they are accessible and can be more easily caught than other [birds], just as our Rabbis have mentioned (Vayikra Rabbah 27:6.) with reference to any of the sheep, and any of the goats, (Deuteronomy 14:4.) that [Scripture chose these species so that] a person should be able to bring an offering from those animals that feed at his crib, and should not have to take his weapons, quiver and bow, to go out on the hunt to bring it. (Genesis 27:5. See also ibid., Verse 3.) He chose grown-up turtledoves (Turtledoves may be offered only after their neck-feathers have turned bright yellow. Pigeons may be brought only when they are still so young that when their feathers are plucked blood is drawn (Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Isurei Mizbeiach 3:2).) because they abstain [from pairing with strangers] and attach themselves only to their mates, and once they lose their companions they never associate with others. So Israel cleave to the Eternal their G-d, (See Deuteronomy 4:4.) and never attach themselves to another deity, Pigeons, on the other hand, are very jealous and as a result of their jealousy they part [from their previous mates] and take on other mates. Therefore He chose them [as offerings] only when they are young, before their mating begins, for as long as the pigeon is young it is attached with greater love to the nest where it is reared than are all other fowls. Our Rabbis have mentioned (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 1:5.) that if a person touches the nest of all other fowls to take therefrom the young ones or the eggs, they leave it and never nest therein again, but the pigeon never abandons it under any condition. And so is [the people of] Israel. They will never exchange their Creator and His Torah, but “either Jews or nailed to the stake.” He did not choose cocks [as offerings although they are readily accessible] because of their inclination to lewdness. Now the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] wrote in the Moreh Nebuchim (Guide of the Perplexed III, 46.) that the reason for choosing grown-up turtledoves and young pigeons as offerings is that these are the best of their species, since old pigeons are less tasty. But this is not true, for young pigeons are almost inedible as a result of their excessive moistness. If, however, we are to take into consideration their natural tendencies as far as eating them is concerned, it is possible that they were chosen for their special qualities; for turtledoves have a propensity to sharpening of the mind, and young pigeons have a propensity to benefit greatly those who are not fully-matured physically, such as youths in the intermediate stage between boyhood and maturity, and the like.
כאשר אהב SUCH AS HE LOVETH (Genesis 27:5) — For the taste of a kid is similar to the taste of a deer.
Rivkah had [over]heard what Yitzchok said to his son, Eisov. Eisov went out to the field to trap [deer] to bring it [home.]
And Rivekah heard by the Holy Spirit as Izhak spake with Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to take venison to bring it.
| וְרִבְקָה֙ אָֽמְרָ֔ה אֶל־יַעֲקֹ֥ב בְּנָ֖הּ לֵאמֹ֑ר הִנֵּ֤ה שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ אֶת־אָבִ֔יךָ מְדַבֵּ֛ר אֶל־עֵשָׂ֥ו אָחִ֖יךָ לֵאמֹֽר׃ | 6 J | Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I overheard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying, |
ורבקה אמרה אל יעקב, And Rebeccah said to Jacob, etc. The reason that the Torah introduces the verse with the conjunctive letter ו is to tell us that Rebeccah agreed with the Holy Spirit which had conveyed this conversation between Isaac and Esau to her.
לאמר, הנה שמעתי. to say, "here I have heard," etc. She wanted to make sure that Jacob realised that she had only just become aware of what had transpired between Isaac and Esau and that she could not be accused of having allowed too much time to elapse to take countermeasures. Jacob had enough time to carry out his mother's instructions.
אחיך לאמר, "your brother, saying." She did not mean that Esau was a true brother of Jacob in character; she used the word "your brother" to indicate that just as Isaac plotted with Esau, she now did the same thing with Jacob.
She also used the word לאמר to protect herself since she had not quoted Isaac's words to Jacob verbatim. She meant that she had told Jacob the gist of Isaac's words to Esau.
ורבקה..לאמר, she had a conversation with her son Yaakov, at the end of which she told him that his father had sent out Esau to bring him venison as a prelude to receiving the blessing.
Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying: Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying as follows:
And in the Raa-ya M’hemna (parshat Eh-more, mentioned above, in chapter 7 (100a) ): “‘And Rivka said to Yaakov…’ (Bereshit 27:6)—to be aroused by these tasty foods of his. And Yaakov was aroused from below, dons prayers and supplications…, and says: ‘who—where—is the one who has hunted prey’ (ibid 27:33)—using a number of prayers and supplications—‘and I ate from all …’.” And in parshat Pinkhas 235a: “‘and eat from his son’s catch’—these are the prayers that leave and are expelled.”
Rabbi Yosi said, come and behold, If, heaven forbid, Esau would have been blessed at that time, Jacob would not have ruled over the world. But it was decreed by the Holy One, blessed be He, and everything happened as it should. Come and behold, It is written, "but Rivkah loved Jacob" (Beresheet 25:28), as has been explained. Therefore, she sent for Jacob and said to him "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother" (Beresheet 27:6).
“Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying: Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying” (Genesis 27:6). “Bring me game, and prepare me tasty food and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death” (Genesis 27:7). “Now, my son, heed my voice to what I am commanding you” (Genesis 27:8). “Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two fine goat kids, and I will make of them tasty food for your father, like that he likes” (Genesis 27:9). “Rebecca said to Jacob…. Bring me game…. Now, my son, heed my voice…. Go now to the flock” – Rabbi Levi said: Go and see to the advancement of the nation that is likened to a flock, just as it says: “You are My flock, flock of My pasture” (Ezekiel 34:31). “Take for me from there two fine goat kids” – Rabbi Levi said: [Rebecca said:] ‘If you find, excellent, but if not, go and bring me from my dowry,’ as, so he [Isaac] wrote to her, that he would provide her with two goat kids each day. “Fine [tovim]” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Good [tovim] for you, as through them, you will take the blessings, and good for your descendants, as through them they will gain atonement on Yom Kippur, as it is written: “For on this day he shall atone…” (Leviticus 16:30). (Atonement was achieved through the offering of two goats on Yom Kippur.)
(Gen. 27:6, 8, & 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get < the venison >, he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 & 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: < I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN >…. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 &. 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN…. (It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18.) PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: < HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK > … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him: (Cf. Gen. R. 65:19.) When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused < a sacrificial animal > to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES < TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM >…. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. (Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal.) Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob; (Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said: (yTa‘an. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21.) In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor (Lat.: Caesar.) Hadrian, < who > [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther. (This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1968.) R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out < over > what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.
Another interpretation (of Cant. 5:2): I SLEEP…. Jacob had given up hope that he would receive blessings from Isaac. Yet (ibid., cont.): BUT MY HEART IS AWAKE. (Gen. 27:6, 8-10:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE < UNTO JACOB >…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. THEN BRING IT TO YOUR FATHER…. He said to her (in vss. 11f.): LOOK, MY BROTHER ESAU IS A HAIRY MAN…. PERHAPS MY FATHER WILL FEEL ME…. He said to her: Do you not know that anyone who makes fun of his father is < as guilty > as if he were serving idols? Thus it is stated (in vs. 12, cont.): AND IN HIS EYES I SHALL BE LIKE ONE WHO MOCKS. Now one who mocks is nothing but an idolater, since it is stated (in Jer. 10:15): THEY (i.e., idols) ARE VANITY, A WORK OF MOCKERY.
R. Johanan the son of Zakkai said: Scripture states: Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of unhewn stones (Deut. 27:6), for it will help to achieve peace between the Israelites and their Father in heaven. A logical conclusion may be derived from this. If the stones of the altar, which cannot see or hear or speak, achieve peace between Israel and their Father in heaven, so that the Torah commands that iron should not be wielded over them, how much more so, then, should one who promotes peace between husband and wife, or between a man and his companion, have his days and his years prolonged.
Now (Jacob) was skilled in the Torah, and his heart dreaded the curse of his father. His mother said to him: My son ! If it be a blessing, may it be upon thee and upon thy seed; if it be a curse, let it be upon me and upon my soul, as it is said, "And his mother said to him, Upon me be thy curse, my son" (Gen. 27:13). He went and brought two kids of the goats. Were two kids of the goats the food for Isaac? But he brought one as a Paschal offering, and with the other he prepared the savoury meat to eat; and he brought it to his father, and he said to him: "Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison" (Gen. 27:19). Isaac said: "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (Gen. 27:22). Jacob (declares) the unity of God. "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.) in the meditation of the Torah. "And the hands are the hands of Esau" (ibid.), in all shedding of blood and in every evil death. Not only this, but also when they proclaim in heaven, "The voice is the voice of Jacob," the heavens tremble. And when they proclaim on earth, "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.), every one who hears will make his portion with "The voice which is the voice of Jacob." And every one || who does not hear and does not act (obediently), his portion is with "The hands, which are the hands of Esau."
You must realise that when you look at both the positive and the negative commandments in our Torah the underlying reason for all of them is that after G'd had examined His creatures and determined that there were evil elements amongst them He wanted to separate us (the Jewish people) from such elements; He examined the good elements and decided to sanctify us by means of these good elements. In the Tikkuney Hazohar section 21 we find the following comment in connection with Isaac requesting that Esau prepare for him delicious dishes as he loved them, (Genesis 27,6). Isaac referred to the positive commandments as the delicious dishes he loved, whereas he considered the negative commandments as something he hated [designed to ward off what he hated. Ed.] There is a statement in Sifri on Exodus 15,26 "for I the Lord am your Healer," according to which G'd said to Moses to tell the people that the words of Torah He gave to them are therapeutic and are life. The repetition of "therapeutic and life" presumably refer to the positive and negative commandments respectively. The therapeutic nature of negative commandments could be the avoidance of certain diseases by abstaining from forbidden foods, whereas the performance of positive commandments is considered as a life-giving activity. When G'd commanded in Leviticus 11,43 which animals we are not to eat, the Torah stated that the reason that we should not eat such creatures was so as not to make ourselves detestable and not to defile ourselves (Leviticus 18,24). Sexual permissiveness is also described by the Torah in terms of abominations. In other words, G'd's major objective in legislating all this was to protect us and enable us to attain sanctity.
Rivkah said to her son Yaakov, saying, Behold, I heard your father speaking to your brother Eisov, saying,
And Rivekah spake to Jakob her son, saying, Behold, this night those on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it; and I have heard thy father speaking with Esau thy brother, saying,
| הָבִ֨יאָה לִּ֥י צַ֛יִד וַעֲשֵׂה־לִ֥י מַטְעַמִּ֖ים וְאֹכֵ֑לָה וַאֲבָרֶכְכָ֛ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י מוֹתִֽי׃ | 7 J | ‘Bring me some game and prepare a dish for me to eat, that I may bless you, with יהוה’s approval, before I die.’ |
ואברככה לפני ה, “I shall give you the blessing that is approved by the Lord.” [Seeing that after Avraham’s death the Lord had conferred his power to bless on his son Yitzchok. (Compare 25,11). Ed.] Yitzchok explained that this was why he encouraged Esau now to perform deeds to be worthy of such blessings. The author refers to his commentary on Genesis 10,9, in connection with the expression: 'גבור ציד לפני ה.
The last two letters in the word ואברככה are כה.
BEFORE MY DEATH. Before I die. (The word li-fene (before) means in the presence of. It might conceivably be rendered immediately before (in the presence of) my death, hence I.E.’s comment. For the same reason Filwarg explains I.E.’s comment as meaning: while I yet live.)
הביאה, she gratuitously added the words 'לפני ה, as if they had been Yitzchok’s words (which they were not). She intended thereby to convince her son Yaakov that the blessing about to be given to Esau was of an unusual, critical importance, one that would reflect a prophetic utterance by Yitzchok.
AND I WILL BLESS THEE BEFORE THE ETERNAL BEFORE MY DEATH. In this entire section, the expression, before the Eternal, is not mentioned except in this place. This is because his mother said to Jacob, “The blessing will be before the Eternal with the Ruach Hakodesh, (See above, Note 90.) and if Esau your brother be blessed with it, it will remain with his children forever, and you will have no standing before him.”
'לפני ה. “in the name of the Lord.” However, when the same expression לפני ה' occurs in 10,9 describing the prowess of Nimrod as a hunter, the meaning is that his prowess was something of global dimensions, that no other hunter could match him in this respect. Similarly, the expression לאלוקים in Jonah 3,3 describing the vastness of the city of Nineveh, refers to the unique size of that city, none other matching it throughout the world.
'לפני ה BEFORE THE LORD — By his permission: that He should approve of what I do.
Das לפני ד׳ ist eine Umschreibung des נפשי: ich will dich als vor ד׳ wirkend, d. h. mit deinem Berufe wohlthuend, segnen.
With His consent... Question: How could Rivkah say, “In the presence of Hashem,” something which Yitzchok never said? The answer is that Rashi had a question: If Yitzchok considered Eisov righteous, why did he warn him so much on this day about neveilah and robbery? Rashi, [by explaining, “With His consent,”] answers that Yitzchok intended the blessings to be with Hashem’s consent — that He should grant His approval. This is why Yitzchok especially exhorted Eisov on this day. [And when Rivkah heard his exhortation, she understood that Yitzchok intended to bless Eisov “in the presence of Hashem.”] Rivkah said [to herself] about this: Since Eisov is going to bring any animal, even a stolen one [see Rashi on v. 5], he also will not obey his father regarding neveilah. If so, Hashem surely will not grant His approval. Thus she told Yaakov (v. 9, see Rashi there): “Take for me from there,” i.e., they are not stolen ones. (Nachalas Yaakov)
Bring me game and prepare for me tasty food, and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death.
ואברכה לפני ה', “I will bless you in the presence of G’d.” Although Yitzchok had only said: בעבור תברכך נפשי, “in order that my soul will bless you, without adding the name of the Lord, he was certain that G’d would fulfill such a blessing when pronounced by him. After all, all blessings originate with the Lord.
Come and behold, When Isaac said to Esau "and go out to the field, and catch me some venison (Heb. צָיִדה)" (Beresheet 27:3), with a Hei, instead of using tzayid, without a Hei. This has already been explained. And Esau went (hunting) to be blessed by Isaac, who said to him "and bless you before Hashem" (Ibid. 7). It would have been well to say just "and I will bless you," but since he added "before Hashem," the Throne of Glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, then trembled and said, Could it be, that the serpent is freed from these curses, and Jacob remains subject to them?
“Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying: Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying” (Genesis 27:6). “Bring me game, and prepare me tasty food and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death” (Genesis 27:7). “Now, my son, heed my voice to what I am commanding you” (Genesis 27:8). “Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two fine goat kids, and I will make of them tasty food for your father, like that he likes” (Genesis 27:9). “Rebecca said to Jacob…. Bring me game…. Now, my son, heed my voice…. Go now to the flock” – Rabbi Levi said: Go and see to the advancement of the nation that is likened to a flock, just as it says: “You are My flock, flock of My pasture” (Ezekiel 34:31). “Take for me from there two fine goat kids” – Rabbi Levi said: [Rebecca said:] ‘If you find, excellent, but if not, go and bring me from my dowry,’ as, so he [Isaac] wrote to her, that he would provide her with two goat kids each day. “Fine [tovim]” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Good [tovim] for you, as through them, you will take the blessings, and good for your descendants, as through them they will gain atonement on Yom Kippur, as it is written: “For on this day he shall atone…” (Leviticus 16:30). (Atonement was achieved through the offering of two goats on Yom Kippur.)
“Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him. He commanded him and said to him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan” (Genesis 28:1). “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him” – Rabbi Abahu said: Because the blessings were uncertain in his hand. (The blessings which Jacob received when Isaac thought he was Esau were considered uncertain by Jacob.) Where were they reinforced in his hand? It is here, “Isaac summoned Jacob.” (Isaac blessed him at his own initiative.) Rabbi Elazar said: Ratification of a document is only by its signatories, so that you will not say that had Jacob not deceived Isaac, he would not have received his blessings. The verse states: “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him.” Rabbi Berekhya said: This is analogous to the son of kings who was digging to take a pound of gold. He [the king] said to him: ‘Why clandestinely? Come and take it openly.’ “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him.” “He commanded him” – he cautioned him against the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. (He cautioned him not to marry them. They were allies of Abraham. See Genesis 14:24.) “Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:7). “Jacob heeded his father and his mother.” That is what is written: “Every way of a man is fitting in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). Every way of a man is fitting in his own eyes – this is Samson: “Samson said to his father: Take her for me, as she is fitting in my eyes” (Judges 14:3). “And one who heeds counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15) – this is Jacob: “Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went.”
“The time for Israel to die approached and he called his son, Joseph, and he said to him: Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, please place your hand under my thigh and perform kindness and truth with me; please do not bury me in Egypt” (Genesis 47:29). “The time for Israel to die approached.” It is written: “For I am a stranger with You, a resident, [as were all my fathers]” (Psalms 39:13). “For we are strangers before You…our days on earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope” (I Chronicles 29:15) – if only it would be like the shadow of a wall, or the shadow of a tree, (If our life is compared to a shadow, if only it could be like the shadow of a wall or tree, which stays in place and has stability.) but instead it is like the shadow of a bird when it is flying, as it is written: “Like a passing shadow” (Psalms 144:4). “And there is no hope” – there is no one who can hope not to die. Everyone knows and says with his mouth that he will die. Abraham said: “I am going (“Going” here is in the sense of dying.) childless” (Genesis 15:2). Isaac said: “I will bless you before the Lord before my death” (Genesis 27:7). Jacob, too, said: “I will lie with my fathers” (Genesis 47:30). When [did he say this]? When he was about to die.
Abraham also pleaded for death with his own lips, as it is said: What wilt thou give me, seeing I go hence childless (Gen. 15:2). Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace (ibid., v. 15). Isaac likewise sought death, as is said: That I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death (ibid. 35:29). Similarly, Jacob asked for death, as is said: Now let me die (ibid. 46:30). The Holy One, blessed be He, told him: You have said: Now let me die, but you will live seventeen additional years. After that time had passed he became ill and died.
And it came to pass after these things (Gen. 48:1). Scripture states in response to this verse: For such as are blessed of Him shall inherit the land; and they that are cursed of Him shall be cut off (Ps. 37:22). R. Meir said: Every one who blesses Israel is considered to have blessed the Holy Spirit, since it is said: For such as blessed Him. The verse is not written “blessed them” but rather blessed Him. R. Simeon the son of Yohai declared: Every one who assists Israel is considered to be assisting the Holy Spirit, as is said: Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to help of the Lord (Judg. 5:23). Does the Holy One, blessed be He, actually require assistance? This verse teaches us that one who aids Israel is considered to be aiding the Holy Spirit. R. Ishmael said: You find that righteous men bless their children when they are about to leave this life. That is why Isaac said to Esau: And bless thee before the Lord before my death (Gen. 27:7). Therefore, when Jacob became ill, Joseph took his two sons unto his father so that he might bless them.
Precious in the eyes of God are ten things called precious: wealth, as it is said, "A man's wealth is his strong city" (Proverbs 10:15); the Torah, as it is said, "For she is more precious than rubies" (Proverbs 3:15); Israel, as it is said, "Ephraim is a precious son to Me" (Jeremiah 31:20); knowledge, as it is said, "Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling" (Proverbs 21:20); prophecy, as it is said, "And the word of the Lord was precious in those days" (1 Samuel 3:1); understanding, as it is said, "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts" (Proverbs 20:27); foolishness, as it is said, "Folly is set in great dignity, while the rich sit in a lowly place" (Ecclesiastes 10:6); the righteous, as it is said, "How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:17); kindness, as it is said, "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!" (Psalm 36:8); and the death of the righteous, as it is said, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15). It is like a parable of a king who sent one of his officials to collect his taxes. The official stayed with a homeowner for eleven days, and each day he entrusted the homeowner with a hundred coins, totaling ten thousand coins. When the official came to collect the taxes, the homeowner claimed that he only owed fifty coins. The official wondered how he could collect the remaining amount from the homeowner. Similarly, God found it difficult to ask Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, whom He had blessed with Heaven and Earth, and who sanctified God's name in the world. God also found it difficult to ask Isaac to be sacrificed, who willingly offered himself on the altar and sanctified God's name in the world. God found it difficult to ask Jacob to die, who toiled in Torah his whole life. God found it difficult to ask Moses to die, who risked his life to face Pharaoh and fulfill God's commandments. Similarly, God found it difficult to ask David to die, who completed his soul and descended to his eternal rest. The same goes for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who cast themselves into the fiery furnace, and for all righteous people. If not for the fact that the righteous ask for death with their mouths, they would not die. As for Abraham it is written (Genesis 15:2) "And I am going alone, childless." In Isaac it is written (Genesis 27:7) "And I will bless you before I die." In Jacob it is written (Genesis 37:35) "I will go down to the grave in mourning." In Moses it is written (Deuteronomy 4:22) "But I must die." In David it is written (1 Kings 2:2) "I am about to go the way of all the earth." In Jonah it is written (Jonah 4:3) "Please, take my life." And since the righteous ask with their mouths, God said: "Let these go because of those." If Abraham had lived, how would he have led Isaac's reign? And similarly, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and Solomon. Rather, God said: "Let these go because of those."
I will now comment on Remember and Observe. Note that the meaning, not the wording, is preserved. (Whenever Scripture repeats an account or a dictum.) Thus our father Isaac said to Esau, that my soul may bless thee before I die (Gen. 27:4). However, Rebekah told Jacob that she heard Isaac say, and bless thee before the Lord before my death (Gen. 27:7). Now lifne moti (before I die) (Ibid.) means the same as betrem amut (before I die). (The idea is the same although the words are different.) This being the case, (That Scripture preserves meanings.) why did Rebekah add, before the Lord? (When Isaac did not say this.) The answer is that Rebekah knew that Isaac was a prophet of the Lord and that the blessing which he would pronounce would be prophetically uttered. Hence she said, before the Lord to Jacob. (When paraphrasing to Jacob what Isaac had told Esau.) She was, as it were, explaining the meaning of the blessing. (She was telling Jacob that Isaac’s blessing would be prophetically uttered.) Moses acted in a similar fashion. The Ten Statements recorded in this chapter are God’s very words without any additions or subtractions, and they alone were inscribed on the tablets of the covenant. It is not as Saadiah says that Remember was on one side and Observe was on the second side. (According to Saadiah Gaon each tablet contained a different version of the Ten Statements. One tablet corresponded to the version of Exodus and one tablet corresponded to the version in Deuteronomy.) The Ten Statements recorded in the Torah portion Va-Etchannan are the words of Moses. The fact that the second version twice reads, as the Lord thy God commanded thee (Deut. 5:14,15. According to I.E. the meaning of the aforementioned is, as the Lord thy God commanded thee in the Ten Statements, the reference being to the first version.) is positive proof that this is so. (That the second version is Mosaic.) Note that memory is stored in the back of brain, which is in the head. The forms are there preserved. Now memory includes observance. (If one does not remember, he cannot observe.) The meaning of Remember is that one should keep in mind every day of the week what day that happens to be. (Calendars were very rare in the ancient world.) The reason for all of this is that one will observe the seventh day and do no work on it. The reason for remembering is for observance. (Remembering the Sabbath thus facilitates its observance.) Thus when God said, Remember, all the people understood that its meaning was, Observe. Hence Remember and Observe were, as it were, said simultaneously. Moses [similarly] had no need to mention for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth (v. 11) in the second version (Of the Ten Statements.) because he had at first stated, as the Lord thy God commanded thee (Deut. 5:13). The latter clause is to be understood as if it read, as the Lord thy God commended thee in “your Torah,” (It appears that Ibn Ezra follows the opinion that the Torah was given piecemeal. Thus when Moses repeated the Torah, the Israelites had the first four books of the Torah in their hands.) in the commandment opening with Remember (v. 8) and closing with and hallowed it (v. 11). Now God commanded that man- and maid-servants rest on the Sabbath. (Verse 10.) The Lord, however, did not give a reason for this. (That is, no reason for this was given in the first version of the Decalogue.) Moses therefore explained the reason. Moses said the reason God commanded that servants should rest on the Sabbath is that a person should remember that, like the servant, he too was a slave in Egypt, and God redeemed him from there. Note that eight of the statements are entirely negative commandments and that Honor thy father and thy mother (I.E. has already noted that I am the Lord thy God is a positive commandment; hence two of the Ten Statements are positive commandments and eight are negative commandments.) is a positive commandment. The rational wisdom which God has implanted in man’s heart teaches us that we are obligated to repay with good the good that a person has done for us. Now a child comes into the world only because of his parents. They nurse him, they care for him, they raise him, they give him to drink, they feed him, and they dress him. One has to honor one’s parents because they are the cause of his living upon the face of the earth. Hence the reward for honoring one’s parents is that thy days may be long upon the land (v. 12). God commanded a person to honor his parents because God breathed a soul into him (See Gen. 2:7.) through his parents who prepared the body, for he who honors them honors God. Now Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother (Deut. 5:16) and then added by way of explanation, as the Lord thy God commanded thee (Ibid.). (The verse continues, that thy days may be long.) As I will explain in my comments on the verse that opens with the words Thou shalt not eat it (Deut. 12:25), reward is given for the observance of the positive commandments and punishment is meted out for the violation of negative commandments. Moses thus said that one is obligated to honor one’s parents that thy days may be long (Deut. 5:16). The obligation to honor one’s parents is dictated by reason. In addition, one who honor’s his parents will receive a good reward, namely, thy days will be long because one listened to the voice of God who commanded us to honor them. Thus what was noted in the explanation of Rebekah’s words (Namely, that when Rebekah quoted Isaac she interspersed explanatory comments.) also applies to what Moses said. I have already noted that the terms onyx stones and and onyx stones mean the same thing. Thou shalt not commit adultery (v. 13) and Neither shalt thou commit adultery (Deut. 5:17), and ed sheker (false witness) (v. 13) and ed shav (false witness) (Deut. 5:17), are similarly “children of one father.” (That is, they have one meaning.) Thou shalt not covet (v. 14) and neither shalt thou desire (Deut. 5:18) likewise come out of one womb. (They have one meaning.) God said, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house (v. 14) because intelligent people first acquire a house and then a wife, next a man-servant and a maid-servant, and then an ox and an ass to plow their fields. Our chapter lists these items in this order. However, Moses (In Deut. 5:18.) listed them in another order, for young men first desire a woman, then a house. Now since Moses spoke of the house and the field, he next took note of the ox and the ass (See note 10.) because they are used in plowing one’s field. Moses next mentioned the man-servant and the maid-servant. At the very end Moses, like God, generalized and said, or any thing that is thy neighbor’s (Deut. 5:18). Scripture reads, These words the Lord spoke (Deut. 5:19), and not all these words (v. 1) as is first written, because God’s words are intermingled with Moses’ words.
A Kabbalistic approach: when Solomon concludes the Book with the words תנו לה מפרי ידיה, “let her enjoy the fruit of her hands,” he refers to the virtue he had commenced with, i.e. “who can find a woman of valor?” Solomon wanted to seal his Book with the virtue which is the “seal” of the בנין, the structure comprised by the various emanations, its seal being the emanation חכמה [the simile with which he described the woman of valor. Ed.]. Seeing that the Jewish people had heard the Torah out of the fire and the prophet Chabakuk 3,10 referred to this experience saying נתן תהום קולו, “the deep gave forth loud roars” [see the whole verse, Ed.], Solomon arranged the praises of the Torah/wisdom in the order of the 22 letters of the aleph bet. The meaning of the concluding verse: “give to her of the fruit of her hands,” is a call to bestow a blessing on the emanation חכמה, also known as Torah. The whole idea is similar to what the sages said in Avot 3,7 תן לו משלו שאתה ושלך שלו, “give to Him part of what is His, for you yourself and all that is yours are really His.” The words ויהללוה בשערים מעשיה, “and let her accomplishments praise her in the gates,” are a reference to what the blessing consists of. David also used the words ברכה and הלול, in the same verse (Psalms 104,35) when he said ברכי נפשי את ה' הללוי-ה, “let my soul bless the Lord, Hallelujah.” Even though every human being is himself the beneficiary of G’d’s blessing, G’d nonetheless desires blessing uttered by human beings. He specifically commanded this when He said (Deut. 8,10) “you shall bless the Lord your G’d.” Isaiah tells us that “for whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the true (אמן) G’d.” (Isaiah 65,16) You should pay heed to the saying of the sages (Sotah 38) “he (the priest) who utters a blessing will in turn be blessed.” The reason is that by blessing the people in the name of the Lord, he (the priest) has included Everybody i.e. G’d, in his blessing. It is well known that the whole idea of bestowing a blessing is to contribute to the continued existence of the universe. This is why G’d bestowed blessings immediately after He had created certain phenomena, especially living creatures which are very fragile as compared to inert phenomena. [This is why we find already in Genesis 1,20 when the first living creatures were produced by the waters, that G’d felt compelled to bestow a blessing on them. Perhaps the absence of such a blessing for the vegetation on the third day is the reason we have non-fruit-bearing trees. Ed.] The reason that the whole Torah commences with the letter ב instead of the letter א for instance, is that it wanted to begin with an allusion to blessing. G’d blessed Adam, i.e. the human species (Genesis 1,28); He blessed Noach and his children (Genesis 9,1, the remnants of the human species). Only with the advent of Avraham (described by our author as ראש האמונה, “the father-figure of all true faith”) did G’d transfer the ability to bless to him and his descendants as we know from Genesis 12,2. Instead of telling Avraham that he would be blessed, ברוך, He told him that he himself would originate blessings, i.e. והיה ברכה, “become (a source of) blessing.” Ever since, the righteous have become the “sources” of blessings (or distributors directing blessings). This was how Yitzchok viewed himself when he said: “let me bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.” He meant that if he did not transfer the power to bless given to him, it would die with him as he was conscious of the responsibility entailed by this power to bestow blessing (compare Genesis 27,7). At this point, Moses makes use of this power, just as had Yaakov before his death (Genesis 49,28). The remarkable thing (from a kabbalistic point of view) is the use as an introduction of the word זאת on both occasions. This is also why the sages said that Moses continued where Yaakov had left off (Devarim Rabbah 11,1) — Yaakov concluded with וזאת ( וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם )and Moses began with וזאת (וזאת הברכה).
Bring back [deer] for me and make it into a tasty dish for me and I will eat. I will then bless you in the presence of Adonoy before I die.
Bring me venison, and make me food, and I will bless thee in the presence of the Lord before I die. And now my son
| וְעַתָּ֥ה בְנִ֖י שְׁמַ֣ע בְּקֹלִ֑י לַאֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י מְצַוָּ֥ה אֹתָֽךְ׃ | 8 J | Now, my son, listen carefully as I instruct you. |
Listen to my voice as I instruct you. The word “to my voice” is redundant. What would have been lost had the scripture merely said “Listen as I instruct you”? We have already explained that every place “my voice” is used careful attention and understanding is implied. She told him to listen carefully as she was commanding, to hint to him that she is speaking with Divine authority.
ועתה בני שמע בקולי, "and now my son, listen to me and obey my instructions!" "hasten to bring me two young kids at once."
שמע בקולי. "listen to my voice!" Although there is some deception involved in what I will instruct you, you still have to obey me apart from your duty to honour father and mother which is a positive commandment. Rebeccah stressed the fact that she was a prophetess and the Torah commands us to obey the prophets' instructions (Deut. 18,15). We have already explained (in connection with Genesis 16,5) that when a prophet asks you to disobey one of G'd's laws temporarily he is to be obeyed.
ועתה...לך נא אל הצאן, to their flocks.
טובים, fat ones. We find that Avraham (18,7) also offered the angels calves which were רך וטוב, “tender and fat.” When we read about the seven good cows Pharaoh saw in his dream (41,26), the word for “fat” is also טובות.
Now, my son, heed my voice to that which I command you. Rebecca invokes her authority in her address to her son, as she is telling him to perform a complicated and ostensibly questionable maneuver.
The instructions concerning the details of the appearance of the menorah which are given before its construction, then again while its construction was in progress, and finally- at least partially- in Parshat Beha-alotcha when the lighting of the menorah is commanded, pose the problem "why all this emphasis on the details?" Since none of the legislation in the Torah contains superfluous detail, it must be that the details are very important if they concern nothing more than a vessel that serves as the vehicle of a mitzvah, not the mitzvah itself. Why do we need to be told at that point that the construction of the menorah conformed to its blueprint? Who was it that carried out its construction? The craftsman who made it is referred to only by the words "he made it." The subject is nowhere mentioned by name, however. Why does Aaron need to be praised for not making any changes? Were the problems of cleaning the menorah so extraordinary that changes in its construction seemed to have been called for? Even stranger is the Midrash Tanchuma in Parshat Beha-alotcha, according to which Aaron was told that lighting the menorah was a commandment which would never become redundant, whereas offerings on the altar would cease with the destruction of the holy temple. Did not everything cease at that time, including the lighting of the menorah? Maimonides' answer that the Midrash refers to the lighting of the Chanukah lights seems far fetched. Aaron's mind would hardly have been put at rest by being told that a minor Rabbinic ordinance in the future would compensate him for not participating in the offerings that had been brought by the princes in which his entire tribe had not been represented. This is especially so, since even during the seven days of the inaugural service in the holy tabernacle, when Moses himself performed the sacrificial rites, Aaron's mind had already been troubled. This in spite of the fact that he would perform many more such sacrificial rites in the future. We therefore have to look further in order to understand that particular Midrash. There is a basic difference between the way man looks at things and in the way G-d looks at things. Man begins with the phenomena that he sees and hears, and proceeds by means of those phenomena to comprehend or assume the existence of other less familiar phenomena. Such unfamiliar phenomena may exist only in the abstract, never to be perceived visually or aurally. G-d, on the other hand, proceeds in the opposite fashion. Sof ma=asseh bamachashavah techillah, the final product had been envisaged at the very outset. This is the way He operates. Every manifestation of any phenomenon represents merely a step planned and necessary to lead to the ultimate total structure. Having planned the final product, He comprehends the significance of every step, every constituent part, even if it is apparently unrelated to the whole. He is aware that such a phenomenon is indispensable, an integral part of the whole to be revealed later. On his way to the inner sanctuary, man, observing the sacrificial rites of the burning of animals which symbolise removal of sin etc., begins to comprehend that the inner sanctuary must be approached only in a state of purity, after washing himself from the copper basin placed in front of the sanctuary. Inside the sanctuary are found the holy vessels of which the menorah represents the concept of enlightenment, wisdom, which though one, seeing the menorah has been hammered out of single chunk of gold, nevertheless contains seven arms, branches. These seven arms suggest seven different disciplines of wisdom and knowledge. Indeed, the wisdom that Solomon (Proverbs 9, 1) refers to, is the Torah itself. We find this also in chapter six of Proverbs, where we read "a mitzvah is a light, whereas Torah is the source of enlightenment." The menorah of the spiritual forces in our world is represented by Torah. It guarantees meshivat nefesh, (Psalms 19,8-11), the return to eternal life by the soul. The six arms are mentioned alternatively left and right, representing the physical forces, (left) and the spiritual forces (right). The words "testimony, mitzvot and judgments," refer to the three arms on the left, whereas the words "mandates, reverence and more desirable than fine gold," refer to the three arms on the right of the stem of the menorah. Simple man does not dream of, or aspire to greatness- even in this physical world. "The testimony of G-d is faithful," teaches that this does not hold true in Judaism. An inferior position in this physical world, does not constitute a barrier to reaching one's perfection, Divinely inspired goals. Machkimat peti,” it makes even the fool become wise." Torah promotes that kind of inspiration. The princes which govern this physical world are the willpower and freedom of choice which enable man to aspire to lofty heights in spite of lowly physical surroundings. Since man may have suffered corruption due to other material forces that interact with him, pikkudim, mandates are needed to counteract the inroads made by the aforementioned forces. The purpose of these pikkudim, is to make the positive character traits the norm rather than the exception. mitzvah, are those commandments which ennoble our lives on earth by constituting a symbolic link with our destiny, our relationship with G-d. Examples are tefillin, (phylacteries), tzitzit (fringes), mezuzah, lulav and others. "Enlightening the eyes," refers to the thoughtful performance of the commandments. Yir-ah, refers to the reverence which we demonstrate when we perform commandments which we are unable to rationalise. We demonstrate our obedience to G-d whose superior wisdom we acknowledge by performing these mitzvot. Omedet la- ad, endures forever, means that part of the Torah remains an eternal moral and intellectual challenge. Mishpatim, judgments, refers to the penalties in store for those who choose not to observe the legislation of G-d as revealed in the Torah. This reference is made especially to past generations whose failure in this respect resulted in their being punished in a manner that fitted their crimes. Tzadku, were just. The justness of the punishment suffered by those generations is apparent to the student of history, i.e. the history described in the Torah. Hanechemadim, that are more precious than fine gold, refers to the statutes whose purpose it is to assure us a reward in the world to come, a reward far greater than any material possessions in this world. The symbolism contained in the merit, the right to kindle the menorah which represents man's attempt to perfect himself, becomes clear then. Keeping to the exact order in carrying out this task is laudable since so much depends on its outcome. Just as the name menorah for the whole candelabra suggests enlightenment, its parts, i.e. stem, arms, chalices, and flowers suggest their respective functions. The stem is used to acquire wisdom; the chalice to be the receptacle of such wisdom; the flower suggests additional wisdom sprouting forth once the fundamentals have been observed properly. The height of eighteen tefachim, handsbreadths, represents the height of a man of average height. The number eighteen is symbolic of the word chay, alive, i.e. its numerical value. Man's intellect is divided into two categories, each of which is subdivided into three parts. There is practical as well as speculative reason. The practical reason deals in the first instance with man's personal concerns, in the second instance with the concerns of his household, and in the third instance with matters affecting the society in which he lives. Similarly, speculative reason. In the first instance, man identifies his own feelings and senses. In the second instance, he learns to determine the validity of all these sensations, whether the information they convey to him is true. (i.e. can one trust one's senses?) In the third instance, man acquires the ability to understand the interrelationship between all these phenomena. This third stage is generally known as beenah, insight. The three arms on the right side of the menorah represent the three kinds of speculative reason, whereas the three arms on the left side of the menorah represent the three levels of practical reason. The "knobs" on the stems are to be seen as "way stations." Since attainment of insights is achieved only gradually, step by step, these knobs represent the steps in man's intellectual progress.
"Now therefore, my son, obey my voice..." (Beresheet 27:8): It was then Pesach (Passover) eve, and the Evil Inclination had to be exterminated from the world, and the moon, the secret of faith had to govern. Therefore, Rivkah cooked two dishes.
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying: Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying” (Genesis 27:6). “Bring me game, and prepare me tasty food and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death” (Genesis 27:7). “Now, my son, heed my voice to what I am commanding you” (Genesis 27:8). “Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two fine goat kids, and I will make of them tasty food for your father, like that he likes” (Genesis 27:9). “Rebecca said to Jacob…. Bring me game…. Now, my son, heed my voice…. Go now to the flock” – Rabbi Levi said: Go and see to the advancement of the nation that is likened to a flock, just as it says: “You are My flock, flock of My pasture” (Ezekiel 34:31). “Take for me from there two fine goat kids” – Rabbi Levi said: [Rebecca said:] ‘If you find, excellent, but if not, go and bring me from my dowry,’ as, so he [Isaac] wrote to her, that he would provide her with two goat kids each day. “Fine [tovim]” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Good [tovim] for you, as through them, you will take the blessings, and good for your descendants, as through them they will gain atonement on Yom Kippur, as it is written: “For on this day he shall atone…” (Leviticus 16:30). (Atonement was achieved through the offering of two goats on Yom Kippur.)
Now my son, listen to [accept] me, concerning that which I command you.
receive from me what I command thee:
| לֶךְ־נָא֙ אֶל־הַצֹּ֔אן וְקַֽח־לִ֣י מִשָּׁ֗ם שְׁנֵ֛י גְּדָיֵ֥י עִזִּ֖ים טֹבִ֑ים וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֨ה אֹתָ֧ם מַטְעַמִּ֛ים לְאָבִ֖יךָ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהֵֽב׃ | 9 J | Go to the flock and fetch me two choice kids, and I will make of them a dish for your father, such as he likes. |
Fetch me two choice kids. The Midrash Rabba (Ber. 65:14) states, “good for you and good for your descendants: Good for you, because you will receive the blessings through them; good for your descendants, because they will pardoned through them on the Day of Atonement, one for God and one for Azazel [cf. Lev. 16:8] One ought to inquire as to the intent of the Midrash in stating this and for what purpose the Midrash points out that this alludes to the two kids that are part of the service on the Day of Atonement. One also ought to inquire as the the root cause of Rebeccah’s concern that the blessings be given to Jacob and she made several interventions with food and hides to ensure this. Also, Jacob received significant heavenly intervention. One ought to understand, first, that one main point is that all blessings pertain only to this world – “the fat of the earth, abundance of new grain and wine. (Gen. 27:28)” We do not generally find that the righteous make such an effort to engage in the materialism of this world. The second point is more difficult in that we see that even though Jacob is now blessed, most of the blessings of material benefits of this world accrue to Esau and the lesser portion accrued to the children of Jacob for only a few years. Therefore, it appears that all of this effort was for nothing, and Jacob suffered tremendously as a result of this because he needed to run away and be afraid of Esau.
טובים, “tasty.”
שני גדיי עזים טובים, “two choice kids.” Rivkah specifically commanded Yaakov to bring her two choice kids. The question that is almost forced upon one is: “did Yitzchak consume two whole young kids every day?” According to Bereshit Rabbah 65,14 the marriage contract between Rivkah and Yitzchak made her a daily allowance of two young kids (so that she was not encroaching on her husband’s property when slaughtering these animals and selecting the most tasty parts thereof to prepare for him). Rabbi Chelbo, in the same Midrash, concentrates on the word טובים which appears superfluous seeing that Yaakov had no reason to select mediocre or undernourished kids. He says that the word is an allusion to what was going to prove “good,” i.e. beneficial for Yaakov and his descendants. Seeing that these kids would be the instrument of securing the blessings for Yaakov they would prove to be “good” for him. In addition, they would prove to be good for Yaakov’s children as they would be the principal sin-offerings offered on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16,5) securing forgiveness for the Jewish people, Yaakov’s descendants. “They are good for you,” i.e. Yaakov’s ascendancy over Esau who is described as an איש שעיר, “a demonic individual,” was due to the scapegoats one of which was offered to the azzazel, the spiritual equivalent of Satan-Esau by the Jewish people as something like a bribe. (compare Bereshit Rabbah 14 that the words ונשא השעיר עליו את כל-עונותם, “he (the scapegoat) will carry (figuratively speaking) upon himself all their sins,” refer to the sins committed when no warning had been received by the perpetrators. The sinners were תם, not rebellious. Seeing that Yaakov has been described as איש תם, it was appropriate that such an animal should serve as the instrument of atonement for his descendants. The delicacies which Rivkah instructed her son Yaakov to enable her to prepare for Yitzchak were not of the type of free-roaming beasts to be found in the field, but they were domesticated animals. This is why she emphasised: “please go to the flocks.” Yaakov, after all, was not a hunter; he was a homebody, a dweller of tents who despised the sword as an instrument to gain one’s livelihood. The Israelites never offered sacrifices from categories of animals which are free-roaming, not domesticated. The prophet Jeremiah characterised the distinction between the Jewish people and the Gentiles when he said (Jeremiah 10,16) “not like these is the portion of Yaakov.” The word חלק means either “portion,” or it can mean “smooth” (with different vowels). The prophet referred to Yaakov as being a smooth-skinned man (according to 27,11). As a result of these considerations, Yaakov’s descendants were never told to offer sacrifices from the free-roaming beasts but only from the domesticated beasts as the Torah said (Leviticus 1,2) אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לה' מן הבהמה, “anyone of you who wishes to offer a sacrifice to G’d, from the domesticated beasts, etc.”
לך נא אל הצאן, take time out from your usual pursuits [in the tents] and go to the pens where the sheep and goats are kept.
גדיי עזים, on account of their skins whose hair is hard like human hair. This is why he took goats instead of lambs.
וקח לי AND TAKE FOR ME — (The words may mean “Take that which belongs to me”) — these are mine and not the proceeds of theft. Isaac had made provision in her marriage contract that she should receive daily two kids of the goats (Genesis Rabbah 65:14).
שני גדיי עזים TWO KIDS OF THE GOATS — Did then two kids of the goats form a meal for Isaac? But the explanation is: it being Passover he offered one as his Paschal sacrifice and of the other he prepared the savoury food. So is it stated in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 32).
כאשר אהב SUCH AS HE LOVETH (Genesis 27:5) — For the taste of a kid is similar to the taste of a deer.
One ... his Paschal offering and one ... as delicious food... You might ask: How does Rashi know it was Pesach? It seems the answer is: Yitzchok was born on Pesach, as Rashi explains in Parshas Vayeira (18:10). And Hashem completes the days of the righteous — they die on the same day they were born. This is as it says about Moshe (Devarim 31:2): “Today I am one hundred and twenty years old,” and Rashi explains: “Today, my days became complete. On this day I was born, and on this day I will die.” Since Yitzchok said (v. 2), “I do not know the day of my death,” i.e., perhaps I will die today, it must have been Pesach. (Maharshal)
Please go to the flock and take for me from there two fine goat kids. Rebecca assumed that Esau would return from his hunt with a deer or two. Consequently, she asked Jacob to bring two goat kids, which are similar in taste to deer. 17 And I will make them tasty food for your father, such as he likes. Since she knew how to cook for her husband and was familiar with his sensitivities, it was likely that she could prepare him a dish of goat meat whose taste he would be unable to distinguish from that of deer meat.
(1) The first message from G'd to Moses was to tell him, that although on occasion, death can be due to the concept of bi-krovay ekadesh, that death need not occur due to a mortal sin, there had been mortal sin in the case of the death of the sons of Aaron. The cause had been the sin as spelled out in the Torah at this point. The second communication by G'd to Moses, though related to him at a later stage, is coupled here with the former, in order to make the point that access to the holy of holies is restricted even to the High Priest, and that G'ds Presence does not appear in public, only wrapped in a cloud. (2) Even amongst the good people, the physical usually outweighs the spiritual. The High Priest who personifies the most favourable mix of the physical and the spiritual, is nonetheless mostly matter. His sin offering is described already in Leviticus 4,4, and consisted of a bull. Most of this bull was burned outside Jerusalem, only a small part being offered on the altar, (verse 12 there) The ram, symbolising man's spiritual part, which becomes olah, a total offering, i.e. fit for consumption by the altar in its entirety, is the other half of the High Priest's offering. Since the majority of the people are guilty of very fundamental errors, due to their yetzer hara, evil urge, the he-goat for the azzazel does not qualify for being offered on the altar itself. The fact that even the he-goat was presented in front of the tabernacle first, alive, is to show that even the kind of person represented by this he-goat will be granted forgiveness on the Day of Atonement. This is a tribute to the fact that a good part of their erroneous conduct had been due to the nature of the human condition, i.e. their being physical beings, something over which they had not had any control initially. The lots to be drawn symbolise the very fact that no choice existed prior to one's having being born into this world. (3) Use of the device of drawing lots to determine anything at all, appears to be an outright denial of G'ds Providence, since the result that emerges after the drawing of lots will be viewed as coincidence. The fact is however, that the cumulative effect of the lot falling again and again on the same person, lends it significance. If until the time of Shimon the Just, the lot "for the Lord" was always drawn by the he-goat placed on the right, that surely tells us something about the meaning of the word "right." (the time frame under discussion is about fifteen hundred years!) Indeed, once that pattern had been broken, due to the fact that the Jewish people could not produce a High Priest who was a tzaddik, and whose merits would counterbalance the sins of the masses, the lot would have become meaningless even if it had fallen on the he-goat that had been placed on the right. When Pharaoh had dreamed the same dream twice, that fact told Joseph something about whether the dream had any significance, or whether it was merely a matter of coincidence. The very repetition enabled Joseph to draw some conclusions. This is even more so, when the repetition occurs more than once. This is the reason the sailors "threw lots" (plural) and not just one "lot" before they were satisfied that the storm that threatened to sink their ship was really on account of Jonah. (Jonah 1,7) Since the lot fell on Jonah each time they repeated the procedure, they were certain that they were not condemning an innocent person on the basis of a "chance" lot. There is an element of chance concerning which person turns into a sinner, since natural endowments have a great deal to do with the likelihood of someone being able to overcome such strikes against him as he has been born with. Hence, if the he-goat for the azzazel becomes the scapegoat by means of the lottery, we might all breathe a sigh of relief and say "here but for the grace of G'd, go I." For that reason, the halachah, Jewish law, requires that the two he-goats must look so totally alike, that they are indistinguishable from one another. When the Tanna Ben Heh Heh says that reward is in accordance with the pain and effort incurred in securing an objective, (Avot 5,23), that he who has to overcome strong natural impediments rates a special reward, he does not mean that lack of this special effort totally forfeits one's chance of rehabilitation. The "scapegoat," though unfit to be presented on the altar, does accomplish this rehabilitation even for persons who have not made a special effort to surmount handicaps they were born with. (4) The procedure of offering incense, required a special skill, and therefore the full concentration of the High Priest during its performance. The reason for this could have been the need to counter the natural tendency to get "a glimpse" of the shechinah, Divine Presence. After all, the Torah did say "for in the cloud, I will become visible on the lid of the holy ark." (Leviticus 16,2) The Talmud tells of a High Priest, who was a member of the sect of the Sadducees, who when performing the rites of incense, put same on the pan prior to entering into the holy of holies, (contrary to hatachah ) and who boasted about having seen the shechinah. He died shortly after coming out of the sanctuary .The Pharisees saw in this a punishment for his disobedience. The Saducees felt that it was bad manners to enter the holy of holies without having everything ready, whereas the interpretation of the Pharisees of the verse "for through having made the cloud, My Presence over the lid can become revealed" was that they considered the exact composition of the correct quantities and ingredients of the incense as being vital. Placing of the incense on the pan, however, is to take place only "in front of G'd," as per verse 13. The sprinkling of the blood inside the holy of holies was to atone for errors concerning the laws applying to the temple itself, whereas the placing of the hands on the he-goat was to atone for other sins. The fact that the he-goat was used, also demonstrated that it was not a deity, (as some nations believed) This is the reason there had to be a special injunction "they shall no longer sacrifice to the he-goats." (Leviticus 17,7) There was no better date to proclaim the unity of G'd symbolically, and the futility of worshipping anyone or anything else, than the Day of Atonement. This symbolic statement helped to obtain forgiveness for other sins also. Whoever would observe that the scapegoat was thrown from the rock, would realise that it had not been an object of worship. Even Satan, the perennial accuser before the throne of G'd, would have to admit that the Jewish people were quite unequivocal in their service to the Lord. This is the meaning of a statement in Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer that we should present a bribe to Satan on that day. The sacrifice of the original Passover lamb in Egypt, was a similar statement of unequivocal commitment to G'd Therefore, the "great Sabbath," the Sabbath preceding the Passover holiday is conceptually related to the day of Atonement. For that reason Yom Kippur is also called Shabbaton The order of the confession, which according to the view of Rabbi Meir mentions the unintentionally committed sins first, and the intentionally committed ones last, was quoted in that order by Moses after the sin of the golden calf, when he remonstrated with G'd. Since Israel, at that time, had already done penitence, Moses made the point that due to the repentance, intentional sins had already been reduced to the status of unintentional sins. However, the normal process as found in the Bible on many occasions, is to first confess the intentional sins, including the ones that represent acts of rebellion against G'ds authority.
“Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying: Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying” (Genesis 27:6). “Bring me game, and prepare me tasty food and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death” (Genesis 27:7). “Now, my son, heed my voice to what I am commanding you” (Genesis 27:8). “Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two fine goat kids, and I will make of them tasty food for your father, like that he likes” (Genesis 27:9). “Rebecca said to Jacob…. Bring me game…. Now, my son, heed my voice…. Go now to the flock” – Rabbi Levi said: Go and see to the advancement of the nation that is likened to a flock, just as it says: “You are My flock, flock of My pasture” (Ezekiel 34:31). “Take for me from there two fine goat kids” – Rabbi Levi said: [Rebecca said:] ‘If you find, excellent, but if not, go and bring me from my dowry,’ as, so he [Isaac] wrote to her, that he would provide her with two goat kids each day. “Fine [tovim]” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Good [tovim] for you, as through them, you will take the blessings, and good for your descendants, as through them they will gain atonement on Yom Kippur, as it is written: “For on this day he shall atone…” (Leviticus 16:30). (Atonement was achieved through the offering of two goats on Yom Kippur.)
“Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were objectionable in the eyes of Isaac his father” (Genesis 28:8). “Esau went to Ishmael, and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nevayot, in addition to his wives, as his wife” (Genesis 28:9). “Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan (Ḥet was considered a Canaanite.) …Esau went to Ishmael” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He gave consideration to converting. (The reference is to repenting.) “Maḥalat” – as the Holy One blessed be He forgave [mahal] him for his iniquities. “Basmat” (Genesis 36:3) – as his mind was now satisfied [nitbasma]. Rabbi Elazar said: Had he divorced the first ones, it would have been correct, but, “in addition to his wives” – pain upon pain. Another matter, thorn upon thorn – it was an addition to a full house. “Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went to Haran” (Genesis 28:10). Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Aivu: “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare, but the righteous emerges from trouble” (Proverbs 12:13). “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare” – due to the rebellion that Esau and Ishmael rebelled against the Holy One blessed be He, and angered him, and, likewise, his wives angered Him, they encountered a snare. “But the righteous emerges [vayetze] from trouble” – this is Jacob, “Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went to Haran.”
[Another interpretation of (Lev. 22:27): A BULL OR A SHEEP < OR A GOAT >. The BULL was due to the merit of Abraham, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 18:7): THEN ABRAHAM RAN UNTO THE HERD (for a calf to feed his heavenly visitors). (Tanh., Lev. 8:12; Lev. R. 17:9; PRK 9:9.) The SHEEP was due to the merit of Isaac, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 22:13): AND THERE WAS A RAM (to replace an obedient Isaac as a sacrifice). The GOAT was due to the merit of Jacob, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 27:9): PLEASE GO UNTO THE FLOCK, AND BRING ME TWO GOOD KIDS OF THE GOATS FROM THERE. What is the meaning of GOOD (in reference to the two kids)? R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Helbo: < They are > good for you and good for your children. (Gen. R. 65:14; PR 47:4.) < They are > good for you, because through them you are blessed; (When Jacob brought the meat from the goats to his father, he received a blessing.) and they are good for your children because through them atonement is granted you (on the Day of Atonement).
The bull was due to the merit of Abraham of whom it is stated (in Gen. 18:7), “Then Abraham ran unto the herd [...] (for a calf to feed his heavenly visitors).” (Lev. R. 17:9; PRK 9:9.) The sheep was due to the merit of Isaac, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 22:13), “And Abraham lifted his eyes and he saw, and behold there was a ram [...] (to replace an obedient Isaac as a sacrifice).” The goat was due to the merit of Jacob, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 27:9), “Please go unto the flock, and bring me two good kids of the goats from there.” What is the meaning of “good” (in reference to the two kids)? R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Helbo, “[They are] good for you and good for your children. (Gen. R. 65:14; PR 47:4.) [They are] good for you, because through them you are to receive the blessings; (When Jacob brought the meat from the goats to his father, he received a blessing.) and they are good for your children, because through them atonement is granted to your children on the Day of Atonement.” (Lev. 22:27, cont.:) “It shall remain seven days with its mother.” R. Joshua of Sikhnin says in the name of R. Levi, “[The situation] is similar to a king who entered a province (Lev. R. 27:10; PRK 9:10.) where he issued a proclamation and said, ‘Let no strangers (Gk.: xenoi.) who are here see my face before they first see the face of [my] matron.’ (Lat.: matrona.) Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, ‘My children shall not approach me with an offering until the Sabbath [queen] has passed over it. For there are no seven [days] without a Sabbath, and there is no circumcision without [the passing of] a Sabbath.’” R. Isaac said, “An ordinance for humanity and an ordinance for beasts [are on a par]. (Above, 8:9.) An ordinance for humanity is (Lev. 12:3), ‘And on the eighth day [the flesh of his foreskin] shall be circumcised.’ And an ordinance for beasts is (Lev. 22:27), ‘and from the eighth day on, it shall be acceptable [for an offering by fire to the Lord].’”
“With a young bull [ben bakar],” this is Abraham, as in: “Abraham ran to the cattle [habakar]” (Genesis 18:7). “And a ram as a burnt offering,” this is Isaac, as in: “Behold, afterwards, there was a ram caught in the thicket” (Genesis 22:13). A goat, (See Leviticus 16:5.) due to the merit of Jacob, as it is written: “Take for me from there two [fine] goat kids” (Genesis 27:9). “Fine,” Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: It is fine for you and fine for your descendants. It is fine for you, as through them you will receive the blessings; it is fine for your descendants, as through them they will receive atonement on Yom Kippur. That is what is written: “For on this day shall atonement be made for you” (Leviticus 16:30). I have only the patriarchs, from where is it derived regarding the matriarchs? The verse states: “Each part shall be equal [bad bevad]” (Exodus 30:34). (In Leviticus 16:4, the word linen [bad] appears four times in reference to the vestments donned by the High Priest. They correspond to the four matriarchs in whose merit he performed the Yom Kippur service. The verse cited in the midrash here implies that the four matriarchs were equal in that they were exceptionally righteous (Etz Yosef). ) Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya: Like the service On High, so is the service below. Just as the service On High: “one man in their midst was clothed in linen” (Ezekiel 9:2), so, the service below: “He shall don a sacred linen tunic” (Leviticus 16:4).
Another matter, “a bull, or a sheep, or a goat” – “a bull,” due to the merit of Abraham, as it is stated: “Abraham ran to the cattle” (Genesis 18:7); “a sheep,” due to the merit of Isaac, as it is written: “He saw, and behold, a ram” (Genesis 22:13); “a goat,” due to the merit of Jacob, as it is written: “Go to the flock and take for me from there two good goat kids” (Genesis 27:9). What is [implied by the word] “good”? Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥelbo: It is good for you and good for your descendants. Good for you, as by their means you will receive a variety of blessings. Good for your descendants, as by their means [their sins] will be atoned for on Yom Kippur. That is what is written: “For on this day it will be atoned for you” (Leviticus 16:30). (Significant aspects of the atonement process in the Temple on Yom Kippur involved goats; see Leviticus chapter 16. )
And to the darkness, He called night: The Sages, of blessed memory, explained in the beginning of Tractate Pesachim, that the Holy One, blessed be He, called to darkness and appointed it over the night. [By this,] our Rabbis taught us that we should not say that darkness is only the absence of light, like when - in the middle of the day - we close the windows, it becomes dark. For, if so, it would not be a creation. But in truth, darkness is a creation, on its own as well, as it is written (Isaiah 45:7), "and created the darkness." And it is great distortion to say that darkness is only the absence of light. But rather, God makes both of them, just as He concerns Himself over holiness and impurity. (And see what I have written later, Genesis 27:9.) And to the question, "what does this creation help, behold, even without [its] creation, there would be darkness in the absence of light?," the Sages, of blessed memory, have taught us (in the chapter "Chelek" and in Bereshit Rabbah, Parshat Noach and in the Talmud Yerushalmi in the first chapter) that the light of a fire does not shine during the day in a dark place, [with the same brightness] as it does at night when darkness reigns. And from this, lofty people were able to know while they were sitting in the dark, when it was day and when it was night - in which darkness rules. And as it is with the light and darkness of day and night, so too is it thus with all things that are compared to light and darkness; since there are many bounties that man does not feel so much when he is successful, until he becomes poor and he sees the bounty [that he once had]. And [He], may He be blessed, implanted this into His world.
AND HE FEARED NOT. This refers to Amalek. Yare (feared) is a verb in the perfect. (Words in the third person past are usually vocalized kamatz, pattach in the kal. However, yare is vocalized kamatz, tzere. Hence I.E.’s comment.) It is like the word kaved (heavy) in for the thing is too heavy for thee (Ex. 18:8); zaken (old) in that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1), and ahev (loveth) in such as he loveth (Ibid., 8). (All of these words are vocalized kamatz, tzere in the third person perfect.)
THE CHOICEST FIRST-FRUITS OF THY LAND. This is what And if thou bring a meal-offering of first-fruits unto the Lord (Lev. 2:14) refers to. As I will explain in its place, the verse (Lev. 2:14.) is directed to the individual. (Rather than the community. According to Rashi, Lev. 2:14 speaks of the Omer which the community is obligated to offer. Hence I.E.’s comment. See Rashi on Lev. 2:14.) Scripture mentions this law after Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread (v. 18), for the first fruits begin then. (One is permitted to start enjoying one’s first fruits from the second day of Passover. See Lev. 22:9-14.)
Regarding the Pesach offering, it is necessary to explain the statement in Midrash: Rebecca told Jacob: “Go to the flock and fetch for me two choice kids.” (Gen.27:9) Rabbi Helbo said: They are good for you because through them you will receive your father’s blessing, and they are good for your offspring for through them his offspring will receive atonement on Yom Kippur, as it is written: (Lev. 16:30) “For on this day it shall atone for you.” (Bereishit Rabbah 65:4) Why was it necessary for Rabbi Helbo to say that the goats would be good for Jacob and his offspring? It would seem, at first glance, that the blessing that Jacob received was of no use to his offspring if, in the future, the people of Israel rejected God’s teachings. But Rabbi Helbo teaches that through the two goats, Israel would receive atonement and Isaac’s blessings would remain in effect. That is why they were good for him and his offspring. (This implies that one goat was for Jacob and the other was for his offspring. Rabbi Ettlinger now rejects this explanation, pointing out that Rabbi Helbo’s statement is about the two goats together. They were good for Jacob and they were necessary for Israel’s atonement. His statement is al yadan, through them, not al yado, through it.)
It is incumbent upon man to learn from this legislation concerning who is chosen as fit to be a sacrifice. It is interesting that whereas Yitzchak sent Esau to hunt game, Rivkah sent Yaakov to the sheep to select a domesticated animal as food for her husband. These animals share the characteristic of תמימות, being flawless in character, with Yaakov whom the Torah described as תמים, flawless. This characteristic is described by Onkelos as שלים, “peaceful, harmonious,” in Genesis 25,28 where the Torah describes the difference between Esau and Yaakov. This תמימות, flawlessness, is the hallmark of Torah which is described as תורת ה' תמימה, “the Torah of the Lord is flawless,” and its paths are described as harmonious, שלום, (Proverbs 3,17).” The word שלום as a proper name for the Jewish people occurs in Song of Songs 7,1 where Solomon calls on Israel saying שובה שובה השולמית, “turn back, turn back O Shulamit!” The reason Israel has been accorded this title is that the eventual everlasting peace will be ushered in in the land of Israel. For the above-mentioned reasons G’d selected the domesticated pure mammals as suitable for His altar whereas He rejected the free-roaming beasts, even the ones which are permissible for us to eat such as deer, etc. Esau was considered as far removed from the sun (the horoscope of the sun) being a hairy man, a man who made his home in the desert, as already characterized by his father Yitzchak who described him as יודע ציד איש שדה, “familiar with hunting, a man of the field” (Genesis 25,27). He showed a preference for the free-roaming animals that live in uncivilized areas, signifying destruction and desolation. Such an environment is the opposite of the environment which bespeaks peace and harmony. This is also the reason the Torah forbade that stones which had been treated with iron (metal) tools should form part of the altar as such tools are reminiscent of the sword, of causing death instead of ushering in peace, the purpose of the altar. (compare author’s comments on Exodus 20,22). The sword became the inheritance of Esau and his descendants. This is the mystical dimension of Exodus 20,22: “for you have swung your sword over it and desecrated it.” [The author has a different count for the number of verses in the Ten Commandments due to the tone-signs which are used when reading the text, so that in his commentary Exodus 20,22 is referred to as 20,25. Ed.] Seeing that it is the function of the altar to help man live longer whereas the function of the sword is to shorten the life span of those who come in contact with it, it is only logical that such an instrument or one which symbolises it should not be used in constructing the altar. Our sages also derive from the words מן הבהמה, מן הבקר, ומן הצאן, “from the domesticated animals such as cattle or flocks,” that the word בהמה excludes any animal which has been mated with a human being; the word מן הבקר is meant to exclude any cow or ox which has been used in idolatrous rites; the words מן הצאן exclude even animals which have been designated for idolatrous service though none such has as yet been performed with them. The extra letter ו in the words ומן הצאן, excludes animals which have gored a human being to death but against which there is not enough evidence to carry out the penalty of stoning prescribed by the Torah (compare Sifra 2).
Personally, I would like to add that according to tradition the “prime minister” in that parable is one of the senior ministers at G’d’s court. In order to make plain that the natural born Jews had not been the ones who had initiated the sin of the golden calf, He determined that henceforth the ox would be the primary animal to feature in sacrificial offerings. You will find that similarly the fruit of the עץ הדר, “the tree whose fruit Chavah had eaten in Gan Eden,” became the favourite fruit amongst the four species of plants with which we praise the Lord on the festival of Tabernacles. The fact that the Torah mentions the etrog before the palm frond, a much larger plant, is to indicate that whereas Chavah sinned because she was a victim of deception by the serpent, her husband Adam sinned both in thought and in deed when he ate of that fruit also. We find that history repeats itself in that Adam atoned for his sin by offering an ox as a sacrifice; similarly his descendants, especially highly placed ones, have to offer an ox as their sin-offering when such an offering is called for. This is the deeper meaning of the verse in Hoseah we quoted, that with the very item which their sin consisted of they subsequently pleased the Lord. According to Chulin 60 Adam offered a single-horned bull as his sin-offering. We find a verse which combines both the word שור and the word הדר, thereby alluding to the two examples of the instrument of the sin becoming the instrument of pleasing the Lord. The verse in question is in Deut. 33,17: בכור שורו הדר לו, which we may translate allegorically as: “just as we praise Him with the fruit of the tree הדר, so we atone for our sins by means of the ox, the symbol of original forgiveness.” In a verse preceding the verse from Hoseah we quoted, the prophet said (Hoseah 6,7) והמה כאדם עברו ברית, “they violated the covenant like just like Adam,” an allusion to the comparison of the sin of the golden calf by the Israelites and that of Adam in Gan Eden. On the one hand, the animal which had helped Adam atone for his sin had become the one atoning for the sins of the Israelites. On the other hand, looked at from a philosophical point of view, the Israelites thought that this animal had proven to be the salvation of mankind, i.e. Adam, once, hence it might again become the symbol of their future, seeing Moses had not come back. In fact, Adam had been the original cause of the sin the Israelites participated in. [— My own phraseology in trying to convey this line of reasoning. Ed.] The reason that the Torah permitted just three categories of ritually pure beasts as potential sacrifices for the altar is in deference to the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The ox symbolises Avraham, of whom the Torah wrote that he ran to the cattle in order to serve a meal to the three angels who visited him as reported in Genesis 18,1-15. The sheep is in deference to Yitzchak, when it was offered as a burnt-offering in his stead in Genesis 22,14. The goat was selected in deference to Yaakov who took the two goats at the behest of his mother in order to secure the blessing from his father (Genesis 27,9) (compare Tanchuma Emor 12). These goats were described in the Torah as טובים, “good,” meaning they were to be good both for him personally as well as for his descendants, seeing that by means of two male goats the Jewish people, Yaakov’s descendants, would secure atonement for their sins on the Day of Atonement. When the Torah therefore wrote: “an ox, a sheep, or a goat which will be born, etc.”, it referred to known functions of these animals on behalf of the Jewish people. This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Kohelet 3,15: “What has been already exists, and what is still to come has already been, and G’d always seeks out the pursued.” What Solomon meant was that if someone were to say to you: “if Adam had not sinned at the time when he ate from the tree of knowledge would he still be alive and well nowadays?” You may answer him that the prophet Elijah did not sin and he did indeed not die but is alive to this day. As to the words אשר להיות, “what is still to come,” if someone believes that the idea of G’d resurrecting the dead is something which occurs only in the future [i.e. we have no proof of something like that being possible, Ed.], tell him that it has already occurred, i.e. that both the prophet Elijah, the prophet Elisha, as well as the prophet Ezekiel are on record as having revived the dead (Tanchuma Emor 9). Finally, the words והאלוהים יבקש את הנרדף in the verse from Kohelet which we quoted, means that whereas the righteous pursue (imitate and try to emulate) the other righteous people who preceded them this is normal and appropriate. The wicked persecute both other wicked people as well as righteous people; this is their nature; however, G’d seeks out the persecuted (righteous ones to save them). If you look for proof, read history. Hevel had been persecuted by his brother Kayin; in response G’d turned to Hevel’s offering while rejecting the gift of Kayin (Genesis 4,4-5). Noach had been ridiculed and persecuted by the people of his generation. G’d responded to Noach positively as stated in Genesis 6,8: “Noach found favour in the eyes of G’d.” Shortly afterwards we are told that all the remainder of mankind was wiped out (Genesis 7,23). Avraham was persecuted by Nimrod; he was saved as we know from Nechemyah 9,7 where it is written: “You are the Lord G’d who have chosen Avraham and removed (rescued) him from the fire of the Chaldaens.” Yitzchak was persecuted by the Philistines; in the end Avimelech (King of the Philistines) acknowledged his rigtheousness, G’d’s power and asked to make a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28). Yaakov was persecuted by Esau; nonetheless we have been told in Psalms 135,4: “for G’d chose for Himself Yaakov, Israel, etc.” Joseph was persecuted by his brothers only to become a most successful individual, i.e. “the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man” (Genesis 39,2). Moses was persecuted by Pharaoh, but G’d thwarted Pharaoh’s efforts to kill him. The Jewish people were persecuted by the pagans; this is why G’d chose them as His people, as we know from Deut. 14,2: “and the Lord chose you to be His special people.” In our situation we find something parallel. The animals mentioned here are normally the innocent victims of predatory animals. The ox is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by the leopard. G’d chose the animals as suitable for sacrificial offerings because they were the persecuted ones, saying: “do not offer Me animals which are pursuers, predators, but certain categories of their victims, the persecuted.”
לא תבשל גדי THOU SHALT NOT COOK A KID — A calf and a lamb also are comprehended under the term גדי, for גדי means nothing more than a young tender animal, as you may gather from the fact that you will find in several passages in the Torah that the term גדי is used and that the writer felt it necessary specially to explain it by adding after it the word עזים, as, e. g., (Genesis 38:17) “I will send forth a גדי of the goats”; (Genesis 38: 20) “the גדי of the goats”; (Genesis 27:9) “two kids of the goats (גדיי עזים)”. This fact serves to show you that wherever גדי is mentioned without further description the term implies also a calf and a lamb. — In three different passages the law לא תבשל גדי is written: once for the purpose of prohibiting the eating of meat-food with milk-food, once to prohibit us from deriving any other benefit (besides eating) from such mixture, and once to prohibit the boiling of meat with milk (Mekhilta; Chullin 115b).
Rebecca said to Jacob: your father desires food from Esau and wants to bless him. You go to the herd and take two good goats. I will make good food for your father that he loves, in the hope that he will bless you. Rashi asks a question here. Why did Rebecca say, “take for me” [27:9]? This means, take for me. That is to day, Rebecca said: take from my goats, since Isaac had written into the marriage contract for Rebecca, to give her two goats every day. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:9.)
Go, please [now], to the sheep and take for me from there two choice young goats, and I will make [from] them a tasty dish for your father as he likes.
Go now to the house of the flock, and take me from thence two fat kids of the goats; one for the pascha, and one for the oblation of the feast; and I will make of them food for thy father such as he loveth.
| וְהֵבֵאתָ֥ לְאָבִ֖יךָ וְאָכָ֑ל בַּעֲבֻ֛ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְבָרֶכְךָ֖ לִפְנֵ֥י מוֹתֽוֹ׃ | 10 J | Then take it to your father to eat, in order that he may bless you before he dies.” |
And Jacob went out from Be’er Sheva, and went toward Haran. (Genesis 27:10) The Midrash quotes Jacob as saying: “‘I will lift my eyes to the mountains. From where will my help come?’ (Psalms 121:1). What! Have I lost hope in my Creator? G‑d forbid, I certainly have not lost hope in Him; rather ‘My help comes from G‑d, who made heaven and earth’ (ibid. 121:2).” (Bereishis Rabbah 68:2.) This teaches us that when the heavenly court wants to mete out punishment to a person, they first take away his trust in G‑d. (This teaching reflects a central chasidic idea that faith in G‑d as the one, true Ruler of creation can actually draw down His beneficent guidance into our lives. As long as a person completely believes in G‑d’s Providence, no other force in the world can harm him. Thus, when heaven seeks to punish someone, they first take away this trust. How good if we could have it always! The Degel Machane Ephraim, parashas Ekev, adds to this teaching (in the name of the Baal Shem Tov), that G‑d never sends afflictions to a person, unless He first throws them into depression.) It is therefore wise to beseech G‑d to strengthen out trust in Him. Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Misphotim
והבאת לאביך ואוכל, “and bring it to your father so that he may eat it.” She meant that through eating and enjoying its taste he would be in the mood to bestow his blessing. It is a fact that Holy Spirit comes to rest on people only when they are in a good mood. (Shabbat folio 30)
You shall bring it to your father and he will eat, so that he will bless you before his death.
You will [then] bring it to your father to eat, in order that he will bless you before he dies.
And thou shalt carry to thy father, and he will eat, that he may bless thee before his death.
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֔ב אֶל־רִבְקָ֖ה אִמּ֑וֹ הֵ֣ן עֵשָׂ֤ו אָחִי֙ אִ֣ישׁ שָׂעִ֔ר וְאָנֹכִ֖י אִ֥ישׁ חָלָֽק׃ | 11 J | Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth-skinned. |
The wicked receive their ruach from him. And he corresponds to the impure ruach, a ruach Se’ARah (storm wind), as in (Genesis 27:11), “But my brother Esav is an ish SA’iR (hairy man).” This is why their ruach is temporarily strong and mighty, much like the storm wind which blows strongly while it lasts.
איש שעיר, according to the Jerusalem Targum, “a very virile and hairy man.”
HAIRY. The word sa’ir means hairy. The opposite of sa’ir is chalak (smooth) (v. 11). Someone without hair on his body is possibly so called (chalak) because all parts of his body (chalakav) are the same. (Chelek means a part, chalak one whose entire body appears to be one part. The idea is that a hairy person has some non-hairy parts on his body; hence his body is not all the same. The smooth man’s skin is the same all over his body (Filwarg).)
ויאמר...שעיר. seeing that his skin was covered with hair all over, even his hands and throat.
איש שער means A HAIRY MAN.
Wiederholt heißt es hier und im Verfolge immer אמו, da sie nur als Mutter es forderte und er nur als Sohn gehorchen zu müssen glaubte.
And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: I cannot approach my father as Esau, as behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man. Covered with hair already at birth, Esau had become even more hairy over the years. And I am a man of smooth skin. Jacob might not have been entirely hairless, but he was smooth-skinned in comparison to Esau.
“Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth skinned” [27:11]. Jacob said to his mother: Esau is hairy and I am smooth skinned. Perhaps my father will touch me and will recognize that I am not Esau and will curse me?
According to this principle, HaShem-יהו"ה told Israel that He gave Mount Seir to Esav as an inheritance. The reason is because Mount Seir is impure, in that the goat demons-Seirim-שעירים that they stray after, live there, as it says, (Isaiah 34:14) “and the goat demon-Seir-שעיר calls out to his fellow.” The Seir-שעיר is as the verse states, (Genesis 27:11) “My brother Esav is a hairy-Seir-שעיר man.” Opposite them is the goat that is sent into the desert (on Yom Kippur). Also opposite them is the verse, (Leviticus 17:7) “They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat-demons that they stray after etc.” Know that Esav took his portion from the lowly goats-Seirim-שעירים that are close to earth, as it states, (Genesis 36:20) “These are the children of Seir-שעיר, the Horite who dwell in the earth.” It therefore states about Esav, (Ibid 36:6) “Esav went to a (different) land than his brother Yaakov.” This is the matter about which it states about Esav, (Obadiah 1:2) “Behold, I have made you small amongst the nations, you are very despised.” The reason is because the other nations have high ministering angels, as scripture states, (Daniel 10:20) “Now I will return to battle with the ministering angel of Persia, and when I depart, behold, the ministering angel of Greece comes.” The same applies to all seventy nations. Similarly, Yishmael has twelve ministers to their nations. However, the portion and inheritance of Esav are the goat-demons, which are the lowest of creatures. Esav is therefore called Seir-שעיר, and it says, (Joshua 24:4) “I gave Esav the Mountain of goats-Se’irim-שעירים as an inheritance.”
Come and behold, every first day of the month, when the moon renews herself; then, the 'End of all Flesh' is given an extra portion which is added to the (regular) sacrifices. Thus, he is occupied by it and uses his portion. Hence, the (right) side of Yisrael remains for them alone so that they can unify with their King. This is why (they offer the scapegoat, also called) 'Hairy' (Heb. se'ir), because it belongs to the part of Esau, who is described as being hairy, as it is written: "Esau my brother is a hairy (Heb. sa'ir) man" (Gen. 27:11). Thus, (the 'end of all flesh') uses his part (of Esau, which is the left), while Yisrael uses their part, (which is the right). Thus, it is written: "For Kah has chosen Jacob to Himself, Yisrael for His peculiar possession" (Ps. 135:4).
“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement. But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this. (The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse.) Rather, (The same conclusion can be reached from a different source.) “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.” “All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh], (Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh.) and an idolater. (Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).) “I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end, (See Genesis 28:4.) he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17). You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’ (It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all.) “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
“The Lord said to Aaron: Go toward Moses to the wilderness. He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him” (Exodus 4:27). “The Lord said to Aaron: Go toward Moses to the wilderness” – that is what is written: “If only you were as my brother [who nursed from the breasts of my mother; I would find you outside, I would kiss you]” (Song of Songs 8:1). Regarding which brother is the verse speaking? If you say it is regarding Cain, but is it not written: “Cain rose against his brother Abel and killed him”? If you say it is like Ishmael to Isaac, did we not learn: Ishmael hates Isaac? If you say it is like Esau to Jacob, is it not written: “Esau hated Jacob” (Genesis 27:41)? If you say it is like Joseph’s brothers, but is it not written: “They hated him” (Genesis 37:4), and it is written: “His brothers envied him” (Genesis 37:11). Rather, it is like Joseph to Benjamin, “who nursed from the breasts of my mother” (Song of Songs 8:1), (Joseph and Benjamin were from the same mother, Rachel, whereas their other brothers were not sons of Rachel. ) [and] like Moses to Aaron, as it is stated: “He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him.” Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: All kisses are indecent except for three: The kiss of greatness, the kiss of separation, and the kiss of reunion. The kiss of greatness, as it is stated: “Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him” (I Samuel 10:1); the kiss of separation: “Orpa kissed her mother-in-law” (Ruth 1:14); the kiss of reunion, as it is stated: “He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him.” Some say: Even a kiss of closeness is not disgraceful, as it is stated: “Jacob kissed Rachel” (Genesis 29:11), who was his relative. Rabbi Pinḥas said: There was an incident involving a brother and a sister, one of whom was in Gush Ḥalav and one of whom was in Beit Maron. The house in Gush Ḥalav caught fire. His sister came from Beit Maron and fell upon him and was hugging him and kissing him. She said: ‘I am not accustomed to come to you [and to kiss you], but I was afraid, as you are my brother and were in distress, and you emerged from it.’ “I would find you outside, I would kiss you” (Song of Songs 8:1) – where outside? It is in the wilderness, where the brothers, Moses and Aaron, kissed each other.
When Jacob describes Esau his brother as a hairy man, whereas he himself was smooth-skinned, he referred to the Esau of this world, and he alluded to Esau's power in the "higher" world by mentioning that he was איש שעיר. He referred to Esau as the קטרוג, the perennial accuser of man. Bereshit Rabbah 65,15 understands the word Sa-ir as identical with the one mentioned in Leviticus 17,7: ולא יזבחו עוד לשעירים, "so that they will no longer offer sacrifices to the demons." The word Chalak, is equated by that Midrash with the word Chelek, as in כי חלק ה' עמו, יעקב חלק נחלתו, "G–d's share is His people, Jacob is His inheritance" (Deut. 32,9). We know from Succah 52a that Satan is more prone to attack a Torah scholar than anyone else.
שוע טווי ונוז (hackled, spun or weaved) – שוע – is combed/hatched with a comb and שוע/hackled is smooth. A smooth [skinned] man (i.e., like Jacob, see Genesis 27:11 when he says to his mother Rebecca: “But my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth-skinned”) which we translate in Aramaic as גבר שעיע/smooth-skinned man.
המחליק בצלים – there are those who interpret the language [in Biblical terms] (Genesis 27:11): “[Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man] and I am smooth-skinned,’” for when they were detached/plucked, the place remained smooth/empty. And there are those who interpret it as when he levels [a field by taking out crops], when he takes part of the moist/fresh onions to sell them in the market place and another part he leaves the dry ones for the granary for storage.
There are other clues. The word se’ir, “goat,” is associated in the Torah with Esau. He and his descendants lived in the land of Seir. The word se’ir is related to sei’ar, “hairy,” which is how Esau was born: “his whole body was like a hairy garment” (Gen. 25:25). When Rebecca urged Jacob to pretend to be Esau in order to take Isaac’s blessing, Jacob said, “My brother Esau is a hairy [sa’ir] man while I have smooth skin” (Gen. 27:11). According to the Mishna, a red thread was tied to the scapegoat, and “red” (Edom) was Esau’s other name. So there was a tradition that the scapegoat in some way symbolised Esau. Azazel, the mysterious place or entity for which the goat was intended, was Samael, Esau’s guardian angel.
מחליק He that smootheth. Comp. חלק smooth (Gen. 27:11).
When you consider all that we have written and quoted on this subject you will be convinced that there most certainly cannot be a question of the scapegoat being an offering, a sacrifice to a Satanic force called Azzazel. All strife, war, etc., in the world have their origin in that domain where Satan-Se'ir, the other name for Esau and the negative character traits he symbolizes, reign supreme. This is the force which welcomes this scapegoat laden with sin. All goats, both male and female, are part of his domain. The nearest “relative” of this Satan-Samael-Azzazel is Esau and the nation descended from it. Esau already bore the name שעיר, a hairy man, as the antithesis of Yaakov the “smooth” man. The land in which he settled was named after him, and when pagans used to offer sacrifices to the שעירים, the he-goats, representing brute physical force and obstinacy, this was their way of paying homage to the ideals represented by Esau. According to Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 27 Samael started out as a respectable angel in the celestial regions until he and his colleagues were expelled from there by G’d Himself. As a form of protest Samael held on to the wings of the archangel Michael trying to prevent his expulsion, or to drag that angel down to earth with him. G’d saved the archangel Michael and this is why that archangel became known as מיכאל הפליט, “Michael the escapee” (a veiled reference to who it was that told Avraham that Lot had been taken captive by the kings who had defeated the king of Sodom and his allies). We were told in Genesis 14,13 that the פליט came and informed Avraham that his relative Lot had been taken captive. Considering the fate of Azzazel-Samael, we know that he ended up at the lower end of the emanations which we associate with the celestial regions or domains. In fact, as the result of his expulsion from heaven, Samael constitutes a barrier between earth (the lowest of the emanations, מלכות), and heaven, i.e. the destination of the sacrifices. How can our sacrifices reach heaven when Samael forms an effective barrier to their ascent to heaven? In the words of Solomon in Proverbs 26,13 Samael is like a שחל בדרך, “a type of lion barring one’s progress.” Presenting this scapegoat to Samael is like throwing a bone to the dog, keeping it happy while one pursues one’s main objective. The Torah did the same thing when instructing us to dispatch the scapegoat to the domain of Samael in order to pave the way for our sacrifices to Hashem to ascend to heaven without hindrance and interference. This is why the author of Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 46 wrote that the purpose of the scapegoat procedure is to prevent Samael from interfering with our offerings. It is important for the Jewish people to be aware of the existence of forces such as represented by the Azzazel and only in this manner are they able to deal with such a phenomenon. This was not the first time that normally hostile forces turned supportive. We encounter the phenomenon for the first time in Exodus 11,7 where the Torah tells us that the very dogs which could have been counted on to impede the departure of the Jewish people from Egypt kept their mouths shut and did not interfere with the Exodus. [According to tradition the dogs were rewarded by the Torah in that the Torah instructs us to throw meat unfit for us to eat to the dogs (Exodus 22:30, compare Rashi). It is not a new idea that the Torah suggests neutralizing potentially hostile forces by feeding their appetite. Ed.] To sum up: it is not forbidden in principle to feed the appetite of our adversaries (placed there by G’d Himself) as long as we do not feed their appetites at the expense of our spiritual integrity [my phrasing, Ed.], and as long as we perform such a procedure at G’d’s command; the reason is that by doing so we are like servants of the Lord who share out gifts on behalf of the Lord to ministers of the Lord in order for those ministers not to object to the way the Lord wants to deal with us. This point is reinforced by the fact that until after the drawing of the lot it was not even clear which of the two he-goats would be dispatched to the Azzazel. The lot saying “for G’d” or “for the Azzazel” respectively would sometimes fall on the animal to the right of the High Priest and sometimes on the animal on his left. The High Priest was not allowed to change the determination made by the lot. The Talmud Yuma 40 reports that they asked Rabbi Akiva once whether if the lot with the word “for G’d” fell on the animal to the left of the High Priest he was allowed to change it so that it would fall on the animal to his right (as usually happened); Rabbi Akiva answered that this was not permitted as it would provide a pretext for the heretics to claim that Azzazel and G’d were two separate domains, independent of each other. This is why the decision by the lot had to be honored although, according to tradition, the animal on the Priest’s right was to be offered as the sacrifice in the Temple. The heretics did not appreciate that the procedure was a decree from G’d and if He were willing to forego the animal intended as a sacrifice for Him, He was entitled to do so. If and when G’d waives His right, He does so for our benefit. At any rate, it is clear from all the above that the Israelites on their own do not give anything to Azzazel. All the Israelites and, of course the High Priest, direct all their thinking, prayers, and confessions only to the Lord, to the attribute represented by the tetragrammaton. When we review what Manoach had done in Judges 13,20 when the angel ascended to heaven within the flame of his offering, he did not, G’d forbid, address himself to the angel, but he addressed himself to Hashem, hence his terrible fear that he would die as a result of having seen such a manifestation of the Lord. The same consideration holds true for the gifts apportioned to the priests from the various sacrificial offerings for their consumption. Even though Aaron and his sons quite obviously enjoyed these portions of meat, etc., this is not part of the sacrificial service anymore pertaining to the owners of the animals whose blood and fat parts have been offered on the altar; the owners have simply carried out the will of the Lord in leaving these parts for the priests. By no means does G’d and the priest share in the offerings as “principals.” The entire offering is addressed to the Lord, exclusively.
AND THE OTHER LOT FOR AZAZEL. “This was a high mountain — a flinty precipitous peak, as it is said, a land which is cut off.” (Further, Verse 22.) This is the language of Rashi. And in the Torath Kohanim [the Rabbis have said]: (Torath Kohanim, Acharei 2:8.) “For Azazel. This means the ‘hardest’ place in the mountains. I might think that it refers to an inhabited place; Scripture therefore says into the wilderness. (Further, Verse 21.) Whence do we know that it be a precipitous peak? Scripture therefore says, unto a land which is cut off.” (Further, Verse 22.) Accordingly the meaning of the word la’azazel is to “a hard” place, [the root of the word azazel being az — strong], with the letter za’yin doubled just like ‘izuz’ (strong) and mighty. (Psalms 24:8.) Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Said Rav Shmuel: (This is Rabbi Shmuel ben Chophni, the father-in-law of Rav Hai Gaon. See Vol. II, p. 84, Note 139.) ‘Although it is [only] with reference to the goat of the sin-offering that it is written [explicitly] that it was for the Eternal, (As it is stated in the verse before us: one lot for the Eternal, and the other for Azazel, and in the following verse it is stated that the goat upon which the lot fell for the Eternal be offered for a sin-offering.) the goat which was sent away [to Azazel] was also for the Eternal.’ But there is no need for this [comment]. For the goat which was sent away was not an “offering’ (I.e., “it was unlike all other offerings” (Ohel Yoseph).) since it was not slaughtered. Now if you can understand the secret of the word after ‘Azazel,’ (In Verse 10 it states ‘la’azazel hamidbarah’ (for Azazel into the wilderness). The secret is thus that this is the desert’s portion.) you will know its secret [that of Azazel] and the secret of its name, (“For the name [Azazel] is derived from the word az (strong), which is indicative of the nature of the offering befitting him, and of the strength and might which are in his power” (Peirush Mototh on Ibn Ezra).) since it has companions in Scripture. (I.e., in the purification of the leper (above, 14:7) and of a house afflicted by leprosy (ibid., Verse 53). See Ramban ibid., Verse 53.) And I will reveal to you part of the secret by hint: when you will be at thirty-three (This enigmatic text in Ibn Ezra is generally explained by his commentators [and is so clearly indicated further, by Ramban] as follows: If from the word Azazel [here in Verse 8] you will count ahead thirty-three verses, you will reach Chapter 17, Verse 7, which reads And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the satyrs, after whom they go astray. Here then is the secret of why the goat that was sent away to Azazel was not slaughtered, so that it should not appear as a form of sacrifice to the satyrs (Ohel Yoseph). See my Hebrew commentary, p. 88.) you will know it.” [Thus far are the words of Ibn Ezra]. Now of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra it may be said that he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth a matter, (Proverbs 11:13.) and I will not be the talebearer who revealeth his secret, (The above verse reads: He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets; but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth a matter. Ramban thus after paying tribute to Ibn Ezra for remaining faithful to the spirit of the second half of the verse, now says that nor will he himself be in violation of the first half of the verse, since the Sages have already revealed that secret in many places.) since our Rabbis of blessed memory have already revealed it in many places. Thus they have said in Bereshith Rabbah: (Bereshith Rabbah 65:10.) “And the ‘sa’ir’ (Literally: “the goat.” But this Hebrew term sa’ir was also used by Scripture with reference to Esau [as the text continues], in the sense of “hairy.”) shall carry upon him, (Verse 22.) this is a reference to Esau, as it is said, Behold, Esau my brother is a man who is ‘sa’ir’ (hairy). (Genesis 27:11.) All ‘avonotham’ (their iniquities), (Verse 22.) [read]: ‘avonoth tam’ (the sins of him who has been called tam, ‘a man of integrity’), as it is said, and Jacob was a man ‘tam’ (‘of integrity’).” (Ibid., 25:27.) It is explained more clearly in the Chapters of the great Rabbi Eliezer: (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 46.) “The reason why (This is in connection with what is told in the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, that “on the day the Torah was given to Israel, Satan said before the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, you have given me control over all the wicked, but over the righteous You have not given me control!’ To this the Holy One, blessed be He, replied: ‘You will have control over them on the Day of Atonement if they have sinned, and if not, you will have no control over them.’” Therefore etc.) they would give Sammael [i.e., Satan] a conciliatory gift on the Day of Atonement, was so that he should not annul [the effect of] their offerings, as it is said, one lot for the Eternal, and the other lot for Azazel, the lot of the Holy One, blessed by He, to be a burnt-offering, (In view of the fact that the goat for the Eternal was offered as a sin-offering [as stated in Verse 9]. Rabbi David Luria in his commentary to the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, emends the text to read: “the lot of the Holy One, blessed be He, to be a sin-offering.” It would seem, however, that Ramban calls it a “burnt-offering” because although it was technically a sin-offering, it was completely burnt as is a burnt-offering (further, Verse 27) and not eaten as is a sin-offering.) and the lot of Azazel to be ‘the goat of sin,’ bearing upon it all the iniquities of Israel, as it is said, And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities. (Verse 22.) When Sammael saw that he could find no sin on the Day of Atonement amongst them [the children of Israel], he said to the Holy One, blessed by He: ‘Master of all worlds! You have one people on earth who are comparable to the ministering angels in the heavens. Just as the ministering angels are barefooted, so are the Israelites barefooted [i.e., do not wear leather shoes] on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels do not eat or drink, so is there no eating or drinking in Israel on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels have no joints [in their feet, and therefore cannot sit or lie down], so do the Israelites stand on their feet on the Day of Atonement. (This would seem to be a reference to the Sanctuary, where the Service on the Day of Atonement lasted continuously for almost the whole day, and since it was not permitted to sit in the Sanctuary Court, the people who were there had to stand on their feet the whole day (Rabbi David Luria). Based on this text the custom has spread among devout Jews to stand on their feet during the whole Day of Atonement (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 619:5).) Just as there is peace in the midst of the ministering angels, so do the Israelites bring peace among themselves on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels are free from all sin, so are the Israelites free from all sin on the Day of Atonement.’ And the Holy One, blessed be He, hears the testimony concerning Israel from their prosecutor, and He atones for the altar and for the Sanctuary, and for the priests and for all the people of the assembly, (Verse 33.) as it is said, And he shall make atonement for the most holy place etc.” (Verse 33.) Thus far is the language of this Agadah (tradition) in which the Rabbis have informed us of his name [i.e., Sammael] and the nature of his deeds. Now this is the secret of the matter. They used to worship “other gods,” namely, the angels, bringing offerings of a sweet savor to them, similarly to that which it says, and thou didst set Mine oil and My incense before them. My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor, and thus it was; saith the Eternal G-d. (Ezekiel 16:18-19.) You have to contemplate the Scriptural text as it is written and [also] as [it is read according to the] Masoretic tradition. (According to the Masorah we read in the above first verse: nathat (‘thou’ didst set Mine oil …), but the Hebrew word is actually written with a letter yod at the end, which suggests the reading nathati, meaning: “and ‘I’ did set Mine oil and Mine incense before them for your sake; that is to say, the offering which you brought before Me, it is I who gave it to them,” (Abusuala), as will be explained further on in the text. The same applies to the following verse where the Hebrew word is read unethatha (‘thou’ didst even set it), but it is actually written with a letter yod: unethati, meaning, “and I did set it …” (ibid.).) Now the Torah has absolutely forbidden to accept them as deities, or to worship them in any manner. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded us that on the Day of Atonement we should let loose a goat in the wilderness, to that “prince” [power] which rules over wastelands, and this [goat] is fitting for it because he is its master, and destruction and waste emanate from that power, which in turn is the cause of the stars of the sword, wars, quarrels, wounds, plagues, division and destruction. In short, it is the spirit of the sphere of Mars, and its portion among the nations is Esau [Rome], the people that inherited the sword and the wars, and among animals [its portion consists of] the se’irim (demons) and the goats. Also in its portion are the devils called “destroyers” in the language of our Rabbis, and in the language of Scripture: se’irim (Further, 17:7.) (satyrs, demons), for thus he [i.e., Esau] and his nation were called sa’ir. (Genesis 27:11. Numbers 24:18.) Now the intention in our sending away the goat to the desert was not that it should be an offering from us to it — Heaven forbid! Rather, our intention should be to fulfill the wish of our Creator, Who commanded us to do so. This may be compared to the case of someone who makes a feast for his master, and the master commands the person making the feast, “Give one portion to that servant of mine,” in which case the host gives nothing [of his own] to that servant, and it is not to show him honor that he acts in that way to him, but everything is given to the master and it is the master that gives a gift to his servant; the host only observes his command and does in honor of the master whatever he commanded him to do. The master, however, out of his own compassion for the host, wanted all his servants to derive some enjoyment from it [the feast], in order that they may all speak of his [the host’s] praise and not of his shortcomings. This then is the reason [for having someone] who casts the lots [on the two goats]. If the priest were to dedicate them merely, by word of mouth [without casting the lots], saying, “one for the Eternal” and “one for Azazel,” that would be like worshipping [Azazel] or taking a vow in its name. (Sanhedrin 60 b: “He who makes a vow in the name of an idol, transgresses a negative commandment,” i.e., and make no mention of the name of other gods (Exodus 23:13, Rashi). Ramban’s thought is thus clear. If the priest were to dedicate the two goats by word of mouth, without the casting of lots, that would be as if he was worshipping Azazel, a deed which is punishable by death, and in addition it would be making a vow in the name of an idol, which is also prohibited under penalty of whipping. In either case, then, he would be doing something which the Torah has prohibited.) Rather, the priest set the two goats before the Eternal at the door of the Tent of Meeting, (Verse 7.) for both of them were a gift to G-d, and he gave to His servant that portion which came to him from G-d. It is he [i.e., the priest] who cast the lots on them, but it is His hand that apportioned them, something like that which it says, The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing of it is of the Eternal. (Proverbs 16:33.) Even after the casting of the lots, the priest placed the two goats before the Eternal, (Verse 10.) thus proclaiming that both are His and that by sending one away [to the desert] we intend merely to fulfill G-d’s wish, just as it said, And the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive ‘before the Eternal,’ to make atonement over him, to send him away etc. (Verse 10.) That is the reason why we do not ourselves do any act of slaughtering [of that goat, as this would imply that it is a proper offering which requires slaughtering]. And Onkelos rendered the expression (one lot for the Eternal, and one lot for Azazel) as: “one lot for ‘the Name of’ the Eternal and one lot for Azazel;” [thus he was careful not to translate “and one lot for the name of Azazel”], because the one was “for the Name of the Eternal” and not for him [Azazel], and the second was “for Azazel” but not “for the name of Azazel.” It is for this reason that our Rabbis have interpreted: (Torath Kohanim, Acharei 13:10. See also Yoma 67 b.) “And My statutes shall ye keep. (Further, 18:4.) These are matters against which the evil inclination raises accusations, and the idolaters likewise bring charges, such as the [prohibition against] wearing clothes made of a mixture of wool and linen, [the law of] the Red Heifer, and of the goat that is sent away [to Azazel].” Now these idolaters have not accused us [according to our Rabbis] in connection with the offerings, for these are the fire-offerings unto the Eternal. (Above, 4:35; 5:12.) But they accuse us in connection with the goat that is sent away [to Azazel], because they think that we act as they do. Similarly they accuse us in connection with the Red Heifer, because it is slaughtered without the camp, (Number 19:3.) but [in truth] the purport thereof is analogous to that of the goat sent away [to Azazel], which is to remove the spirit of impurity, as it is said of the future, And also I will cause the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the Land. (Zechariah 13:2. That the reference is to the “false” prophets is clearly stated in Yonathan ben Uziel’s rendition of the verse.) On this basis you will understand the reason why the person who sent forth the goat to Azazel must wash his garments [as they were rendered impure], (Further, Verse 26.) and likewise he who burns the Red Heifer, (Numbers 19:8.) and what our Rabbis have mentioned (Zebachim 83 a. See my Hebrew commentary p. 90.) concerning the requirement of washing the garments [of those priests who are in charge] of the burning of the bulls and he-goats which were to be wholly burnt [outside the camp, i.e., outside the city of Jerusalem]. (Above, 4:1-12; 13-21. Numbers 15:24. See also Ramban above, 4:2 (towards end: “He did not mention here etc.”)) Thus Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra intimated to you that you will know the secret of [sending away the goat to Azazel] when you reach the verse, And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the satyrs. (Further, 17:7. See above, Note 60.) The word [Azazel] is a compound one [made of two words]. (Eiz (the goat) and azal (going). It is the place to which “the goat goes.” So clearly explained by Rabbeinu Bachya (in my edition, II p. 499), and so found also in R’dak’s Sefer Hashorashim under root eiz.) There are many such cases. Thus the matter is explained, unless you pursue a further investigation from this subject to that of the Separate Intelligences (Generally referring to the angels and spheres. See Vol. I, p. 59, Note 237, for fuller discussion of this term. See also in Seder Yithro Vol. II, 292, Note 313.) and how the spirits [are affected by] the offerings — [the influence upon the spirits] being known through the study of necromancy, (See Ramban, Exodus 20:3 (towards end: The third kind of idolatry etc.” — Vol. II, p. 295).) while that of the [Separate] Intelligences is known by means of certain allusions of the Torah to those who understand their secrets. I cannot explain more, for I would have to close the mouths of those who claim to be wise in the study of nature, following after that Greek [philosopher Aristotle] who denied everything except that which could be perceived by him [through the physical senses], and he, and his wicked disciples, were so proud as to suspect (“Suspect.” In some books: “think.”) that whatever he could not conceive of through his reasoning is not true! (The attitude of these philosophers, who claimed that whatever their minds could not understand was untrue, was especially obnoxious to Ramban. History has fully borne him out on this matter, for there are literally myriads of matters which the Medieval scholastics, conditioned as they were by Aristotelian concepts of the universe, considered impossible, and are now proven facts. And who can foretell the future of our present-day concepts of the universe? There are obviously facts which lie beyond the present-day grasp of the human mind, which will some day become firmly established. To deny their possibility just because we do not understand them, was to Ramban a manifestation of arrogance.)
The bare, divided mountain. A smooth mountain. (It was so called because there were no trees on it. It was divided between Yaakov and Eisov. The part belonging to Yaakov was bare and smooth as Yaakov himself. See Bereishis 27:11.) This was a bare (smooth) mountain to Baal-gad, which was on the eastern border. During his lifetime, Yehoshua, was unable to conquer the entire eastern border to the north.
[59] Abraham too becomes naked when the words have been spoken to him, “Go forth out of thy country and thy kindred” (Gen. 12:1). Isaac also does not indeed become naked, but is always naked and without body, for an injunction has been given him not to go down into Egypt (Gen. 26:2), and “Egypt” is the body. Jacob, again, loves nakedness of the soul, for his smoothness signifies nakedness. “For Esau,” we read, “was a hairy man, but Jacob a smooth man” (Gen. 27:11), and accordingly he has “Leah” as wife.
Freedom from passions (one of the meanings of “nakedness”) is illustrated by Moses setting up the Tent of Witness outside the Camp (Exod. 33:7); by Aaron entering unrobed (!) into the Holy of Holies (cf. Lev. 16:1 ff.); by Nadab and Abihu leaving their coats (or irrational parts) for Mishael and Elzaphan (Lev. 10:5); by Abraham leaving his country (Gen. 12:1); by Isaac being forbidden to go down into Egypt (i.e. the body, Gen. 26:2); and by Jacob’s smoothness (Gen. 27:11). (54 ff.)
[153] For this reason it is called a “multitude” or “numerous” as well as “mixed”; for he that has an eye to a single aim only is single and unmixed and truly smooth and level, but he that sets before himself many aims for his life is manifold and mixed and truly rough. It is for this reason that the oracles represent Jacob, the trainer of himself for nobility, as smooth, but Esau, who exercised himself in basest things, as rough with hair (Gen. 27:11).
Yaakov said to Rivkah, his mother, Behold, Eisov, my brother is a hairy person and I am a smooth-skinned person.
And because Jakob was afraid to sin, fearing lest his father might curse him, he said, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
| אוּלַ֤י יְמֻשֵּׁ֙נִי֙ אָבִ֔י וְהָיִ֥יתִי בְעֵינָ֖יו כִּמְתַעְתֵּ֑עַ וְהֵבֵאתִ֥י עָלַ֛י קְלָלָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א בְרָכָֽה׃ | 12 J | If my father touches me, I shall appear to him as a trickster and bring upon myself a curse, not a blessing.” |
והבאתי עלי קללה, “I will bring a curse upon myself as I am bound to lie by saying ‘I am Esau;’ if I do not lie, he will not believe me.” Furthermore, all he has to do is to touch me and he will know that I am not Esau. He will curse me for having deceived him.”
WILL FEEL ME. Yemusheni (will feel me) is similar to yesubeni (compasseth me about) (Yesubeni, too, has a root (samech, bet, bet) whose second and third letters are the same (Weiser). Yemusheni follows the paradigm of yesubeni (Cherez).) (Ps. 49:6). It belongs to those roots whose second and third letters are the same. (The root of yemusheni root is mem, shin, shin.)
AS A MOCKER. The root of ki-metate’a (as a mocker) is doubled. (Its root is tav, ayin, heh. The heh drops out and the tav ayin are doubled making for a quadriliteral (Weiser, Cherez).) It comes from the same root as to’eh (err). The meaning of ki-metate’a is: as one who misleads his fellow man.
אולי...כמתעתע, seeing that he can hardly see I would deceive him saying that I am Esau, and if he will feel me and find that my skin is smooth, he will become angry and demand to know how I dared to deceive him and instead of blessing me he will curse me.
ימושני, the root of the word is משש, the letter shin has a dagesh.
כמתעתע, the root of the word is תעה, even though both the first and second root letters appear twice in the word. We have a parallel expression מעשה תעתועים in Jeremiah 10,15, as well as in Chronicles II 36,16 ומתעתועים בנביאיו, a reference to false prophets and religious dignitaries who deceive their followers.
והבאתי, I will be the cause of bringing a curse upon myself.
PERHAPS MY FATHER WILL FEEL ME. The reason that Isaac will feel him is not for the purpose of recognition. Instead, Jacob said, “Perhaps he will bring me near him to kiss me or to put his hand on my face in the manner of a father demonstrating affection for his son, and in feeling me he will discover that I am smooth.” Now I wonder why Jacob was not afraid of vocal recognition for all people are recognizable by their voice as our Rabbis have said, “How is a blind man permitted to live with his wife? And how are people permitted to live with their wives at nighttime? Only by vocal recognition.” (Chullin 96a.) Now if ordinary people have such power of recognition, what of Isaac, who was wise and expert in distinguishing between his sons? (As Scripture testifies (25:28), his love was centered on one.) He should truly have the power of recognition by voice. Perhaps the brothers had similar voices, and therefore the Sages said that the verse, The voice is the voice of Jacob, (Further, Verse 22.) refers not to Jacob’s voice but to his words, i.e., that he speaks gentle language and mentions the Name of Heaven. (Bereshith Rabbah 65:16. Due to the fact that the voices of the brothers were alike, it was necessary for the Sages to interpret the verse, The voice is the voice of Jacob, as referring to the kind of language Jacob used.) It may be that he altered his voice in order to speak as his brother did, for there are people who know how to do this.
ימושני אבי, the word is derived from the expression ממשמש בצהרים in Deuteronomy 28,29 describing people unable to find their way around at high noon, in spite of the sunshine, and having to feel their way about, using their hands in order not to stumble and fall. It is also similar in meaning to the word יסובבהו ערבי נחל in Job 40,22 where it describes the foliage of the reeds forming a protective cover..
ימשני HE WILL FEEL ME — The word is of the same root as the verb in (Deuteronomy 28:29) “One groping (ממשש) at noon-day”.
כמתעתע, wie ein Betrüger, wie einer, der jemanden irre führen will! Dieses "כ" erklärt alles. Jakob war kein Betrüger, wollte nicht täuschen, allein er wird, meint er, gar nicht Zeit haben, Jizchak aufzuklären, daß er nur der Mutter nicht ungehorsam sein wollte, Jizchak wird ihm sofort als Betrüger fluchen. Damit hatte er ihr aber auch indirekt auf die ehrerbietigste Weise gesagt, wie verwerflich ihm das Ganze, wie es ihm als fluchwürdige Täuschung erscheine.
ולא ברכה, if perhaps he had intended to bestow a blessing upon me also, if I deceive him, then instead of such a blessing I will receive a curse.
Perhaps my father will feel me, not necessarily to discover my identity, but innocently, due to our physical proximity; 18 and I shall be in his eyes as a deceiver, a trickster, as he will realize that I have disguised myself as Esau. And this is dangerous, as I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.
אולי ימושני אבי, “perhaps my father will subject me to a “touch-test.” Yaakov did not worry that his father would need such a test to recognise him, but he was concerned that in the process of offering and serving him the meal, Yitzchok would unintentionally touch him, even wanting to kiss him, something which could alert him to the fact that he was not Esau. Actually, it is remarkable that Yaakov did not worry that his voce would betray him for who he was in reality. We know that in the event, Yitzchok became immediately aware that the voice speaking to him sounded like that of Yaakov (Genesis 27,22). It is possible that the brothers, being twins, had very similar sounding voices, and that is why Yaakov was not worried about being recognised by his voice. When the Torah wrote: “the voice sounds like the voice of Yaakov,” this is not a reference to the tone of voice, etc., but to the manner of Yaakov’s speech, which was so totally different from the mode of speech used by his brother. It is also possible that he had tried to fake his voice to sound like that of his brother. The art of impersonating other people’s voices is a well known phenomenon.
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement. But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this. (The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse.) Rather, (The same conclusion can be reached from a different source.) “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.” “All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh], (Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh.) and an idolater. (Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).) “I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end, (See Genesis 28:4.) he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17). You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’ (It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all.) “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.
“Jacob arrived intact.” It is written: “Those who sow in tears, reap with joyous song” (Psalms 126:5). “Those who sow in tears” – this is our patriarch Jacob, who sowed the blessings in tears: “Perhaps my father will feel me” (Genesis 27:12). “Reap with joyous song” – “God will give you from the dew of the heavens and from the fat of the earth” (Genesis 27:28). “Though he walks weeping” (Psalms 126:6) – “he raised his voice and wept” (Genesis 29:11). “Bearing his sack of seed” (Psalms 126:6) – as he is drawn to the place that he is destined to procreate from there, as it is written: “Take a wife for you from there” (Genesis 28:2), “Isaac sent Jacob and he went to Padan Aram; to Laban, son of Betuel” (Genesis 28:5). “He returns in joyous song, bearing his sheaves [alumotav]” (Psalms 126:6) – he came bearing young men [uleimin] and young women [ve’uleimita].
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
R. Simlai lectured: "Six hundred and thirteen commands were spoken to Moses; three hundred and sixty-five of them negatives, corresponding to the number of days in the year counting according to the solar system, and two hundred and forty-eight positives, corresponding to the members of a human body." Said R. Hamnuna: "Where is the passage to prove this? (Deut. 33, 4) The Torah which Moses commanded us. The numerical value of the word Torah amounts to six hundred and eleven. (Fol. 24) I am; and, Thou shalt have no [of the first two commandments], we heard from the Almighty Himself. David, however, came and reduced their number to eleven, as it is written (Ps. 15, 2-5) A Psalm of David, Lord, we shall sojourn in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell upon Thy holy mountain? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh truth in his heart, etc., i.e., He that walketh uprightly, refers to Abraham, concernnig whom such an expression is written (Gen. 17, 1) Walk before Me, and be upright. Worketh righteously, refers to a man like Aba Chelkia.' And speaketh the truth refers to man like Rabbi Saphra. Nor doeth evil to his fellows, i.e., who takes care not to compete with his neighbor's business. That hath no slander upon his tongue, refers to our father Jacob, concerning whom it is written (Gen. 27, 12) My father peradventure will feel me. Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, refers to one who befriends his relatives. In whose eyes a vile person is despised, refers to Hezekiah, King of Judea, who caused his father's bones to be carried on a bed of ropes. But he honoreth them that fear the Lord, refers to Jehoshaphath, King of Judea, who upon seeing a scholar, would rise from his throne, kiss him, and call him, my father, my master, my teacher, my master, my master. But that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not; this refers to R. Jochanan, who said: 'If one says I will fast until I will come home.' He that putteth not out his money on interest, i.e., not even from an idolater. Nor taketh no bribe, refers to men like R. Ismael b. Jose. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. When R. Gamaliel would come to this passage, he used to weep, saying: "Only one who performed all these shall not be moved, but [if he performs merely] one of them, he might be moved;" whereupon R. Akiba said to him: "According to your opinion then how would you explain the passage (Lev. 18, 24) Defile not ye yourselves in all of those things. Do you mean to say that only if in all of these things, but not one?" You must therefore say that it means to any of these things. The same could also be explained. Isaiah then came and reduced them (the six hundred and thirteen commands) to six as it is said (33, 15) He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes; that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking on evil. He that walketh righteously, refers to Abraham, of whom it is written (Gen. 18, 19) For I have known him, to do righteousness and justice, etc. Speaketh uprightly, refers to him who does not anger his colleague in public. And he despiseth the gain of oppressions, refers to R. Ismael b. Elisha. That shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, refers to R. Ishmael b. Jose. That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, refers to R. Elazar b. Simon. And shutteth his eyes from looking on evil, as R. Chiya b. Aba explained this to refer to one "who does not look upon women washing near the bank of the river." When Michah [the prophet] came he reduced them to three (6, 8) It hath been told thee, o man, what is good; and what the Lord doth require of thee: (only) to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. To do justly, refers to the law; love mercy, refers to loving kindness; and walk humbly, providing for the marriage of poor maidens and the burial of the dead. Is this not an a fortiori conclusion! If concerning matters which are not to be performed in secrecy, the Torah says to walk humbly, how much more so should this be applied to matters which are accustomed to be done in secrecy! Isaiah finally reduced them to two, as it is said (56, 1) Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye justice, and do righteousness. Amos then came and reduced them to one, as it is said (Amos 5, 4) For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live. R. Nachman b. Isaac raised the following objection: Perhaps he means by Seek ye Me, to perform the entire Torah? We must therefore say that it was Habakkuk [the prophet] who came and reduced them to one (2, 4) But the righteous shall live by his faith.
R. Elazar said again: "A house in which the words of the Torah are not heard during the night will finally be burned, as it is said (Job 20, 26) Entire darkness is laid by for his treasures: a fire not blown by man will consume him; it will destroy anyone (Sarid) left in his tent. Sarid refers to a scholar, as it is said (Joel 3, 4) Among the remnant (shridim) whom the Lord calleth." R. Elazar said again: "He who does not benefit scholars with his estate will never come into any manner of blessing, as it is said (Job 20, 21) Nothing was spared (Sarid) from his craving to eat; therefore shall his wealth not prosper. And the word Sarid refers to a school, as it is said (Joel 3) Among the remnant (Shridim) whom the Lord calleth." And from the same passage, R. Elazar said again: "He who does not leave any bread after his meal will not reap the fruits of any blessing, as it is said (Job 20) Nothing was spared (Sarid) from his craving, and Sarid refers to a scholar as above. But did not R. Elazar say elsewhere that he who left pieces of bread after his meal is considered as if he were worshipping idols, as it is said (Is. 65, 11) That set out a table for the god of fortune and that fill for destiny the drink-offering. This presents no difficulty. In the latter saying he means, that he puts a whole loaf on the table [which is prohibited], but in the former passage he speaks of leaving some crumbs of bread for the poor. R. Elazar said again: "He who changes his word is considered as if he were to worship idols; it is written here (Gen. 27, 12) I will seem to him as a deceiver; and it is written (Jer. 10, 15) They are vanity, the work of deception." R. Elazar said again: "A man shall always remain obscure (without an office) and he will live." R. Zera said: "We have also taught so in the following Mishna: If there seems to be leprsoy in a house which is dark, windows must not be opened for investigation." Hence it is inferred as above.
(Gen. 27:12, cont.:) THEN I WILL BRING UPON MYSELF A CURSE INSTEAD OF A BLESSING. The Holy One put in her heart (according to Cant. 5:2) THE SOUND OF MY BELOVED KNOCKING. (Ps. 122:8:) FOR THE SAKE OF MY BROTHERS AND COMPANIONS LET ME PLEASE SAY: PEACE BE WITH YOU. (Buber finds the language confused here. According to the next paragraph, what the Holy One put in Rebekah’s heart was an answer to quiet Jacob’s concern. THE SOUND OF MY BELOVED KNOCKING might then be how Jacob heard her answer from the psalm as to why he should go and greet Isaac.)
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:33): Why did he tremble? Because he had blessed the younger before the elder; for he had intended to bless both of them. So he called Esau in order to bless him first, since he was the elder. Then afterwards, < he would call > Jacob. So he intended. Why? Because before the Holy One it is difficult to supplant a genealogical chain, to replace primogeniture. So note that he only called Esau. On what basis do you say that he wished to bless Jacob? On the basis of what Jacob said, {and he said} [to his mother] (in Gen. 27:12): THEN I WILL BRING UPON MYSELF A CURSE INSTEAD OF A BLESSING. He said to her: Even the blessing which he was going to give me, in the end he will not give me. Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is on my hands that the genealogical chain should be ruined at my hands, for me to bless the younger < first > and the elder afterwards? And so you find: In every place Moses comes before Aaron; (Cf. Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Pisha, 1.) but when it comes to genealogy, Aaron is before Moses. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 3:1): NOW THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF AARON AND MOSES. R. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan of the Bet Guvrin: In the case of Reuben also, when that event (the selling of Joseph) happened at his hands, his father gave his birthright to Joseph. Thus it is stated (in I Chron. 5:1): AND THE SONS OF REUBEN, THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. NOW HE IS FIRST-BORN; BUT, WHEN HE HAD DEFILED HIS FATHER'S BED, HIS BIRTHRIGHT WAS GIVEN TO (JOSEPH) [THE SONS JOSEPH BEN ISRAEL]. Hence the birthright belonged to Joseph. In the genealogy, however, he was not able to keep his birthright away from him, as stated (in Exod. 6:14): THE SONS OF REUBEN THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. "Now he was the first-born" is not written here (in I Chron. 5:1), but: NOW HE IS THE FIRST-BORN. So also in the case of the sons of Noah, Japheth was the oldest: but because Shem was more righteous, < Scripture > counts him first in every place. (See above, 2:19.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 9:18): AND THE CHILDREN OF NOAH WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK WERE SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH. In regard to genealogy, however, < Scripture > mentions Japheth as being the eldest. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 10:21): AND UNTO SHEM THERE WERE CHILDREN BORN. HE WAS ALSO FATHER TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER < AND > THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH, WHO WAS THE OLDEST. (The last eight words can be, and commonly are, translated: THE ELDER BROTHER OF JAPHETH. See Gen. R. 37:7.) R. Tanhuma said: But you also have to learn < through > greater insight, that Shem was second to Japheth. Therefore, you find that Noah sired a son at < an age of > five hundred years. It is written (in Gen. 5:32): AND NOAH WAS FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD; < AND NOAH BEGOT SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH >. Now the flood took place (according to Gen. 7:11): IN THE SIX HUNDREDTH YEAR OF NOAH'S LIFE…. {Since} it is also written of Shem that he sired a son at < the age of > a hundred years, {he was lacking two} [two years after the flood). It is so stated (in Gen. 11:10): THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM: SHEM WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. If he had been the eldest, it would have been necessary to say only: HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. You also learn from here that Japheth was two years older than Shem according to the reckoning of my calculation. Here also (in Gen. 27:33), Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is there on my hands that I have blessed the younger before the elder and have changed the order? Jacob went out and Esau came in, as stated (in Gen. 27:30): AND JACOB HAD JUST GONE OUT…. He (Esau) said to his father (in vs. 32): I AM [YOUR SON], YOUR FIRST-BORN, ESAU. His father began saying: Who is this one who entered and received the blessings? The Holy Spirit said to him: It was Jacob. He said to him (in vs. 33): AND I HAVE EATEN OF EVERYTHING. R. Isaac said: In that dish Isaac had a taste OF EVERYTHING that the Holy One had created during the six days of creation. (Tanh., Gen. 6:11; Gen. R. 67:2.) Also R. Judah b. R. Shallum said in the name of R. Ayyevu: In that dish Isaac had a taste of whatever is stored up for the righteous in the days to come. [Isaac said to him: In that dish I tasted everything that the Holy One has created]. Esau said to him: Daddy, [tell me:] What is that dish? Isaac said to him: < Whatever I ask for >. I asked for pheasant; (Gk.: phasianos.) I tasted it. Esau said to him: Daddy, tell me the basic < ingredient >. He said to him: It was meat. R. Hananyah b. R. Isaac said: When Esau heard this, he began striking his face. He said: Woe to that man, as stated (in Gen. 27:34): AND HE LET OUT A GREAT AND BITTER CRY…. Esau said: He fed me pottage of lentils, and I gave him my birthright. Now he has fed Daddy meat. You must know with what blessings he blessed him! HE BEGAN TO CRY AND SAY: IS HE NOT RIGHTLY NAMED JACOB (rt.: 'QB)? [FOR HE HAS CHEATED (rt.: 'QB) ME THESE TWO TIMES. HE TOOK MY BIRTHRIGHT; AND, SEE, NOW HE HAS TAKEN MY BLESSING.] His father said to him: So what should I do for you? He said to him: He has already taken my birthright. Isaac said to him: Over this matter I was sorry. He also said: Perhaps I transgressed a commandment of the Law in blessing the younger before the elder. Now that I have already blessed him, (according to Gen. 27:33:) HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED.
The third category is where one lies to his fellow not to rob him of anything he possesses, but he learns that a certain good thing is going to come to his fellow in the future, and so with falsehood and with cunning he praises this good fortune that is coming, and makes it appear that he has a share in it. Or he lies to his fellow until he gives him a gift, for example, he brings him good tidings — false tidings — in order to get a gift because of this. And there are many similar cases. And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "Whoever dissembles in his speech is as though he had practiced idolatry" (Sanh. 92a). As it is said, "My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a mocker" (Gen. 27:12). And it is said, concerning idolatry, "They are vanity, a work of delusion" (Jer. 10:15). Now this does not mean that one who lies is actually like one who worships idols, but the resemblance is there, for he conceals himself in falsehood and is helped by empty things.
Be especially (Boldface in Moriah, Me'ah She'arim.) careful not to lie, even in a words of a rhetorical phrase, for there is desecration of the [divine] Name in speech. And also not to be rewarded in a lie, for the gain will be offset by the loss, since the four classes of those who will not receive the face of the Shekhinah: the class of liars, the class of hypocrites, (Or, flatterers, faithless, arbitrary, fickle.) the class of scoffers and the class of slanderers. And such is the punishment of the liar, that even if he speaks the truth, no one believes him (BT, Sanhedrin, 89b). And anyone who repeats his speech is as if he were an idol-worshipper (Ibid., 92a). As is written in this case: "I shall seem to him a deceiver," (Gen. 27:12). (Translation following Koren. Context: Jacob is reluctant to fool Isaac into giving him the blessing.) [Regarding] anyone who changes his words [is written]: "They are vanity, the work of delusion," (Jer. 10:15).
And the third section: One that comes with deception and deceptive words to prevent good from someone and to bring the good to himself. It is not to rob his fellow of something that is his nor to extort him. Rather he puts his eye upon a good that will be coming to his fellow in the future, and ambushes it to bring it to himself by the falsehood of his words; or his lying words cause his fellow to give it to him as a gift. And the main punishment is for the lie. Indeed, the punishment of the lie is enlarged if it causes a loss to someone besides himself, even though the main part of the punishment is not for the loss [here] - for he did not cause him to lose something that he had acquired. It is like the matter that our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 92a), “Anyone who alters [the truth in] his speech, it is as though he worships idols. As, it is stated (Genesis 27:12), ‘Maybe my father will feel me, and I shall seem to him a deceiver (metate’a)’; and it is written there (Jeremiah 10:15) [regarding idolatry], ‘They are vanity, the work of deception [tatuim].’” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said that it was as if he worshipped idolatry [here] - they brought it to the extreme and other (and it appears to me that it needs to say, to the final extreme). For he is (traded) (it needs to say, hidden - and it is from the usage of the verse [Isaiah 28:15], “We have hidden in falsehood” - and so is it found in the Chapter on Falsehood in the Paths of the Righteous, the chapters of which are built upon the pearls of this holy book Y. B.) in falsehood and girded in vanity.
Mal‘ivim [… u-mitta‘te‘im]. This is akin to: mal‘igim … u-mitta‘te‘im (ומתעתעים; =mocking … and playing tricks). On [the phrase] “and I shall appear to him ki-meta‘tea‘ (=as a trickster)” (Gen 27:12), the Targum renders ke-mitla‘av.
And give me a hold. "Palpare" in old French, as in, "Perhaps my father will touch me." (Bereishis, 27:12.)
but they do not feel Heb. ימישון, an expression of (Gen. 27:12): “Perhaps my father will feel me (ימשני).”
וימש חשך, “the darkness will be tangible.” This expression describing touching something, as when Yaakov expressed his concern to his mother Rivkah that his father, being blind, would subject him to the ”touch-test.” (Genesis 27,12) The darkness was so opaque that the people could feel it with their hands. The reason was that this “darkness” was not merely the absence of light of the sun, but it was caused by the descent of “thick” air into the lower atmosphere covering Egypt. This layer of “thick” air extinguished any candles or other artificial means of lighting the Egyptians would use at night to see by.
“Who has no slander upon his tongue”; this is referring to one who conducts himself like our forefather Jacob, who did not want to mislead his father in order to receive his blessings, as it is written: “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes like a fraud” (Genesis 27:12).
And Rabbi Elazar says: With regard to anyone who amends the truth in his speech, it is as though he worships idols. As, it is written here, in the verse where Jacob sought to resist taking his father’s blessing from Esau: “And I shall seem to him a deceiver [metate’a]” (Genesis 27:12), and it is written there with regard to idol worship: “They are vanity, the work of deception [tatuim]” (Jeremiah 10:15).
Rabbi [Eliezer b. Jacob] said: Whoever changes his word is as if he worshipped idols, (Cf. Sanh. 92a (Sonc. ed., p. 617).) as it is stated, My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a mocker (metha‘tea‘), (Gen. 27, 12.) and metha‘tea‘ means nothing else than idolatry, as it is stated, They are vanity, a work of delusion (ta‘tu‘im). (Jer. 51, 18.)
Suppose my father touches me. I will be in his eyes as an impostor [a mocker]. I will bring upon myself a curse [curses]—not a blessing [blessings].
Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes like one who derideth him, and bring upon me a curse and not a blessing.
| וַתֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ אִמּ֔וֹ עָלַ֥י קִלְלָתְךָ֖ בְּנִ֑י אַ֛ךְ שְׁמַ֥ע בְּקֹלִ֖י וְלֵ֥ךְ קַֽח־לִֽי׃ | 13 J | But his mother said to him, “Your curse, my son, be upon me! Just do as I say and go fetch them for me.” |
He came … and said, “My father.” He refrained from identifying himself to see whether his father would recognize his voice. When he did not, Yaakov knew that Heaven was with him.
עלי קללתך בני, “neither you nor I need worry as I am certain that what G-d has told me before the two of you have been born will come true. So I can safely say that I will absorb any curse you might be cursed with.”A different exegesis: Rivkah meant that even if Yitzchok would subject Yaakov to a “touchtest” in order to assure himself that he was Esau, he would never curse him, as he would realise that you would never have tried to deceive him if I had not put you up to this charade. If he would curse anyone, he would curse me.”A third possible exegesis of this line: the curse would backfire on me; why would he curse someone who had brought him such tasty food? Our author uses the line על עמך ברכתך, “Your blessing be upon Your people” in Psalms 3,9 as a comparison. [The curse in that context would befall the people mentioned in the previous verse. Ed.] You would only become cursed if you refused to carry out what I command you. Listen to me and go and get me the goats.”
עלי קללתך בני, “may any curse your father curses you with strike me instead.” What Rivkah meant by these words was that: “your father would not curse you, but me.” It is something generally accepted that when children do not behave in the manner they should, it is their parents that are blamed for not bringing them up properly.
UPON ME BE THY CURSE. Don’t be afraid that your father might curse you. If he does, the curse will be upon me, not on you. This is the way women talk. (A mother is willing to have any trouble that is destined to fall upon her son fall upon her.) However, Saadiah Gaon explained Upon me be thy curse to mean: it is upon me to remove the curse. (I will intercede with your father to annul any imprecation that he may curse you with (Weiser).)
עלי קללתך בני, "may your curse be on me my son!" The reason that she added the word "my son," although she had been talking to him all the time was that she referred only to what Jacob had said last. We have a rule in Makkot 11 that the curse of a Torah scholar, even if uttered only conditionally, is effective. Had Rebeccah not added the word "my son," we would have thought that she referred to Jacob's being cursed by Isaac when he found out he had been tricked.
In order to understand Rebeccah's special love for Jacob the following considerations may help. Rebeccah generally was looked upon askance because she had given birth to the wicked Esau. We find in nature that parts of a whole display an affinity for other parts of the same whole. Rebeccah testified that this rule did not apply in her case, that her deeds proved that she had no affinity for Esau. Her womb was indeed blessed, and the good part (Jacob) represented that which was normal, hence her love for Jacob. The Torah teaches us this by repeatedly describing Jacob as Rebeccah's son even in instances where these additional words are otherwise quite superfluous (compare verses 6,8,11,13,15,17,42). All of this is to underline that Jacob's righteousness was a direct outgrowth of his righteous mother. The fact that she had given birth also to an Esau was not a reflection on his mother's personality.
Kabbalists, of course, are aware that there are mystical dimensions which account for the emergence of Esau as a potentially wicked person, whereas it was Rebeccah's union with Isaac which was the cause of any pollutant disturbing her holiness. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai is quoted in the Zohar (Sullam edition Chayey Sarah 251) as explaining that the reason the Torah describes Isaac as loving his wife Rebeccah, something that is natural and does not require special mention, is that the love of the male for the female is rooted in the "left" side of the emanations. in Isaac's case it was the fire of the גבורה, his predominant characteristic which stems from the "left side" of the emanations.. If the holiness of the two was tainted in any way this was due more to Isaac than to Rebeccah. Jacob's physical perfection is compared to that of Adam's before the sin, as we know from Baba Metzia 84. He did not therefore inherit any pollutant from his mother. Students of the Kabbalah will understand all this. [I have elaborated on the author's text to make it more intelligible for the non-kabbalist. Ed.] When we wrote earlier (25,20) that the reason that Esau was wicked was because Rebeccah had a wicked brother called Laban, this did not influence Rebeccah's character.
עלי קללתך, upon me and my neck; she was relying on the prophecy she had received during her pregnancy that the older son would serve the younger one (25,23)
עלי קללתך, I will take your curse in your place should you become the subject of a curse. We find in Sanhedrin 48, that Solomon is reported to have accepted for himself any curse which would devolve upon him for carrying out his father’s dying wish not to let Yoav die a peaceful death and David’s curses against Yoav. In the event, Solomon or his descendants were afflicted with these curses. [I presume the author just wished to authenticate that Rivkah’s statement was not spurious, and that one can substitute oneself for the target of curses pronounced on someone else. Ed.]
His mother said to him: If you will be cursed, your curse is upon me, my son. This is a rhetorical expression of her acceptance of responsibility for the curse. 19 Only in the meantime heed my voice, and go, take the goat kids for me, as I have commanded you.
ותאמר לו אמו עלי קללתך בני, “His mother said to him: “any curse will devolve upon me, my son.” According to Onkelos, Rivkah said what she said in view of the prophecy which had been revealed to her during her pregnancy that her older son would serve the younger one as his master. Another approach suggests that she meant: “he will not curse you but he will curse him or her who made you deceive him.” (in other words, “he will curse me”.) Yet another commentary offered is that the word קללה, loosely translated as “curse,” actually implies that the victimised party will be deprived of something. Rivkah assured Yaakov that if he were to be deprived of his inheritance as a result of this charade, she could make it up to him out of her marriage settlement.
“His mother said to him, your curse, my son, is upon me” [27:13]. Rebecca said: your curse should be upon me. Hizkuni writes. We do not have to be afraid since the Holy One had said: “the older shall serve the younger” [25:23]. This means, the older one will serve the younger one. That is to say, Esau is the older one who will serve Jacob. Hizkuni gives another explanation. Rebecca said: Isaac will think that I gave you the advice, because I am accustomed to everything concerning Isaac. Thus, I must have heard from Isaac how he wants to bless Esau. Therefore, Isaac will curse me. Hizkuni gives another explanation. “Your curse be upon me.” I should justly curse you because you do not want to obey me to go to your father to take your blessing. However, Isaac will not curse you because you have done good and brought him good things to eat. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:13.) Imre Noam also gives these explanations and gives another explanation. “Your curse be upon me.” That is to say, if your father will not want to allow you to inherit, I will give you my marriage contract. I will fulfill for you that you will have enough. (Imre Noam, Genesis, 27:13.) Rebecca took Esau’s clothes that he used to wear when he went out to the field. She dressed Jacob and Rebecca laid the hide of the goats on Jacob’s throat and hands, that Isaac should think that it is Esau. Esau had given the clothes to Rebecca to hold, even though he had many wives. He did not want to trust the clothes to his wives. He knew that they were all promiscuous. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:15.) Jacob came with the good food to Isaac, his father. Isaac asked: who are you my son? “Jacob said, I am Esau, your firstborn” [27:19]. Ibn Shuaib writes. Jacob, the righteous one, had no intention to go and lie to his father. He cried and did not want to make food, but his mother made the food herself, as the verse says, “his mother prepared” [27:14]. Afterwards, he did not want to take the food, until his mother forcefully put the food in his hands. He did not want to go. Rebecca said: the angels will be with you there, before your father. When he came to the door, Jacob became faint. The Holy One sent him Michael and Gabriel and led him by both hands before his father, Isaac. Rebecca did not give Jacob wine, because she did not want to show red before Isaac, at the blessing of Jacob. Esau is called Edom, which means red. Michael brought wine from the Garden of Eden. When Jacob went out the door, Esau came to the door and Michael hid Jacob, so Esau did not see Jacob. The Holy One did this, because Esau had previously sold the birthright in the expectation that Jacob should be able to take the blessings. Now, he said, “I am Esau your firstborn.” That is to say, Isaac asked Jacob, who are you? He said: I am Esau, your firstborn. That is to say, he did not lie. He was the substitute for Esau who had sold him the birthright. (Ibn Shuaib, Derashot, I: 49–50.) Bahya and Hizkuni write that Jacob told no lie when Jacob said, “I have done as you told me” [27:19]. This means, Jacob said: I have done as you have told me to do. (Bahya, Genesis, 27:19; Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:19.) Bahya asks here: Did Jacob lie? Isaac did not order Jacob. The explanation is that Jacob said: as you said for my sake. That is, as you said that food should be brought to you. Rebecca heard this and told me to bring it. (Bahya, Genesis, 27:19.) Rashi gives an explanation. Jacob did not lie when he said I, I am who I am, but Esau is your firstborn. I have done what you have asked. That is to say, I have done many times what you have asked. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:19.) Hizkuni writes. One is sometimes allowed to lie when it is necessary. As when Abraham said, Sarah was his sister and not his wife. We also find many prophets who something other than the truth. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:19.)
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement. But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this. (The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse.) Rather, (The same conclusion can be reached from a different source.) “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.” “All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh], (Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh.) and an idolater. (Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).) “I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end, (See Genesis 28:4.) he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17). You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’ (It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all.) “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.
(Cant. 5:2, cont.:) MY INNOCENT (tammati), < i.e., > MY TWIN (when vocalized as tomati), since she had borne {two} twins. MY INNOCENT (tammati) because < the plan > was not from Rebekah. Rather the Holy One had put it in her heart. She said to him: When the first Adam sinned, was he cursed? Was not his mother cursed? (The point is explained in Gen. R. 65:15, which adds the following: “Thus it is stated (in Gen. 3:17): CURSED IS THE LAND BECAUSE OF YOU.” Since LAND here is the feminine form of “Adam,” the midrash interprets the cursed land as his mother.) And now it is my < turn >. Fulfill your < destiny > ; and if you should be cursed, your curse will fall upon me. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:13): YOUR CURSE, MY SON, BE UPON ME! … [Why?] The Holy One said to him: See, I have crowned you with blessings, as stated (in Cant. 5:2, cont.): FOR MY HEAD IS DRENCHED WITH DEW. He went immediately. (According to Gen. 27:14:) THEN HE WENT TO GET THEM AND BROUGHT THEM TO HIS MOTHER…. He went in with his father and received the blessings, as stated (in vs. 28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU < FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN >….
Rabbi Meir said: Esau, the brother of Jacob, saw the coats of Nimrod, and in his heart he coveted them, and he slew him, and took them from him. Whence (do we know) that they were desirable in his sight? Because it is said, "And Rebecca took the precious raiment of Esau, her elder son" (Gen. 27:15). When he put them on he also became, by means of them, a mighty hero, as it is said, "And Esau was a cunning hunter" (Gen. 25:27). And when Jacob went forth from the presence of Isaac, his father, he said: Esau, the wicked one, is not worthy to wear these coats. What did he do? He dug in the earth and hid them there, as it is said, "A noose is hid for him in the earth" (Job 18:10).
Now (Jacob) was skilled in the Torah, and his heart dreaded the curse of his father. His mother said to him: My son ! If it be a blessing, may it be upon thee and upon thy seed; if it be a curse, let it be upon me and upon my soul, as it is said, "And his mother said to him, Upon me be thy curse, my son" (Gen. 27:13). He went and brought two kids of the goats. Were two kids of the goats the food for Isaac? But he brought one as a Paschal offering, and with the other he prepared the savoury meat to eat; and he brought it to his father, and he said to him: "Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison" (Gen. 27:19). Isaac said: "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (Gen. 27:22). Jacob (declares) the unity of God. "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.) in the meditation of the Torah. "And the hands are the hands of Esau" (ibid.), in all shedding of blood and in every evil death. Not only this, but also when they proclaim in heaven, "The voice is the voice of Jacob," the heavens tremble. And when they proclaim on earth, "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.), every one who hears will make his portion with "The voice which is the voice of Jacob." And every one || who does not hear and does not act (obediently), his portion is with "The hands, which are the hands of Esau."
A third problem is how we are to understand Rebeccah who said to her son Jacob: "May your curse be on my head, my son!" Could she imagine that Jacob would make peace with the idea that his mother would be cursed through something he did?
Esau is characterized as "descending;" this is alluded to in Ovadiah 1,4, where the prophet says to Edom: "Even if you place your nest among the stars, I shall bring you down from there." When Rebeccah said; "your curse upon me, my son," she referred to what had already occurred in her womb before the twins were born, i.e. that everything that is accursed was already concentrated in Esau. He, Jacob, did not have to worry, seeing he was already blessed.
Abraham the author says: I must dwell at length (I.E. criticizes the Genonim for their lengthy comments. See I.E.’s introduction to his commentary on the Pentateuch, p. 1. Hence his apology.) on the incident of the golden calf. Some of the ancients said that Hur (The Talmud claims that he was the son of Miriam. See next note.) was killed. (For resisting the making of the golden calf. See Shemot Rabba 41:10; Va-Yikra Rabba 10:3; San. 7a; and Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer 45.) Aaron thus was afraid. (Aaron feared that the people might kill him if he did not accede to their wishes.) There is an opinion (I.E. does not identify this source.) that Aaron feared for Israel, (This commentator refuses to believe that Aaron acted out of fear for his own life.) that if they killed him God in return would destroy all of Israel. (For killing Aaron.) Let us now turn to the plain meaning of the text. If the making of the golden calf entailed idolatry, why was Aaron afraid that he would be killed? (Like Hur.) Did not many pious Israelites of later generations, whose level of piety did not even reach to the bottom of the sole of Aaron’s foot, die for the sake of the unity of God’s name? Look! Daniel’s companions were thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow before an image. (See Dan. 3.) How then could Aaron make an idol, which is worse than bowing down to it? Was not Aaron one of God’s holy people? Was he not a prophet to Israel? Many commandments were given by him and his brother Moses. (Aaron was more than an ordinary prophet. See I.E. on Ex. 7:7 and on Gen. 27:19 and the notes thereto.) If Aaron was afraid to die (Rather than make an idol.) then Hur was superior to him. If Aaron made an idol then Moses was obligated to kill him before he killed those who worshipped the calf. However, Moses prayed for Aaron and killed the worshippers. How could Aaron and his seed later on, for all eternity, make atonement for the children of Israel? (If Aaron made an idol.) Do not pay attention to Take thee a bull-calf (Hebrew, egel.) for a sin-offering (Lev. 9:2), for the bull-calf was not brought because Aaron made the golden calf. On the Day of Atonement all anointed priests (High priests.) are similarly commanded to bring a young bullock for a sin offering. (See Lev. 16:32.) We cannot say that the bullock was brought because of their father’s sin, (All priest are descended from Aaron.) because all the priests were descended from Eleazar and Ithamar. (The sons of Aaron. These two sons had already been born when Aaron made the golden calf. They did not participate in the making or the worship of the golden calf. There is thus no reason why their descendants should have to bring a young bullock annually to atone for their ancestor’s making of the golden calf.) Phinehas (The son of Eleazar. Phinehas was the ancestor of high priests from the family of Zadok.) was also already born by the time the golden calf was made. (Hence there was no reason for his descendants to atone for the sin of the golden calf.) Furthermore, the portion dealing with the laws of the Day of Atonement commands Israel to bring a he-goat for a sin offering. (Lev. 9:3.) Now Israel did not make an image in the form of a he-goat. (If the young bullock brought as a sin offering by the high priest on the Day of Atonement is interpreted as an atonement for the sin of making the golden calf, then a similar reason should be offered for the he-goat brought by the congregation on the Day of Atonement. However, Israel made a calf, not a he-goat. We thus see that Israel’s sin offering was not to atone for the sin of the golden calf. The same must be true of the offering brought by the high priest.) The red heifer (Num. 19.) similarly was not brought to atone for idolatry. (That is, to atone for the sin of the golden calf. This is the opinion of Rabbi Moshe Ha-Darshan. See Rashi on Num. 19:2.) It was brought to purify the unclean. All philosophers admit that God will not choose a person whom He knows will ultimately worship idols to serve as His messenger. (To serve as His messenger to reveal commandments. Aaron served as such a messenger. See I.E. on Ex. 7:7.) Not every prophet is a messenger. (That is, a messenger who reveals God’s commandments to Israel. Only Moses and Aaron served as such. See I.E. 27:19. I.E. comments thus because Jewish tradition considers Solomon and David as prophets. Yet David and Solomon sinned. Hence I.E. differentiates between a mere prophet and a prophet who is sent to reveal commandments.) Now Scripture tells us that shortly before Moses died, he said, Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one (Deut. 33:8). (The verse continues, Whom Thou didst prove at Massah, With whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah. I.E. believes that the verse refers to Aaron. He interprets the first part of the verse as meaning, Aaron is fit to wear the Thummim and Urim because of his piety. He interprets the second part of the verse as meaning that the only stain on Aaron’s piety was the incident at the waters of Meribah. See I.E. on Deut. 33:8.) However, he did not mention the incident of the calf. (In Deut. 33:8.) The only sin found in Aaron was the sin found in Moses, which was the incident of the waters of Meribah, (For the incident at the waters of Meribah, see Num. 20:1-12.) which I will explain in its place. (Deut. 33:8.) Some say that Israel fooled Aaron. Israel made a mold of a calf. Aaron was unaware of this and cast the gold into the fire. They offer as proof, I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf (Deut. 32:24). However, this is incorrect, for if Aaron was a fool whom simpletons could deceive, why would God have chosen him? Furthermore, why did Aaron build an altar before the calf and command that Israel slaughter sacrifices and burnt offerings upon it? (If Aaron was tricked, he would have been shocked upon seeing the calf. He would not have commanded that an altar be built before the calf and burnt offerings be offered upon it.) Others say that the individual named Aaron who made the calf was not Aaron the brother of Moses. This too is nonsense, for the congregation that gathered, (That is, the congregation that gathered against Aaron and demanded that he make a god for them.) only gathered against the one who stood in place of Moses. Scripture clearly states, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you (Ex. 24:14). (Moses appointed Aaron in his place till he returned.) If the one who made the calf was someone else named Aaron, why didn’t Aaron kill him? Why didn’t Moses kill him when he came down from the mountain? Moses even prayed on his behalf. (Not only did Moses not kill the individual called Aaron, he prayed on his behalf.) It is not fitting for a pious man to make an idol for others so that they do not die. (The opinion that Aaron made the calf because he was afraid that Israel would kill him if he refused and that God in return would destroy Israel is also wrong. For it is not fitting that a pious man make an idol for others so that they do not die. Ibn Ezra here rejects the earlier quoted opinion that Aaron made the calf because he was afraid that God would destroy Israel if they killed Aaron. It should be noted that I.E. occasionally leaves out the first part of a clause. He expects the reader to fill it in.) There are also many who say that the meaning of Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (Ex. 32:5) is that those who served the calf would be killed by Moses. (This interpretation maintains that a feast (chag) to the Lord refers to the slaughter of the worshippers of the golden calf.) But the meaning of Tomorrow shall be a feast (chag) to the Lord can only mean that after Aaron built the altar before the calf, he commanded that an announcement be made in the camp that they should slaughter sacrifices the next day on the altar which he built. The meaning of chag (feast) is a sacrifice, as in bind the offering with thick ropes (Ps. 118:27). (Translated according to I.E.) This is what Israel did, for we read, and they arose early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings (Ex. 31:6). Thoughts are of no avail, (One should not maintain that while most people understood Tomorrow shall be a feast (chag) to the Lord to mean they would offer sacrifices on the next day, Aaron’s private meaning was: Tomorrow worshippers of the golden calf will be slaughtered.) for one who curses God is killed for what he said. (He cannot claim that his intention was not to curse God.) The case is the same with a person who says, Let us go and serve other gods (Deut. 13:7). (He is killed for what he said. He cannot claim that he didn’t mean what he said.) The one who explains I am Esau thy first-born (Gen. 27:19) as meaning, I am what I am, but Esau is your first-born, is not offering the plain meaning of the text. Neither is he explaining the text in accordance with the rules of rhetoric. (See I.E. on Gen. 27:13 (Vol. 1, p. 262) and the notes thereto.) If a person asks his neighbor in a law court, “Are you the one to whom I lent the following sum of money?” and his neighbor responds, “I am,” he cannot later say, “What I meant was, I am his neighbor.” The same also applies to what Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: My lord, the dream (Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which signified that he would live as a beast for seven years.) be to them that hate thee (Dan. 4:16). (According to the Talmud what Daniel meant was: God (My lord), the dream be upon Nebuchadnezzar (the dream be to them that hate thee). See Shavuot 35b.) Daniel spoke according to the rules of etiquette. (According to I.E. the term my lord does not refer to God but to Nebuchadnezzar, for Daniel was addressing the king, and the rules of etiquette required that he say, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee. Hence one cannot take his words out of context and interpret it the way the Talmud does.) I will now cite for you the opinion of the Gaon. Rabbi Saadiah said that Aaron, like Jehu, acted with guile. (King Jehu proclaimed a festival for Baal. His intention was not to serve Baal but to trick the worshippers of Baal to come to Baal’s temple, where Jehu would kill them. See II Kings 10:18-28. Aaron similarly wanted to identify those Israelites who wanted to worship the calf.) Hence Aaron built the altar. (Hence Aaron built the altar before the golden calf.) Saadiah Gaon raised the following question against his own interpretation: “If Aaron acted with guile, then why was God angry with him?” The Gaon answered that God was angry with Aaron because he did not immediately kill those who worshipped the calf, as Moses did when he arrived. However, this too is incorrect, for Aaron called out, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (YHVH) (32:5). Aaron employed the name YHVH. This name is a proper noun in honor of the Lord. It is not used for any other being. (If Aaron intended to trap the idol worshippers he would not have said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (YHVH), for this is a call to worship YHVH and only YHVH.) It is not like the name Elohim (God), which is used in many different ways. Furthermore, why didn’t Aaron mention this when he responded to Moses? (Moses asked Aaron: What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them? (Ex. 32:21).) For Aaron said, I cast it into the fire (Ex. 32:24). Aaron’s answer is not in keeping with the question. (Aaron’s answer does not answer Moses’ question.) I will now begin to briefly explain part of the secret. (That is, the true meaning of the account of the making of the golden calf.) Far be it, far be it for Aaron to make an idol. Israel also did not ask for an idol. What happened was that Israel thought that Moses, who, as I have explained, had led them on their journey from the Red Sea, had died, (I.E. believes that Moses, rather than the pillar of fire, led Israel from the Red Sea to the wilderness of Sinai. See I.E. on Ex. 15:22.) for Israel noticed that the manna did not come down at Mount Sinai. Furthermore, Moses tarried on the mountain for forty days. A human being does not have the stamina to live that long without food. Also, Moses did not tell them when he would descend. (If Moses had told them that he would be on the mount for forty days, they would not have assumed that he died there.) Moses himself did not know this, for God told him, “Come up to Me onto the mount and be there until I give you the tablets of stone.” (I.E.’s paraphrase of Ex. 24:12.) The word elohim (god) refers to a glorious being dwelling in an image of a body. (In other words, Israel did not ask Aaron to make an idol. They requested that he make an image which had the power to lead them. Thus aseh lanu elohim (Ex. 32:1) does not mean: make us a god. It means: make us an image which will be inhabited by a heavenly power.) Israel said as follows: who shall go before us (Ex. 32:l). (Israel said: Up, make us a god (elohim) who shall go before us (Ex. 32:1). We thus see that they sought an elohim who would lead them.) If you pay attention to Israel’s first journey (Israel’s first journey from Egypt.) you will understand this. (Scripture tells us that when Israel left Egypt, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire (Ex. 13:21). After Egypt drowned in the Red Sea, Moses led Israel. See note 158. Now that Moses was dead, Israel sought a substitute for Moses. See I.E.’s short commentary: “They only sought someone to go before them to find them a resting place.”) The calf was thus made for the glory of God. (God’s spirit was to rest on the calf and lead them in the same way that it rested in the pillars of fire and cloud. See I.E. on Ex. 13:21.) Hence Aaron built an altar before the calf and announced that they should offer sacrifices on the morrow for the glory of God. (His spirit would rest on the calf.) Israel did as Aaron commanded them. Aaron’s answer was (Aaron did not actually say this. I.E.’s point is that Ex. 32:1 can be quoted in Aaron’s defense.) that the people gathered themselves upon him (Ex. 32:l). (The point is that Aaron did not make the calf on his own. The people gathered upon him and demanded that he make an elohim to lead them.) I have already noted that whenever the verb kahal (gathered) is followed by the word al (upon) it has a negative connotation. (Ex. 32:1.) However, if it is followed by the word el (to), as in And all the men of Israel assembled themselves (va-yikkhal) unto (el) king Solomon (I Kings 8:2), then it has a positive connotation. This is the meaning of thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil (Ex. 32:22). The meaning of the verse is: I did not do evil to them. For they merely asked for a being that would go before them. (I.E.’s interpretation of Make us a god, which shall go before us (Ex. 32:23).) I made the calf for the glory of God. (I.E.’s interpretation of and I cast it into the fire and there came out this calf (Ex. 24:24).) However, [the calf became an object of worship] because there was a mixed multitude among Israel. This what Aaron meant by ve-ra hu (they are set on evil). (According to I.E. ve-ra hu means there is evil in him; that is, some of the people are evil (Weiser).) Aaron did not say ra hu (they are evil). A small group of Israelites thought that the calf was an idol. They brought sacrifices and bowed to the calf and said, This is thy god, O Israel (Ex. 32:4). Do not be amazed that Scripture states, for thy people (Thy people implies that all the people sinned.) …have dealt corruptly; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them (Ex. 32:7,8), for Scripture does not say all thy people. (Thus only some of them sinned.) Can you not see that Achan alone violated the ban (The prohibition against taking any loot from Jericho for personal use. See Josh. 6:17.) and yet Scripture states, Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed My covenant…and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have even put it among their own stuff (Josh. 7:11). Now, only three thousand Israelites, (The Bible tells us that the Levites executed 3,000 Israelites for worshipping the calf (Ex. 32:28).) which comes to a half of a tenth of a tenth of the Israelite camp, (That is, one half of a percent, for 3,000 is half of a percent of 600,000. In other words, only one half of a percent of the Israelite camp actually worshipped the golden calf as a god.) worshipped the golden calf as a god, (See Ex. 32:26-29.) that is, said, This is thy god, O Israel (Ex. 32:4), or thought so in their hearts. The sum of the matter is that we would not be acting properly if we maintain that the calf was made to serve as an idol as the simple-minded believe. Do not be surprised that God was furious with Aaron, because he was (He was inadvertently the cause of their sin.) the cause of their sin. For look, Aaron was punished along with his brother Moses concerning the incident at the waters of Meribah. (See Num. 20:1-13.) However, Moses and Aaron did not deliberately sin. (Scripture charges Moses and Aaron with disbelief, rebellion, etc., even though they did not deliberately sin against God.) Nevertheless, Scripture states regarding them, Because ye believed not in Me (Num. 20:12); ye rebelled (Num. 27:14), and ye trespassed against Me (Deut. 33:51). The astrologers say that the great conjunction of the two upper bodies (Meijler believes that the reference is to the sun and the moon. Weiser believes that I.E. refers to Saturn and Jupiter.) was in the constellation of Taurus. (They believed that the calf was supposed to draw its supernatural power from Taurus.) This is a lie. The conjunction took place in Aquarius. According to the science of astrology this (Aquarius.) is Israel’s constellation. Many have tested this secret, generation after generation. (They have found that Israel’s luck improves when the above heavenly bodies are propitiously aligned in Aquarius.) I too have seen this to be the case. Look! They placed it at the midpoint of the sky. (They made the calf at the time when the sun was at the midpoint of the sky beneath Aquarius (Meijler). Or they made the calf when Aquarius was at the mid-point of the sky (Weiser). Either way, I.E.’s point is that they made the calf when Aquarius was in the most favorable position.)
Rashi’s understanding of the ktiv is reminiscent of Rivka telling Yaakov Avinu, before he executes her plan to dress as Eisav, that she will bear Yitzchak’s potential curse (Bereishit 27:13). Perhaps Naomi reassured Rut that her zechut is with Rut, to spare Rut from Hashem’s punishment should there be one. Naomi took responsibility, much like Rivka did for Yaakov’s deception.
His mother said to him, Your curse shall be upon me [It was said regarding me in a prophecy that curses will not come upon you], my son; but listen to [accept] me. Go bring them to me.
And she said, If with blessings he bless thee, they shall be upon thee and upon thy sons; and if with curses he should curse thee, they shall be upon me and upon my soul: therefore receive from me, and go and take for me.
| וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙ וַיִּקַּ֔ח וַיָּבֵ֖א לְאִמּ֑וֹ וַתַּ֤עַשׂ אִמּוֹ֙ מַטְעַמִּ֔ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר אָהֵ֥ב אָבִֽיו׃ | 14 J | He got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared a dish such as his father liked. |
He went, and took the kids, and brought them to his mother, as she requested; and his mother made tasty food, such as his father liked.
“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement. But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this. (The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse.) Rather, (The same conclusion can be reached from a different source.) “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.” “All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh], (Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh.) and an idolater. (Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).) “I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end, (See Genesis 28:4.) he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17). You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’ (It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all.) “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.
(Cant. 5:2, cont.:) MY INNOCENT (tammati), < i.e., > MY TWIN (when vocalized as tomati), since she had borne {two} twins. MY INNOCENT (tammati) because < the plan > was not from Rebekah. Rather the Holy One had put it in her heart. She said to him: When the first Adam sinned, was he cursed? Was not his mother cursed? (The point is explained in Gen. R. 65:15, which adds the following: “Thus it is stated (in Gen. 3:17): CURSED IS THE LAND BECAUSE OF YOU.” Since LAND here is the feminine form of “Adam,” the midrash interprets the cursed land as his mother.) And now it is my < turn >. Fulfill your < destiny > ; and if you should be cursed, your curse will fall upon me. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:13): YOUR CURSE, MY SON, BE UPON ME! … [Why?] The Holy One said to him: See, I have crowned you with blessings, as stated (in Cant. 5:2, cont.): FOR MY HEAD IS DRENCHED WITH DEW. He went immediately. (According to Gen. 27:14:) THEN HE WENT TO GET THEM AND BROUGHT THEM TO HIS MOTHER…. He went in with his father and received the blessings, as stated (in vs. 28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU < FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN >….
כי לא חמץ, it had not become fermented. This formulation, i.e. as an adjective, is also found in connection with Pharaoh when the Torah spoke about כבד לב פרעה, usually translated as “Pharaoh’s heart was tough,” when what is meant it that Pharaoh toughened his heart. Similar constructions are found in Genesis 27,14 אהב אביו, “his father had come to like.” The same is true of Kings I 1,1 והמלך דוד זקן, which though we normally translate this as “and King David was old,” really means “King David had allowed himself to age.” These formulations which sound like mere adjectives, are more than that, they describe what led to the present state of something or somebody.
He went, took [them], and brought [them] to his mother. His mother make a tasty dish as his father liked.
And he went and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made food such as his father loved.
| וַתִּקַּ֣ח רִ֠בְקָ֠ה אֶת־בִּגְדֵ֨י עֵשָׂ֜ו בְּנָ֤הּ הַגָּדֹל֙ הַחֲמֻדֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתָּ֖הּ בַּבָּ֑יִת וַתַּלְבֵּ֥שׁ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּנָ֥הּ הַקָּטָֽן׃ | 15 J | Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were there (there Or “in her charge”—an acknowledgment of authority; Heb. ’itah, lit. “with her.”) in the house, and had her younger son Jacob put them on; |
החמודות, “the valuable ones, the new ones with which Esau wants to impress the people with whom he deals. They are the ones which he wears when he performs tasks his father asks him to perform.” And that is why Yitzchok could smell them, for the smell of new clothes is noticeable. A different exegesis: החמודות, the one he wears always when he goes out hunting to kill venison. Your father is familiar with the smell of these garments and will not question the identity of the wearer of them. [This makes little sense to me, as Esau had already left on his errand to hunt game to feed his father. He would not likely have possessed two such sets of garments. Ed.]
החמודות, “the choice ones;” these garments had pictures of all the animals and birds in the world painted outside in a manner that the viewer considered these creatures as being alive. Whenever the wearer walked in the field, the animals in that region were attracted by these pictures so that they were easy prey for the hunter. Esau had taken them from Nimrod, when he slew him (B’reshit Rabbah 65,16). According to this Midrash it is difficult to understand why Yaakov would dress up in those clothes. We must assume that Rivkah was anxious for Yaakov to appear as much as possible like his brother Esau.
ותלבש את יעקב בנה הקטן, she dressed Jacob her younger son. This means she adapted these clothes to fit her smaller son though they were tailored to fit the measurements of her bigger son Esau.
וילך..ותקח...החמודות, costly garments which he would wear on special occasions, especially when taking his places among the leading personalities of his time. He would keep these clothes wrapped in fragrant flowers from the field so that they would exude such a fragrance when worn. This is why Yitzchok reacted to Yaakov’s appearing before him dressed in these garments by saying: “the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of the field.” Rivkah also covered Yaakov’s throat and arms with the skins from the goats so that Yitzchok would think that Esau was indeed standing before him.
ESAU HER ELDER SON, JACOB HER YOUNGER SON. The reason why Scripture mentions this is to accentuate the unusual action of the righteous one, (Rebekah.) for parents customarily give recognition to the firstborn in blessing, honor, and gift, (See Ramban above, 25:34.) but she, knowing of the righteousness of the younger and the wickedness of the elder, went to all this trouble to transfer the blessing and the honor from the elder to the younger. Similarly, it says further on, And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son. (Further, Verse 42.)
החמודות, the ones his father would use when he ate his meals.
החמדות THE COSTLY GARMENTS — the clean ones, as the Targum has it, דכיתא (clean); (cf. Rashbam). Another explanation: They are called חמדות literally, coveted ones, because he had coveted them from Nimrod (who also was a hunter; cf. Genesis 10:9) (Genesis Rabbah 65:16)
אשר אתה בבית WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE — But he had several wives and yet he stored them with his mother! But the reason for this was that he was acquainted with their practices and was suspicious of them (Genesis 10:9) (he feared that they might steal his clothes) (Genesis Rabbah 65:16).
אשר אתה בבית, beiläufig ein charakterisierender Einblick in Esaus Ehe. Seine Kostbarkeiten vertraute er nicht seinen Frauen an!
The ones he coveted from Nimrod. Meaning: These garments bore pictures of all kinds of animals, and when Nimrod would wear them and go out to the field, the animals would think the pictures were animals, and would approach him. Eisov killed Nimrod and took the garments.
In response to the problem Jacob had raised, Rebecca took the fine garments, the best clothes, reserved for special occasions, of Esau, her elder son, that were with her in the house, and she dressed Jacob, her younger son, in them.
את בגדי עשו בנו הגדול, ”the garments of her older son Esau.” The use by the Torah of the terms בנו הגדול and בנו הקטן, instead of the customary בנו הבכור and בנו הצעיר, for the older son (the firstborn) or the younger son, is intended to underline that although, usually, honour is accorded to the firstborn, etc., Rivkah being aware that her firstborn son had forfeited any claim to such honour, thought of her two children in terms of the physically older one and the physically younger one, i.e. הגדול והקטון, respectively. She was now concerned with arranging for the transfer of the undeserved privileges of birth from her undeserving older son to her deserving younger son.
The upshot of all this (David's outpourings in Psalm 119) is that mitzvah performance must become as automatic to us as life itself. Therefore, the Mishnah in Avot 3, 10, says that "whosoever forgets part of his studies has sinned gravely," since the Torah has provided memory joggers. The word "Talmud" in that Mishnah refers to knowledge of the commandments and their performance. Unless a person has tried and failed to remember, he is guilty of a sin. If he did the latter, he is subject to the saving grace of pen yassuru mi -levavcha, lest they depart from your heart, as long as he did not contribute to forgetting them. (Deut. 4,9) G-d lays tefillin, phylacteries, or created the rainbow, so that His memory should be jogged by visible symbols. If, in the words of the Midrash, it is good enough for Him to jog His memory, it is certainly incumbent upon us to do so. The concept of "G-d’s Torah is perfect," (Psalms 119,8) implies that the law of G-d is beyond blemish at any time in history; nothing in it can therefore be devoid of purpose at any time. This is so even if the application of a particular commandment is restricted to certain individuals such as priests. Even the occurrence of a million to one shot such as a ben sorer umoreh, an obstinate gluttonous teenager whose parents take him to Court to be executed, or a commandment which by definition could only be performed once in history in the desert, has significance far beyond that unique opportunity to perform it. David assures us in the first of the Psalms that he who truly desires Torah and studies same, is like a tree securely planted next to a never failing water supply. Such a tree will not wilt etc. If this is true of the person who studies Torah, how much more must Torah itself be meaningful in all its details. This is the reason that the mitzvot of the tabernacle and priestly garments which are of limited duration, emphasize again and again "it is an eternal statute in front of Me forever," or the use of the word tzav. The Talmud in Kiddushin 29, states that any commandment associated with the word tzav is a commandment that applies forever. Examination of those laws reveals that there are many instances where this rule simply does not stand up in the light of history. We must understand the Talmud to mean that though the details of the commandments in question helped us fulfil them at times when they proved physically capable of fulfilment, we derive the major benefit from these commandments through the lessons we learn from the concepts that these mitzvot represent. It is these concepts that remain valid forever. This is the meaning of Deuteronomy 29,8, "observe the words of the covenant, carry them out so that you will gain insights from all that you do." Similarly Deut.4,6, "it is your wisdom and your insight." Unfortunately, as the Rambam already observes in his "Moreh," most people never concern themselves with such matters and want to get close to the king without ever having seen the king's palace, as it were. Granted that performance of the mitzvah, since it is G-d’s command, is praiseworthy. Nevertheless it is far from the ultimate that we are capable of achieving. Whatever the tabernacle teaches is as relevant today as ever, just as basic concepts do not lose their relevance because they cannot always be applied instantly. If the Torah commands that we help an enemy load his beast, thereby teaching important moral lessons, these lessons do not lose their relevance because we have no enemies or because we never encountered an enemy in circumstances where this commandment could be performed. David says in Psalms 51, 19, "the (real) sacrifice to G-d is a broken spirit." It is the spirit in which G-d is approached that matters. The Talmud Menachot 106, explains the verse in Leviticus 7,37, "this is the teaching of the Torah concerning the total offering, the gift offering and the peace offering," as meaning that he who labours studying the laws of these offerings, does not actually have to bring them in order to achieve the personality development that these offerings are meant to help us achieve. The idea is that just as performance plays its part in awakening the mind to what, why and how one is doing, so the study of the laws pertaining to these observances accomplishes the same thing. We should not therefore bemoan earlier times when through the performance of mitzvot such as yovel, the Jubilee year, we could come closer to G-d. Let us look now at the "memory" element surrounding the commandments of the priestly vestments. Concerning the ephod, apron it states "Aaron should wear the names of the children of Israel before G-d on his shoulders as remembrance." Concerning the choshen, the breastplate, we find a similar quote. A similar purpose is common to all the priestly garments. Clothing as such is symbolic of acquired traits. Already in the wording of the commandments there is a reference to the concepts of midot, character traits, which we discussed at the beginning of this chapter. (Leviticus 6,3) mido bad; or in Judges 3, 16, "under his madim;” or in Psalms 133,2, "descending according to midotav." So we observe the term midah being used for garments, illustrating the essential nature of garments, at least when worn by priests. The first impression that one receives when meeting another person is that of the clothes he wears. It suggests his occupation, certain of his behavioral traits etc. Even our prophets in praising the Lord, use the simile " You are garbed in Splendour." (Psalms 104, 1) Or, "resplendent in His garments" (Isaiah 63, 1) Secondly, people wear different sets of clothing for the Sabbath and weekdays. Even in ancient times, Esau had "his precious clothes" (Genesis 27, 15) or (Ruth 3,3) Ruth who put special garments for a special occasion. By wearing different clothing on the Sabbath, every Jew signals that he assumes different character traits on the Sabbath. In Hilchot Derech Eretz, the halachah stipulates that ordinary clothing be worn for the performance of mundane tasks, whereas festive clothing should be worn when performing mitzvot between man and His Maker. This is the meaning of Isaiah chapter 58. Compare also chapter 63. Thirdly, just as man is never completely nude, so he is never completely devoid of mitzvot. Therefore, all of Israel, priests and ordinary Israelites alike, have the duty to be garbed in special garments. This is why a whole nation is referred to as a kingdom of priests, to imbue all garments with a reminder of the symbolic significance of garments as such. Therefore, the Torah says in connection with the tzitzit, fringes, "when you see it, you will remember the commandments" (Numbers 15,39). "A garment adorned with tzitzit will remind you of all the commandments of G-d to carry them out, ibid." Whenever white garments are mentioned by our sages, it refers to the moral condition of the wearer of such garments. For instance, we have the parable of the king who invites his servants to partake of a meal in his palace without specifying the date and hour the meal is to take place. The intelligent servants remained within the vicinity of the king’s palace, saying that it would be foolish to roam around elsewhere since they had no urgent business elsewhere. The foolish ones carried on business as usual, citing as their reason that they would not receive any food for which they had not worked. Suddenly, the king issued a summons for his servants to attend the party. The intelligent ones entered the palace suitably attired, whereas the foolish servants arrived dirty and dishevelled. The king was well pleased with the first group, of course, but was very angry at the second group. Therefore, he seated the first group and left the second group to remain standing and watch the others partake of the feast. This is how Rabbi Meir's son-in-law explained the following verse in Isaiah 65, 13, "My sons will eat, and you will starve; My sons will drink, but you will remain thirsty." Another version explains the meaning of Kohelet 9,8, "at all times your garments should be white, and oil should be on your head," as referring to tzitzit and tefillin respectively. The Aggadah in Baba Batra 74, concerning the meal of the righteous in the future, featuring salted meat of the female leviathan and well aged wine, may also be understood allegorically as referring to the garments worn by the tzaddikim in their lifetime, namely Torah and Mitzvot. More about this Aggadah in chapter 60.
"And Rivkah took the best clothes of her eldest son Esau" (Beresheet 27:15). These are the garments Esau took from Nimrod. They are the precious garments from Adam, which came to the hands of Nimrod, who used them when he hunted, as it is written, "He was a mighty hunter before Hashem" (Beresheet 10:9). And Esau went into the field, where he fought with and killed Nimrod, removing the garments from him. This is the meaning of "and Esau came from the field, and he was faint" (Beresheet 25:29). It has already been explained why it is here written, "And he was faint," and elsewhere, "for my soul faints before the slayers" (Yirmeyah 4:31). These are analogous. There it is written "faint" to refer to killing. Here too, there is killing, because Esau murdered Nimrod.
[3] Another interpretation: when Isaac grew old, it is written above that "Esau was forty years old, and he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah." (Genesis 26:34-35). "A foolish son is a vexation to his father, and bitterness to her that bore him." (Proverbs 17:25). Yet, despite all of this, his father called him "the elder." "And Isaac called Esau his elder son" (Genesis 27:1), and his mother called him "the elder," as it says, "And Rebekah took the goodly garments of her elder son Esau" (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Behold, there are the old and the aged who lack understanding, but I called him 'small,' as it is said, 'Behold, I have made you small among the nations'" (Obadiah 1:2). This is similar to a person who had a text to write that said, "heroic knights." Someone came to him to have his son's name inscribed and said to him, "Look at my son. He is young, but tall and sturdy." His mother also said, "Look at our son. He is tall and sturdy." He replied to them, "He is tall and sturdy before you, but I do not know. After all, the scale (i.e., measuring tool) will determine his true height. If he is indeed tall, then he will be measured and found to be tall. However, if he is not tall, then he will be measured and found to be small and disqualified." Thus, Rebekah called him "the elder," and Isaac called him "the elder." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "Who else in My world is sovereign and rules without Me? As it is said, 'Who is he that speaks, and it comes to pass, unless the Lord commands it?' (Lamentations 3:37). He said to them, "Why do you insist on calling him 'the elder' in My house? I made him small." And you call him 'the elder,' but he is only small, as it is said, 'Behold, I have made you small among the nations'" (Obadiah 1:2).
Chapter (42) [43]: Torah [1] "And God shall give you the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28). This means the dew of Mount Hermon, as it is written, "Like the dew of Hermon" (Psalms 133:3). "And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Genesis 27:27). What were these garments? Our sages taught that before the Tabernacle was built, the animals were considered fit for sacrifice, and the service was dependent on the firstborn. Adam, who was the firstborn of the world, first dressed in priestly garments, as it is written, "And God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). And it is written, "He shall wear a holy linen tunic" (Leviticus 16:4). "The first man gave the garments [to Eve, and Eve to Methuselah, and Methuselah to Noah, and Noah] to Shem, who was Noah's firstborn, as it is said: 'And Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine.'" (Genesis 14:18), where they were given to Abraham, who gave them to Isaac, who gave them to Esau, who was the firstborn. When Isaac saw that his wives were practicing idolatry, he took them away from Esau and entrusted them to Rebecca. When Jacob took the birthright from Esau, Rebecca said, "Since Jacob has taken the birthright, it is fitting that he should wear these garments," as it is written, "And Rebecca took the garments of Esau" (Genesis 27:15). Jacob then went to his father and he smelled them, as it is written, "And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Genesis 27:27), and Isaac smelled the same fragrance that had been sacrificed on the altar.
“He summoned Esau his elder son” – Rabbi Elazar bar Shimon said: This is analogous to a province that made a list of mighty people for the king. (To serve in his army.) There was a certain woman there who gave birth to a puny son, and she would call her son: Tall and Quick. She said to them: 'My son is tall and quick, but you do not conscript him?' They said: 'If, in your eyes, he is tall and quick, in our eyes he is puniest of the puny.' So, his father called him great [gadol], as it is stated: “He called Esau, his elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:1). His mother called him great [gadol], as it is stated: “The garments of Esau, her elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘If, in your eyes, he is great, in My eyes, he is insignificant,’ as it is stated: “Behold, I rendered you insignificant among the nations, you are greatly despised” (Obadiah 1:2). (The prophecy was given with respect to Edom, the nation descended from Esau.) Rabbi Berekhya said: The slaughterer corresponds to the bull. (He is called great based on the fact that his slaughterer, the Holy One blessed be He, is great.) That is what is written: “There is a sacrifice for the Lord in Botzra and a great [gadol] slaughter in the land of Edom” (Isaiah 34:6). “And said to him: My son, and he said to him: Here I am” – that is what is written: “When he ingratiates with his voice, do not trust him…” (Proverbs 26:25). Ḥizkiyahu the translator said: “As there are seven abominations in his heart” (Proverbs 26:25). [When] you find one “abomination” written in the Torah, ten [sins] are written in its regard: “There shall not be found among you anyone who passes his son or his daughter through the fire…an enchanter, a medium, an oracle, [or a necromancer, one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead; for anyone who performs these things is an abomination to the Lord]” (The list consists of nine categories, rather than ten; Maharzu explains that the son and the daughter passed through fire are counted separately, to make ten.) (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Here, where “seven” is written, all the more so. That is, “as there are seven abominations,” [means that] there are seventy abominations “in his heart.”
“Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau, her elder son, that were with her in the house, and she dressed Jacob her younger son” (Genesis 27:15). “Rebecca took the fine [haḥamudot] garments of Esau, her elder son” – what he had coveted [sheḥamad] from Nimrod, and he killed him and took them. That is what is written: “The wicked covets the prey of the evil” (Proverbs 12:12). “That were with her in the house” – in them he would attend his father. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I attended my father all my days, and I did not attend him one one-hundredth of what Esau attended his father. When I would attend my father, I attended him with dirty garments, but when I would go out on the road, I would go out with clean garments. But Esau, when he would attend his father, he would attend him only with royal garments. He said: ‘It is not in keeping with Father’s honor to attend him in anything other than royal garments.’ That is what is written: “That were with her in the house.” How many wives did he [Esau] have, and you say: “That were with her in the house”? It is because he [Esau] knew what their [his wives’] actions were. (Esau did not trust his wives and therefore kept the special set of his clothing in his mother's house.) Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: There was an incident involving a group of scoundrels in that Kefar Ḥatya, who were accustomed to eat and drink in the synagogue every Shabbat eve. When they finished eating they would take the bones and cast them on the scribe. One of them was dying; they said to him: ‘To whom do you wish to entrust your son?’ He said to them: ‘To the scribe.’ But, how many friends did he have, but he said: ‘To the scribe’? It is, rather, that he knew what their actions were, and that the scribe was much better than they were. So, how many wives did he have, and the verse says: “That were with her in the house”? It is because he knew what their actions were.
“And the hides of the goat kids, she placed on his arms and on the smoothness of his neck” (Genesis 27:16). “And the hides of the goat kids” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The two arms of our patriarch Jacob were like two pillars of marble, and you say “she placed on his arms”? It is, rather, that she sewed them. (Jacob's arms were very large, so his mother had to sew several skins together in order to have enough material to cover his arms.) Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: The two daily offerings that Israel would sacrifice on the Festival, (Sukkot.) they would place them on young camels, and their legs would drag on the ground. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: This cinnamon tree that would grow in the Land of Israel, and goats and gazelles would reach the top of the tree and eat from it. (Thus, it is possible the the skin of the goats sufficed to cover the arms of Jacob, and Rebecca did not have to sew them.) Rabbi Ḥanina said: But are calves not slaughtered in the Land of Israel, and olive trees hewn, and fertile soil on the mountains? (In our day we do not see such large animals and large trees, even though it is the same soil. Thus, it must be that these large trees and animals are miraculous (Radal).) These were miraculous acts. Rabbi Mona said: They are all miraculous acts. “She gave the delicacies and the bread that she prepared into the hand of Jacob her son” (Genesis 27:17). “She gave the delicacies and the bread” – she accompanied him until the entrance. She said: ‘To this point I was obligated to you, from here on, your Creator will stand with you.’
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
(Deut. 2:3:) YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF GOING ABOUT (rt.: SBB) THIS HILL COUNTRY (hahar). He had his father (hahar understood as horeh) sit down to eat (rt.: SBB). (The midrash understands hahar in the sense of horeh, which denotes a male parent, and the verb, sob (rt.: SBB), in the sense of “have one sit down to eat.”) Esau greatly honored his father Isaac. (Deut. R. 1:15.) Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel said: Esau honored as I have been unable to honor my father. When I came to my (The Buber reading, “his father,” is surely incorrect.) father to serve him, I did not wear fine clothes, but Esau did not perform in the clothes which he wore outside, when he served his father. What did he do? He took off the garments in which he served and put on fine clothes. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:15): THEN REBEKAH TOOK THE BEST GARMENTS OF HER OLDER SON ESAU, WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE. Ergo, he honored his father (horo) greatly. After I (i.e., the Holy One) repay (pore') him for honoring his parents, I will exact vengeance (pore') from him. Thus it is stated (in Zech. 3:12 [8]): [FOR] THUS SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS AFTER HIS GLORY SENT ME UNTO THE NATIONS THAT PLUNDERED YOU. But now (as stated in Deut. 2:3): YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH.
(Exod. 12:2:) THIS MONTH (i.e. THIS MOON) SHALL BE FOR YOU. You reckon by months (i.e. by moons), but the nations of the world reckon by days. R. Abbin the Levite said: It is a universal custom for the great (gadol) to reckon by the great and for the small, by the small. Esau, who is older (gadol), as stated (in Gen. 27:15): HER OLDER SON , reckons by the sun, which is the greater , as stated (in Gen. 1:16): THE GREATER (gadol) LIGHT . Jacob, who is called younger (qatan), as stated (in Gen. 27:15): HER YOUNGER SON reckons by the lesser (qatan), by the moon, as stated (in Gen. 1:16): AND THE LESSER LIGHT . Ergo (in Exod. 12:2): THIS MONTH [SHALL BE FOR YOU].
Furthermore, our masters have also taught (in Zev. 14:4) BEFORE THE TABERNACLE WAS SET UP, THE HIGH PLACES WERE PERMITTED AND THE SACRIFICIAL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED BY THE FIRST-BORN. (See above, 6:4, and the other references cited there.) Therefore, the Holy One clothed Adam in garments of high priesthood, since he was the first-born of the world. Noah came [and passed them on to Shem; Shem] passed them on to Abraham; Abraham passed them on to Isaac; and Isaac passed them on to Esau, who was his first-born. Esau, however, saw his wives serving idols and deposited them (the clothes) with his mother. When Jacob arose and took the birthright of Esau, Rebekah said: Inasmuch as Jacob has taken the birthright from the hand of Esau, he has the right to put on these garments. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:15): THEN REBEKAH TOOK THE BEST GARMENTS OF HER OLDER SON ESAU, < WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE, AND HAD HER YOUNGER SON JACOB PUT THEM ON >. Jacob came in to his father Isaac and emitted an aroma on him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS AND BLESSED HIM…. How did he bless him? According to what they read on the matter (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU….
Rabbi Meir said: Esau, the brother of Jacob, saw the coats of Nimrod, and in his heart he coveted them, and he slew him, and took them from him. Whence (do we know) that they were desirable in his sight? Because it is said, "And Rebecca took the precious raiment of Esau, her elder son" (Gen. 27:15). When he put them on he also became, by means of them, a mighty hero, as it is said, "And Esau was a cunning hunter" (Gen. 25:27). And when Jacob went forth from the presence of Isaac, his father, he said: Esau, the wicked one, is not worthy to wear these coats. What did he do? He dug in the earth and hid them there, as it is said, "A noose is hid for him in the earth" (Job 18:10).
Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Yudan said: “Little foxes,” these are Esau and his noblemen, just as it says: “Behold, I made you small among the nations” (Obadiah 1:2). (This prophecy is said regarding Edom, the descendants of Esau. The Sages identified Edom with Rome.) Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: This is analogous to a province that would produce great swordsmen for the king. There was a certain woman there who gave birth to a puny son, and she would call her son: Tall and Quick. She said to them: ‘My son is tall and quick and you do not make him a great swordsman?’ They said to her: ‘If, in your eyes, he is tall and quick, in our eyes he is puniest of the puny.’ So too, the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This wicked Esau, his father called him great [gadol],’ as it is stated: “He called Esau, his elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:1). His mother called him great, as it is stated: “The garments of Esau, her elder [hagadol] son (Genesis 27:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘If, in your eyes, he is great, in My eyes, he is small,’ as it is stated: “Behold, I made you small among the nations” (Obadiah 1:2). And if he is great, the slaughterer corresponds to the bull. That is what is written: “There is a sacrifice for the Lord in Botzra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom” (Isaiah 34:6). “That ruin the vineyards,” this is Israel, as it is written: “For the house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 5:7). “As our vineyards are in bloom,” just as it says: “There is no cluster to eat, or a first fruit that my soul desires” (Micah 7:1). (The Romans are able to persecute Israel, compared to a vineyard, because the fruits of the vineyard are just beginning to bloom, but there are none that are fully formed yet. This represents the fact that the Jews were not sufficiently righteous.) Rabbi Berekhya said: “Little foxes,” these are the four kingdoms, as it is stated: “There are four upon earth that are little” (Proverbs 30:24). “That ruin the vineyards,” this is Israel, as it is written: “For the house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 5:7). “As our vineyards are in bloom,” who caused our vineyards to be in bloom? (The midrash should read: What caused our vineyard to be damaged? The fact that they are [merely] in bloom (Rabbi David Luria).) “I sought from among them a man who builds a fence [and stands in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it,] but I did not find” (Ezekiel 22:30); were it not for Noah, Daniel, and Job. (This phrase should be interpreted as though it continued: Were it not for Noah, Daniel, and Job, no one would have been left. There was no one righteous enough to save the generation from destruction, but these individuals and people like them were righteous enough to at least save themselves (Maharzu; see Ezekiel 14:13-14).)
Another matter, “any man, when he has a discharge from his flesh,” this is what the verse said: “It is terrifying and awesome, from it will emerge its justice and its burden” (Habakkuk 1:7). (This verse refers to the Chaldean nation, but in Hebrew the pronouns can be read as either “it” or “he.” The midrash adopts the second reading, and applies the verse to various individuals. ) “It is terrifying and awesome,” this is Adam the first man. Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: When the Holy One blessed be He created Adam the first man, He created him such that he filled the whole world in its entirety. [He filled the world] from east to west, as it is stated: “Back and front You shaped me” (Psalms 139:5). (Front [kedem] is also a term used for east (see, e.g., Exodus 27:13). ) From north to south, as it is stated: “From one end of the heavens to the other end” (Deuteronomy 4:32). From where is it derived that [he filled] even the space of the world? (The space between heaven and earth. ) The verse states: “You placed Your palm upon me” (Psalms 139:5). “From it will emerge its justice and its burden,” this is Eve. That is what is written: “The man said: The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me [from the tree, and I ate]” (Genesis 3:12). (That sin brought upon him the “justice and burden” – the punishment of death.) Another matter, “it is terrifying and awesome,” this is Esau. That is what is written: “Rebecca took the garments of Esau, her elder [hagadol] son” (Genesis 27:15). (According to the Sages, these garments had belonged to Adam, and then eventually belonged to Nimrod, and Esau killed Nimrod and took them (see Bereshit Rabba 65:16). Since Nimrod himself was described as having been mighty (see Genesis 10:9), Esau must have been “terrifying and awesome” (Etz Yosef). ) “From it will emerge its justice and its burden,” this is Obadiah. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Obadiah was an Edomite convert and he prophesied regarding Edom: “There will be no survivor for the house of Esau” (Obadiah 1:18). Another matter, “it is terrifying and awesome,” this is Sennacherib, as it is written: “Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my hand?” (Isaiah 36:20). “From it will emerge its justice and its burden,” these are his sons. “It was as he was prostrating himself in the temple of Nisrokh, his god, that Adramelekh and Saretzer, his sons, smote him with the sword” (II Kings 19:37). Another matter, “it is terrifying and awesome,” this is Hiram king of Tyre, as it is written: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: So said the Lord God: Because your heart became haughty” (Ezekiel 28:2). “From it will emerge its justice and its burden,” this is Nebuchadnezzar. Rabbi Simon said: There is an aggadic tradition that Hiram was the husband of Nebuchadnezzar’s mother. [Nebuchadnezzar] rose against him and killed him. That is what is written: “I took out a fire from your midst; it devoured you” (Ezekiel 28:18). Another matter, “it is terrifying and awesome,” this is Nebuchadnezzar. “You said in your heart: I will ascend to the heavens” (Isaiah 14:13). “From it will emerge its justice and its burden,” this is Evil Merodakh. They said: For all those seven years that passed for Nebuchadnezzar, (Nebuchadnezzar spent seven years roaming as an animal in the forest; see Daniel 4:22. ) they took Evil Merodakh and crowned him in his stead. When he returned, he took him (Nebuchadnezzar took Evil Merodakh.) and incarcerated him in prison. Anyone who entered prison in the days of [Nebuchadnezzar] would never emerge from there, as it is stated: “Who never released his prisoners homeward” (Isaiah 14:17). When [Nebuchadnezzar] died, they approached Evil Merodakh to crown him. He said to them: ‘I will not heed you. Initially, I heeded you, and he took me and incarcerated me in prison. Now, he will kill me.’ He did not believe them until they dragged [Nebuchadnezzar’s corpse] and cast him before him. That is what is written: “But you were cast from your grave” (Isaiah 14:19). Rabbi Avina said: Moreover, each and every enemy that he had would come and stab his [corpse] with the sword, to realize what was stated: “Clad in the garb of corpses, stabbed with a sword” (Isaiah 14:19). Another matter, “it is terrifying and awesome,” this is Israel, as it is written: “I had said: You are divine” (Psalms 82:6). “From it will emerge its justice and its burden,” they were afflicted with discharges and leprosy. Therefore, Moses cautions Israel and says to them: “Any man, when he has a discharge from his flesh.”
Another matter, “if you follow My statutes” – that is what is written: “Now, sons, heed me, as happy are those who observe my ways” (Proverbs 8:32). This is speaking of Jacob, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob took a vow saying” (Genesis 28:20). The Rabbis and Rabbi Asi, the Rabbis say: The Holy One blessed be He responded to him regarding everything [that he requested], but regarding sustenance, He did not respond to him. [Jacob said:] “If God will be with me” (Genesis 28:20); [God] said to him: “Behold I am with you” (Genesis 28:15). [Jacob said:] “And He will keep me” (Genesis 28:20); [God] said to him: “And I will keep you” (Genesis 28:15). [Jacob said:] “On this path that I am going” (Genesis 28:20); [God] said to him: “Wherever you will go” (Genesis 28:15). [Jacob said:] “And I will return in peace to my father’s house” (Genesis 28:21); [God] said to him: I will return you to this land” (Genesis 28:15). But regarding sustenance, (Jacob had said: “And will provide me bread to eat, and a garment to wear” (Genesis 28:20).) He did not respond to him. Rabbi Asi said: He responded to him even regarding sustenance, as it is written: “For I will not forsake you” (Genesis 28:15), and the expression of forsaking is nothing other than an expression of sustenance, just as it says: “I was a youth, and I have grown old, and I have not seen a righteous man forsaken, and his offspring seeking bread” (Psalms 37:25). Alternatively, even though his offspring and children are seeking bread, I have not seen that righteous man, their father, forsaken of his fear of the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Hoshaya said: Happy is the one born to a woman who hears this from his Creator. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: [God said:] ‘I am happy and you are happy when all these conditions that I stipulated with you are fulfilled.’ Rabbi Aḥa said: He said so to his descendants as well, as it is stated: “Now, sons, heed Me, [as happy are those who observe My ways]” (Proverbs 8:32). ‘I am happy and you are happy when you fulfill all these conditions that I stipulated with you. When? When you observe My Torah,’ as it is stated: “If you follow My statutes.”
They further said on the verse: "'then Rivkah took the finest clothes of Eisav her older son' (Gen 27:15) - Raban Shimon ben Gamliel says: 'I served my father... but when Eisav served his father, he would only do so while wearing royal clothing'" (Bereishis Raba 65:16).
But, here too one needs to discern and make distinctions, for all this was said regarding the mitzvot themselves which we are completely obligated in. In those one should "set his face like flint" (Isaiah 50:7).
These things can only be evaluated by one of understanding heart and sound intellect since it is impossible to clarify all their endless details, and "G-d gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding" (Mishlei 2:6).
Jacob said to Joseph that he wanted him to perform a חסד ואמת, with him (47,27); he described the kindness as a "true kindness" because in performing a deed of this nature to a departed there can be no expectation of recompense to the performer. Many people raise the point that Joseph had already received his reward for this kindness before he actually performed it. Had not his father promised that Ephrayim and Menashe, Joseph's two sons, would each inherit a slice of the land of Israel, just like Jacob's own sons? So how can we speak about a חסד של אמת? Not only that, Jacob gave special blessings to Joseph's children (something that is not recorded as having happened with his other grandsons); he also allocated the city of Shechem as belonging to the tribal territory of Joseph. In view of all this, how can one speak about a חסד של אמת, a totally altruistic act of kindness? Bereshit Rabbah 98,2 understands the additional שכם Jacob bestowed on Joseph as the birthright and the garments of Adam (which had been owned by Esau; Genesis 27,15). In view of all this, how can we speak about a totally altruistic act of kindness?
ויעש ה' אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור. “The Lord G-d made leather coats for man and his wife.” According to the plain meaning of the text, G-d made superior kinds of garments for them, garments which would cover their entire bodies and which would make them look distinguished. This had become necessary as their inherent dignity had turned to shame (compare Psalms 4,3 עד מה כבודי לכלמה, “how long will my honour be shamed?”) as long as only their genitals were covered by the fig leaves. Perhaps this leather was made from the animal called Tachash which the Jewish people used as a covering for the Tabernacle in the desert . According to Tanchuma on Parshat Terumah 6, the Tachash had been created only for that purpose at the time. Possibly, here too, the animal out of whose hide these coats of Adam and Chavah were made had been created only for that purpose. According to Shabbat 28, the Holy Ark and other vessels of the Tabernacle were wrapped in the skin of the Tachash when they were being transported. Afterwards, these covers were hidden, never to be found again. Apparently this skin was multi-coloured. This would help to make anyone dressed in it look very distinguished. Onkelos translates עור תחש as ססגונא “a multi-coloured skin.” The opinion of our sages appears to be that these garments had pictures of all the birds of the world and that Adam bequeathed them to his son Cain. When Cain was killed, they passed over to Nimrod; this is the meaning of Genesis 10,9 והוא היה גבור ציד “he was a very prodigious hunter.” At the death of Nimrod, these garments became the property of Esau. When the Torah speaks of these valuable garments which Esau entrusted to his mother (Genesis 27,15), the word חמודות, “desirable,” means that Esau (also a hunter) had long desired to obtain these garments from Nimrod.
white bread Heb. לֶחֶם חֲמֻדֹת, white (lit. clean) bread, as Onkelos rendered (Gen. 27:15): “Esau’s clean clothes (הַחֲמֻדֹת),” דַּכְיָתָא, clean.
“And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife” [3:21]. The Holy One made shirts for Adam and his wife. The shirts were decorated with drawings and embroideries of all the animals and birds in the world. Adam later gave them to Cain and when Cain was killed they came into the hands of Nimrod. Esau killed Nimrod and Esau took these garments. When Jacob wanted to receive the blessing from Isaac, he put on these garments. (Genesis, 27:15.) “And clothed them” [3:21]. Even though they had committed sins, nonetheless the Holy One is merciful and He dressed them in shirts Himself. (Bahya, Genesis, 3:21.)
HALAKHAH: [“The only difference between a public altar and a private altar, etc.”] Rebbi Joḥanan spent three years that he did not visit the house of assembly because of pain. At the end Rebbi Eleazar saw in his dream: Tomorrow Sinai will come down and bring a new insight. He came and said before them, from where is this truth verified that divine service is by firstborns? (Mishnah Zevaḥim14:4: Before the Tabernacle was erected private altars were permitted and the service was in the hands of the firstborn.) From this verse (Num. 3:13. The reference is to the later part of the verse, I sanctified for Me every firstborn in Israel.) , for Mine is every firstborn; on the day when I smote every firstborn in the Land of Egypt, etc. And it is written (Ex. 12:12. The firstborn were sanctified to God because the gods of Egypt were destroyed.) , and on all gods of Egypt I shall pass judgment, etc. Before that what were they doing? Rebecca took the desirable garments of her older son Esaw, which were with her in the house (Gen. 27:15.) . What are “the desirable”? That he was acting as High Priest. Rebbi Levi said, the Eternal broke the staff of the evildoers (Is. 14:5.) , these are the firstborn who were the first to sacrifice to the Calf (Num. rabba 4(5).) .
Rivkah took the garments of Eisov, her elder son, [the garments] that were precious [to him] [the clean ones] that were in her keeping in the house, and put them on Yaakov, her younger son.
And Rivekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam's; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jakob her younger son.
| וְאֵ֗ת עֹרֹת֙ גְּדָיֵ֣י הָֽעִזִּ֔ים הִלְבִּ֖ישָׁה עַל־יָדָ֑יו וְעַ֖ל חֶלְקַ֥ת צַוָּארָֽיו׃ | 16 J | and she covered his hands and the hairless part of his neck with the skins of the kids. |
.הלבישה על ידיו, “she placed on his hands and arms.” The reason why she took goats’ skins was that these hairs are harder than those of sheep and more closely resemble human hair.
The hides of the kids of the goats she placed as sleeves on his hands and on the smooth of his neck, as these are the exposed areas of the body where the difference between the brothers is likely to be most noticeable. When the blind Isaac felt the hides, he would assume that it was Esau standing before him.
For from the quarrelsome words of the immature grain, a thorn has spread among the brethren and rebellion like the sin of witchcraft (I Sam. 15:23). When the time comes she raises her wings on high (Job 39:18). God know the days of the perfect (Ps. 37:18) and the way of the righteous (Ps. 1:6), and raises up from the dust (Ps. 113:7) and the far distant sea (Ps. 65:6) all the souls of the house of Jacob (Gen. 46:27). They all eagerly desire to hear the word of God and the ancient records (I Chron. 4:22). However, [until] now they have not seen the clear light of [Him who dwells] in the skies. For from the top of the Rocks I see Him (Num. 23:9), and among those who turn the many to righteousness (Dan. 12:3) I behold Him. Grace is poured upon their lips (Ps. 45:3) like roses (Song 5:13). Their waters are more sure than the garden spring, a well of living waters (Song 4:15). Like doves [going] to their cotes (Isa. 60:8) they have drunk spices. They call to God, and He answers them (Ps. 99:6). This one says, I am the Lord’s (Isa. 44:5), answer me with broad spaces (Ps. 118:5), for my heart does not rest at night (Eccles. 2;23), nor does my spirit within me (Isa. 26:9). This one writes with his hand to the Lord (Isa. 44:5) from that which had preceded him [at] Sinai, and on the skins of kid goats (Gen. 27:16) they set up their signs (Ps. 74:4) which they wrote to instruct them for their generations, an eternal covenant (Exod. 31:16).
“He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, Balak leads me, the king of Moav from the highlands of the east; Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” (Numbers 23:7). “He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, [Balak] leads me [yanḥeni]” – he began and said: ‘I was of the exalted [haramim], but Balak took me down to the pit of perdition.’ Yanḥeni, just as it says: “Wail [neheh] for the multitude of Egypt, and cast it down…[with those who descend into the pit]” (Ezekiel 32:18). Another matter, “from Aram” – with the exalted [im ram], I was exalted, but Balak caused me to descend from my prominence. This is analogous to one who accompanies a king. He saw a robber, forsook the king, and walked with the robber. When he returned to the king, the king said to him: 'Go with the one with whom you walked, as it is not possible for you to accompany me.' So, Bilam had been attached to the Divine Spirit, and returned to be a sorcerer, as he had been initially, as it is stated: “Bilam son of Beor the sorcerer” (Joshua 13:22). That is why he screamed: ‘I was exalted and Balak took me down.’ Another matter, “from Aram, [Balak] leads me” – he said to him: 'We are both equal in our being ingrates. Had it not been for Abraham their patriarch, there would be no Balak, as it is stated: “It was when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and He sent Lot” (Genesis 19:29). Had it not been for Abraham, Lot would not have escaped Sodom, and you are from the descendants of Lot. Had it not been for Jacob their patriarch, I would not be in the world, as Lavan had sons only due to the merit of Jacob.' Initially, it is written: “Rachel came with the flock” (Genesis 29:9). If he had sons, how is his daughter herding? When Jacob went there, he was granted sons, as it is stated: “Jacob heard the statement of Laban’s sons” (Genesis 31:1). Likewise he [Laban] said to him [Jacob]: “I have divined, and the Lord has blessed me on your account” (Genesis 30:27). “Go, curse [Jacob] for me” – one who curses, curses himself, (The Hebrew phrase “ara li” which is translated "curse for me" can also be read to mean "curse me" (Matnot Kehuna).) as, so it is written: “And he who curses you, I will curse” (Genesis 12:3), and it says: “Cursed be those who curse you” (Genesis 27:29). “Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” – had he asked me to curse another nation, e.g., the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, I would have been able. (This is because Abraham and Isaac had descendants not only from Israel, but from Ishmael and Esau.) But Jacob, a king who selects a portion for himself and another stands and disparages it, will he live? These are His lot, His inheritance, His treasured possession, as it is stated: “For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is stated: “You will be My treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5). “And go, censure Israel” – this is analogous to a king who took a crown and placed it on his head, and a person said ‘That, it is nothing,’ will he live? These, it is written in their regard: “Israel, in whom I glory [etpa’ar]” (Isaiah 49:3). (Pe’arim is a term meaning hats or crowns, (see Isaiah 3:20).) “How will I curse whom God has not cursed? How will I censure whom the Lord has not censured?” (Numbers 23:8). “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they were deserving of being cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob entered to take the blessings, he entered deceitfully, as it is stated: “And the hides of the kids of the goats, [she placed on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck]” (Genesis 27:16). His father said: “Who are you?” (Genesis 27:18). He said to him: “I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19). One who expresses falsehood from his mouth, is he not deserving of being cursed? Moreover, he was blessed, as it is written: “Indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). How then will I curse whom God has not cursed? Another matter, “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” The way of the world is that a legion that rebelled against the king incurs liability for death. These denied Him and rebelled, and said: “This is your god, Israel” (Exodus 32:4). (Referring to the Golden Calf.) Should He not have eliminated them? But even at that moment, He did not move from love for them. He accompanied them with clouds of glory, and the manna and the spring did not stop for them. Likewise it says: “When they crafted themselves a cast figure of a calf…but You in Your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not withdraw from over them by day…You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:18–20). How, then, can I curse them? “How will I curse whom God has not cursed”? When He commanded them regarding the blessings and the curses, regarding the blessings, He mentioned them, as it is stated: “These shall stand to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12). But, regarding the curses, He did not curse them directly, as He says: “These will stand for the curse on Mount Eival” (Deuteronomy 27:13). When they sin, and He says to bring a curse upon them, He does not write that He will bring it [directly], but in the blessings, He, Himself, blesses them [directly], as it is stated: “The Lord your God will place you supreme…” (Deuteronomy 28:1); “the Lord will command for you the blessing” (Deuteronomy 28:8). But regarding the curses, He would not curse them directly, as it says: “It shall be that if you do not heed [the voice of the Lord your God…] all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15); on their own. That is, “how will I curse whom God has not cursed?” “For from the top of precipices I will see it, and from hills I behold it; behold, it is a people that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). “For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. (He intended to curse the "tops of precipices" but in the end, blessed them. The "tops of the precipices" refers to the patriarchs (as mentioned in the continuation of the midrash), who are the roots of the tribes.) To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.” Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs. “Behold, it is a people that will dwell alone” – and when He causes them joy, He causes them joy by themselves, as it is stated: “The Lord will guide them alone” (Deuteronomy 32:12). When the nations in this world rejoice, they (Israel.) eat with each and every kingdom, but it does not cost them from their portion, as it is stated: “and will not be reckoned among the nations.” “Who has counted the dust of Jacob, or tallied one quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his” (Numbers 23:10). “Who has counted the dust of Jacob” – who can enumerate the mitzvot that they perform regarding dust? “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10); “you shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9); “A pure man shall gather the ashes of the heifer” (Numbers 19:9); (See Numbers 19:17, where the word used in Hebrew for dust (afar) is also used for ashes.) “the priest shall take from the dirt that is on the floor of the Tabernacle” (Numbers 5:17); “three years shall it be as forbidden unto you” (Leviticus 19:23), and likewise regarding all of them. “Or tallied one quarter [rova] of Israel” – their procreation [reviit]. Who can count the population that emerged from those who snatch and love the mitzvot? “She said to her: Is the taking of my husband insignificant…[Rachel said: Therefore, he will lie with you tonight]” (Genesis 30:15); “Here is my maidservant Bilha, consort with her” (Genesis 30:3); “Leah saw that she had ceased bearing; [she took Zilpa her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife]” (Genesis 30:9); “Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar… [and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife]” (Genesis 16:3). “Let me die the death of the upright” – this is analogous to a butcher who comes to slaughter a king’s cow. (He was doing so to harm the king, at the behest of his enemies.) The king began to look. Once he sensed that the king was looking, he began casting the knife aside, petting it, and filling the trough before it. He began to say: ‘May my soul depart, (The phrase "my soul departs" means "I sympathize with myself," that instead of doing one thing, I had to do the opposite.) as I came to slaughter it, but I left it alone.’ So, Bilam said: ‘May my soul depart, as I came to curse, but I will bless.’ “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak, and he built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar” (Numbers 23:14). “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak” – it is a peak where there are breaches, as it is stated: “Ascend to the top of the peak” (Deuteronomy 3:27). (In that place, something negative will happen to Israel and "breach" their security.) Is there a breach greater than that that he saw through divination, and he believed that there they would be eliminated.
“And the hides of the goat kids, she placed on his arms and on the smoothness of his neck” (Genesis 27:16). “And the hides of the goat kids” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The two arms of our patriarch Jacob were like two pillars of marble, and you say “she placed on his arms”? It is, rather, that she sewed them. (Jacob's arms were very large, so his mother had to sew several skins together in order to have enough material to cover his arms.) Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: The two daily offerings that Israel would sacrifice on the Festival, (Sukkot.) they would place them on young camels, and their legs would drag on the ground. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: This cinnamon tree that would grow in the Land of Israel, and goats and gazelles would reach the top of the tree and eat from it. (Thus, it is possible the the skin of the goats sufficed to cover the arms of Jacob, and Rebecca did not have to sew them.) Rabbi Ḥanina said: But are calves not slaughtered in the Land of Israel, and olive trees hewn, and fertile soil on the mountains? (In our day we do not see such large animals and large trees, even though it is the same soil. Thus, it must be that these large trees and animals are miraculous (Radal).) These were miraculous acts. Rabbi Mona said: They are all miraculous acts. “She gave the delicacies and the bread that she prepared into the hand of Jacob her son” (Genesis 27:17). “She gave the delicacies and the bread” – she accompanied him until the entrance. She said: ‘To this point I was obligated to you, from here on, your Creator will stand with you.’
“In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Aḥashverosh, he had cast a pur, that is, the lot, before Haman for each day and for each month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar” (Esther 3:7). “In the first month, that is, the month Nisan” – it is taught: When the wicked Haman sought to eliminate Israel, he said: ‘How can I gain control over them? I will cast lots.’ The Holy Spirit cried out: “Over My people they cast lots” (Joel 4:3). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Wicked one son of wicked one, your lot is drawn to be hanged.’ “He cast a pur, that is [hu], (The midrash is claiming that pronoun hu refers to Haman: He cast a pur; upon him was the lot.) the lot” – upon him the lot fell. Why? “Indeed, the rod of wickedness will not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous extend their hands for wrongdoing” (Psalms 125:3). First, he cast a lot for the days, as it is stated: “for each day.” He cast the lot on Sunday. Its [Sunday’s] angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: The heavens and the earth were created on me [my day], and You said: “truly My covenant is day and night, have I not set the statutes of heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 33:25). There is a covenant in their flesh, as it is written: “You shall observe My covenant [you and your descendants that are after you for their generations…circumcise for yourselves every male]” (Genesis 17:9–10), and it is written: “My covenant shall be in your flesh” (Genesis 17:13). And there is a covenant in their mouths, that is the Torah, as it is written: “The book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth” (Joshua 1:8). And You said: “If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below probed…”( Jeremiah 31:37) and it is written: “[when these laws should ever be annulled before Me, says the Lord,] so too will the descendants of Israel cease from being a nation before Me all the days” (Jeremiah 31:35), and this wicked one seeks to eliminate them? Uproot the heavens and the earth first, and then annihilate them.’ He cast the lot on Monday. Its angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: On the second day you separated the upper waters from the lower waters, and likewise, Israel is separated from the nations. That is what is written: “I have distinguished you from the peoples to be Mine” (Leviticus 20:26), and this wicked one wants to eliminate them? Overturn the upper and the lower worlds and then annihilate them.’ He cast the lot and it fell on Tuesday. Its angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: The third day – on it, seeds were created, from which Israel separates teruma and tithes, and on it trees were created, with which Israel lauds you. That is what is written: “You shall take for you on the first day: The fruit of a pleasant tree…” (The verse refers to the four species; a palm branch, an etrog, myrtle branches and willow branches, that are taken on Sukkot.) (Leviticus 23:40). On it the waters were gathered into the sea [during Creation], and the sea split into twelve segments for Israel’s sake. Now, if Israel is eradicated, how do we exist?’ He cast the lot on Wednesday. Its angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: The fourth day – on it the lights were created to provide light for Israel’s use; that is what is written: “Nations will walk by your light and kings by the aura of your shining” (Isaiah 60:3), and on it the stars were created, and your children were likened to stars; if You eliminate them, how do we exist?’ He cast the lot on Thursday. Its angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: The fifth day – on it were created birds [and animals], from which you commanded to present offerings, and with which You grant atonement to and are reconciled with people; if they are eradicated, who will present an offering?’ He cast the lot on Friday. Its angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: The sixth day – on it Adam the first man was created, and you called Your children by his name; that is what is written: “You, My flock, flock of My pasture, you are men [Adam]” (Ezekiel 34:31). If you seek to uproot them, uproot all men and then let him [Haman] gain control over them.’ He cast the lot on Shabbat. Its angel stood before the Holy One blessed be He and said: ‘Master of the universe: The Shabbat day – on it all your creations were completed and perfected; that is what is written: “God completed on the seventh day” (Genesis 2:2), and it is written: “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever” (Exodus 31:17). If you seek to uproot them, uproot the Shabbat and cancel it; then eliminate them.’ Once that wicked one saw that the lot would not fall on the days, he moved to months. He began with the month of Nisan, and the merit of Passover arose. Iyyar had the merit of Pesaḥ sheni, (This refers to the fourteenth of Iyyar, when those who had been impure or were too distant from the Temple on the fourteenth of Nisan, could present the Passover offering.) and the merit of the manna that was provided to Israel on the fifteenth of the month. Sivan had the merit of the Torah. Tammuz had the merit of the land. (The allusion is obscure. It perhaps refers to the fact that Ezra came to the Land of Israel on the first of that month (Ezra 7:8-9). Alternatively, there are midrashic traditions that Joshua stopped the sun in his war with the five Emorite kings during that month (Seder Olam Rabba:11).) Furthermore, why didn’t the lot fall on Tammuz and Av? Because they said to the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the universe, the calamities that befell your children in us, five in Tammuz and five in Av, are enough. The possibility of Elul arose – [but it had] the merit of the completion of the wall of Jerusalem that was completed during it. That is what is written: “The wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul” (Nehemiah 6:15). There was also the merit of the animal tithe, as it is taught there: On the first of Elul is the New Year for the animal tithe (Mishna Rosh HaShana 1:1). The possibility of Tishrei arose – [but it had] the merit of the shofar, Yom Kippur, and the festivals. The possibility of Marḥeshvan arose – [but it had] the merit of Sarah our matriarch, who died during it. Kislev – [but it had] the merit of Hanukkah. The possibility of Tevet arose – [but it had] the merit of Ezra. That is what is written: “The exiles did so. Ezra the priest…sequestered themselves; [they convened on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter]...they finished with all the men who had settled with foreign women” (Ezra 10:16–17). The possibility of Shevat arose – [but it had] the merit of the members of the Great Assembly. On the twenty-third of it [the month of Shevat] all Israel gathered over the concubine in Giva (Judges 19–21) and the idol of Mikha (Judges 17–18). The possibility of the first of Adar arose, and no merit was found for it. The wicked one began rejoicing. He then checked the signs of the Zodiac. Lamb [Aries] had the merit of the paschal lamb; that is what is written: “Each man, a lamb for each extended family, a lamb for each household” (Exodus 12:3). Bull [Taurus] – the merit of Joseph, who was called a bull, was found. That is what is written: “A firstborn bull is his majesty” (Deuteronomy 33:17). And the merit of an offering, as it is stated: “A bull, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born…” (Leviticus 22:27). Twins [Gemini] – the merit of Peretz and Zeraḥ [the sons of Judah], who were called twins, was found in it; that is what is written: “And behold there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 38:27). Lion [Leo] – the merit of Daniel, who was from the tribe of Judah, who was called a lion, [was found in it], as it is stated: “A lion cub is Judah” (Genesis 49:9). Virgin [Virgo] – the merit of Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, who were comparable to a virgin with whom no man was familiar other than her husband, [was found in it]; thus they did not change their God and their laws, and clung to their Judaism. Scales [Libra] – that is Job, as it is stated: “If only my anger were weighed” (Job 6:2). Scorpion [Scorpio] – that is Ezekiel, as it is stated: “And you sit among the scorpions” (Ezekiel 2:6). Bow [Sagittarius] – that is Joseph, as it is stated about him: “His bow remained taut” (Genesis 49:24). Kid [Capricorn] – that is Jacob, as it is stated: “And the hides of the kids of the goats” (Genesis 27:16). Bucket [d’li] [Aquarius ] – that is Moses, as it is stated: “And he drew water [dalo dala] for us” (Exodus 2:19). He arrived at the sign of Fish [Pisces], that serves during the month of Adar, and no merit was found for it. He immediately rejoiced and said: ‘Adar has no merit and its Zodiac sign has no merit. Not only that, but Moses their teacher died in Adar.’ And he did not know that Moses died on the seventh of Adar and Moses was born on the seventh of Adar. He said: ‘Just as fish swallow, so, I will swallow them.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Wicked one, fish sometimes swallow and sometimes are swallowed. Now, this man will be swallowed by the swallowers.’ Rabbi Ḥanan said: That is what is written: “It was reversed, so that it was the Jews who ruled over their enemies” (Esther 9:1). Rabbi Tanḥuma said: “But the Lord had not determined to expunge [the name of Israel]” (II Kings 14:27); rather, so He spoke: “For I will expunge the memory of Amalek” (Exodus 17:14).
(Numb. 23:8:) HOW SHALL I CURSE WHOM GOD HAS NOT CURSED? When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob went in to receive the blessings, as written (in Gen. 27:16): THEN WITH THE SKINS OF GOAT KIDS. His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18): WHO ARE YOU? He said to him (in vs. 19): I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN. Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only , but he was blessed, as stated (in Gen. 27:33): HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED. So how do I curse (in the words of Numb. 23:8) WHOM GOD HAS NOT CURSED?
(Numb. 23:4:) “Then God encountered Balaam.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing?” (Ibid., cont.:) “And [Balaam] said unto him, ‘I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].’” [The matter] is comparable to a money-changer who lies about the weights. When the head of the marketplace came, he noticed him. He said to him, “What are you doing inflating and lying about the weights?” [The money changer then] said to him, “I have already sent a gift (Gk.: doron.) to your house.” So also it was in the case of Balaam. The holy spirit cried out to him. It said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing.” He said to it (in Numb. 23:4), “I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].” It said to him (in Prov. 15:17), “’Better a meal of vegetable greens [where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred in it].’ Better the dinner of unleavened bread and bitter herbs which Israel ate in Egypt, than bulls which you offer with hands of [hatred].” (Numb. 23:5:) “So the Lord put a word (davar) in Balaam's mouth,” which twisted his mouth and pierced it, (Both “twisted” and “pierced” connote the use of a bit on a horse.) as one would drive a nail into a board. R. Eliezer (understanding davar as word) says, “An angel was speaking.” But R. Joshua says, “[It was] the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated, (in Numb. 23:5), “Return unto Balak and speak thus.” (Numb. 23:6:) “So he returned unto him, and there he was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the ministers of Moab,” who stood anxiously awaiting [the time] when he would come and speak. (Numb. 23:7:) “So he took up his theme and said, ‘From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.’” I was one of the exalted ones, (Ramim. The midrash links this word with ARAM in Numb. 23:7.) but Balak has brought me down to the pit of corruption. (Numb. R. 20:19; also above, Lev. 5:1 and the notes there.) (Ibid.:) “Brought me (yanheni, rt.: nhh),” [is to be understood] just as you say (in Ezek. 32:18), “bring (rt.: nhh) the masses of Egypt [and cast them down… unto the lowest part of the netherworld along with those who go down to the pit].” (Thus Numb. 23:7 comes to mean that Balak BROUGHT (rt.: NHH) Balaam down to the grave. The unusual Biblical translation is necessary to fit the sense of the midrash.) Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram.” I was with the highest (ram) of the high, and Balak has brought me down from my glory. [The matter] is comparable to one who was walking with the king. When he saw [some] robbers, (Gk.: lestai.) he left the king and toured along with the robbers. When he returned to be with the king, the king said to him, “Go with whomever you have toured with, because it not possible for you to walk with me again.” Similarly Balaam had been bound to the holy spirit. When he paired himself with Balak, the holy spirit departed from him. So he returned to being a diviner as in the beginning. Thus it is stated (at his execution in Josh. 13:22), “Balaam ben Beor the diviner….” Therefore did he say, “I was high up (ram), and Balak brought me down.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.” [Balaam] said to [Balak], “We are alike, even both of us, for being ungrateful, because were it not for our father Abraham, there would have been no Balak. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 19:29), ‘And it came to pass that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away.’ Except for Abraham, he would not have delivered Lot from Sodom; and you are one of the children of the children of Lot. (As a Moabite, Balak was descended from Moab, the son of Lot. See Gen. 19:37.) Moreover, if it were not for their father Jacob, I should not have been present in the world, because Laban had sons only through the merit of Jacob, since it is written at the beginning (in Gen. 29:9), ‘Rachel came with the sheep.’ Now if he had sons, how was his daughter a shepherdess? As soon as Jacob came there, sons were given to him, as stated (in Gen. 31:1), ‘Now he heard the things that Laban's sons [were saying].’ (Jewish tradition gives three views on Balaam’s relation to Laban: That he was Laban himself, that he was Laban’s nephew, and that he was Laban’s grandson. See Ginzberg, vol. III, p. 354; vol.. V, p. 303, n. 229; vol. VI, pp. 123f., nn. 722f.; p. 130, n. 764.) And it also says [that Laban said] (in Gen. 30:27), ‘I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.’ So if it were not for their ancestors, you and I would not have been present in the world”. (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “Come, curse Jacob for me.” Whoever curses the Children of Jacob is cursing himself, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:3), “and the one who curses you, I will curse.” It also says (in Gen. 27:29), “cursed be those who curse you, (See above, Gen. 6:16.) and blessed be those who bless you.” (Numb. 23:7:) “Come, curse [Jacob] for me.” If you had told me to curse another people, for example, the Children of Abraham from the concubines, I would have been able [to do so]. But Jacob? When a king selects a portion for himself, and someone else gets up and speaks disparagingly about it, will he keep his life? Now these people are the Holy One, blessed be He’s, heritage, His portion, and His treasure. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:9), “For the Lord's share is His people; Jacob the portion of His heritage.” And it is written (in Exod. 19:5), “and you shall be My treasure.” (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “And come, denounce Israel.” When a king takes a crown and puts it on his head, and someone says of it that it is nothing, will he keep his life? Now in regard to these people it is written about them (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” (Numb. 23:8:) “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed, when Jacob went in to receive the blessings. It is written (in Gen. 27:16), “Then [she clothed his arms and the hairless part of his neck] with the skins of goat kids.” His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18), “Who are you?” He said to him (in vs. 19), “I am Esau, your first-born.” Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only [was he not cursed], but he was blessed; as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “he shall also be blessed.” So how do I curse them? (In the words of Numb. 23:8) “God has not cursed.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” According to universal custom, when a legion (Lat.: legio.) rebels against the king, it incurs the penalty of death. Now since these denied and revolted against Him, when they said to the calf (in Exod. 32:4), “This is your God, O Israel,” did they not, therefore, deserve to have Him destroy them at that time? [Still] He did not cease to cherish them. Instead He had clouds of glory accompany them. Nor did He withhold the manna and the well from them. And so it says (in Neh. 9:18-20), “Even though they had made themselves a molten calf […], You in Your great mercies did not abandon them in the desert […]; and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth […].” How can I curse them? This [question] is related (to Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When He commanded them concerning the blessings and the curses, He mentioned them (as the people) in connection with the blessings where it is stated (in Deut. 27:12), “These shall stand [on Mount Gerizim] for blessing the people;” but He did not mention them in connection with the curses. Thus it is stated (in vs. 13), “And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse.” Moreover, when they sin and He plans to bring a curse upon them, it is not written that He Himself is bringing them (i.e., the curses); but with respect to the blessings, He Himself is blessing them; for so it says (in Deut. 28:1, 8), “And it shall come to pass that, if you diligently obey […], the Lord your God will set you high [over all the nations of the earth]. The Lord will command the blessing to be with you.” But with respect to the curses, it is written (according to Deut. 28:15), “And it shall come to pass that, if you do not obey […], then [all these curses] shall come upon you,” [i.e.,] of their own accord. Ergo (in Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” (Numb. 23:9:) “For from the top of the rocks I see him,” in order to make the hatred of that evil man (i.e., Balaam) known to you. As from his blessing you may know his thoughts. To what is he comparable? To someone who came to chop down a tree. One who is not an expert chops off the branches one at a time and becomes tired, but the clever one exposes the roots and [then] chops it down. Similarly that wicked man said, “How shall I curse each and every tribe? Rather I will go to their roots.” When he came to touch them, he found them hard [to cut]. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks I see him.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks,” these are the patriarchs; (ibid., cont.) “and from the hills I behold him,” these are the matriarchs. (Numb. 23:9, cont.:) “Here is a people dwelling alone.” When He makes them rejoice, no nation rejoices along with them. Rather they are all afflicted, [as stated (in Deut. 32:12),] “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign god with him.” (Numb. 23:9, cont.:), “And they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” But when the nations are rejoicing in this world, they (i.e., the Children of Israel) eat with each and every kingdom, and no one is charging [such pleasures] against their account (rt: hshb). (In other words the pleasures that Israel enjoys in this world are not to be deducted from their pleasures in the world to come.) It is so stated (in Numb. 23:9, cont.), “and they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” (Numb. 23:10:) “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” Who is able to count the commandments which they carry out upon the dust: (In Deut. 22:10,) “You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together”; (in Deut. 22:9,) “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed”; (in Numb. 19:9,) “Then someone clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer”; (in Numb. 5:17,) “[Then the high priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel] and some of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle”; (in Lev. 19:23,) “[Moreover, when you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall count its fruit as forbidden,] three years it shall be forbidden to you, [it shall not be eaten]”; and so on with all of them. (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Or numbered the sand (rb') of Israel,” [i.e.,] their copulations (rt.: rb'). (For this interpretation, cf. Nid. 31a.) Who can number the masses (Gk.: ochloi.) that have emerged from them, from those women who seize on and cherish the commandments (of procreation), as stated (in Gen. 30:15), “But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?’” [And so too (in Gen. 30:3, 9),] “Here is my maid Bilhah; go into her.” “When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, [she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife].” [And so too (in Gen. 16:3),] “So Abraham's wife Sarai took her maidservant Hagar the Egyptian… [and gave her to her husband Abraham as a wife].” (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Let me die the death of the upright.” The matter is comparable to a butcher who came to slaughter a cow that belonged to a king. The king began to take notice. When [the butcher] realized [what was happening], he began by discarding the knife, then giving [the cow] a rubdown [and] filling the feeding trough for it. He began to say, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to slaughter it; but observe that I have [now given it sustenance].” Similarly Balaam said, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to curse, but I will bless [them].” Ergo (in Numb. 23:10), “let me die the death of the upright!”
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, silver, and brass; and blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair; and rams’ skins dyed red, etc. (Exod. 25:3). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Actually You do not bring your own possessions, but the spoils I gave you at the Red Sea, as it is said: The wings of the dove are covered with silver (Ps. 68:14). And blue and purple and scarlet (Exod. 26:8). (To be used for the curtain before the ark.) Blue, for they were dipped into the blood, to symbolize the blood that the patriarchs had already prepared (i.e., the blood of circumcision). It was called scarlet (tola’at), because it is said: Fear not, thou worm (tola’at) (A reference to Jacob’s sworn enemy Esau. Tola’ath means both worm and scarlet dyed yarn.) Jacob (Isa. 41:14). The rams’ skins are mentioned to because of the merit of Jacob, as it is said: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands (Gen. 27:16). The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: The heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain Me, yet I caused My Shekhinah to dwell within the skins of the kids of the goats.
“He brought me to the wine house, and his banner over me is love” (Song of Songs 2:4). “He brought me to the wine house,” Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Meir says: The congregation of Israel said: ‘The evil inclination gained control over me like wine, and I said of the calf: “This is your god, Israel”’ (Exodus 32:4). When wine enters a person, it confuses him. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: Enough, Meir, one does not expound Song of Songs disparagingly, but rather, favorably, as Song of Songs was given only in praise of Israel. What, then, is “he brought me to the wine house”? The congregation of Israel said: The Holy One blessed be He brought me to a large wine cellar, this is Sinai. He gave me there banners of Torah, mitzvot, and good deeds, and I accepted them with great love. Rabbi Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: The congregation of Israel said: The Holy One blessed be He brought me to a large wine cellar, this is Sinai. He gave me there the Torah, which is expounded with forty-nine approaches for purity and with forty-nine approaches for impurity, the numerical value of “his banner [vediglo]. (Vav is equivalent to 6, dalet to 4, gimmel to 3, lamed–to 30, and vav to 6, which together equal 49.) I accepted it with great love, as it is stated: “And his banner over me is love.” Rabbi Yona said: Two colleagues who engage in a matter of halakha, this one says the source of the halakha, and that one does not say the source of the halakha, the Holy One blessed be He says: “His banner [vediglo] over me is love.” (Although he cannot provide a source for his ruling, and therefore his conclusion is inaccurate, his efforts in Torah study are nonetheless beloved in the eyes of God. The word diglo is interpreted as referring to his incomplete [dilugo] studies (Maharzu).) Rabbi Aḥa said: An ignoramus who calls love hate, e.g. [instead of] “you shall love” [ve’ahavta], [he says] “you shall hate” [ve’ayavta], the Holy One blessed be He says: His mistake [dilugo] is beloved to Me. Rabbi Yisakhar said: A child who calls Moshe Masheh, Aharon Aharan, Efron Efran, the Holy One blessed be He says: His ridicule [liglugo] (The letters lamed and dalet are both lingual letters so liglugo replaces dilugo.) is beloved to Me. Rabbi Ḥunya said: In the past, if a person would point to the image [of a king] with his finger, he would be punished. (It was considered a lack of respect to point at a picture or statue of the king.) Now, a person places his hand on a mention of God’s name and he is not harmed. Moreover, the Holy One blessed be He says: His thumb [gudalo] over Me is love. The Rabbis say: Even if a child skips the mention of God’s name several times he is not harmed. Moreover, the Holy One blessed be He says: His omission [dilugo] is beloved to Me. Rabbi Berekhya said: Even all the subterfuge [digulin] that Jacob employed regarding his father, just as it says: “And the hides of the goat kids, she placed on his hands” (Genesis 27:16), the Holy One blessed be He says: ‘I rest My Divine Presence over them.’ That is what is written: “You shall make sheets of goats’ hair” (Exodus 26:7). Moreover, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “His banner [vediglo] over me is love,” his subterfuge [vedigulo] over me is love. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin [said] in the name of Rabbi Levi: The congregation of Israel said: ‘The Holy One blessed be He brought me to a large wine cellar, this is Sinai. There, I saw Mikhael and his banner, Gavriel and his banner, and my eyes saw heavenly rites and I loved them.’ At that time the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Since the desire of My children is for banners, they will encamp with banners.’ That is what is written: “Each at his banner according to the insignia” (Numbers 2:2).
He cast the pur - that is, the lot: Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said, "It was taught [that] when it fell out in the month of Adar, [Haman] rejoiced with great joy: He said, 'The lot fell out in the month that Moshe, their teacher died.' But he did not know that Moshe died on the seventh of Adar and that Moshe was [also] born on the seventh of Adar. He cast the pur - that is, the lot: Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said, "You are the lot of the children. He cast lots for the days, but it did not work for him; he cast the lots for the constellation and it did work for him, the constellation of Pisces. He said, 'They are caught in my hands just like that fish.' He said to him, 'Evil one, they are not in your hands, you are in their hands. Just like this fish sometimes swallows and sometimes is swallowed; so too are you swallowed in their hands - "the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power." He cast the lot on the first day and it did not work for him. For it is written (Jeremiah 33:35), "If not for my covenant of day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth I have not appointed." The second day, "And the enlightened will be radiant" (Daniel 12:3). The third day, the Garden of Eden was created. The fourth day, the sun stopped in Giveaon. The fifth day, the creatures of the field were created. The sixth day, the behemoth of the thousand mountains. The Shabbat, the Jewish people observe the Shabbat. So he tried the months. In Nissan, there is the lamb (Aries) for the Pesach sacrifice. In Iyar, the manna descended. In Sivan, the Torah was given. In Tamuz, distress does not occur twice [at the same time]; likewise Av. In Elul, there is the tithing of animals. In Tishrei, there are the holidays. In MarCheshvan, the Temple was built, in the month of Bul. In Kislev, there is Chanukah, and the work on the tabernacle was completed. Tevet's constellation is the goat (Capricorn), so it [is a reminder of], "and the skins of the young goats" (Genesis 27:16). In Shevat, its constellation is the Water Bearer (Aquarius), [bringing up] the merit of Moshe, "he surely drew [water]" (Exodus 2:19). Adar is the Fish (Pisces), to swallow them up like fish. The Sages said: The tree was a cedar tree. For Haman cast lots. He cast it on the grapevine, but it did not work for him. For the Jewish people was compared to it, as it is stated (Psalms 80:9), "You brought a grapevine from Egypt." He cast [it] on the olive tree, but it did not work for him. For the Jewish people was compared to it, as it is stated (Jeremiah 11:16), "A verdant olive tree of notable fruit." He cast [it] on the apple tree, but it did not work for him. For the Jewish people was compared to it, as it is stated (Song of Songs 8:5), "under the apple tree I roused you." He cast [it] on the pomegranate tree, but it did not work for him. For the Jewish people was compared to it, as it is stated (Song of Song 6:11), " the pomegranates were in bloom"; (Song of Songs 4:3) "like a pomegranate split open." He cast [it] on the date palm, but it did not work for him. For Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah were compared to it, as it is stated (Song of Songs 7:9), "I say, 'Let me climb the palm.'" He cast [it] on the nut tree, but it did not work for him. For the Congregation of Israel was compared to it, as it was stated (Song of Songs 6:11), "I went down to the nut grove." He cast [it] on the myrtle, on the willow and on the citron (etrog), but it did not work for him. For they are defenders of the Jewish people and seek mercy upon them, as it is stated (Leviticus 223:40), "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, etc." He cast [it] on the reed. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Fool, the Jewish people was compared to a reed, as it stands in the water and moves with every wind. Even though the water is hard, the reed stands in its place. But they are not compared to the cedar, since the wind breaks it. But the idolaters are compared to it, as it is stated, (Ezekiel 31:3), 'Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon.' But with the Jewish people, it is written (I Kings 14:15), 'it sways like a reed in water.' Behold, the cedar is prepared for you from the six days of creation - 'on the tree that he/He prepared for him.'"
ויחרדו איש אל אחיו . We find an outstanding example of how G–d employs the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, tit for tat, in this paragraph. When Jacob masqueraded as his twin brother Esau in order to obtain the blessing from his father, the Torah spoke about the עורות גדיי העזים, "the skins of the goats," with which he covered the smooth skin of his arms (Genesis 27,16). G–d punished him for this when the brothers dipped Joseph's coat in the blood of the goat they slaughtered in order to deceive their father. Jacob caused his father חרדה, great alarm, when Isaac realized that he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau. The brothers caused their father great alarm when they asked him to determine if the blood-drenched coat was Joseph's. Yehudah, who had deceived his father, was in turn deceived by Tamar who challenged him with the identical words Yehudah had used to his father at the time, i.e. 38,25) !הכר נא). Now, when the "one" i.e. Levi (who had been separated from Shimon whom Joseph had imprisoned) opened his sack and found his money, he experienced alarm. The expression והנה … ויאמר אל אחיו ויחרדו איש אל אחיו … מה זאת עשה אלוקים לנו in 42 27-28, parallels the time when Shimon and Levi had announced the approach of Joseph with the words: הנה בעל החלומות בא ויאמרו איש אל אחיו in 37, 19. The latter words correspond to what they had said to their father in 37,32: זאת מצאנו. When we keep this in mind, we understand a number of words in these paragraphs which otherwise appear superfluous. The Torah wanted to direct our attention to the manner in which G–d made the punishment fit the crime. The author credits the above comments to a book called .דברי שלום
פרט לחיה ולעוף ולבהמה טמאה – a “kid,” excluding fowl which is not cattle. A “kid,” excluding a beast of chase, and even though a beast of chase is included within cattle. An additional Biblical verse comes to exclude it. A “kid,” and not unclean cattle, and we derive if from what is written (Genesis 27:16): “with the skins of the kids;” “Judah sent the kid [by his friend the Adullamite]” (Genesis 38:20) – here the Biblical verse explains to you that this “kid” is from the goats. But if he did not explain this, there is by implication, even the rest of the cattle, hence it was necessary for him to explain this.
How many necks did Binyamin have: We do not follow [teach] this version. For this is the way of Scripture, to write, "necks," in the plural form, [as in] (Genesis 27:17), "upon the flat of his necks." [So here too] - "he cried upon his necks."
6. Accordingly, Esau went out a hunting. But Rebeka (33) thinking it proper to have the supplication made for obtaining the favor of God to Jacob, and that without the consent of Isaac, bid him kill kids of the goats, and prepare a supper. So Jacob obeyed his mother, according to all her instructions. Now when the supper was got ready, he took a goat's skin, and put it about his arm, that by reason of its hairy roughness, he might by his father be believed to be Esau; for they being twins, and in all things else alike, differed only in this thing. This was done out of his fear, that before his father had made his supplications, he should be caught in his evil practice, and lest he should, on the contrary, provoke his father to curse him. So he brought in the supper to his father. Isaac perceivest to be Esau." So suspecting no deceit, he ate the supper, and betook himself to his prayers and intercessions with God; and said, "O Lord of all ages, and Creator of all substance; for it was thou that didst propose to my father great plenty of good things, and hast vouchsafed to bestow on me what I have; and hast promised to my posterity to be their kind supporter, and to bestow on them still greater blessings; do thou therefore confirm these thy promises, and do not overlook me, because of my present weak condition, on account of which I most earnestly pray to thee. Be gracious to this my son; and preserve him and keep him from every thing that is evil. Give him a happy life, and the possession of as many good things as thy power is able to bestow. Make him terrible to his enemies, and honorable and beloved among his friends."
The Gemara asks: But why not derive from that verse that in general, every instance of the word “kid” is referring to a goat, including the prohibition of meat cooked in milk? The Gemara answers: This cannot be, as another verse is written: “And the skins of the kids of the goats” (Genesis 27:16). This indicates that only here they are kids of the goats, but anywhere the word “kid” is stated without specification, it means even a cow or a ewe.
The skins of the young goats she placed on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.
And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck.
| וַתִּתֵּ֧ן אֶת־הַמַּטְעַמִּ֛ים וְאֶת־הַלֶּ֖חֶם אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑תָה בְּיַ֖ד יַעֲקֹ֥ב בְּנָֽהּ׃ | 17 J | Then she put in the hands of her son Jacob the dish and the bread that she had prepared. |
She placed the tasty dish and the bread. Yaakov did not take them on his own because he was not enthusiastic about this subterfuge.
ותתן את המטעמים, no mention is made of the meat as it was included in what is described here as מטעמים, The latter are considered as the major ingredient of the meal as this is what Yitzchok had asked his son Esau for (verse 4). He wanted the meal to be well spiced so that he would find it tasty, to his liking.
ואת הלחם, for she prepared fresh bread for him.
בנה, siehe V. 11.
She gave the tasty food and the bread that she prepared into the hand of Jacob her son.
“And the hides of the goat kids, she placed on his arms and on the smoothness of his neck” (Genesis 27:16). “And the hides of the goat kids” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The two arms of our patriarch Jacob were like two pillars of marble, and you say “she placed on his arms”? It is, rather, that she sewed them. (Jacob's arms were very large, so his mother had to sew several skins together in order to have enough material to cover his arms.) Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: The two daily offerings that Israel would sacrifice on the Festival, (Sukkot.) they would place them on young camels, and their legs would drag on the ground. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: This cinnamon tree that would grow in the Land of Israel, and goats and gazelles would reach the top of the tree and eat from it. (Thus, it is possible the the skin of the goats sufficed to cover the arms of Jacob, and Rebecca did not have to sew them.) Rabbi Ḥanina said: But are calves not slaughtered in the Land of Israel, and olive trees hewn, and fertile soil on the mountains? (In our day we do not see such large animals and large trees, even though it is the same soil. Thus, it must be that these large trees and animals are miraculous (Radal).) These were miraculous acts. Rabbi Mona said: They are all miraculous acts. “She gave the delicacies and the bread that she prepared into the hand of Jacob her son” (Genesis 27:17). “She gave the delicacies and the bread” – she accompanied him until the entrance. She said: ‘To this point I was obligated to you, from here on, your Creator will stand with you.’
Isaac said to him (in Gen. 27:24): IS THIS YOU, MY SON ESAU? He said to him: It is I. He said to him (in vs. 25): SERVE ME, AND LET ME EAT…. < SO HE SERVED HIM, AND HE ATE. HE ALSO BROUGHT HIM WINE, AND HE DRANK >. Where did he get wine from? Note, we find that his mother did not give him wine. Rather (in Gen. 27:17): SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. Then who brought him the wine? Michael brought it to him, wine from the Garden of Eden. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:25.) Our masters have said: You only find wine resulting in a blessing in case of this < wine > and Abraham's, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 14:18f.): AND MELCHIZEDEK KING OF SALEM BROUGHT OUT BREAD AND WINE…. < AND HE BLESSED HIM >. (Cf. Gen. R. 43:6.) And in case of this < wine > also, when he had drunk it, he blessed him. He said to him (in vs. 26f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND KISS ME, MY SON; SO HE CAME NEARER AND KISSED HIM…. [It should have said: "Aha, the odor of his clothes; then he blessed him." Instead he said (in vs. 27): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON IS LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD.] And he should have said: "Aha, the odor of my son's clothes." Instead he said to him (ibid.): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON. < The verse > is teaching that the odor of the righteous is a hint of the world to come. What is the meaning of LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD … ? That < his clothes > were the garments of the first Adam and bore an odor from the garden of Eden. (See below, 6:22; Gen. R. 65:22.) He immediately said to him (in vs. 28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is Torah, as stated (in Deut. 32:2) LET MY SPEECH DRIP DOWN LIKE THE DEW. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. These are the Prophets. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN. This is Talmud. (Ibid., cont.:) AND NEW WINE. Here are the Midrashim. (Gen. R. 66:3.) Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is the manna, according to what is stated (in Numb. 11:9): SO WHEN THE DEW CAME DOWN < UPON THE CAMP AT NIGHT, THE MANNA WOULD FALL UPON IT >. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. Here is the well. (See Exod. 17:6; Numb. 21:16-18. According to tradition this well followed Israel in the wilderness. See, e.g., TSuk. 3:11-13. Similarly I Corinthians 10:4.)
How many necks did Binyamin have: We do not follow [teach] this version. For this is the way of Scripture, to write, "necks," in the plural form, [as in] (Genesis 27:17), "upon the flat of his necks." [So here too] - "he cried upon his necks."
She placed the tasty dish and the bread which she had made, in the hand of Yaakov, her son.
And the food and the bread she had made she set in the hand of Jakob her son.
| וַיָּבֹ֥א אֶל־אָבִ֖יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אָבִ֑י וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הִנֶּ֔נִּי מִ֥י אַתָּ֖ה בְּנִֽי׃ | 18 J | He went to his father and said, “Father.” And he said, “Yes, which of my sons are you?” |
ויבא אל אביו, into the room where he was lying down. He called to him: אבי, seeing he (Yitzchok) could not see him.
הנני, with a dagesh in both letters נ.
?מי אתה, seeing that he had addressed him simply with the word אבי, he had doubts about whose voice he had heard he had to ask: “who are you?”
He came to his father and said: My father. He, Isaac, said: Here I am; who are you, my son? It is possible that the voices of the twins, Jacob and Esau, were very similar, and therefore Isaac would always ask this question upon their arrival.
"And he also had made savory food...Let my father arise" (Beresheet 27:31). His speech was impertinent, rough, and impolite. Come and behold the difference between Jacob and Esau. Jacob talked to his father humbly, with humility. It is written, "And he came to his father, and said, My father" (Ibid. 18). The difference between the language of Esau and Jacob is that Jacob did not want to frighten him. Thus, he spoke humbly, saying "arise, I pray you, sit and eat of my venison." Esau, however, said "Let my father arise," as if he was not speaking to him.
“He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, Balak leads me, the king of Moav from the highlands of the east; Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” (Numbers 23:7). “He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, [Balak] leads me [yanḥeni]” – he began and said: ‘I was of the exalted [haramim], but Balak took me down to the pit of perdition.’ Yanḥeni, just as it says: “Wail [neheh] for the multitude of Egypt, and cast it down…[with those who descend into the pit]” (Ezekiel 32:18). Another matter, “from Aram” – with the exalted [im ram], I was exalted, but Balak caused me to descend from my prominence. This is analogous to one who accompanies a king. He saw a robber, forsook the king, and walked with the robber. When he returned to the king, the king said to him: 'Go with the one with whom you walked, as it is not possible for you to accompany me.' So, Bilam had been attached to the Divine Spirit, and returned to be a sorcerer, as he had been initially, as it is stated: “Bilam son of Beor the sorcerer” (Joshua 13:22). That is why he screamed: ‘I was exalted and Balak took me down.’ Another matter, “from Aram, [Balak] leads me” – he said to him: 'We are both equal in our being ingrates. Had it not been for Abraham their patriarch, there would be no Balak, as it is stated: “It was when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and He sent Lot” (Genesis 19:29). Had it not been for Abraham, Lot would not have escaped Sodom, and you are from the descendants of Lot. Had it not been for Jacob their patriarch, I would not be in the world, as Lavan had sons only due to the merit of Jacob.' Initially, it is written: “Rachel came with the flock” (Genesis 29:9). If he had sons, how is his daughter herding? When Jacob went there, he was granted sons, as it is stated: “Jacob heard the statement of Laban’s sons” (Genesis 31:1). Likewise he [Laban] said to him [Jacob]: “I have divined, and the Lord has blessed me on your account” (Genesis 30:27). “Go, curse [Jacob] for me” – one who curses, curses himself, (The Hebrew phrase “ara li” which is translated "curse for me" can also be read to mean "curse me" (Matnot Kehuna).) as, so it is written: “And he who curses you, I will curse” (Genesis 12:3), and it says: “Cursed be those who curse you” (Genesis 27:29). “Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” – had he asked me to curse another nation, e.g., the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, I would have been able. (This is because Abraham and Isaac had descendants not only from Israel, but from Ishmael and Esau.) But Jacob, a king who selects a portion for himself and another stands and disparages it, will he live? These are His lot, His inheritance, His treasured possession, as it is stated: “For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is stated: “You will be My treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5). “And go, censure Israel” – this is analogous to a king who took a crown and placed it on his head, and a person said ‘That, it is nothing,’ will he live? These, it is written in their regard: “Israel, in whom I glory [etpa’ar]” (Isaiah 49:3). (Pe’arim is a term meaning hats or crowns, (see Isaiah 3:20).) “How will I curse whom God has not cursed? How will I censure whom the Lord has not censured?” (Numbers 23:8). “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they were deserving of being cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob entered to take the blessings, he entered deceitfully, as it is stated: “And the hides of the kids of the goats, [she placed on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck]” (Genesis 27:16). His father said: “Who are you?” (Genesis 27:18). He said to him: “I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19). One who expresses falsehood from his mouth, is he not deserving of being cursed? Moreover, he was blessed, as it is written: “Indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). How then will I curse whom God has not cursed? Another matter, “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” The way of the world is that a legion that rebelled against the king incurs liability for death. These denied Him and rebelled, and said: “This is your god, Israel” (Exodus 32:4). (Referring to the Golden Calf.) Should He not have eliminated them? But even at that moment, He did not move from love for them. He accompanied them with clouds of glory, and the manna and the spring did not stop for them. Likewise it says: “When they crafted themselves a cast figure of a calf…but You in Your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not withdraw from over them by day…You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:18–20). How, then, can I curse them? “How will I curse whom God has not cursed”? When He commanded them regarding the blessings and the curses, regarding the blessings, He mentioned them, as it is stated: “These shall stand to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12). But, regarding the curses, He did not curse them directly, as He says: “These will stand for the curse on Mount Eival” (Deuteronomy 27:13). When they sin, and He says to bring a curse upon them, He does not write that He will bring it [directly], but in the blessings, He, Himself, blesses them [directly], as it is stated: “The Lord your God will place you supreme…” (Deuteronomy 28:1); “the Lord will command for you the blessing” (Deuteronomy 28:8). But regarding the curses, He would not curse them directly, as it says: “It shall be that if you do not heed [the voice of the Lord your God…] all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15); on their own. That is, “how will I curse whom God has not cursed?” “For from the top of precipices I will see it, and from hills I behold it; behold, it is a people that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). “For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. (He intended to curse the "tops of precipices" but in the end, blessed them. The "tops of the precipices" refers to the patriarchs (as mentioned in the continuation of the midrash), who are the roots of the tribes.) To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.” Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs. “Behold, it is a people that will dwell alone” – and when He causes them joy, He causes them joy by themselves, as it is stated: “The Lord will guide them alone” (Deuteronomy 32:12). When the nations in this world rejoice, they (Israel.) eat with each and every kingdom, but it does not cost them from their portion, as it is stated: “and will not be reckoned among the nations.” “Who has counted the dust of Jacob, or tallied one quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his” (Numbers 23:10). “Who has counted the dust of Jacob” – who can enumerate the mitzvot that they perform regarding dust? “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10); “you shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9); “A pure man shall gather the ashes of the heifer” (Numbers 19:9); (See Numbers 19:17, where the word used in Hebrew for dust (afar) is also used for ashes.) “the priest shall take from the dirt that is on the floor of the Tabernacle” (Numbers 5:17); “three years shall it be as forbidden unto you” (Leviticus 19:23), and likewise regarding all of them. “Or tallied one quarter [rova] of Israel” – their procreation [reviit]. Who can count the population that emerged from those who snatch and love the mitzvot? “She said to her: Is the taking of my husband insignificant…[Rachel said: Therefore, he will lie with you tonight]” (Genesis 30:15); “Here is my maidservant Bilha, consort with her” (Genesis 30:3); “Leah saw that she had ceased bearing; [she took Zilpa her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife]” (Genesis 30:9); “Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar… [and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife]” (Genesis 16:3). “Let me die the death of the upright” – this is analogous to a butcher who comes to slaughter a king’s cow. (He was doing so to harm the king, at the behest of his enemies.) The king began to look. Once he sensed that the king was looking, he began casting the knife aside, petting it, and filling the trough before it. He began to say: ‘May my soul depart, (The phrase "my soul departs" means "I sympathize with myself," that instead of doing one thing, I had to do the opposite.) as I came to slaughter it, but I left it alone.’ So, Bilam said: ‘May my soul depart, as I came to curse, but I will bless.’ “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak, and he built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar” (Numbers 23:14). “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak” – it is a peak where there are breaches, as it is stated: “Ascend to the top of the peak” (Deuteronomy 3:27). (In that place, something negative will happen to Israel and "breach" their security.) Is there a breach greater than that that he saw through divination, and he believed that there they would be eliminated.
“He came to his father, and said: My father, and he said: Here I am; who are you, my son?” (Genesis 27:18). “Jacob said to his father: I am Esau your firstborn; I did as you spoke to me. Arise please, sit and eat from my game, so that your soul will bless me” (Genesis 27:19). “He came to his father, and said…I am Esau your firstborn” – Rabbi Levi said: I am destined to receive the Ten Commandments, but Esau is your firstborn. “Arise please, sit” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Jacob: ‘You said: “Arise please, sit.” (Jacob asked his father politely to sit up.) As you live, I will repay you,’ as it is stated: “Arise Lord, and may Your enemies be dispersed” (Numbers 10:35). “Some are swept away without justice” (Proverbs 13:23) – this is Esau. (Who was punished for his speech and not for his action.) The Holy One blessed be He said to Esau: ‘You said: “let my father arise” (Genesis 27:31) – like an idolic talisman which you stand up? (Esau gave a command to his father to get up, which is considered rude behavior.) As you live, with that same expression, I will exact retribution against you’: “May God arise and His enemies scatter” (Psalms 68:2).
(Numb. 23:8:) HOW SHALL I CURSE WHOM GOD HAS NOT CURSED? When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob went in to receive the blessings, as written (in Gen. 27:16): THEN WITH THE SKINS OF GOAT KIDS. His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18): WHO ARE YOU? He said to him (in vs. 19): I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN. Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only , but he was blessed, as stated (in Gen. 27:33): HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED. So how do I curse (in the words of Numb. 23:8) WHOM GOD HAS NOT CURSED?
(Gen. 27:6, 8, & 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get < the venison >, he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 & 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: < I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN >…. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 &. 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN…. (It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18.) PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: < HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK > … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him: (Cf. Gen. R. 65:19.) When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused < a sacrificial animal > to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES < TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM >…. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. (Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal.) Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob; (Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said: (yTa‘an. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21.) In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor (Lat.: Caesar.) Hadrian, < who > [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther. (This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1968.) R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out < over > what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.
(Numb. 23:4:) “Then God encountered Balaam.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing?” (Ibid., cont.:) “And [Balaam] said unto him, ‘I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].’” [The matter] is comparable to a money-changer who lies about the weights. When the head of the marketplace came, he noticed him. He said to him, “What are you doing inflating and lying about the weights?” [The money changer then] said to him, “I have already sent a gift (Gk.: doron.) to your house.” So also it was in the case of Balaam. The holy spirit cried out to him. It said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing.” He said to it (in Numb. 23:4), “I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].” It said to him (in Prov. 15:17), “’Better a meal of vegetable greens [where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred in it].’ Better the dinner of unleavened bread and bitter herbs which Israel ate in Egypt, than bulls which you offer with hands of [hatred].” (Numb. 23:5:) “So the Lord put a word (davar) in Balaam's mouth,” which twisted his mouth and pierced it, (Both “twisted” and “pierced” connote the use of a bit on a horse.) as one would drive a nail into a board. R. Eliezer (understanding davar as word) says, “An angel was speaking.” But R. Joshua says, “[It was] the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated, (in Numb. 23:5), “Return unto Balak and speak thus.” (Numb. 23:6:) “So he returned unto him, and there he was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the ministers of Moab,” who stood anxiously awaiting [the time] when he would come and speak. (Numb. 23:7:) “So he took up his theme and said, ‘From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.’” I was one of the exalted ones, (Ramim. The midrash links this word with ARAM in Numb. 23:7.) but Balak has brought me down to the pit of corruption. (Numb. R. 20:19; also above, Lev. 5:1 and the notes there.) (Ibid.:) “Brought me (yanheni, rt.: nhh),” [is to be understood] just as you say (in Ezek. 32:18), “bring (rt.: nhh) the masses of Egypt [and cast them down… unto the lowest part of the netherworld along with those who go down to the pit].” (Thus Numb. 23:7 comes to mean that Balak BROUGHT (rt.: NHH) Balaam down to the grave. The unusual Biblical translation is necessary to fit the sense of the midrash.) Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram.” I was with the highest (ram) of the high, and Balak has brought me down from my glory. [The matter] is comparable to one who was walking with the king. When he saw [some] robbers, (Gk.: lestai.) he left the king and toured along with the robbers. When he returned to be with the king, the king said to him, “Go with whomever you have toured with, because it not possible for you to walk with me again.” Similarly Balaam had been bound to the holy spirit. When he paired himself with Balak, the holy spirit departed from him. So he returned to being a diviner as in the beginning. Thus it is stated (at his execution in Josh. 13:22), “Balaam ben Beor the diviner….” Therefore did he say, “I was high up (ram), and Balak brought me down.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.” [Balaam] said to [Balak], “We are alike, even both of us, for being ungrateful, because were it not for our father Abraham, there would have been no Balak. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 19:29), ‘And it came to pass that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away.’ Except for Abraham, he would not have delivered Lot from Sodom; and you are one of the children of the children of Lot. (As a Moabite, Balak was descended from Moab, the son of Lot. See Gen. 19:37.) Moreover, if it were not for their father Jacob, I should not have been present in the world, because Laban had sons only through the merit of Jacob, since it is written at the beginning (in Gen. 29:9), ‘Rachel came with the sheep.’ Now if he had sons, how was his daughter a shepherdess? As soon as Jacob came there, sons were given to him, as stated (in Gen. 31:1), ‘Now he heard the things that Laban's sons [were saying].’ (Jewish tradition gives three views on Balaam’s relation to Laban: That he was Laban himself, that he was Laban’s nephew, and that he was Laban’s grandson. See Ginzberg, vol. III, p. 354; vol.. V, p. 303, n. 229; vol. VI, pp. 123f., nn. 722f.; p. 130, n. 764.) And it also says [that Laban said] (in Gen. 30:27), ‘I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.’ So if it were not for their ancestors, you and I would not have been present in the world”. (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “Come, curse Jacob for me.” Whoever curses the Children of Jacob is cursing himself, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:3), “and the one who curses you, I will curse.” It also says (in Gen. 27:29), “cursed be those who curse you, (See above, Gen. 6:16.) and blessed be those who bless you.” (Numb. 23:7:) “Come, curse [Jacob] for me.” If you had told me to curse another people, for example, the Children of Abraham from the concubines, I would have been able [to do so]. But Jacob? When a king selects a portion for himself, and someone else gets up and speaks disparagingly about it, will he keep his life? Now these people are the Holy One, blessed be He’s, heritage, His portion, and His treasure. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:9), “For the Lord's share is His people; Jacob the portion of His heritage.” And it is written (in Exod. 19:5), “and you shall be My treasure.” (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “And come, denounce Israel.” When a king takes a crown and puts it on his head, and someone says of it that it is nothing, will he keep his life? Now in regard to these people it is written about them (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” (Numb. 23:8:) “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed, when Jacob went in to receive the blessings. It is written (in Gen. 27:16), “Then [she clothed his arms and the hairless part of his neck] with the skins of goat kids.” His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18), “Who are you?” He said to him (in vs. 19), “I am Esau, your first-born.” Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only [was he not cursed], but he was blessed; as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “he shall also be blessed.” So how do I curse them? (In the words of Numb. 23:8) “God has not cursed.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” According to universal custom, when a legion (Lat.: legio.) rebels against the king, it incurs the penalty of death. Now since these denied and revolted against Him, when they said to the calf (in Exod. 32:4), “This is your God, O Israel,” did they not, therefore, deserve to have Him destroy them at that time? [Still] He did not cease to cherish them. Instead He had clouds of glory accompany them. Nor did He withhold the manna and the well from them. And so it says (in Neh. 9:18-20), “Even though they had made themselves a molten calf […], You in Your great mercies did not abandon them in the desert […]; and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth […].” How can I curse them? This [question] is related (to Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When He commanded them concerning the blessings and the curses, He mentioned them (as the people) in connection with the blessings where it is stated (in Deut. 27:12), “These shall stand [on Mount Gerizim] for blessing the people;” but He did not mention them in connection with the curses. Thus it is stated (in vs. 13), “And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse.” Moreover, when they sin and He plans to bring a curse upon them, it is not written that He Himself is bringing them (i.e., the curses); but with respect to the blessings, He Himself is blessing them; for so it says (in Deut. 28:1, 8), “And it shall come to pass that, if you diligently obey […], the Lord your God will set you high [over all the nations of the earth]. The Lord will command the blessing to be with you.” But with respect to the curses, it is written (according to Deut. 28:15), “And it shall come to pass that, if you do not obey […], then [all these curses] shall come upon you,” [i.e.,] of their own accord. Ergo (in Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” (Numb. 23:9:) “For from the top of the rocks I see him,” in order to make the hatred of that evil man (i.e., Balaam) known to you. As from his blessing you may know his thoughts. To what is he comparable? To someone who came to chop down a tree. One who is not an expert chops off the branches one at a time and becomes tired, but the clever one exposes the roots and [then] chops it down. Similarly that wicked man said, “How shall I curse each and every tribe? Rather I will go to their roots.” When he came to touch them, he found them hard [to cut]. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks I see him.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks,” these are the patriarchs; (ibid., cont.) “and from the hills I behold him,” these are the matriarchs. (Numb. 23:9, cont.:) “Here is a people dwelling alone.” When He makes them rejoice, no nation rejoices along with them. Rather they are all afflicted, [as stated (in Deut. 32:12),] “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign god with him.” (Numb. 23:9, cont.:), “And they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” But when the nations are rejoicing in this world, they (i.e., the Children of Israel) eat with each and every kingdom, and no one is charging [such pleasures] against their account (rt: hshb). (In other words the pleasures that Israel enjoys in this world are not to be deducted from their pleasures in the world to come.) It is so stated (in Numb. 23:9, cont.), “and they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” (Numb. 23:10:) “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” Who is able to count the commandments which they carry out upon the dust: (In Deut. 22:10,) “You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together”; (in Deut. 22:9,) “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed”; (in Numb. 19:9,) “Then someone clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer”; (in Numb. 5:17,) “[Then the high priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel] and some of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle”; (in Lev. 19:23,) “[Moreover, when you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall count its fruit as forbidden,] three years it shall be forbidden to you, [it shall not be eaten]”; and so on with all of them. (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Or numbered the sand (rb') of Israel,” [i.e.,] their copulations (rt.: rb'). (For this interpretation, cf. Nid. 31a.) Who can number the masses (Gk.: ochloi.) that have emerged from them, from those women who seize on and cherish the commandments (of procreation), as stated (in Gen. 30:15), “But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?’” [And so too (in Gen. 30:3, 9),] “Here is my maid Bilhah; go into her.” “When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, [she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife].” [And so too (in Gen. 16:3),] “So Abraham's wife Sarai took her maidservant Hagar the Egyptian… [and gave her to her husband Abraham as a wife].” (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Let me die the death of the upright.” The matter is comparable to a butcher who came to slaughter a cow that belonged to a king. The king began to take notice. When [the butcher] realized [what was happening], he began by discarding the knife, then giving [the cow] a rubdown [and] filling the feeding trough for it. He began to say, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to slaughter it; but observe that I have [now given it sustenance].” Similarly Balaam said, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to curse, but I will bless [them].” Ergo (in Numb. 23:10), “let me die the death of the upright!”
He came to his father and said, My father. [Yitzchok] said, Here I am. Who are you my son?
And he entered unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Behold me: who art thou, my son?
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יַעֲקֹ֜ב אֶל־אָבִ֗יו אָנֹכִי֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ עָשִׂ֕יתִי כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ אֵלָ֑י קֽוּם־נָ֣א שְׁבָ֗ה וְאׇכְלָה֙ מִצֵּידִ֔י בַּעֲב֖וּר תְּבָרְכַ֥נִּי נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ | 19 J | Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first-born; I have done as you told me. Pray sit up and eat of my game, that you may give me your innermost blessing.” |
אנכי, עשו בכור, “it is I; Esau is your firstborn.” There are some commentators who claim that Yaakov considered the situation as so critical for his future that he permitted himself the kind of lie his grandfather Avraham had used when he referred to his wife by saying that she was his sister. (Ibn Ezra) He had also used a similarly false statement before the binding of Yitzchok, when he told the accompanying lads that both he and Yitzchok would return to them from Mount Moriah, something which at that time was a lie, as he expected to slaughter Yitzchok. (Genesis 20,13) David in Samuel I 21,3 told the High Priest in the town of Nof that he was on a mission from his king, which was not true, as he was in the process of fleeing from him. The prophet Michayu told the king of Israel, Achav, in Kings I 22,15 who had asked him if his planned war to recapture Yavesh Gilad would be successful. He wished the king success, making it appear that his answer was in the affirmative, though he knew that Achav would not return alive from that battle, but would be killed. In Kings II 8,10 the prophet Elisha sent a message to King Ben Haddad of Aram who was ill that he would recover, when he knew full well that this was not so. He had told the messenger whom the king had sent to him the truth, however. An alternate exegesis of Yaakov’s words: “I am taking the place of Esau your firstborn.” He felt entitled to use this formulation as Esau had already sold him the birthright (48 years earlier).
בעבור תברכני נפשך, “in order that your soul will bless me.” The question that presents itself here is if Yaakov only fed his father for the sake of receiving a reward? Yaakov spoke words that would help convince his father that he was Esau, as Yitzchok had said to Esau when he had not been present: בעבור תברכך נפשי, “so that my soul will bless you.” (verse 4)
[I AM.] Some say, Heaven forbid that a prophet should lie. We must therefore interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: I am who I am and Esau is thy first born. (Cf. Rashi. “I am he who brings to you and Esau is your first born.”) Others say that Jacob quietly said, I am, and then loudly said, Esau is thy first-born. (Hence he said two things; I am; Esau is thy first born.) Now these interpretations are nonsence. Prophets are divided into two groups. One group consists of God’s messengers concerning commandments; (According to Weiser and Biblical Encyclopedia (Heb.) Vol. 8, p. 678. An example of God’s messengers with regard to commandments are Moses and Aaron.) the other, those who foretell the future. If the latter have to say something that is not quite so, (A messenger who reveals God’s laws never stretches the truth. Prophets who foretell the future occasionally do (Weiser and Biblical Encyclopedia). According to Filwarg, what I.E. says is that prophets do not lie when they act as God’s messengers. At other times they may tell an untruth.) there is no harm done. (It is no blight on the prophet’s reputation qua prophet.) However, a prophet whose task is to reveal commandments never lies. We thus find that King David, whom Scripture calls the man of God (II Chron. 8:14) and who said, The spirit of the Lord spoke by me (II Sam. 23:2), perverted the truth out of need of the hour when he spoke to Abimelech and said, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy (I Sam. 21:6). (When David asked for the holy bread, he had no young men with him. Cf. I Sam. 21 and Weiser.) Also, the prophet Elisha did not speak the truth when he said to Hazael, Go, say unto him, thou shalt surely recover (II Kings 8:10), even though what he meant was, go say unto him that thou shalt recover from this illness; however, God has shown me that he will be killed. (II Kings 8:10 reads lo spelled with an alef. Thus the verse may be read: thou shalt not recover. However, the kere spells the lo with a vav meaning: say unto him thou shalt recover. I.E. points out that the kere is the correct meaning of the verse. Thus Elisha misled the king of Aram. He told him that he would live although he knew that he would be killed (Netter). For a description of the incident see II Kings 8:7-15.) Similarly the prophet Micaiah uttered a vain prayer out of deference to King Ahab when he told him, Go up and prosper; and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king (I Kings 22:15). (King Ahab inquired of the prophet if he would succeed in his attempt to regain Ramoth-Gilead from Aram. Cf. I Kings 22.) Similarly Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee (Dan. 4:16). (Nebuchadnezzar’s dream signified that he would live as a beast for seven years. Since Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple the prophet could not really have meant that the events in the dream should fall on Nebuchadnezzar’s enemies.) Those who explain that My lord refers to God are indulging in Midrash. (According to the Talmud what Daniel really meant was: O Lord, may this dream fall upon your enemies, that is, Nebuchadnezzar. Cf. Shavuot 35b.) Similarly Abraham said unto Abimelech, And moreover she is indeed my sister (Gen. 20:12); (See I. E. on this verse.) and unto his young men, and I and the lad will go yonder and we will worship and come back to you (Gen. 22:5). (Since Abraham intended to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, he really was not telling the truth when he said, And I and the lad will…come back to you.)
AND EAT OF MY VENISON. Okhlah (eat) (Okhlah (eat) is an elongated imperative. The usual form is ekhol. Thus okhlah is similar to zokhrah which is also an elongated imperative.) is similar to zokhrah (remember) (The normal imperative for remember is zekhor.) in Remember (zokhrah) unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people (Neh. 5:19). The alef of okhlah is a root letter. (It is not the alef prefix of the first person imperfect. I.E. makes this point because in verse 25 the alef of okhelah is the alef prefix of the first person imperfect. See I.E.’s comment on verse 25 and the note to it.)
אנכי עשו בכרך. "I am Esau your firstborn." Jacob meant that seeing he had purchased the birthright from Esau, he was now the legal Esau. He added: עשיתי כאשר דברת אלי, "I have done in accordance with what you have said to me," meaning that the reason you told Esau to hunt game, etc., was because you assumed that he was your firstborn.
אנכי עשו בכורך, “it is I Esau, your firstborn.” When Yitzchak asked again: אתה זה בני עשו, “are you this son of mine Esau?” and Yaakov answers אני, “that is me,” we also have to understand the words in the same manner as here. There is no question that Yaakov spoke the truth on every occasion. This is what the prophet (Michah 7,20) emphasized when he said תתן אמת ליעקב, “You gave truth to Yaakov.” A further example of Yaakov speaking the truth when it does not appear this way at first glance, is when he said: “of all that You will give me, I will give a tenth to You as a tithe” (Genesis 28,22). He had twelve sons. When you add Ephrayim and Menashe who were Joseph’s sons of whom Yaakov said: “they shall be for me just like Reuven and Shimon,” (Genesis 48,5) this makes a total of fourteen. When you exclude from these the four firstborns (1 from each of his wives) that left ten sons who were Yaakov’s as opposed to being G’d’s. We have a rule that קדש, something already holy from birth or inception, is not subject to tithing. As a result of all this one of the ten sons had to become G’d’s, i.e. reserved for sacred rather than mundane tasks. This tribe was Levi. You observe that Yaakov’s words turned out to be true (though not recognised as true at the time they were uttered). Something similar is evident in our verse. When Yaakov said אנכי עשו, בכורך, he referred to the fact that he had acquired the birthright from Esau; he meant: “I am the one who replaces your firstborn Esau.” He knew that the only reason his father wanted to bestow the blessing on Esau was that Esau was the firstborn. He therefore hinted to his father Yitzchak that Esau had long ago ceased to be the firstborn (48 years ago) when he had sold his birthright to him. Yaakov was therefore entitled to receive the blessing his father wanted to bestow at this time. He considered himself Esau’s representative in the matter, and we know that legally speaking anyone who is the representative of the principal may act on behalf of that principal. If we needed proof of this, the best proof is that angels who are acting on behalf of G’d are accorded G’d’s name even, such as the angel in Exodus 3,1 who referred to himself as אני ה', “I am the Lord.” There are numerous such examples. One of the most pronounced such examples is found in Genesis 31,13 where the angel says to Yaakov: “I am the G’d of Beit El for whom you have anointed a monument (as an altar) where you have vowed to me, etc.” Clearly, the angel was speaking in the name of his Sender. [Surely, he did not mean to imply that Yaakov had built an altar in honour of an angel. Ed.] When Yaakov said אנכי עשו, בכורך, this was equivalent to his saying: “I am Esau,-to the extent that I am your firstborn.” Had he merely said: “I am Esau,” without adding the words “your firstborn,” this would have been a lie. The reason he added the words “your firstborn” was to draw attention to the fact that the blessing about to be dispensed was meant for the firstborn. When in response to Yitzchak’s question: אתה זה בני עשו, “are you indeed my son Esau, meaning “the one I am supposed to bless,” Yaakov answered: אני, this means: “I am the one.” Had he added the word Esau, he would have lied. By saying אני he merely meant that he was the one entitled to the blessing. As to Yaakov saying immediately afterwards עשיתי כאשר דברת אלי, “I have done as you instructed me,” how could this be truthful seeing that Yitzchak had not instructed him to do anything? We need to understand the word אלי as not meaning “to me,” but as “for my benefit.” Had Yitzchak not instructed Esau to bring him venison, Rivkah would not have overheard this and would not have ordered Yaakov to obtain the blessing (albeit by subterfuge). As to Yaakov’s asking his father: (verse 19) ואכלה מצידי, “in order to eat from my venison,” seeing he had not been hunting at all, how do we explain this without making a liar out of Yaakov? The word מצידי, means “from my food, i.e. from the food I have prepared for you.” We have a parallel example in Scripture of the word ציד meaning simply “food,” in Joshua 9,14 (where the Gibeonites tricking the Israelites are described) Samuel reports ויקחו האנשים מצידם, “the men (the leaders of the Israelites) took from their (the Gibeonites’) food supply,” (in order to check if indeed these people had come from afar) etc. קום נא שבה, “rise up please and sit.” Esau by contrast ordered his father to rise by saying: “may my father rise” (verse 32). He did not ask him to be seated. Bereshit Rabbah 65,18, addressing this difference between how the two sons spoke to their father, writes as follows: “seeing that Yaakov had addressed his father with sensitivity and respect G’d returned the compliment in a similar manner when Moses, Yaakov’s descendant used similar language when addressing G’d in Numbers 10,35 and 10,36 with the words קומה ה’ ויפוצו אויביך..... שובה ה’ רבבות אלפי ישראל, “Arise Hashem and let Your foes be scattered;....Reside tranquilly, Hashem, among the myriad thousands of Israel.” Esau, on the other hand, who had spoken in a gross and haughty manner to his father will be paid back (to his descendants) as we know from Psalms 68,2 יקום אלוקים יפוצו אויביו, “when Elokim arises, His enemies scatter.” [The meaning of this strange sounding comparison seems to be that whereas when G’d deals with the descendants of Esau He employs the attribute of Justice, when He does so at the behest of the Jewish people there will not be a negative fallout for those who implored Him to take vengeance on His enemies, seeing not only the expression קומה is used by Moses, but he referred only to the attribute of Mercy, Hashem, being involved. Ed.]
ויאמר...אנכי עשו בכרך, some people wonder how Yaakov, a righteous person, could say something like this, an outright lie in their opinion. Actually, the matter is not so strange seeing that Yaakov knew that he was entitled to the blessing more than his brother, and that the spirit of prophecy would come to rest on Yitzchok so that he would bless him instead. If, in a situation such as this, the tzaddik changes words so that they sound like a lie, this is in order and does not reflect on him negatively. Our example is Samuel I 16,2 where G’d tells the prophet Samuel to go and crown one of Yishai’s sons as the future king of Israel. In order to escape suspicion in case Sha-ul would challenge his trip to Chevron where Yishai lived, G’d told him to take with him a calf and to claim that he was taking it to Chevron to offer as a sacrifice. Besides, Yaakov was well aware that both his father and his grandfather had on occasion told lies about the marital status of their wives. No one ever accused either as having told lies, seeing there was an adequate reason for telling such a lie. Yaakov therefore was entitled to tell such a lie under the circumstances, and by representing himself as the one who was to get this blessing this did not turn him into a liar. Furthermore, in doing what he did he carried out his mother’s instructions. The Torah specifically orders איש אמו ואביו תיראו “you shall be in awe of your mother and father.” (Leviticus 19,3) Also, his mother was known to be a prophetess, so that her instructions could be trusted without reservations. Onkelos translates verse 13 עלי קללתך בני, to mean that what Rivkah said was “I have received a prophetic vision telling me that you will not be cursed.”
קום נא שבה, he told his father to get up and sit up as he had found him lying down.
ואכלה, an imperative mode with an added letter ה, the letter א having a chataf kametz, an abbreviated vowel kametz.
ואכלה מצידי, the letter א has a chataf kametz abbreviated kametz, underneath it as the word is in an imperative mode. We have a parallel mode in Kohelet 9,7 אכול בשמחה לחמך, “eat your food joyfully,” the letter א having an abbreviated vowel segol for the same reason. On the other hand, the word ואוכלה in ואוכלה מציד בני in verse 25 of this chapter has the vowel cholem, as it is in a future mode. Just as the word זכור in זכור ה' לדוד, ”O Lord, remember in David’s favour” is in an imperative mode, and the words זכרה לחסדי דוד, “remember the loyalty of Your servant David” in Chronicles II 6,42 are in an imperative mode, so the word אכלה here is also in the imperative mode.
אנכי עשו בכרך I AM ESAU THY FIRST-BORN — I am he that brings food to you, and Esau is your first-born.
עשיתי I HAVE DONE many things at different times כאשר דברת אלי ACCORDING AS THOU SPAKEST UNTO ME
שבה SIT — The word means to sit at the table and therefore it is translated in the Targum by אסתחר (from סחר to “go round” corresponding to the Hebrew סבב from which the term מֵסֵב to recline at, to sit round the table at a meal is derived).
I am the one who brings you, and Eisov is your first-born. Otherwise, Yaakov lied. You might object: He still lied, for Eisov had sold him the birthright. How could he say, “Eisov is your first-born”? The answer is: Yaakov bought only the rights, i.e., the sacrificial service entitled by the birthright, not the birthright itself. Eisov remained the first-born for the double inheritance. Another answer: Eisov was indeed the one born first [although he sold the accompanying rights].
Jacob said to his father: I am Esau your firstborn; I did as you spoke to me. Arise now, sit and eat from my game, so that your soul will bless me.
Words in the mouths of leaders and followers have a dark side in the Bible as well; littered across its pages are many words of deception and recrimination. We open Genesis with the snake lying to Eve, and Eve lying to Adam. Later, Jacob’s stilted conversation with his father when he dressed as his brother to steal the blessing pains the reader with its manipulation: “I am Esau, your first-born” (Gen. 27:19). Isaac did not immediately accept this self-identification: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau…. Are you really my son Esau?” (Gen. 27:22, 24). At this juncture, Jacob could have raised his hands in self-disgust and confessed. Instead he hammered the lie in deeper. “I am.” Still later in Genesis, Jacob tasted the impact of lies in bitter recriminations. Joseph’s brothers turned up at Jacob’s door with a coat dipped in animal blood, asking the not-so-innocent question: “We found this. Please examine it; is it your son’s tunic or not?” (Gen. 37:33). They knew exactly whose coat it was, but they let an object tell their lie; a gift of love came back to Jacob as a prop of deception. His sons wounded their father with words in stabbing convulsions of loss.
"And he also had made savory food...Let my father arise" (Beresheet 27:31). His speech was impertinent, rough, and impolite. Come and behold the difference between Jacob and Esau. Jacob talked to his father humbly, with humility. It is written, "And he came to his father, and said, My father" (Ibid. 18). The difference between the language of Esau and Jacob is that Jacob did not want to frighten him. Thus, he spoke humbly, saying "arise, I pray you, sit and eat of my venison." Esau, however, said "Let my father arise," as if he was not speaking to him.
Rabbi Yitzchak said, Is it becoming for Jacob, who was holy, to say that he was defiled by Laban and his magic? Could it possibly be considered a credit to him to say, "I have sojourned with Laban?" Despite what Rabbi Yehuda said, that everything follows its own kind, Rabbi Yosi gave another explanation for the difficulty in that verse. It is written, "I am Esau your firstborn" (Beresheet 27:19). Here, we should ask, is it becoming to a righteous man such as Jacob to change his name to that of an impure one? The explanation is that under the "I," there is a tonal pause. Below the "I" is written the (tone) Pashta, whereas below "Esau, your firstborn," is found the (tone) Zakef Katon, whose tone separates the word "I" from "Esau your firstborn." What he actually said was "I am who I am, though Esau is your firstborn," as has already been explained.
[5] Another interpretation: And God saw who was hated, in the presence of her husband, when he rebuked her. When was this? As it is said, "And Jacob served Rachel for seven years" (Genesis 29:18). This is what his mother Rebekah told him, "And you shall dwell with him for a few days" (Genesis 27:44). And Jacob loved Rachel (Genesis 29:18). And Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife" (Genesis 29:21), and it was in the evening, and all night he lay with her, thinking that she was Rachel. When he woke up in the morning, he saw that it was Leah. He said to her, "Why have you deceived me?" She replied, "Didn't you deceive your father when he asked you, 'Are you my son Esau?' and you said, 'I am' (Genesis 27:19)? And when he blessed you, you said, 'Why have you deceived me?' But your father didn't say, 'Your brother Esau came with deceit and took your blessing' (Genesis 27:35)." Because of these things, which rebuked him, he began to hate her. God said, "Her only cure is to have children. I will give her children, and her husband will be humbled before her." Therefore, God saw that Leah was hated (Genesis 29:31). "He opens the womb" (Genesis 29:31). David mocks and says, "He executes justice for the oppressed; He gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free" (Psalms 146:7).
“He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, Balak leads me, the king of Moav from the highlands of the east; Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” (Numbers 23:7). “He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, [Balak] leads me [yanḥeni]” – he began and said: ‘I was of the exalted [haramim], but Balak took me down to the pit of perdition.’ Yanḥeni, just as it says: “Wail [neheh] for the multitude of Egypt, and cast it down…[with those who descend into the pit]” (Ezekiel 32:18). Another matter, “from Aram” – with the exalted [im ram], I was exalted, but Balak caused me to descend from my prominence. This is analogous to one who accompanies a king. He saw a robber, forsook the king, and walked with the robber. When he returned to the king, the king said to him: 'Go with the one with whom you walked, as it is not possible for you to accompany me.' So, Bilam had been attached to the Divine Spirit, and returned to be a sorcerer, as he had been initially, as it is stated: “Bilam son of Beor the sorcerer” (Joshua 13:22). That is why he screamed: ‘I was exalted and Balak took me down.’ Another matter, “from Aram, [Balak] leads me” – he said to him: 'We are both equal in our being ingrates. Had it not been for Abraham their patriarch, there would be no Balak, as it is stated: “It was when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and He sent Lot” (Genesis 19:29). Had it not been for Abraham, Lot would not have escaped Sodom, and you are from the descendants of Lot. Had it not been for Jacob their patriarch, I would not be in the world, as Lavan had sons only due to the merit of Jacob.' Initially, it is written: “Rachel came with the flock” (Genesis 29:9). If he had sons, how is his daughter herding? When Jacob went there, he was granted sons, as it is stated: “Jacob heard the statement of Laban’s sons” (Genesis 31:1). Likewise he [Laban] said to him [Jacob]: “I have divined, and the Lord has blessed me on your account” (Genesis 30:27). “Go, curse [Jacob] for me” – one who curses, curses himself, (The Hebrew phrase “ara li” which is translated "curse for me" can also be read to mean "curse me" (Matnot Kehuna).) as, so it is written: “And he who curses you, I will curse” (Genesis 12:3), and it says: “Cursed be those who curse you” (Genesis 27:29). “Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” – had he asked me to curse another nation, e.g., the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, I would have been able. (This is because Abraham and Isaac had descendants not only from Israel, but from Ishmael and Esau.) But Jacob, a king who selects a portion for himself and another stands and disparages it, will he live? These are His lot, His inheritance, His treasured possession, as it is stated: “For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is stated: “You will be My treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5). “And go, censure Israel” – this is analogous to a king who took a crown and placed it on his head, and a person said ‘That, it is nothing,’ will he live? These, it is written in their regard: “Israel, in whom I glory [etpa’ar]” (Isaiah 49:3). (Pe’arim is a term meaning hats or crowns, (see Isaiah 3:20).) “How will I curse whom God has not cursed? How will I censure whom the Lord has not censured?” (Numbers 23:8). “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they were deserving of being cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob entered to take the blessings, he entered deceitfully, as it is stated: “And the hides of the kids of the goats, [she placed on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck]” (Genesis 27:16). His father said: “Who are you?” (Genesis 27:18). He said to him: “I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19). One who expresses falsehood from his mouth, is he not deserving of being cursed? Moreover, he was blessed, as it is written: “Indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). How then will I curse whom God has not cursed? Another matter, “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” The way of the world is that a legion that rebelled against the king incurs liability for death. These denied Him and rebelled, and said: “This is your god, Israel” (Exodus 32:4). (Referring to the Golden Calf.) Should He not have eliminated them? But even at that moment, He did not move from love for them. He accompanied them with clouds of glory, and the manna and the spring did not stop for them. Likewise it says: “When they crafted themselves a cast figure of a calf…but You in Your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not withdraw from over them by day…You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:18–20). How, then, can I curse them? “How will I curse whom God has not cursed”? When He commanded them regarding the blessings and the curses, regarding the blessings, He mentioned them, as it is stated: “These shall stand to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12). But, regarding the curses, He did not curse them directly, as He says: “These will stand for the curse on Mount Eival” (Deuteronomy 27:13). When they sin, and He says to bring a curse upon them, He does not write that He will bring it [directly], but in the blessings, He, Himself, blesses them [directly], as it is stated: “The Lord your God will place you supreme…” (Deuteronomy 28:1); “the Lord will command for you the blessing” (Deuteronomy 28:8). But regarding the curses, He would not curse them directly, as it says: “It shall be that if you do not heed [the voice of the Lord your God…] all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15); on their own. That is, “how will I curse whom God has not cursed?” “For from the top of precipices I will see it, and from hills I behold it; behold, it is a people that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). “For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. (He intended to curse the "tops of precipices" but in the end, blessed them. The "tops of the precipices" refers to the patriarchs (as mentioned in the continuation of the midrash), who are the roots of the tribes.) To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.” Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs. “Behold, it is a people that will dwell alone” – and when He causes them joy, He causes them joy by themselves, as it is stated: “The Lord will guide them alone” (Deuteronomy 32:12). When the nations in this world rejoice, they (Israel.) eat with each and every kingdom, but it does not cost them from their portion, as it is stated: “and will not be reckoned among the nations.” “Who has counted the dust of Jacob, or tallied one quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his” (Numbers 23:10). “Who has counted the dust of Jacob” – who can enumerate the mitzvot that they perform regarding dust? “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10); “you shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9); “A pure man shall gather the ashes of the heifer” (Numbers 19:9); (See Numbers 19:17, where the word used in Hebrew for dust (afar) is also used for ashes.) “the priest shall take from the dirt that is on the floor of the Tabernacle” (Numbers 5:17); “three years shall it be as forbidden unto you” (Leviticus 19:23), and likewise regarding all of them. “Or tallied one quarter [rova] of Israel” – their procreation [reviit]. Who can count the population that emerged from those who snatch and love the mitzvot? “She said to her: Is the taking of my husband insignificant…[Rachel said: Therefore, he will lie with you tonight]” (Genesis 30:15); “Here is my maidservant Bilha, consort with her” (Genesis 30:3); “Leah saw that she had ceased bearing; [she took Zilpa her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife]” (Genesis 30:9); “Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar… [and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife]” (Genesis 16:3). “Let me die the death of the upright” – this is analogous to a butcher who comes to slaughter a king’s cow. (He was doing so to harm the king, at the behest of his enemies.) The king began to look. Once he sensed that the king was looking, he began casting the knife aside, petting it, and filling the trough before it. He began to say: ‘May my soul depart, (The phrase "my soul departs" means "I sympathize with myself," that instead of doing one thing, I had to do the opposite.) as I came to slaughter it, but I left it alone.’ So, Bilam said: ‘May my soul depart, as I came to curse, but I will bless.’ “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak, and he built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar” (Numbers 23:14). “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak” – it is a peak where there are breaches, as it is stated: “Ascend to the top of the peak” (Deuteronomy 3:27). (In that place, something negative will happen to Israel and "breach" their security.) Is there a breach greater than that that he saw through divination, and he believed that there they would be eliminated.
“He came to his father, and said: My father, and he said: Here I am; who are you, my son?” (Genesis 27:18). “Jacob said to his father: I am Esau your firstborn; I did as you spoke to me. Arise please, sit and eat from my game, so that your soul will bless me” (Genesis 27:19). “He came to his father, and said…I am Esau your firstborn” – Rabbi Levi said: I am destined to receive the Ten Commandments, but Esau is your firstborn. “Arise please, sit” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Jacob: ‘You said: “Arise please, sit.” (Jacob asked his father politely to sit up.) As you live, I will repay you,’ as it is stated: “Arise Lord, and may Your enemies be dispersed” (Numbers 10:35). “Some are swept away without justice” (Proverbs 13:23) – this is Esau. (Who was punished for his speech and not for his action.) The Holy One blessed be He said to Esau: ‘You said: “let my father arise” (Genesis 27:31) – like an idolic talisman which you stand up? (Esau gave a command to his father to get up, which is considered rude behavior.) As you live, with that same expression, I will exact retribution against you’: “May God arise and His enemies scatter” (Psalms 68:2).
(Gen. 27:6, 8, & 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get < the venison >, he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 & 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: < I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN >…. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 &. 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN…. (It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18.) PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: < HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK > … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him: (Cf. Gen. R. 65:19.) When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused < a sacrificial animal > to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES < TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM >…. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. (Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal.) Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob; (Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said: (yTa‘an. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21.) In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor (Lat.: Caesar.) Hadrian, < who > [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther. (This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1968.) R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out < over > what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. < She was hated >, not because she was abhorrent to her husband, but because she had scolded him when Jacob had worked seven years for Rachel. Now his mother had said to him (in Gen. 27:44): AND YOU ARE TO STAY WITH HIM (Laban) FOR A WHILE, and he had stayed seven years. (Gen. 29:21, 23:) THEN JACOB SAID UNTO LABAN: GIVE ME MY WIFE…. AND, WHEN IT WAS EVENING, HE TOOK HIS DAUGHTER LEAH < AND BROUGHT HER TO HIM >. ALL NIGHT SHE PRETENDED TO BE RACHEL. When he arose in the morning (according to Gen. 29:25), THERE WAS LEAH. He said to her: Daughter of a swindler, why did you trick me? She said to him: < What about > you! Why did you trick your father? When he said to you: Is this my son Esau, you said to him (in Gen. 27:19): I AM ESAU YOUR FIRST-BORN. Now you are saying: Why have you tricked me? And did your father not say < to Esau > (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT? So because of these things with which she scolded him, he began to hate her. The Holy One said: There is no cure for this but sons. Then her husband will desire her. Thus (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED, HE OPENED HER WOMB. David also gives praise (in Ps. 146:7): THE ONE WHO EXECUTES JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED. (Gen. R. 71:2.)
How did he do that? When Esau caught a deer, he would tether it and then set out to catch another deer. In the meantime Satan would release the deer that had been caught and permit it to escape. When Esau returned, he was unable to find the deer. He repeated this a second and a third time. And thus it says: A slothful man shall not catch his prey (Prov. 12:27). He was forced to roam about for hours while Jacob received the blessings. Hence, Scripture states: And Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. When the wicked Esau entered, he called out to his father impudently: Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison (Gen. 27:31). It is of him that Scripture states: When the wicked cometh, there cometh also contempt (Prov. 18:3). The words Let my father arise sound as though he were issuing a decree. Jacob did not speak like that. He spoke gently, saying: Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison (Gen. 27:19).
Now (Jacob) was skilled in the Torah, and his heart dreaded the curse of his father. His mother said to him: My son ! If it be a blessing, may it be upon thee and upon thy seed; if it be a curse, let it be upon me and upon my soul, as it is said, "And his mother said to him, Upon me be thy curse, my son" (Gen. 27:13). He went and brought two kids of the goats. Were two kids of the goats the food for Isaac? But he brought one as a Paschal offering, and with the other he prepared the savoury meat to eat; and he brought it to his father, and he said to him: "Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison" (Gen. 27:19). Isaac said: "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (Gen. 27:22). Jacob (declares) the unity of God. "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.) in the meditation of the Torah. "And the hands are the hands of Esau" (ibid.), in all shedding of blood and in every evil death. Not only this, but also when they proclaim in heaven, "The voice is the voice of Jacob," the heavens tremble. And when they proclaim on earth, "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.), every one who hears will make his portion with "The voice which is the voice of Jacob." And every one || who does not hear and does not act (obediently), his portion is with "The hands, which are the hands of Esau."
The ground will be cursed for your sake (beavurkha): The literal meaning of every, "for the sake of (beavur)," is for his good, so that it be like this. And it is like in, "for the sake of your blessing me" (Genesis 27:19). And here too, its literal meaning is, for your good. For after the love of God left you, the best thing before you is that the ground be cursed, and you come to, "with toil you shall eat from it" - with labor and with much work.
Abraham the author says: I must dwell at length (I.E. criticizes the Genonim for their lengthy comments. See I.E.’s introduction to his commentary on the Pentateuch, p. 1. Hence his apology.) on the incident of the golden calf. Some of the ancients said that Hur (The Talmud claims that he was the son of Miriam. See next note.) was killed. (For resisting the making of the golden calf. See Shemot Rabba 41:10; Va-Yikra Rabba 10:3; San. 7a; and Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer 45.) Aaron thus was afraid. (Aaron feared that the people might kill him if he did not accede to their wishes.) There is an opinion (I.E. does not identify this source.) that Aaron feared for Israel, (This commentator refuses to believe that Aaron acted out of fear for his own life.) that if they killed him God in return would destroy all of Israel. (For killing Aaron.) Let us now turn to the plain meaning of the text. If the making of the golden calf entailed idolatry, why was Aaron afraid that he would be killed? (Like Hur.) Did not many pious Israelites of later generations, whose level of piety did not even reach to the bottom of the sole of Aaron’s foot, die for the sake of the unity of God’s name? Look! Daniel’s companions were thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow before an image. (See Dan. 3.) How then could Aaron make an idol, which is worse than bowing down to it? Was not Aaron one of God’s holy people? Was he not a prophet to Israel? Many commandments were given by him and his brother Moses. (Aaron was more than an ordinary prophet. See I.E. on Ex. 7:7 and on Gen. 27:19 and the notes thereto.) If Aaron was afraid to die (Rather than make an idol.) then Hur was superior to him. If Aaron made an idol then Moses was obligated to kill him before he killed those who worshipped the calf. However, Moses prayed for Aaron and killed the worshippers. How could Aaron and his seed later on, for all eternity, make atonement for the children of Israel? (If Aaron made an idol.) Do not pay attention to Take thee a bull-calf (Hebrew, egel.) for a sin-offering (Lev. 9:2), for the bull-calf was not brought because Aaron made the golden calf. On the Day of Atonement all anointed priests (High priests.) are similarly commanded to bring a young bullock for a sin offering. (See Lev. 16:32.) We cannot say that the bullock was brought because of their father’s sin, (All priest are descended from Aaron.) because all the priests were descended from Eleazar and Ithamar. (The sons of Aaron. These two sons had already been born when Aaron made the golden calf. They did not participate in the making or the worship of the golden calf. There is thus no reason why their descendants should have to bring a young bullock annually to atone for their ancestor’s making of the golden calf.) Phinehas (The son of Eleazar. Phinehas was the ancestor of high priests from the family of Zadok.) was also already born by the time the golden calf was made. (Hence there was no reason for his descendants to atone for the sin of the golden calf.) Furthermore, the portion dealing with the laws of the Day of Atonement commands Israel to bring a he-goat for a sin offering. (Lev. 9:3.) Now Israel did not make an image in the form of a he-goat. (If the young bullock brought as a sin offering by the high priest on the Day of Atonement is interpreted as an atonement for the sin of making the golden calf, then a similar reason should be offered for the he-goat brought by the congregation on the Day of Atonement. However, Israel made a calf, not a he-goat. We thus see that Israel’s sin offering was not to atone for the sin of the golden calf. The same must be true of the offering brought by the high priest.) The red heifer (Num. 19.) similarly was not brought to atone for idolatry. (That is, to atone for the sin of the golden calf. This is the opinion of Rabbi Moshe Ha-Darshan. See Rashi on Num. 19:2.) It was brought to purify the unclean. All philosophers admit that God will not choose a person whom He knows will ultimately worship idols to serve as His messenger. (To serve as His messenger to reveal commandments. Aaron served as such a messenger. See I.E. on Ex. 7:7.) Not every prophet is a messenger. (That is, a messenger who reveals God’s commandments to Israel. Only Moses and Aaron served as such. See I.E. 27:19. I.E. comments thus because Jewish tradition considers Solomon and David as prophets. Yet David and Solomon sinned. Hence I.E. differentiates between a mere prophet and a prophet who is sent to reveal commandments.) Now Scripture tells us that shortly before Moses died, he said, Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one (Deut. 33:8). (The verse continues, Whom Thou didst prove at Massah, With whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah. I.E. believes that the verse refers to Aaron. He interprets the first part of the verse as meaning, Aaron is fit to wear the Thummim and Urim because of his piety. He interprets the second part of the verse as meaning that the only stain on Aaron’s piety was the incident at the waters of Meribah. See I.E. on Deut. 33:8.) However, he did not mention the incident of the calf. (In Deut. 33:8.) The only sin found in Aaron was the sin found in Moses, which was the incident of the waters of Meribah, (For the incident at the waters of Meribah, see Num. 20:1-12.) which I will explain in its place. (Deut. 33:8.) Some say that Israel fooled Aaron. Israel made a mold of a calf. Aaron was unaware of this and cast the gold into the fire. They offer as proof, I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf (Deut. 32:24). However, this is incorrect, for if Aaron was a fool whom simpletons could deceive, why would God have chosen him? Furthermore, why did Aaron build an altar before the calf and command that Israel slaughter sacrifices and burnt offerings upon it? (If Aaron was tricked, he would have been shocked upon seeing the calf. He would not have commanded that an altar be built before the calf and burnt offerings be offered upon it.) Others say that the individual named Aaron who made the calf was not Aaron the brother of Moses. This too is nonsense, for the congregation that gathered, (That is, the congregation that gathered against Aaron and demanded that he make a god for them.) only gathered against the one who stood in place of Moses. Scripture clearly states, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you (Ex. 24:14). (Moses appointed Aaron in his place till he returned.) If the one who made the calf was someone else named Aaron, why didn’t Aaron kill him? Why didn’t Moses kill him when he came down from the mountain? Moses even prayed on his behalf. (Not only did Moses not kill the individual called Aaron, he prayed on his behalf.) It is not fitting for a pious man to make an idol for others so that they do not die. (The opinion that Aaron made the calf because he was afraid that Israel would kill him if he refused and that God in return would destroy Israel is also wrong. For it is not fitting that a pious man make an idol for others so that they do not die. Ibn Ezra here rejects the earlier quoted opinion that Aaron made the calf because he was afraid that God would destroy Israel if they killed Aaron. It should be noted that I.E. occasionally leaves out the first part of a clause. He expects the reader to fill it in.) There are also many who say that the meaning of Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (Ex. 32:5) is that those who served the calf would be killed by Moses. (This interpretation maintains that a feast (chag) to the Lord refers to the slaughter of the worshippers of the golden calf.) But the meaning of Tomorrow shall be a feast (chag) to the Lord can only mean that after Aaron built the altar before the calf, he commanded that an announcement be made in the camp that they should slaughter sacrifices the next day on the altar which he built. The meaning of chag (feast) is a sacrifice, as in bind the offering with thick ropes (Ps. 118:27). (Translated according to I.E.) This is what Israel did, for we read, and they arose early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings (Ex. 31:6). Thoughts are of no avail, (One should not maintain that while most people understood Tomorrow shall be a feast (chag) to the Lord to mean they would offer sacrifices on the next day, Aaron’s private meaning was: Tomorrow worshippers of the golden calf will be slaughtered.) for one who curses God is killed for what he said. (He cannot claim that his intention was not to curse God.) The case is the same with a person who says, Let us go and serve other gods (Deut. 13:7). (He is killed for what he said. He cannot claim that he didn’t mean what he said.) The one who explains I am Esau thy first-born (Gen. 27:19) as meaning, I am what I am, but Esau is your first-born, is not offering the plain meaning of the text. Neither is he explaining the text in accordance with the rules of rhetoric. (See I.E. on Gen. 27:13 (Vol. 1, p. 262) and the notes thereto.) If a person asks his neighbor in a law court, “Are you the one to whom I lent the following sum of money?” and his neighbor responds, “I am,” he cannot later say, “What I meant was, I am his neighbor.” The same also applies to what Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: My lord, the dream (Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which signified that he would live as a beast for seven years.) be to them that hate thee (Dan. 4:16). (According to the Talmud what Daniel meant was: God (My lord), the dream be upon Nebuchadnezzar (the dream be to them that hate thee). See Shavuot 35b.) Daniel spoke according to the rules of etiquette. (According to I.E. the term my lord does not refer to God but to Nebuchadnezzar, for Daniel was addressing the king, and the rules of etiquette required that he say, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee. Hence one cannot take his words out of context and interpret it the way the Talmud does.) I will now cite for you the opinion of the Gaon. Rabbi Saadiah said that Aaron, like Jehu, acted with guile. (King Jehu proclaimed a festival for Baal. His intention was not to serve Baal but to trick the worshippers of Baal to come to Baal’s temple, where Jehu would kill them. See II Kings 10:18-28. Aaron similarly wanted to identify those Israelites who wanted to worship the calf.) Hence Aaron built the altar. (Hence Aaron built the altar before the golden calf.) Saadiah Gaon raised the following question against his own interpretation: “If Aaron acted with guile, then why was God angry with him?” The Gaon answered that God was angry with Aaron because he did not immediately kill those who worshipped the calf, as Moses did when he arrived. However, this too is incorrect, for Aaron called out, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (YHVH) (32:5). Aaron employed the name YHVH. This name is a proper noun in honor of the Lord. It is not used for any other being. (If Aaron intended to trap the idol worshippers he would not have said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord (YHVH), for this is a call to worship YHVH and only YHVH.) It is not like the name Elohim (God), which is used in many different ways. Furthermore, why didn’t Aaron mention this when he responded to Moses? (Moses asked Aaron: What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them? (Ex. 32:21).) For Aaron said, I cast it into the fire (Ex. 32:24). Aaron’s answer is not in keeping with the question. (Aaron’s answer does not answer Moses’ question.) I will now begin to briefly explain part of the secret. (That is, the true meaning of the account of the making of the golden calf.) Far be it, far be it for Aaron to make an idol. Israel also did not ask for an idol. What happened was that Israel thought that Moses, who, as I have explained, had led them on their journey from the Red Sea, had died, (I.E. believes that Moses, rather than the pillar of fire, led Israel from the Red Sea to the wilderness of Sinai. See I.E. on Ex. 15:22.) for Israel noticed that the manna did not come down at Mount Sinai. Furthermore, Moses tarried on the mountain for forty days. A human being does not have the stamina to live that long without food. Also, Moses did not tell them when he would descend. (If Moses had told them that he would be on the mount for forty days, they would not have assumed that he died there.) Moses himself did not know this, for God told him, “Come up to Me onto the mount and be there until I give you the tablets of stone.” (I.E.’s paraphrase of Ex. 24:12.) The word elohim (god) refers to a glorious being dwelling in an image of a body. (In other words, Israel did not ask Aaron to make an idol. They requested that he make an image which had the power to lead them. Thus aseh lanu elohim (Ex. 32:1) does not mean: make us a god. It means: make us an image which will be inhabited by a heavenly power.) Israel said as follows: who shall go before us (Ex. 32:l). (Israel said: Up, make us a god (elohim) who shall go before us (Ex. 32:1). We thus see that they sought an elohim who would lead them.) If you pay attention to Israel’s first journey (Israel’s first journey from Egypt.) you will understand this. (Scripture tells us that when Israel left Egypt, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire (Ex. 13:21). After Egypt drowned in the Red Sea, Moses led Israel. See note 158. Now that Moses was dead, Israel sought a substitute for Moses. See I.E.’s short commentary: “They only sought someone to go before them to find them a resting place.”) The calf was thus made for the glory of God. (God’s spirit was to rest on the calf and lead them in the same way that it rested in the pillars of fire and cloud. See I.E. on Ex. 13:21.) Hence Aaron built an altar before the calf and announced that they should offer sacrifices on the morrow for the glory of God. (His spirit would rest on the calf.) Israel did as Aaron commanded them. Aaron’s answer was (Aaron did not actually say this. I.E.’s point is that Ex. 32:1 can be quoted in Aaron’s defense.) that the people gathered themselves upon him (Ex. 32:l). (The point is that Aaron did not make the calf on his own. The people gathered upon him and demanded that he make an elohim to lead them.) I have already noted that whenever the verb kahal (gathered) is followed by the word al (upon) it has a negative connotation. (Ex. 32:1.) However, if it is followed by the word el (to), as in And all the men of Israel assembled themselves (va-yikkhal) unto (el) king Solomon (I Kings 8:2), then it has a positive connotation. This is the meaning of thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil (Ex. 32:22). The meaning of the verse is: I did not do evil to them. For they merely asked for a being that would go before them. (I.E.’s interpretation of Make us a god, which shall go before us (Ex. 32:23).) I made the calf for the glory of God. (I.E.’s interpretation of and I cast it into the fire and there came out this calf (Ex. 24:24).) However, [the calf became an object of worship] because there was a mixed multitude among Israel. This what Aaron meant by ve-ra hu (they are set on evil). (According to I.E. ve-ra hu means there is evil in him; that is, some of the people are evil (Weiser).) Aaron did not say ra hu (they are evil). A small group of Israelites thought that the calf was an idol. They brought sacrifices and bowed to the calf and said, This is thy god, O Israel (Ex. 32:4). Do not be amazed that Scripture states, for thy people (Thy people implies that all the people sinned.) …have dealt corruptly; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them (Ex. 32:7,8), for Scripture does not say all thy people. (Thus only some of them sinned.) Can you not see that Achan alone violated the ban (The prohibition against taking any loot from Jericho for personal use. See Josh. 6:17.) and yet Scripture states, Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed My covenant…and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have even put it among their own stuff (Josh. 7:11). Now, only three thousand Israelites, (The Bible tells us that the Levites executed 3,000 Israelites for worshipping the calf (Ex. 32:28).) which comes to a half of a tenth of a tenth of the Israelite camp, (That is, one half of a percent, for 3,000 is half of a percent of 600,000. In other words, only one half of a percent of the Israelite camp actually worshipped the golden calf as a god.) worshipped the golden calf as a god, (See Ex. 32:26-29.) that is, said, This is thy god, O Israel (Ex. 32:4), or thought so in their hearts. The sum of the matter is that we would not be acting properly if we maintain that the calf was made to serve as an idol as the simple-minded believe. Do not be surprised that God was furious with Aaron, because he was (He was inadvertently the cause of their sin.) the cause of their sin. For look, Aaron was punished along with his brother Moses concerning the incident at the waters of Meribah. (See Num. 20:1-13.) However, Moses and Aaron did not deliberately sin. (Scripture charges Moses and Aaron with disbelief, rebellion, etc., even though they did not deliberately sin against God.) Nevertheless, Scripture states regarding them, Because ye believed not in Me (Num. 20:12); ye rebelled (Num. 27:14), and ye trespassed against Me (Deut. 33:51). The astrologers say that the great conjunction of the two upper bodies (Meijler believes that the reference is to the sun and the moon. Weiser believes that I.E. refers to Saturn and Jupiter.) was in the constellation of Taurus. (They believed that the calf was supposed to draw its supernatural power from Taurus.) This is a lie. The conjunction took place in Aquarius. According to the science of astrology this (Aquarius.) is Israel’s constellation. Many have tested this secret, generation after generation. (They have found that Israel’s luck improves when the above heavenly bodies are propitiously aligned in Aquarius.) I too have seen this to be the case. Look! They placed it at the midpoint of the sky. (They made the calf at the time when the sun was at the midpoint of the sky beneath Aquarius (Meijler). Or they made the calf when Aquarius was at the mid-point of the sky (Weiser). Either way, I.E.’s point is that they made the calf when Aquarius was in the most favorable position.)
My argument is that we can only understand the passage against the entire background of Jacob’s life. Jacob was born holding onto Esau’s heel. He bought Esau’s birthright. He stole Esau’s blessing. When his blind father asked him who he was, he replied, “I am Esau your firstborn” (Gen. 27:19). Jacob was the child who wanted to be Esau.
In connection with the Levites you encounter the wording 'על פי ה’, an expression you do not encounter in connection with covenantal instructions issued to the Israelites (non-Levites). Our sages in Gittin 60 have said that “G’d only concluded a covenant with the Jewish people for the sake of the oral Torah.” When you open the “eyes” of your heart and look carefully you will observe that the heritage allocated to the priests is associated with G’d’s attribute אני, i.e. אני חלקך ונחלתך, “I am your share and your heritage among the Children of Israel” in verse 20 of our chapter. In this instance the word אני undoubtedly describes the attribute of Mercy. Other examples of where the wordאני clearly describes G’d in His capacity as the attribute of Mercy are found in Exodus 6,5: וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל, “and I have also heard the groaning of the Children of Israel, etc.” The share of the Levites is the tithe which in itself is an allusion to the עשירית, the tenth emanation. This is why the Torah phrases this as ולבני לוי הנה נתתי כל מעשר בישראל לנחלה, “and as to the members of the tribe of Levi: “here I have given every tithe in Israel as a heritage, etc.” You will find that Yaakov treated his son Levi as the tenth amongst his sons (compare what the author wrote on page 418 our translation in connection with Genesis 27,19). Yaakov took the vow to tithe everything G’d would give him so seriously that he even tithed his children. When a shepherd wants to tithe every tenth of his flock as prescribed by the Torah, he first leads all the sheep into the fold and then counts them individually, one by one. The last one in then becomes the first one out. Similarly, when Yaakov, a shepherd set out to tithe one of his children he first brought them into the fold commencing with his eldest Reuven and concluding with his youngest Binyamin. When he counted them subsequently, commencing this time with Binyamin, Levi was the tenth and therefore became sanctified.
At other times, however, new school writers will ignore the assumptions of academia. Classic ethical assumptions have, appropriately, not disappeared. Most of the new school writers still find Ya’akov’s statement (Bereshit 27:19), “I am Esav your firstborn,” problematic. Yet adhering to these types of assumptions undermines the universality of their work, since academics need not accept Ya’akov’s deception as a problem for Ya’akov or for anyone else living at that time. Hence, the price paid for what is ultimately a hybrid approach is far from negligible. In an attempt to bridge worlds, there comes the risk of pleasing no one.
Bahya asks here: Did Jacob lie? Isaac did not order Jacob. The explanation is that Jacob said: as you said for my sake. That is, as you said that food should be brought to you. Rebecca heard this and told me to bring it. (Bahya, Genesis, 27:19.)
Yaakov said to his father, It is I, Eisov your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Rise, if you please [now], sit up [recline] and eat of my trapping so that your soul will bless me.
And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou spakest with me. Arise now, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִצְחָק֙ אֶל־בְּנ֔וֹ מַה־זֶּ֛ה מִהַ֥רְתָּ לִמְצֹ֖א בְּנִ֑י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר כִּ֥י הִקְרָ֛ה יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְפָנָֽי׃ | 20 J | Isaac said to his son, “How did you succeed so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because your God יהוה granted me good fortune.” |
כי הקרה ה' אלוקיך לפני, “because the Lord your G–d has so arranged it for my benefit on this day.” Esau used the same phraseology that Eliezer had used when on his way to find a wife for Yitzchok (Genesis 24,12) The ram which was entangled by its horns in Genesis 22,3 was also something that G–d had made happen just for that occasion, so that Avraham would not feel that he had come all the way without G–d accepting an offering from him. The root קרה occurs only in connection with things which occurred without visible preparation for use at a certain moment. (B’reshit Rabbah, 65,19) According to the Midrash there, the moment the person before him used the tetragram when referring to G–d, Yitzchok knew that that person could not be Esau.
How is it that you found it so quickly. Yitzchok had intentionally given Eisov an arduous assignment to increase his merit. Hashem … brought it about for me. I myself did not expect to find the prey so close by. Your God. This was a sign the animal was sent for this purpose in your merit.
ויאמר יצחק, because of the sound of Yaakov’s voice his mind had been alerted so that he began to examine the person standing before him more closely. The fact that so little time had elapsed since he instructed Esau to go hunting made him suspicious that it might not be Esau standing there.
כי הקרה ה' אלוקיך, “your merit has assisted me to accomplish my mission so quickly, seeing that what I did was for your sake.”
Since Jacob did not go out hunting but simply took goat kids from the goat shed, he arrived sooner than his father had anticipated. Therefore, Isaac said to his son: How is it that you hastened so to find it, my son? According to my calculation, the hunt and the preparation of the dish should have taken longer. He, Jacob, said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it, the outcome, so that the game appeared before me without delay.
“He said, because the Lord your God granted me good fortune” [27:20]. Isaac asked Jacob. Why have you come back so quickly from the field? He said: the Holy One prepared it for me as soon as I came. In these words Isaac noticed something, that this couldn’t be Esau, because he mentioned the name of God. Esau never mentioned the name of the Holy One. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:21.) One asks a question. Isaac considered Esau to be righteous, so what kind of novelty is it that he mentioned the name of God all the time? A righteous person would always mention the name of the Holy One. The explanation is that Isaac considered Esau to be righteous. Since he often went into the field and in unclean places, he became unaccustomed to think about the name of the Holy One all the time, even at home. Therefore, Isaac thought that because he said, “because the Lord your God granted me good fortune” [27:20]. This means, the Holy One caught it for me. This must certainly be Jacob, since Jacob does not go to unclean places and he must certainly remember the name of the Holy One. (Devek Tov, Genesis, 27:25, note 5.)
They are: 1) Favourable external conditions, commonly called mazzal) Expertise by those engaged in the project. 3) Command of the theory underlying the project. 4) Divine assistance in overcoming human inadequacy. 5) Outstanding moral and intellectual stature, which freely translated means "Divine inspiration." Since Moses possessed all these qualities, even if he was deemed to have erected the tabernacle, "the tabernacle was erected by itself," i.e. no human effort by itself would have sufficed, not even that of Moses.
It is my understanding, furthermore, that when Isaac blessed Jacob, he did so not being entirely sure whether it was Jacob or Esau he was blessing. We find several expressions of reservation in this regard: first, (Genesis 27:20): "How come you have found it so quickly, my son?" Again (Ibid 21): "Come close, and let me feel you, my son." And yet a third time (Ibid 22): "The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are those of Esau." Now there is no doubt that a voice is a more trustworthy sign than hands. From all of this it is apparent that it was not clear to Isaac for a certainty that this was Esau standing before him — in spite of which doubt he blessed him, acquiescing in either possibility [that it be Esau or Jacob]. For there is no doubt that Isaac loved Jacob and desired any blessing for him which would not result in harm to Esau. Accordingly, he resolved that this blessing be for the one standing between his knees. And even if it were Jacob this would cause no harm to Esau, for it would be impossible for Jacob to receive by virtue of his blessing something that was objectionable to Isaac and contrary to his intent. For this reason he assumed that if it were Jacob, the Blessed One would not place in his mouth anything injurious to Esau; and if Jacob would be blessed in something which would not result in harm to Esau, this would be perfectly agreeable to him, for Jacob, too, had issued from his loins. In sum, all that he desired was that his blessing be productive of good, even if Jacob were its object. And being inclined to believe that it was, in fact, Esau (though this had not been conclusively established), he did not hesitate to bless him. And the Blessed One, loving Jacob, placed in Isaac's mouth when he blessed him, all the good destined for Jacob, whether by virtue of Isaac's blessing itself or by virtue of what had already been ordained for him in respect to dominion (and Isaac would never have presumed to request dominion for Esau).
“Isaac said to his son: How is it that you were so quick to find it, my son? And he said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me” (Genesis 27:20). “Isaac said to Jacob: Please approach, that I may feel you, my son, are you my son Esau or not?” (Genesis 27:21). “Isaac said to his son: How is it that you were so quick to find it, my son?” – you were so quick to find the blessing, my son? Your father was blessed at seventy five years old, (God blessed Isaac after Abraham’s death. Abraham died at age one hundred and seventy-five. Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old.) and you are sixty-three years old. (See Bereshit Rabba 62:5.) “And he said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, one of them said: If for your offering, the Holy One blessed be He provided for you, as it is stated: “Abraham lifted his eyes and saw that behold, there was a ram” (Genesis 22:13); for your food, all the more so. The other said: If for your mate He provided for you, as it is stated: “Please arrange it for me today” (Genesis 24:12), and it is written: “Behold, he saw camels coming” (Genesis 24:63); for your food, all the more so. “And he said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This is analogous to a raven that brought fire to its nest. When he said: “Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me,” Isaac said: ‘I know that Esau would not mention the name of the Holy One blessed be He; this one mentions. This is not Esau, but Jacob.’ When Isaac said to Jacob: “Please approach, that I may feel you, my son,” water spilled on his [Jacob's] thighs, (He urinated in fear.) and his heart was as soft as wax. The Holy One blessed be He appointed two angels for him, one to his right and one to his left, and they were holding his elbow so he would not fall. That is what is written: “Do not waver [tishta], as I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10) – do not become wax [tishva].
(Gen. 27:6, 8, & 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get < the venison >, he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 & 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: < I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN >…. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 &. 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN…. (It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18.) PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: < HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK > … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him: (Cf. Gen. R. 65:19.) When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused < a sacrificial animal > to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES < TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM >…. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. (Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal.) Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob; (Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said: (yTa‘an. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21.) In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor (Lat.: Caesar.) Hadrian, < who > [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther. (This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1968.) R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out < over > what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.
[(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY < GOD > GIVE TO YOU.] What is written above of the matter (in Gen. 27:1, 6, 17)? NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >…. THEN REBEKAH SAID UNTO HER SON JACOB…. THEN SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite said in the name of R. Helbo: She brought him in as far as her partition, as far as she had authority to enter. (Gen. R. 65:17.) She said to him: My son, I have accompanied you in this far. From here on your God will accompany you in. He entered as he said to him (to Isaac in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. R. Johanan said: When he said: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, (See above, 6:10; Gen. R. 65:19.) Isaac said: This language is not the language of Esau, but the language of Jacob, as stated (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You know that it is so. When Jacob entered, what did he say (in vs. 19)? PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. But when Esau entered, [what did he say to him (in vs. 31)? LET MY FATHER ARISE. Look at] what he is saying, how he speaks with difficulty: LET MY FATHER ARISE…. Isaac began saying to Jacob (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, < MY SON >…. R.Joshua said: When he said (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER, his body trembled, and he hung back like wax. (Cf. Gen. R. 44:3; 65:19.) What did the Holy One do? He spoke to two of the angels, to Gabriel and Michael, and they assisted him, Michael to his right and Gabriel to his left, with that one in his glory, may his name be blessed, supporting him from his rear. Then he said to him: Jacob, why are you afraid, with your body buckling over upon itself? I am God. My army (Gk.: stratia.) < has come > to help you, and they are supporting you. Still, you are afraid! Thus it is stated (in Is. 41:10): FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU; BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU, I ALSO HELP YOU, AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU. Let not your body sink down, FOR I AM WITH YOU. BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU with Michael. I ALSO HELP YOU with Gabriel. AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. Immediately [Isaac] said to him (in Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. Your power is stronger than his. If Esau captures anyone, see, he is in his hand; but if [that one] flees, he cannot do a thing to him. With you, however, even though someone flees from one end of the world to [the other], (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You say something in the synagogue; and look, it comes to pass of its own accord.
והקריתם — This verb קרה (in the Hiphil) denotes “preparing”. Similarly it says, (Genesis 27:20) “Because the Lord thy God made it ready (הקרה) before me”(Sifrei Bamidbar 159:4).
They responded: "How quickly have you found your desire, my son," (Genesis 27:20) "Shining ['Zarach'] in the darkness is light for the upright ['Yesharim']." (Psalms 112:4) (Possibly, the meaning here is that R. Zerachia is in the darkness, while Rashi (the letters of his name are in the word Yesharim) is in the light and should be followed. Another possibility is that the first verse, spoken by the biblical Isaac, is a reference either to Rashi (R. Shlomo Yitzhaki) or to the Rif, R. Isaac Alfasi, who omits the statements of Rabbi Zeira in his Talmudic commentary. See Keset Hasofer ad loc. It is also unclear here to what extent the question here is theoretical. Maimonides omits the calendrical calculations as a commandment, while Sefer Mitzvot Gadol 47 seems to hold that it is a positive commandment incumbent upon every Jew who is able to make such calculations.)
[120] even of those who find nothing great in other things. Thus Isaac asks, “what is this which thou hast found quickly, my son?” marvelling at the speed with which the virtuous disposition has been attained. The receiver of God’s benefit answered rightly, “it is what the Lord God delivered to me” (Gen. 27:20). For the instructions and injunctions delivered through men are slow, but those that come through God are exceeding swift, outrunning even the swiftest movement of time.
[169] While that which is taught needs a long time, that which comes by nature is rapid, and, we may say, timeless; and, while the one has man as teacher, the other has God. The former mark he sets down in a question: “What is this which thou didst find quickly, Child?” the other in a reply, in the words “that which God the Lord delivered” (Gen. 27:20).
[64] Be this then thy quest, my soul, and that quickly, even as it was with the Practiser Jacob. He, when his father asked him “What is this that thou hast found so quickly, my son?” replied (and the words convey an important truth), “It is what the Lord God set before me” (Gen. 27:20). Long experience had taught him that what the world of creation gives to the soul it makes secure only after long time, as it is with those who impart the arts and their rules to their pupils. They cannot at once fill to the brim the mind of the beginners, as one fills a vessel. But when the fountain of wisdom, God, imparts each form of knowledge to the mortal race, He needs not time for the work. Such persons become apt disciples of the only wise Being and discover quickly what they seek.
[92] Thus the Practiser, when his father asked him in this manner of the source of his knowledge, “What is this that thou hast found so quickly, my son?” answered and said, “It is what the Lord God delivered before me” (Gen. 27:20). For when God delivers to us the lore of His eternal wisdom without our toil or labour we find in it suddenly and unexpectedly a treasure of perfect happiness.
Yitzchok said to his son, How is it that you found it so quickly my son? He [Yaakov] said, Because Adonoy, your God, brought it about for me.
And Izhak said to his son, What is this that thou hast found so soon, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God had prepared it before me.
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִצְחָק֙ אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֔ב גְּשָׁה־נָּ֥א וַאֲמֻֽשְׁךָ֖ בְּנִ֑י הַֽאַתָּ֥ה זֶ֛ה בְּנִ֥י עֵשָׂ֖ו אִם־לֹֽא׃ | 21 J | Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer that I may feel you, my son—whether you are really my son Esau or not.” |
THAT I MAY FEEL THEE. There is no dagesh in the shin of va-amushekha (that I may feel thee) in order to simplify the enunciation of this word. (The root of va-amushekha is mem, shin, shin. One of these shins is missing is va-amushekha. When a root letter is missing a dagesh is placed in one of the remaining root letters; thus we would expect a dagesh in the shin of va-amushekha. I.E. points out that since a dagesh doubles the letter in which it is placed, the verse would have to be pronounced va-amushshekha. The dagesh was left out to avoid this.)
ויאמר...ואמשך בני, the letter ש in the word ואמשך lacks the dagesh we would expect if it were in the transitive mode. It should have had this dagesh just as it is written with the dagesh in the word ימושני in verse 12 and in verse 22.
COME NEAR, I PRAY THEE, THAT I MAY FEEL THEE. Rashi comments: “Isaac said to himself, ‘It is not Esau’s way to have the Name of Heaven so readily in his mouth.’” This interpretation is found in Bereshith Rabbah. (Bereshith Rabbah 65:16. Due to the fact that the voices of the brothers were alike, it was necessary for the Sages to interpret the verse, The voice is the voice of Jacob, as referring to the kind of language Jacob used.) But I wonder about this for Esau was not wicked in his father’s eyes! (This being so, how could the mention of G-d be a distinguishing mark for Jacob?) Perhaps Isaac thought that since Esau is a man of the field and his heart is set on the hunt, he is not wont to mention the Name of Heaven for fear that he might mention it in some unclean place and without proper concentration. In the eyes of his father, this was considered a manifestation of his fear of Heaven. In line with the simple meaning of Scripture, this was because of vocal recognition. (Since the voice instilled doubt as to his identity, Isaac desired to feel him.)
גשה נא ואמשך STEP NEAR, I PRAY THEE, THAT I MAY FEEL THEE — Isaac said to himself, “It is not Esau’s way to mention the name of God so readily, and this one says, “Because the Lord thy God caused it thus to happen to me! קול יעקב (Genesis Rabbah 65:19).
It is unusual for Eisov to readily mention God’s Name... You might ask: Did not Yitzchok consider Eisov completely righteous? The answer is: For the very reason that he was completely righteous, he would not mention Hashem’s Name needlessly! [You might object:] This surely should be true of Yaakov, and Yitzchok considered him more righteous than Eisov, as explained above. [The answer is:] Yitzchok reasoned that Eisov cannot avoid filthy places, thus he is more careful than Yaakov about mentioning Hashem’s Name. For Yaakov dwelled in tents [of Torah study] and did not enter filthy places.
Sensing that something strange was going on, Isaac said to Jacob: Please approach, that I may feel you, my son, so that I will know: Are you my son Esau or not? Due to his faulty eyesight, Isaac was unable to tell the twins apart.
It is my understanding, furthermore, that when Isaac blessed Jacob, he did so not being entirely sure whether it was Jacob or Esau he was blessing. We find several expressions of reservation in this regard: first, (Genesis 27:20): "How come you have found it so quickly, my son?" Again (Ibid 21): "Come close, and let me feel you, my son." And yet a third time (Ibid 22): "The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are those of Esau." Now there is no doubt that a voice is a more trustworthy sign than hands. From all of this it is apparent that it was not clear to Isaac for a certainty that this was Esau standing before him — in spite of which doubt he blessed him, acquiescing in either possibility [that it be Esau or Jacob]. For there is no doubt that Isaac loved Jacob and desired any blessing for him which would not result in harm to Esau. Accordingly, he resolved that this blessing be for the one standing between his knees. And even if it were Jacob this would cause no harm to Esau, for it would be impossible for Jacob to receive by virtue of his blessing something that was objectionable to Isaac and contrary to his intent. For this reason he assumed that if it were Jacob, the Blessed One would not place in his mouth anything injurious to Esau; and if Jacob would be blessed in something which would not result in harm to Esau, this would be perfectly agreeable to him, for Jacob, too, had issued from his loins. In sum, all that he desired was that his blessing be productive of good, even if Jacob were its object. And being inclined to believe that it was, in fact, Esau (though this had not been conclusively established), he did not hesitate to bless him. And the Blessed One, loving Jacob, placed in Isaac's mouth when he blessed him, all the good destined for Jacob, whether by virtue of Isaac's blessing itself or by virtue of what had already been ordained for him in respect to dominion (and Isaac would never have presumed to request dominion for Esau).
Rabbi Elazar said, It was Jacob who sang this song, when his father said to him, "Come near, I pray you, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not" (Beresheet 27:21). Then was Jacob in great distress, for he feared that his father will recognize and know him. Then it is written, "and he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him" (Beresheet 27: 23). So he said, "In my distress I cried to Hashem, and He heard me."
Another interpretation, “fear not Abram” – that is what is written: “But it is you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendants of Abraham who loved me, whom I have taken from the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 41:8–9) – from Mesopotamia and its environs. “And from its noblemen I called you” (Isaiah 41:9) – from its prominent leaders. “I called you” – I designated you. “I chose you and did not reject you” (Isaiah 41:9). “I chose you” – when you were Abram; “and did not reject you” – when you became Abraham. “Do not fear, as I am with you; do not waver, as I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10) – Rabbi Hoshaya said: When Isaac said to Jacob: “Please approach so I may feel you, my son” (Genesis 27:21), his water spilled onto his knees (Out of fright.) and his heart became soft as wax. The Holy One blessed be He appointed two angels for him, one to his right and one to his left, and they grasped him by his elbow so he would not fall. That is what is written: “Do not waver [tishta], as I am your God” – do not be like wax [tishva]. “I strengthened you, even helped you…behold, [all who provoke you] will be ashamed and humiliated” (Isaiah 41:10–11) – those who are hostile to you. “They will be like nothing, and the people who quarrel with you will perish” (Isaiah 41:11) – those who incite quarrels with you. “You will seek them…but not find them” (Isaiah 41:12) – those who contend with you. “For I am the Lord your God…who says to you: Fear not” (Isaiah 41:13), as it is stated: “Fear not, Abram.”
“Isaac said to his son: How is it that you were so quick to find it, my son? And he said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me” (Genesis 27:20). “Isaac said to Jacob: Please approach, that I may feel you, my son, are you my son Esau or not?” (Genesis 27:21). “Isaac said to his son: How is it that you were so quick to find it, my son?” – you were so quick to find the blessing, my son? Your father was blessed at seventy five years old, (God blessed Isaac after Abraham’s death. Abraham died at age one hundred and seventy-five. Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old.) and you are sixty-three years old. (See Bereshit Rabba 62:5.) “And he said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me” – Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, one of them said: If for your offering, the Holy One blessed be He provided for you, as it is stated: “Abraham lifted his eyes and saw that behold, there was a ram” (Genesis 22:13); for your food, all the more so. The other said: If for your mate He provided for you, as it is stated: “Please arrange it for me today” (Genesis 24:12), and it is written: “Behold, he saw camels coming” (Genesis 24:63); for your food, all the more so. “And he said: Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This is analogous to a raven that brought fire to its nest. When he said: “Because the Lord your God coordinated it before me,” Isaac said: ‘I know that Esau would not mention the name of the Holy One blessed be He; this one mentions. This is not Esau, but Jacob.’ When Isaac said to Jacob: “Please approach, that I may feel you, my son,” water spilled on his [Jacob's] thighs, (He urinated in fear.) and his heart was as soft as wax. The Holy One blessed be He appointed two angels for him, one to his right and one to his left, and they were holding his elbow so he would not fall. That is what is written: “Do not waver [tishta], as I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10) – do not become wax [tishva].
Yitzchok said to Yaakov, Come close, if you please [now], and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Eisov or not?
And Izhak said to Jakob, Come near now, and I will feel thee, my son, whether thou be my son Esau or not.
| וַיִּגַּ֧שׁ יַעֲקֹ֛ב אֶל־יִצְחָ֥ק אָבִ֖יו וַיְמֻשֵּׁ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הַקֹּל֙ ק֣וֹל יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְהַיָּדַ֖יִם יְדֵ֥י עֵשָֽׂו׃ | 22 J | So Jacob drew close to his father Isaac, who felt him and wondered. “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau.” |
Now, Jacob was the aspect of the Torah itself, as it is written: “The voice is the voice of Jacob” (Genesis 27:22), and “Give truth to Jacob” (Micah 7:20), for the Torah is called “truth.” Therefore, he could sort out [the sparks] in his place, whereas someone else would have had to travel around, because “the study of Torah is equal to all.” Thus, G‑d folded the entire Land of Israel under Jacob, so that he could extract the sparks through the study of Torah, which corresponds to the entire world. This is the meaning of “and you shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.” That is, while you are still in your place, you will sift out all the sparks from the four corner of the earth, and not need to journey around, for “the study of Torah is equal to all.” And thus, the Talmud states that this was not like Abraham, of whom it was written: “Rise and walk the land, its length and breadth” (Genesis 13:17). He needed to travel from place to place to take them out. But of Jacob it is written: “the land upon which you are lying…” for there the sparks have fallen. Ketones Passim, p. 35b-c (See also Tzafnah Paneach, p. 114a.)
Genesis 27,22. “He came close, and Yitzchok kissed him, etc.;” ….he said: “the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that has been blessed by the Lord.” The first letters in the line: אשר ברכו ה', are the same as in the word אבי, “my Father,” i.e. Yitzchok felt that the son in front of him represented his father in heaven.
This corresponds to the 4 cups of wine at the Passover Seder. Wine has two parts, as our Rabbis Z"L said, "if a person is worthy it makes him a head and if he is not worthy it makes him a poor person". Yoma 76b. This means that a person's knowledge is elevated by the wine, and being that the essence of knowledge is the revelation of providence, knowledge of providence is enhanced by drinking wine and one becomes a 'head'. But when a person is not worthy, the opposite happens and one becomes poor, for the true pauper is he who lacks knowledge, which is the main cause of material poverty. When a person lacks knowledge of providence, which is the essence of knowledge, this causes poverty, as in, "you shall eat it with despair" (Genesis 3:17), representing oppression and poverty that come on account of the blemish of eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which corresponds to natural sciences. Furthermore, nature corresponds to darkness and night, corresponding to the blemish of the moon, which is the root source of poverty, as is known. Wine is therefore comprised of both elements: it brings on sleep, which corresponds to nature, which corresponds to night and sleep, and when one is worthy, it arouses from sleep, as in, "your pallet is like good wine which makes the lips of the sleeping speak". Song of songs 7:10. Good wine, which comes from the realm of holiness, arouses a person from sleep, represented by speech. During sleep, speech disappears, while good wine arouses from sleep and evokes speech, which comes from knowledge, as in 'makes the lips of the sleeping speak', which corresponds to providence, corresponding to the arousal from sleep. And since wine is comprised of both elements, when a person is worthy it represents knowledge, Providence, as in, "wine that makes glad", corresponding to the world of the future, as in "wine makes glad" (Psalms 104:15). And when one is not worthy it is an intoxicating wine, which confuses knowledge and errs with natural sciences, which corresponds to sleep. Therefore wine must be carefully guarded from the touch of a non-Jew, more than anything else. Nothing else in the world besides wine becomes forbidden by the touch of a non-Jew. As soon as a non-Jew touches wine, and touch is with the hands, the wine is drawn into the realm of nature, which corresponds to the non-Jew, since the wine itself is comprised of both aspects. Therefore a non-Jew, who corresponds to nature, makes the wine impure with the touch of his hand, for the wine is immediately drawn into the realm of nature, and is therefore unsuitable for a Jew, who is above nature, and whose food and drink should be holy, since the knowledge of providence is drawn through food and drink. Therefore, the blemish of the wine is specifically by their touch with the hands, for the blemish of the knowledge of providence is mainly through a blemish of the hands, of the 28 phalanges of the hands, which correspond to the 28 letters of creation. The hands of the non-Jews though, are the opposite of this, and are in the category of "the hands are the hands of Esau" (Genesis 27:22), corresponding to the mistaken belief in nature, corresponding to "my power and the might of my hand", and therefore wine is blemished by the hand of a non-Jew. This forbidden wine is then in the category of the mistaken belief in natural sciences, which corresponds to sleep. This is alluded to in the word Nesekh, נֶסֶךְ, the term for forbidden wine, as in, "For G-d Nasakh נָסַךְ (poured) a spirit of slumber" (Isaiah 29:10), which refers to stargazers who have a mistaken belief in the constellations. Therefore at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, when Providence was revealed, it is a commandment to drink 4 cups of wine, for wine is then in the category of 'if one is worthy the one becomes a head', for now at the Passover Seder, knowledge is elevated and providence is greatly revealed through the wine, for G-d drew Providence and broke the night, the sleep, as in "around midnight I will go out within Egypt". Wine is then in the category of 'wine makes glad' and a person is able to speak and tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt on this night, by means of the wine as in 'wine makes the lips of the sleeping speak'. This corresponds to "song is only recited on wine". Berachot 35b. For all songs are drawn from the world of the future, when song will be aroused in the world, as stated in the holy Zohar III 286b, as in, "Then Moses will sing". Exodus 15:1. It does not say 'sang', in the past tense, but 'will sing' in the future, teaching us that he will sing in the world of the future. Sanhedrin 91b. This is because the essence of song comes from the world of the future, when Moses will sing, for song will then be aroused in the world. This is the source of all songs - song in this world over miracles, for all miracles come about by G-d drawing providence from the end of the world, from the world of the future, into this world. And when a miracle takes place, we draw song from the world of the future into this world, which is all the songs for the miracles that we sing. Therefore, song is only recited over wine, for wine will then be absorbed into holiness, corresponding to knowledge of providence, for the essence of song is drawing providence, which is the song for the miracle, into this world, which is why song should be over wine. This is represented by the 4 cups of wine at the Passover Seder, corresponding to the Four Kingdoms. When wine is absorbed into holiness, corresponding to Providence, all exiles of the Four Kingdoms are subdued, for their main power is through nature, and by means of the Providence that is revealed by the knowledge that is drawn by the 4 cups of wine, they are all eliminated.
And then he must cry out the above mentioned calls. This corresponds to (Genesis 27:22), “The call is the call of Yaakov.” When he is in the aspect of Yaakov, he must in order to bring forth the mentalities in the aspect of birth.
{“The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Genesis 27:22) ☛ a declaration ☛ Esav, “And he raised his voice” (Genesis 27:38) ☛ Yitzchak, time, kuf tzaddi, sleepers, etc. ☛ “you shall return to God your Lord and heed His voice” (Deuteronomy 4:30) ☛ “Yitzchak the son of Avraham” (Genesis 25:19) , time unites ☛ “Avraham who loved Me” (Isaiah 41:8) ☛ “in his eyes but a few days because of his love” (Genesis 29:20) ☛ “the remnant who returns is your son” (Isaiah 7:3) ☛ “If you return, I will take you back and you will stand before Me” (Jeremiah 15:19).} “The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” a declaration. Esav, “And he raised his voice”—That is, one must raise “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” over the voice of the Other Side, which is the concept of Esav, of whom it is stated, “And he raised his voice.” He strengthens himself in order to drown out Yaakov’s voice, God forbid. And so it is necessary for us to overpower and subdue Esav’s voice in order that we merit hearing the voice of Yaakov. One merits this through repentance, which is nullification of the times, as mentioned above.
This voice subdues the heel of the Other Side, for it is the concept of “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Genesis 27:22). Yaakov therefore attained the concept of scent, as in “See, my son’s fragrance is like the scent of a field” (ibid. :27). This was said of yaAKoV, who subdues the AKeiV of the Other Side, as in “his hand holding on to Esav’s akeiv (heel)” (Genesis 25:26).
However, we must first explain the matter of, (Genesis 27:22) “The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” for there is an inner unheard voice [and an outer heard voice]. (Zohar I 50b; Also See Ma’amarei Admor HaEmtza’ee, Kuntreisim, pg. 308 (citing Zohar); See Siddur Im Divrei Elokim Chayim, Shaar HaLulav 264d; Biurei Zohar, Balak 107c; Sefer HaMaamarim 5668, Vol. 1, pg. 253; Pirush HaMilot, Ch. 30; Sidur Im Divrei Elokim Chayim, Shacharit L’Shabbat 181b; Torah Ohr, Bereishit 6d; Likkutei Torah, Netzavim 47b, and Shir HaShirim 12b and elsewhere.)
.הקול קול יעקב, “the voice is distinctly the voice of Yaakov;” Yitzchok was not willing to base his judgment on the voice alone, as people are apt to disguise their voices on many occasions, both voluntarily and involuntarily. However he did not let this disturb him as the evidence of Yaakov’s arms and hands which were hairy were a much better indication that Esau indeed was standing in front of him. This was why he proceeded to give him a blessing that he had intended to give Esau.
הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו, “the sound of the voice is that of Yaakov, whereas the feel of his hands is like that of the hands of Esau.” According to Midrash Rabbah, 69,20 the deeper meaning of these words is that Yitzchok knew that Esau could cause harm only with his hands, when near the victim, whereas Yaakov, whose weapon was prayer, could use that weapon over vast distances.
הקול קול יעקב, “the voice is the voice of Yaakov.” We are taught in Bereshit Rabbah 65,21 that “Yaakov (the Jewish people) controls (employs as his weapon) only his voice (his weapon is prayer).” The Midrash bases this on our verse here. The Midrash continues that by the same token Esau’s control extends only over his hands (he relies only on the sword), as Yitzchak had added: “and the hands are the hands of Esau.” Similarly, we have a verse in Psalms 20,8 אלה ברכב ואלה בסוסים ואנחנו בשם אלוקינו נזכיר, “They (call) on chariots, they (call) on horses, but we call on the name of the Lord our G’d.” Moses referred to this in Numbers 20,16 when he reminded the king of Edom of the experiences of the Jewish people in Egypt. He said: “We cried out to the Lord and He heard our voice.” Rabbi Abba bar Kahane said that the most prominent Gentile philosophers such as Bileam son of Beor and Avnimus the Ardi were asked how one could overcome the power of the Jewish people. They were told to go to the synagogues and check on whether the young children were busily engaged studying Torah and praising the Lord. If so, they were told, there was no chance in the world to overcome these people, as their principal weapon was their voice appealing to G’d to come to their support.
ויגש...והידים, he did not examine the skin on the (supposed) smooth part of his throat. He relied solely on checking his arms.
הקול קול יעקב, seeing that Esau and Yaakov were twins, their voices were similar to one another. This made it easy for Yitzchok to err as to who was in front of him if he were to rely only on his sense of hearing. Having first established that unlike Yaakov who was smooth skinned, the son in front of him was hairy, Yitzchok was now faced with a dilemma whether to trust his sense of hearing or his sense of touch.
THE VOICE OF JACOB, because he speaks in an entreating strain —“Arise I pray thee.” Esau, however, spoke in a harsh strain (v. 31) “Let my father arise” (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 11).
והידים ידי עשו. There can be no question that the skins had been prepared in such a fashion that the hair on them were just like the hair on human skin, for in its natural state the hair on goatskin is considerably different from that on a human skin. What the Torah testifies to then is that Yaakov’s hands now were just as hairy as the hands of Esau. It is quite possible that not only Yitzchok’s eyesight had deteriorated to the point where it did not serve him to identify objects with any degree of certainty, but that also his sense of touch had become weakened as a source of identifying objects he touched. Samuel II 19,36-37 would support this where Barzilai lists a number of his faculties which suffered weakness as a result of old age.
He spoke gently and entreatingly... [Rashi knows this] because if it follows its simple meaning, i.e., Yitzchok recognized his voice, then Yitzchok immediately should have commented when hearing him say, “It is I, Eisov your first-born.” Furthermore, when Yaakov said to his mother, “Suppose my father touches me” (v. 12), why was he not worried [also] about being recognized by voice? Perforce, their voices were similar, and this is why Rashi explains “the voice of Yaakov” as speaking entreatingly.
Spoke stridently... Although Yitzchok considered Eisov completely righteous, this does not show Eisov’s wickedness. There are many people who speak stridently although they are good people.
Jacob approached Isaac his father, and he, Isaac, felt him. He said: The voice is the voice of Jacob, as the subtleties of the voice bring to mind the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
הקול קול יעקב, “the voice sounds like the voice of Yaakov, etc.” Rashi writes that Yitzchok meant it was not the habit of Esau to mention the name of the Lord in his conversation, something that made Yitzchok wonder who stood before him. Nachmanides writes that it his hard to imagine that Yitzchok viewed Esau as a wicked person and yet he was about to give him the blessing of Avraham. Possibly, he thought that seeing that Esau was a man of the field, he deliberately refrained from mentioning the name of the Lord, as he might utter it in a location where it would not be appropriate to do so. In other words, Yitzchok considered the very fact that Esau did not usually mention the name of the Lord as a point in his favour. From the point of view of the plain text, we are being told that the voices of the two sons were quite different from one another, and Yitzchok could not fail to notice this.
“He felt him and he said, the voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau” [27:22]. Isaac touched Jacob. Isaac said: the voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau. He thought that this must be Jacob because he speaks very quietly and not haughtily. However, Esau speaks with haughty words. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:22.) The Midrash says. Jacob will war in the exile with the voice of prayer and Torah, as the verse says, “the voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau” [27:22]. That is to say, when Esau will do something with his hands to Israel, Israel will war with their voices. (Genesis Rabbah, 65.16; Bahya, Genesis, 27:22.) Hizkuni writes. Isaac could not properly understand his voice. Sometimes a person can speak thinly and sometimes his voice is very thick. However, from the hands he understood that this must be Esau because they were full of hair. Therefore, he blessed him. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:22.)
The thrust of Moses' argument in each case was that only if the angels considered themselves fools would the above mentioned instructions of the Torah apply to them. From all the above it follows that just as Torah can only be of significance and meaning to creatures possessed of both good and evil inclinations, so human beings who are unable to achieve mastery over their desires because they are not free agents, are not subject to the laws of the Torah. Slaves, women and children are each subject only to limited sections of the Torah, since their self determination is restricted and they are not truly free in that sense. Those who are physically free, but have sold themselves to their senses, will not derive much benefit from Torah, since they opted to forego mastery of mind over body. Only Israel, trained through many years of deprivations, had achieved the level of freedom that enabled it to benefit from receiving the Torah. This is the argument embodied in the famous Midrash (Avodah Zarah 2) which depicts G'd as offering the Torah first to different nations, all of whom in turn rejected it for one reason or another. The common denominator behind the rejection in each case was that they did not wish to re-examine their basic lifestyles based on enslavement to one or another of their senses. ("I have to steal" or "I have to murder") All of this is justification for not giving the Torah to those nations, just as Torah was not given to the angels. The former are beyond reach of the Torah, the latter beyond need for Torah. There was therefore no favoritism involved when the Torah was given only to Israel.
From the above it follows that the most advanced of nations, i.e. Israel, were it to perish G'd forbid, would disintegrate more than any other nation; less would be left of it than of any other more primitive society that ceases to occupy center stage in history. This is so because of the sophisticated nature of the body of the Jewish nation, which by implication implies fragility. When the prophet Ezekiel in chapter fifteen, describes the wood of the vines as utterly useless,- not even fit to be used in building,- he tries to tell us that unless it functions as the bearer of grapes, it is utterly without purpose. Similarly, the Jewish people. Unless the Jewish people fulfils its mission, it is utterly useless in the scheme of nature. The lumber of other trees, even if the tree itself is no longer bearing fruit, can serve builders; not so the wood of the grapevine. Gentiles, whose primary function is not the fruit of the intellect, mind or soul, may remain useful in some other capacity, not so Jews. They would only be good for firewood, serve by the very act of their own destruction. The whole purpose of the Jewish nation, allegorically speaking, is to produce the fruit of the vine. This fruit is available in three distinct qualities. 1) Unripe grapes. 2) grapes. 3) wine. Halachah reflects this view by assigning three different benedictions to the three stages of that fruit when one consumes it. For unripe grapes the benediction is borey pree ha-adamah, He who creates the fruit of the earth. Ripe grapes qualify for the benediction borey pree ha-etz, He who creates the fruit of the tree. Finally, wine qualifies for the benediction borey pree hagafen, He who creates the fruit of the vine. The type of benediction recited, corresponds to the degree of excellence of the product it is recited over. Man's function in the scheme of things is similar to the Jewish nation's function in the scheme of civilization, the scheme of nations. Our function embraces three stages of nature; the inert as represented by stone, the vegetative as represented by plants, and the animalistic, human, as represented by the fruits of various plants. G'd calls a human being "Adam when he fulfils his purpose on all three levels. (compare chapter forty four section one based on Talmud Baba Metzia 114) Justification of one's existence stems from one's having fulfilled one's purpose, one's destiny. When one fails deliberately to fulfil one's purpose, one forfeits one's right to exist. When the vine does not yield fruit, the wood supporting its leaves etc. deserves to be burned. When man does not contribute to yishuv ha-olam, civilization, he loses the right to exist. When Israel fails to make its specific contribution to the betterment of mankind, it loses its raison d'etre. This is what Rabbi Yochanan expressed in the paragraph from the Talmud Ketuvot quoted at the outset of this chapter. In the chapter dealing with the red heifer, we explained that impurity and its relative intensity, exists in direct relationship to the belovedness of the creature in the eyes of G'd. The less beloved, the less capable of becoming impure, the more beloved, the more subject to becoming defiled. Similarly, the higher the expectations that have gone unfulfilled, the more the fragility of the vessel becomes evident, the more total its collapse if and when it occurs. Only its continued proper use keeps it in good condition. The same lesson is conveyed to the prophet Jeremiah in chapter thirteen, about the belt buried near the river Euphratus that had been in disuse for many years, only to disintegrate by the time Jeremiah was to use it again. A belt has four functions which can be viewed as paralleling the tasks of the Jewish people. Garments to man are like character traits, as explained in connection with the special garmens of the High Priest and the priest at large. The belt assures the proper functioning of such garments. Leaving the belt buried somewhere, nullifies the value of the garments it was supposed to complement. The point of the parable is, that even a human being, equipped as he is with all the potential G'd has given him, goes to waste, unless he harnesses his potential in the proper manner. Girding oneself with the ezaur, belt, is like hashem oz hitazor, G'd girded Himself with strength. Man in emulating G'd, does likewise. Possibly, this is why Elijah is portrayed as wearing the belt around his loins when we see him function publicly as a prophet. Basically, linen is a durable material, much more so than wool. It is interesting that while wearing the belt, the prophet is not to wash it, though it undoubtedly would become soiled with perspiration. In the parable then, usage does not contribute to disintegration; on the contrary, careful preservation during disuse causes disintegration. When the Messiah is described in Isaiah 11, the belt appears as the well known symbol. The Messiah will wear a belt of righteousness and loyalty. The generation of Jews who had left Egypt had proven inadequate to their lofty mission. They had demonstrated unwillingness to be mosser nefesh, display acts of supreme dedication for Eretz Yisrael. Only the next generation deserved to inherit the land. Quite possibly, the esteem for Eretz Yisrael expressed by the daughters of Tzelofchod is the key to our understanding why that generation was granted entry, and why the sequence of events related in the Torah is such as it is.
It is my understanding, furthermore, that when Isaac blessed Jacob, he did so not being entirely sure whether it was Jacob or Esau he was blessing. We find several expressions of reservation in this regard: first, (Genesis 27:20): "How come you have found it so quickly, my son?" Again (Ibid 21): "Come close, and let me feel you, my son." And yet a third time (Ibid 22): "The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are those of Esau." Now there is no doubt that a voice is a more trustworthy sign than hands. From all of this it is apparent that it was not clear to Isaac for a certainty that this was Esau standing before him — in spite of which doubt he blessed him, acquiescing in either possibility [that it be Esau or Jacob]. For there is no doubt that Isaac loved Jacob and desired any blessing for him which would not result in harm to Esau. Accordingly, he resolved that this blessing be for the one standing between his knees. And even if it were Jacob this would cause no harm to Esau, for it would be impossible for Jacob to receive by virtue of his blessing something that was objectionable to Isaac and contrary to his intent. For this reason he assumed that if it were Jacob, the Blessed One would not place in his mouth anything injurious to Esau; and if Jacob would be blessed in something which would not result in harm to Esau, this would be perfectly agreeable to him, for Jacob, too, had issued from his loins. In sum, all that he desired was that his blessing be productive of good, even if Jacob were its object. And being inclined to believe that it was, in fact, Esau (though this had not been conclusively established), he did not hesitate to bless him. And the Blessed One, loving Jacob, placed in Isaac's mouth when he blessed him, all the good destined for Jacob, whether by virtue of Isaac's blessing itself or by virtue of what had already been ordained for him in respect to dominion (and Isaac would never have presumed to request dominion for Esau).
Words in the mouths of leaders and followers have a dark side in the Bible as well; littered across its pages are many words of deception and recrimination. We open Genesis with the snake lying to Eve, and Eve lying to Adam. Later, Jacob’s stilted conversation with his father when he dressed as his brother to steal the blessing pains the reader with its manipulation: “I am Esau, your first-born” (Gen. 27:19). Isaac did not immediately accept this self-identification: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau…. Are you really my son Esau?” (Gen. 27:22, 24). At this juncture, Jacob could have raised his hands in self-disgust and confessed. Instead he hammered the lie in deeper. “I am.” Still later in Genesis, Jacob tasted the impact of lies in bitter recriminations. Joseph’s brothers turned up at Jacob’s door with a coat dipped in animal blood, asking the not-so-innocent question: “We found this. Please examine it; is it your son’s tunic or not?” (Gen. 37:33). They knew exactly whose coat it was, but they let an object tell their lie; a gift of love came back to Jacob as a prop of deception. His sons wounded their father with words in stabbing convulsions of loss.
At that time, the rivers have raised their voice... which is: (Gen. 27:22) the voice of Jacob, the voice of the shophar. To where do they raise it? Towards Father and Mother. And when it descends, it descends with the two points which are shva (ְ) , – the ‘two thighs of truth’, then it is this that is written: (Ps. 93:3) ... the rivers shall raise (yise-u) their depth, as in: (Num. 7:9) ... upon their shoulders they shall carry (yisa-u) .
“God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood on the way as an impediment to him, and he was riding on his donkey, and his two lads were with him” (Numbers 22:22). “God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood” – it was an angel of mercy, that was transformed for him into an impediment. “His two lads were with him” – this is the way of the world, that a person who sets out on the way needs two to serve him, and they then serve one another. “The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing on the road, and his sword was drawn in his hand, and the donkey turned from the road, and went into the field. Bilam struck the donkey, to turn it to the road” (Numbers 22:23). “The donkey saw the angel of the Lord…[and his sword was drawn in his hand]” – was the angel unable to blow on him and remove his spirit without drawing his sword? But is it not written regarding Sennacherib: “An angel of the Lord came out and smote…in the camp of Assyria” (Isaiah 37:36), and it is written: “When He blows on them [they wither]” (Isaiah 40:24), their lives. Rather, this is what he said to him: ‘The mouth is granted to Jacob, as it is stated: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22), and it is written: “You shall live by your sword” (Genesis 27:40). All the nations, their lives are by their sword, and you will exchange your craft and come upon them with theirs? I, too, will come upon you with yours: “And his sword was drawn in his hand.”’
“Jacob approached Isaac his father and he felt him, and he said: The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). “Jacob approached Isaac…The voice is the voice of Jacob” – this voice is the voice of a wise man, but his hands are those that flay dead animals. Another matter, “the voice is the voice of Jacob” – Jacob rules only with his voice. “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” – Esau rules only with his hands. Another matter, “the voice is the voice of Jacob” – Rabbi Pinḥas said: The voice of Jacob withdraws into itself. (When he does not use his voice for prayer and Torah study. The Matnot Kehuna suggests that the fact that the word hakol is without a vav it can be read as if the voice of Jacob is demeaned (kal).) “But the hands are the hands of Esau” – He signals to him and he comes. (The Holy One blessed be He signals to Esau and he comes to attack Jacob.) Another matter, “the voice is the voice of Jacob” – Rabbi Berekhya said: When Jacob murmurs with his voice, (Uses his voice for matters which are said quietly, such as slander.) the hands of Esau dominate, as it is written: “the people complained,” (The specific words mentioned in the verse preceding the advent of Amalek are slightly different, see Exodus 17:3.) (Exodus 15:24), “Amalek came” (Exodus 17:8). But when he calls loudly with his voice, the hands are not the hands of Esau, the hands of Esau do not dominate. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: No philosophers stood in the world like Bilam son of Beor and like Avnimos the weaver. All the idolaters gathered before him. (Avnimos (see Etz Yosef).) They said to him: ‘Do you say that we can confront this nation?’ He said: ‘Go and circulate among their synagogues and study halls; if you find children there crying out, (Words of Torah.) you will not be able to confront them, as this is what their ancestor promised them: “The voice is the voice of Jacob” – when the voice of Jacob is found in the synagogues, the hands are not the hands of Esau, but if not, “the hands are the hands of Esau” – you can overcome them.’ “The voice is the voice of Jacob” – in the case of the concubine in Giva –“cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin” (Judges 21:18). (The Etz Yosef explains that here the midrash is stating that there are instances in which the use of the voice of Jacob in an unwise manner can lead to behavior reminiscent of Esau. Because the Israelites issued a (spoken) curse forbidding the giving of any daughter in marriage to any man from the tribe of Benjamin, they had to later tell the men of Benjamin to "steal" women as wives for themselves, which is Esau-type behavior (see Judges 21:18–22).) “The voice is the voice of Jacob” – in the days of Yerovam. The sound of weeping because they killed five hundred thousand among them, as it is written – “Yerovam did not gain strength again [in the days of Aviya; and the Lord afflicted him, and he died]” (II Chronicles 13:20). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: What do you think; that Yerovam was afflicted? But was it not Aviya who was afflicted? Why was he afflicted? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: It is because he defaced the identifying features of Israel’s faces, as it is written: “The expression of their faces testifies against them” (Isaiah 3:9). Rabbi Levi said: Because he positioned guards over them for three days until their form decayed, as we learned: One may testify (The reference is to giving testimony that a husband died so that his widow could remarry.) only about the countenance of the face with the nose, even if there are distinguishing marks on his body and his belongings…and one may testify only up to three days. (Yevamot 120a.) In their regard he says: “Their widows proliferated for Me beyond the sand of the seas” (Jeremiah 15:8). Rabbi Yoḥanan, Reish Lakish, and the Rabbis, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because he denigrated Aḥiya the Shilonite, as it is stated: "[Worthless and] wicked people [gathered around him]” (The Hebrew does not bring the exact quote of the verse.) (II Chronicles 13:7) – he called Aḥiya the Shilonite wicked. Reish Lakish said: Because he humiliated them publicly, as it is stated: “You are a great multitude, and with you are the golden calves” (II Chronicles 13:8). The Rabbis said: It is because an idol came into his possession and he did not nullify it, (He did not destroy the golden calf which Yerovam had erected in Beit El.) as it is stated: “Aviya pursued Yerovam” (II Chronicles 13:19), and it is written: “And captured cities from him: Beit El and its environs” (II Chronicles 13:19), and it is written: “He placed one in Beit El” (I Kings 12:29). The matters can be derived a fortiori: If a king, because he mistreated a king like him, the verse punished him and he was defeated, a commoner who mistreats a commoner, all the more so.
Another matter, “the voice is the voice of Jacob” – his voice silences the celestial beings and the earthly beings. Rabbi Reuven said: It is written: “When they stood, their wings would slacken” (Ezekiel 1:25). “When they stood” – is there sitting on High? Did Rabbi Shmuel not say: There is no sitting on High, as it is stated: “Their legs were a straight leg” (Ezekiel 1:7). They have no joints – “I approached one of those angels [kamaya]” (Daniel 7:16). What is this expression kamaya? It is standing [kayamaya]. “Seraphim were standing above Him” (Isaiah 6:2). “[He said: Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne,] and all the host of the heavens were standing [to His right and His left]” (II Chronicles 18:18), and you say: “When they stood”? I wonder. What is “when they stood [beomdam]”? When the nation comes, [there is] silence [ba am dom]. When Israel recites Shema Yisrael, the angels are silent, and then their wings would slacken. What do they recite? “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place” (Ezekiel 3:12), and blessed is the name of the glory of His kingdom. Rabbi Levi said: “When the morning stars sang together, and all the children of the great shouted” (Job 38:7) what the offspring of Jacob, who was likened to the stars, laud, as it is written in their regard: “Those who lead the multitudes to righteousness, like the stars” (Daniel 12:3). Then, “all the children of the great shouted” – these are the ministering angels. What do they recite? “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place” (Ezekiel 3:12). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: It is written: “A wind lifted me, and I heard behind me the sound of a great noise…” (Ezekiel 3:12). “Great noise” – I wonder. Rather, after I and my counterparts lauded, then, “ I heard behind me the sound of a great noise: Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place.” What do they recite? Blessed is the name. Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai would expound: “The voice is the voice of Jacob” screaming because of what “the hands are the hands of Esau” did to him. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The voice [of Jacob, due to] the emperor Hadrian who killed eight hundred million people in Beitar. (The point is that a very large number of people were killed.)
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
“The Lord demolished and had no compassion for all the abodes of Jacob; He destroyed, in His ire, the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He brought them to the ground; He profaned a kingdom and its princes” (Lamentations 2:2). “The Lord demolished and had no compassion for all the abodes of Jacob.” Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: There were four hundred and eighty synagogues in Jerusalem. From where [is that derived]? “Filled with [mele’ati] justice” (Isaiah 1:21), meleti (The word is written without the alef, such that its numerical value is 480: mem–40, lamed–30, tav–400, yod–ten = 480. However, it should be noted that the word does appear with an alef in extant versions of the book of Isaiah. It is possible that the Sages of the midrash had the word without an alef in their editions (Yefe Anaf). Alternatively, since the alef is not pronounced, it is as though it was written without the alef (Midrash HaMevoar).) is written. Each one of them had a school and an academy, a school for Bible and an academy for Mishna. Another matter, “the Lord demolished and had no compassion for all the abodes [neot] of Jacob,” all the pleasant ones [neotav] of Jacob, like Rabbi Yishmael, Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Yeshevav, Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava, Rabbi Ḥutzpit the disseminator, Rabbi Yehuda the baker, Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon, Rabbi Akiva, ben Azai, and Rabbi Tarfon. Some remove Rabbi Tarfon and insert Rabbi Elazar Ḥarsena. Rabbi Yoḥanan would expound sixty aspects of “the Lord demolished and had no compassion.” Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] would expound twenty-four aspects. It is not that Rabbi Yoḥanan was superior to Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi], but rather, since Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] was close to the destruction of the Temple, he would remember, expound, cry, and be consoled. (He would mourn the destruction of the Temple in a more personal way, and the elder Sages with him had personal memories of the Temple and they would all cry. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi would then cease expounding the ways in which God did not have compassion, and would share words of consolation (Etz Yosef).) Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] would expound: “A star will arise from Jacob” (Numbers 24:17), do not read it as star [kokhav], but rather as fraudulent [kozav]. Rabbi Akiva, when he would look at that bar Koziva, (Shimon bar Kokhva.) he would say: ‘This is the messianic king.’ Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Torata said to him: ‘Akiva, grass will grow in your cheeks and he still will not have come.’ Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “The voice is the voice of Jacob [and the hands are the hands of Esau]” (Genesis 27:22), “the voice”—the emperor Hadrian killed eight hundred million people in Beitar. (Thus, “the voice of Jacob” cried out due to the massacre committed by “the hands of Esau” in Beitar (Etz Yosef).) Eighty thousand sounders of horns were laying siege to Beitar. Bar Koziva was there, and he had two hundred thousand men with severed fingers. (He would test the courage and commitment of prospective recruits by having them bite off a finger.) The Sages sent to him: ‘Until when will you cause Israel to be blemished?’ He said to them: ‘How then can they be tested?’ They said to him: ‘Anyone who does not uproot a Lebanese cedar, let him not be written on your military roster.’ (Their strength could be tested by whether or not they could uproot a cedar with their bare hands.) He had two hundred thousand of these and two hundred thousand of those. When they would go out to war they would say: (To God.) ‘Do not help and do not hinder.’ That is what is written: “Is it not You, God, who had abandoned us, You, God, who would not go out with our armies?” (Psalms 60:12). What would ben Koziva do? He would catch a catapult stone on one of his knees and propel it and kill several of their people. (When the enemy would catapult stones, he would kick them with his knee back to them, and not only would he not be injured, but he would kill several enemy soldiers. This was a demonstration of his incredible strength.) It was due to this that Rabbi Akiva said that. (That is why Rabbi Akiva thought he would be the messianic king.) For three and a half years, the emperor Hadrian surrounded Beitar. Rabbi Elazar Hamoda'i was there, engaged in his sackcloth and his fasting. Each and every day, he would pray and say: ‘Master of the universe, do not sit in judgment today.’ Ultimately, [Hadrian] made up his mind to return. (Hadrian decided to return to Rome.) A certain Cuthite came and found him and said to him: ‘My lord, every day that this chicken wallows in the ashes, (As long as Rabbi Elazar Hamoda’i continues fasting and wearing sackcloth, which is generally also be accompanied by placing ashes on oneself.) you will not conquer it. But wait for me, as I will arrange for you to conquer it today.’ Immediately, he entered through the sewer system of the city. He found Rabbi Elazar, who was standing and praying. He made himself look as though he was whispering into the ear of Rabbi Elazar Hamoda'i. They went and told bar Koziva: ‘Your uncle, Rabbi Elazar, seeks to yield the city to Hadrian.’ (The Cuthites were enemies of the Jews, and therefore it looked suspicious for the Cuthite to be whispering into Rabbi Elazar’s ear.) He sent and had that Cuthite brought [to him]. He said to him: ‘What did you say to him?’ He said to him: ‘If I tell you, the emperor will kill me. (Literally, “that man.”) If I do not tell you, you will kill me. But it is preferable that I have myself killed than having the secrets of the empire revealed.’ Ben Koziva thought that he (Rabbi Elazar Hamoda’i.) wanted to yield the city. When Rabbi Elazar concluded his prayer, he sent and had him brought. He said to him: ‘What did that Cuthite say to you?’ He said to him: ‘I do not know what he whispered in my ear, and I did not hear anything from him, as I was standing in prayer and I do not know what he was saying.’ Ben Koziva was filled with rage. He gave him one kick with his foot and killed him. A Divine Voice emerged and said: “Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons the flock; a sword upon his arm and upon his right eye” (Zechariah 11:17). It said to him: ‘You paralyzed the arm of Israel and blinded their right eye; therefore, the arm of this man “will wither and his right eye will go blind”’ (Zechariah 11:17). Immediately, the iniquities caused Beitar to be captured. Ben Koziva was killed and they brought his head to Hadrian. He said: ‘Who killed this one?’ A certain Gontite (According to most commentaries, this is another name for the Cuthites. Some interpret the word to mean soldier.) said: ‘I killed this one.’ He said: ‘Go and bring him to me.’ (Hadrian asked for the rest of ben Koziva’s body to be brought to him.) He went to bring him, and he found a serpent wrapped around his neck. [Hadrian] said to him: ‘Had his God not killed him, who could have overcome him?’ He applied to him the verse: “If not that their Rock had sold them” (Deuteronomy 32:30). They were killing them until the horse was submerged in blood until its nostrils. The blood would roll boulders [weighing] forty se’a and would flow four mil into the sea. And lest you say it is proximate to the sea, it is a distance of four mil from the sea. Hadrian had a large vineyard eighteen mil by eighteen mil, like the distance between Tiberias and Tzippori. He surrounded it with a fence of the slain of Beitar. (This was to fertilize the vineyard with the flesh and blood.) He did not issue a decree [allowing the dead] to be buried, until a certain [new] emperor arose and issued a decree in their regard, and they buried them. Rabbi Huna said: The day that the slain of Beitar were brought to burial, [the blessing]: Who is good and does good, was instituted. (The Sages added this blessing to Grace after Meals.) Who is good, because they did not decompose, Who does good, because they were brought to burial. Beitar existed for fifty-two years after the destruction of the Temple. Why was it destroyed? Because they kindled lamps over the destruction of the Temple. (Kindling lamps was a sign of celebration.) Why did they kindle them? They said: The ruling aristocracy of Jerusalem would sit in the center of the city, and when one of them would ascend to pray, (When a resident of Beitar would ascend to Jerusalem to pray at the Temple.) one of them would say to him: ‘Do you wish to become a member of the ruling aristocracy?’ He would say: ‘No.’ ‘Do you wish to become a local governor?’ He would say to him: ‘No.’ [The aristocrat] would say to him: ‘I heard that you have an estate; do you wish to sell it to me?’ He would say to him: ‘I do not intend to do so.’ He would write and send his bill of sale to a member of his household: ‘If so and so comes, do not allow him to enter the estate because he sold it to me.’ (After offering the resident of Beitar an elevated status or a position of authority so that he would agree to sell his estate, and being rebuffed nevertheless, the corrupt aristocrats would take matters into their own hands and write false documents of sale on behalf of the Beitar resident.) That man would say: ‘If only that man’s leg would have been broken and he would not have ascended to that corner.’ (The resident of Beitar whose estate was taken would say: ‘If only I had not come to pray at the Temple.’) That is what is written: “They hunted [tzadu] our steps [from walking in our squares]” (Lamentations 4:18); may the roads be desolate [tzadya] of [people] walking to those plazas. (The people of Beitar hoped that people would stop traveling to the Temple.) “Our end approaches” (Lamentations 4:18); the end of that Temple, (They hoped that the Temple would be destroyed.) “our days are filled” (Lamentations 4:18); the days of that Temple. They, too, their good did not last, as it is written: “One who rejoices at calamity will not be absolved” (Proverbs 17:5). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Three hundred babies’ brains were found on a single rock, and three hundred baskets of phylacteries boxes were found in Beitar, each and every one of them holding three se’a. When you arrive at a tally, you find that there were three hundred se’a. (Each basket held three hundred se’a, for a total of nine hundred se’a.) Rabban Gamliel said: There were five hundred elementary schools in Beitar, and the smallest among them had no fewer than three hundred children. They would say: ‘If our enemies come against us, we will emerge and stab them with these quills.’ When the iniquities were the cause and the enemies came, they wrapped each and every one of them in his scroll and they burned them, and I am the only one of them who survived. He applied to himself the verse: “My eye distressed my soul…” (Lamentations 3:51). There were two brothers in Kefar Ḥaruva and they would not allow a Roman to pass there whom they did not kill. They said: ‘The entire objective of the matter is to take Hadrian’s crown and place it on Shimon’s head.’ (The reference is to Shimon bar Kokhva.) The Romans came, and when they went out [to fight them], a certain elder encountered them and said to them: ‘May the Creator come to your aid against them.’ They said to him: ‘Let Him not help and let Him not hinder.’ Immediately, their iniquities were the cause and they were killed. [The Roman soldiers] brought their heads to Hadrian. He said: ‘Who killed these?’ A certain Gontite (According to most commentaries, this is another name for the Cuthites. Some interpret the word to mean soldier.) said to him: ‘I killed them.’ He said to him: ‘Go bring me their bodies.’ He went and found a serpent wrapped around their necks. [Hadrian] said: ‘Had their God not killed them, who could have overcome them?’ He applied to them the verse: “If not that their Rock had sold them” (Deuteronomy 32:30). There were two cedars on the Mount of Olives, and beneath one of them there were four stores of sellers of ritually pure items. From one [store], they would take out forty se’a of fledglings each month, which would supply pairs of birds for Israel. (In some instances, one who is ritually impure must sacrifice a pair of birds as part of his purification process; see, e.g., Leviticus 15:29. ) Mount Shimon would produce three hundred barrels. (Many commentaries suggest that the text should read: Three hundred barrels of wine (see, e.g., Yefe Enayim).) Why were they destroyed? If you say it was because of the prostitutes, but was there not only one young woman there and they expelled her? Rabbi Huna said: It is because they would play ball on Shabbat. There were ten thousand towns on the King’s Mountain. Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsom owned one thousand of them. Corresponding to them, he had one thousand ships at sea. Three of those towns, Kavul, Shiḥin, and Magdela, their taxes would be taken up to Jerusalem. (Many commentaries assert that the text should read: Taken up to Jerusalem in a wagon (see, e.g., Yefe Enayim). This is an indication that the load was heavy. ) Why were they destroyed? Kavul, due to strife; Shiḥin, due to sorcery; Magdela, due to prostitution. There were three towns in the south that would produce twice the number of those who departed from Egypt, and they were: Kefar Bish, Kefar Shaḥalayim, and Kefar Dikhrin. Kefar Bish, why was its name called Kefar Bish? (This name literally means “bad village.”) Because they did not receive guests. Kefar Shaḥalayim, why was its name called Kefar Shaḥalayim? (Shaḥalayim means cress.) Because they would produce numerous children, like cress. (Cress is an edible herb that grows quickly.) Kefar Dikhrin, why was its name called Kefar Dikhrin? (Dikhrin means males in Aramaic.) Because every woman there would give birth to male [dikhrin] children. Any woman who wished to bear a female would go outside the town and bear a female. Any other woman who wished to bear a male son, would go there and bear a male. But now, when you attempt to plant six hundred thousand reeds there, the space will not suffice. (How could there have been twice that number of people in these towns?) Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Land of Israel has contracted. Rav Huna said: There were three hundred stores of sellers of ritually pure items in Magdela of the Dyers, and three hundred stores of weavers of curtains in Kefar Nimra. Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiya bar Abba: There were eighty brothers who were priests, who married eighty sisters who were daughters of priests on one night in Gufna, not including brothers not to sisters, not including sisters not to brothers, not including Levites, and not including Israelites. (Eighty pairs of brothers who were priests married eighty pairs of sisters who were the daughters of priests on one night, and this tally did not include marriages between priestly families in which a single son married a single daughter, and did not include weddings of those who were not priests. The fact that so many weddings occurred on one night indicates how large the population must have been.) Eighty thousand young priests were killed over the blood of Zekharya. (Zekharya was a priest and prophet who rebuked the Judean aristocracy for their idolatrous practices and was killed on the Temple Mount; see II Chronicles 24:20–22. ) Rabbi Yudan asked Rabbi Aḥa: ‘Where did they kill Zekharya, in the Israelite courtyard or the women’s courtyard?’ He said to him: ‘Neither in the Israelite courtyard nor in the women’s courtyard, but rather in the priestly courtyard.’ They did not treat his blood like the blood of a gazelle nor like the blood of a deer. There it is written: “Any man from the children of Israel, or from the strangers who resides among them, who shall hunt game of a beast…he shall [pour out its blood and] cover it with dirt” (Leviticus 17:13). However, here it is written: “For its blood was within it; on a bare rock it placed it. It did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dirt” (Ezekiel 24:7). Why to that extent? “To arouse fury to take vengeance, I placed its blood upon the bare rock that it not be covered” (Ezekiel 24:8). Israel performed seven transgressions on that day: They killed a priest, a prophet, and a judge, they spilled innocent blood, they desecrated the Name, they impurified the Temple courtyard, and it was Shabbat and Yom Kippur. When Nevuzaradan ascended, he saw that the blood of Zekharya was boiling. He said to them: ‘What is this?’ They said to him: ‘It is the blood of bulls and sheep.’ He brought bulls and sheep but [their blood] was not similar. He said to them: ‘If you tell me, fine. But if not, I will comb the flesh of these people with a comb of iron,’ but they did not tell him. When he said this to them, (When he continued to threaten them after realizing that the blood was clearly not the blood of bulls and sheep.) they said to him: ‘Why should we conceal it from you? We had a prophet, a priest, who would reprimand us in the name of Heaven, [saying] ‘Accept [my words],’ but we did not accept it from him. Rather, we rose against him and killed him.’ He said to them: ‘I will assuage it.’ He brought the Great Sanhedrin and slaughtered them onto it, but it did not rest. (He slaughtered the members of the Great Sanhedrin over the blood of Zekharya but the blood continued to boil.) He slaughtered the lesser Sanhedrin onto it, but it did not rest. He brought young priests and slaughtered them onto it, but it did not rest. He slaughtered schoolchildren onto it, but it did not rest. He said to it: ‘Zekharya, I have eliminated the best of your people. Is it your will that all of them will be eliminated?’ Immediately, it rested. That wicked one contemplated repentance, and said: ‘One who eliminates a single Israelite soul, it is written in his regard: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, his blood will be spilled by man” (Genesis 9:6), this man who eliminated many souls, all the more so.’ Immediately, the Holy One blessed be He became filled with mercy for them, and He intimated to the blood, and it was absorbed in its place. Eighty thousand young priests breached the armies of Nebuchadnezzar with gold shields in their hands. (They escaped the siege imposed by the Babylonian army.) They went to the Ishmaelites, who took out salty foods and inflated wineskins. They said to [the Ishmaelites]: ‘Let us drink first.’ They said to them: ‘Eat first and then you will drink.’ After they ate, each and every one of them took the wineskin, placed it in his mouth, and the wind entered his stomach and burst it. That is what is written: “A prophecy of Arabia: In the forest in Arabia you will stay the night, caravans of Dedanites. Bring water to the thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Teima greeted the wanderer with his bread [for they wandered due to swords, due to the drawn sword and to the bent bow]” (Isaiah 21:13–15). The one who is located “in the forest” of Lebanon “will stay the night.” (The Israelites, particularly the priests, who ordinarily spend time in the “forest of Lebanon,” i.e. the Temple, would stay the night amongst the Arabs.) But “caravans of the Dedanites,” is it the way of cousins to act this way? (The Dedanites are identified as the Ishmaelites, who are cousins [benei Dedanaya] of the Israelites.) Is this what their Father (God.) did to your ancestor? What is written regarding your ancestor? “God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad to drink” (Genesis 21:19). But you did not fulfill: “Bring water to the thirsty.” Was it because it was good for them that they came to you? “For they wandered due to swords” (Isaiah 21:15), it is due to the sword of Nebuchadnezzar that they wandered. “Due to a drawn [netusha] sword” (Isaiah 21:15), it is because they did not observe their Sabbatical Years properly, just as it is said: “But the seventh, you shall leave it fallow and relinquish it [untashtah]” (Exodus 23:11). “And to the bent [derukha] bow” (Isaiah 21:15), it is because they did not observe Shabbat properly, just as it is said: “In those days I saw in Judah some treading [dorekhim] winepresses on the Shabbat” (Nehemiah 13:15). “And due to the rigor of the war” (Isaiah 21:15), because they did not engage in the give and take of the war of Torah, of which it is written: “Therefore, it is said in the book of the Wars of the Lord” (Numbers 21:14). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: From Giveton to Antipatris there were six hundred thousand cities, the smallest of which was Beit Shemesh. That is what is written: “He smote among the men of Beit Shemesh…[and He smote of the people seventy men and fifty thousand men]” (I Samuel 6:19). (This demonstrates that this area was very well populated.) Now, there are not even one hundred reeds there. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Its priestly watch was the smallest of the priestly watches and would produce eighty thousand young priests. How many attacks did Hadrian launch? Two amora’im, one said fifty-two and one said fifty-four. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Happy is he who saw the downfall of Tadmor. Why? Because it played a role in two destructions. (The destructions of the two Temples.) Rabbi Yudan said: In the first destruction it provided eighty thousand archers and in the second it provided forty thousand archers. Rav Huna said: In the latter destruction they were like the first.
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana began: “Who is the wise man who will understand this…” (Jeremiah 9:11). Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai taught: If you have seen towns uprooted from their place in the Land of Israel, know that they did not provide the salaries of the Bible teachers and the Mishna teachers, as it is stated: “For what reason did the land perish.… The Lord said: Because they have forsaken My Torah” (Jeremiah 9:11–12). Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] would dispatch Rabbi Asi and Rabbi Ami to go out and establish [educational programs] in the cities of Israel. They would enter the city and say to [the residents]: ‘Bring us the guardians of the city.’ They would bring them the head of the city watch and the police. They would say to them: ‘Are these the guardians of the city? These are the destroyers of the city.’ (This is because the people rely on them for their security and do not place their trust in God.) [The residents] would say to them: ‘Who are the guardians of the city?’ They would say to [the residents]: ‘They are the Bible teachers and the Mishna teachers, who contemplate, review, and observe the Torah day and night, because it is stated: “You shall contemplate it day and night” (Joshua 1:8), and it says: “If the Lord does not build a house…[if the Lord does not guard a city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil]”’ (Psalms 127:1). Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Yitzḥak: We have found that the Holy One blessed be He overlooked idol worship, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed, but did not overlook disdain of the Torah, as it is stated: “For what reason did the land perish?” (Jeremiah 9:11). It is not written here that it was due to idol worship, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed; (This is despite the fact that the generation in which the First Temple was destroyed was considered to have been derelict regarding these very grave sins; see Yoma 9b.) rather, “Because they have forsaken My Torah” (Jeremiah 9:12). Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: It is written: “They have forsaken Me and did not observe My Torah” (Jeremiah 16:11). If only they had forsaken Me and observed My Torah. By engaging in it, the light that is in it would have returned them to the good [path]. Rav Huna said: Study Torah even if it is not for its own sake, as through doing so not for its own sake, one comes to do so for its own sake. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Each and every day a Divine Voice emerges from Mount Ḥorev and says: Woe unto the people due to the affront to Torah. Shmuel taught it in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Ami: When does the kingdom issue a decree (A decree against the Jews.) and the decree is effective? When Israel casts the words of Torah to the ground; that is what is written: “A host was given for the continual offering for transgression; [it cast truth to the ground, and it acted and succeeded]” (Daniel 8:12). “Host” is nothing other than kingdoms, as it is stated: “The Lord will reckon with the host of heaven in heaven [and with the kings of the earth on the earth]” (Isaiah 24:21). “The continual offering” – this is Israel, as it is written: “You shall contemplate it day and night” (Joshua 1:8). “For transgression” – this is the transgression of Torah. Whenever Israel casts the words of Torah to the ground, the kingdom issues a decree and it is effective, as it is stated: “It cast truth to the ground…,” and “truth” is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “Acquire truth and do not sell” (Proverbs 23:23). (In context, this verse refers to Torah.) If you cast the words of Torah to the ground, the kingdom succeeds immediately; that is what is written: “And it acted and succeeded.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Pazi said: “Israel has forsaken good…” (Hosea 8:3), and good is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “For I have given you a good lesson, [My Torah, do not forsake it]” (Proverbs 4:2). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: No philosophers arose for the nations of the world like Bilam ben Beor and Avnimus the weaver. They said to them: (The nations of the world said to the philosophers.) ‘Are we able to successfully challenge this nation?’ They said to them: ‘Go and visit their synagogues; if the children are reciting aloud, you will be unable to overcome them, but if not, you will be able to overcome them, for this is what their patriarch promised them when he said to them: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22): As long as the voice of Jacob is in the synagogues and the study halls, the hands are not the hands of Esau. (War with Israel will be futile.) But, when his voice is not reciting in the synagogues and the study halls, the hands are the hands of Esau.’ So, it says: “Therefore, just as straw consumes a tongue of fire, [and a flame destroys stubble, their root will become rot and their blossom will rise like dust; for they have forsaken the Torah of the Lord of hosts, and they have scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel]” (Isaiah 5:24). Does straw consume fire? Is it not the way of fire to consume straw, and yet it states: “Therefore, just as straw consumes a tongue of fire.” Rather, “straw” – this is the house of Esau, as it is stated: “The house of Jacob will be fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for straw” (Obadiah 1:18). “A tongue of fire” – this is the house of Jacob; “and a flame destroys stubble” – this is the house of Joseph; “their root will become rot” – these are the patriarchs, who are the roots of Israel; “and their blossom will rise like dust” – these are the tribes, who are the blossoms of Israel. Why? “For they have forsaken the Torah of the Lord of hosts…” Rabbi Yudan said: “For they have forsaken the Torah of the Lord of hosts” – this is the written Torah; “and they have scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel” – this is the Oral Torah. When they cast the words of Torah to the ground, Jeremiah began lamenting over them, eikha. “So said the Lord of hosts: Attend, and call for the lamenting women” (Jeremiah 9:16). Rabbi Yoḥanan, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, and the Rabbis: Rabbi Yoḥanan said: [This is analogous] to a king who had two sons. He grew angry at the first, took the rod, struck him, and exiled him. He said: Woe unto him, from what tranquility was he exiled. He grew angry at the second, took the rod, struck him, and exiled him. He said: It is I whose culture is faulty. So too, the ten tribes were exiled, and the Holy One blessed be He began saying this verse in their regard: “Woe unto them, as they have strayed from Me” (Hosea 7:13). (He placed the blame on them.) When Judah and Benjamin were exiled, the Holy One blessed be He said, as it were: “Woe is Me, for My hurt” (Jeremiah 10:19). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: [This is analogous] to a king who had two sons. He grew angry at the first, took the rod, struck him, and he convulsed and died. He began lamenting him. He grew angry at the second, took the rod, struck him, and he convulsed and died. He said: I no longer have the strength to lament them; rather, call the lamenting women, and they will lament them. So too, the ten tribes were exiled, and the Holy One blessed be He began lamenting them: “Hear this matter that I recite as a lamentation for you, house of Israel” (Amos 5:1). When Judah and Benjamin were exiled, the Holy One blessed be He said, as it were: I no longer have the strength to lament them. That is what is written: “Call for the lamenting women…and let them hasten and take up wailing over us, [and our eyes will shed tears, and our eyelids will flow with water]” (Jeremiah 9:16–17). It is not written here, “over them,” but rather, “over us,” Me and them. It is not written here, “and their eyes will shed tears,” but rather, “our eyes,” Mine and theirs. It is not written here, “and their eyelids will flow with water,” but rather, “our eyelids,” Mine and theirs. The Rabbis say: [This is analogous] to a king who had twelve sons. Two died, and he began taking solace with the [remaining] ten. Two more died, and he began taking solace with eight. Two died, and he began taking solace with six. Two died, and he began taking solace with four. Two died, and he began taking solace with two. When they all died, he began lamenting them: “How does…sit solitary?” (Lamentations 1:1).
What is written of Moses? (Numbers 20:14-16) "And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom … And our fathers went down to Egypt … and He hearkened to our voice." He (the king of Edom) said to them (the messengers): You take pride in what your father Isaac bequeathed to you — (Genesis 27:22) "The voice is the voice of Jacob", (Numbers 21:3) "And the L–rd hearkened to the voice of Israel" — and we take pride in what our father Isaac bequeathed to us — (Genesis, Ibid.) "and the hands are the hands of Esav", (Ibid. 40) "and by your sword will you live." As it is written (Numbers 20:18) "And Edom said to him: Do not pass through me, lest I go out against you with the sword," their trust being only in the sword. But Israel embraced the "trade" (prayer) of their fathers, the trade of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
(Numb. 22:23:) NOW THE SHE-ASS SAW THE ANGEL OF THE LORD. Was not the angel able to breathe on him and take away his spirit? Instead, he drew his sword. And look at what is written about Sennacherib (in II Kings 19:35 = Is. 37:36 // II Chron. 32:21.): THAT THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT OUT AND SMOTE IN THE CAMP OF ASSYRIA…. It is also written (in Is. 40:24): HE BLOWS ON THEM AND THEY WITHER. However, he said to him: the mouth was given to Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU; but the nations all live by the sword. Now you are trading off your skill and coming against them with their . I also am coming against you with your own .
(Gen. 27:6, 8, & 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get < the venison >, he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 & 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: < I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN >…. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 &. 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN…. (It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18.) PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: < HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK > … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him: (Cf. Gen. R. 65:19.) When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused < a sacrificial animal > to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES < TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM >…. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. (Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal.) Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob; (Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said: (yTa‘an. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21.) In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor (Lat.: Caesar.) Hadrian, < who > [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther. (This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1968.) R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out < over > what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.
[(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY < GOD > GIVE TO YOU.] What is written above of the matter (in Gen. 27:1, 6, 17)? NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >…. THEN REBEKAH SAID UNTO HER SON JACOB…. THEN SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite said in the name of R. Helbo: She brought him in as far as her partition, as far as she had authority to enter. (Gen. R. 65:17.) She said to him: My son, I have accompanied you in this far. From here on your God will accompany you in. He entered as he said to him (to Isaac in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. R. Johanan said: When he said: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, (See above, 6:10; Gen. R. 65:19.) Isaac said: This language is not the language of Esau, but the language of Jacob, as stated (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You know that it is so. When Jacob entered, what did he say (in vs. 19)? PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. But when Esau entered, [what did he say to him (in vs. 31)? LET MY FATHER ARISE. Look at] what he is saying, how he speaks with difficulty: LET MY FATHER ARISE…. Isaac began saying to Jacob (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, < MY SON >…. R.Joshua said: When he said (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER, his body trembled, and he hung back like wax. (Cf. Gen. R. 44:3; 65:19.) What did the Holy One do? He spoke to two of the angels, to Gabriel and Michael, and they assisted him, Michael to his right and Gabriel to his left, with that one in his glory, may his name be blessed, supporting him from his rear. Then he said to him: Jacob, why are you afraid, with your body buckling over upon itself? I am God. My army (Gk.: stratia.) < has come > to help you, and they are supporting you. Still, you are afraid! Thus it is stated (in Is. 41:10): FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU; BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU, I ALSO HELP YOU, AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU. Let not your body sink down, FOR I AM WITH YOU. BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU with Michael. I ALSO HELP YOU with Gabriel. AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. Immediately [Isaac] said to him (in Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. Your power is stronger than his. If Esau captures anyone, see, he is in his hand; but if [that one] flees, he cannot do a thing to him. With you, however, even though someone flees from one end of the world to [the other], (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You say something in the synagogue; and look, it comes to pass of its own accord.
(Gen. 27:22:) THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. All voices are yours, as stated (in Exod. 19:16): AND THERE WERE VOICES (of thunder) AND LIGHTNINGS. And the rains come down only due to you, as stated (in Jer. 10:13): WHEN HE SOUNDS HIS VOICE, THERE IS TUMULT IN THE WATERS OF HEAVEN.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. The hands of Esau shall be shaken when the voice of Jacob comes. This (coming voice of Jacob) refers to the Messianic King, according to what is stated (in Is. 40:9): GO UP UPON A HIGH MOUNTAIN, O HERALD OF GOOD TIDINGS TO ZION, RAISE YOUR VOICE WITH STRENGTH.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, < BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU >. He said to him: In respect to your brother Esau, if misfortune touches him, he begins reviling and cursing; but in your case, if afflictions touch you, practice self-restraint and do not show anger toward your Creator through your voice. And if you prattle with your voice, THE HANDS OF ESAU will be touching you; [but, if not, THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. What is the meaning of BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU?] That which you find at Rephidim. The Israelites prattled < there > with their voice and said (in Exod. 17:7): IS THE LORD PRESENT AMONG US < OR NOT >? Immediately Amalek came against them, as stated (in vs. 8): THEN AMALEK CAME < AND FOUGHT WITH ISRAEL AT REPHIDIM >.
(Numb. 22:20:) “Then God came unto Balaam at night.” This text is related (to Exod. 12:42), “That was for the Lord a night of vigil.” All miracles which were done for Israel and which involved exacting retribution for them from the wicked took place at night: (Numb. R. 20:12.) (Gen. 31:24:) “And God came unto Laban the Aramean in a dream at night.” And it is written (in Gen. 20:3:) “But God came unto Abimelech in a dream at night.” And it is written (in (Gen. 14:15), “And he deployed at night.” And it is written (in Exod. 12:29), “And it came to pass in the middle of the night.” And so [it was with] all of them. Another interpretation: Why did he reveal himself to Balaam by night? He was not worthy of [receiving] the holy spirit [except at night]. Since He speaks at night with all the prophets of the nations, as stated (in Job 4:13), “In opinions from night visions.” And so Eliphaz says (in Job 4:13), “In a dream, a vision of the night,” about [Balaam’s] speaking with him at night. (Numb. 22:20, cont.:) “If these men have come to invite you, arise and go with them.” From here you learn that in the way that a man wants to go, in it is he driven. As at first it was said to him (in Numb. 22:12), “Do not go with them.” As soon as he had become defiant, he went. As so is it written about him (in Numb. 22:22), “But God's anger was kindled because he was going.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “I do not desire the death of the wicked. [But] in as much as you want to be obliterated from the world, ‘arise and go with them.’” And it is written (in Numb. 22:20, cont.), “but only the thing [that I tell you are you to do].” [These words are] to teach you that he went with a warning. Immediately he got up early in the morning, as stated (in vs. 21), “So Balaam arose early in the morning, saddled his she-ass, [and went with the princes of Moab].” Did he not have a male or female slave [to saddle his donkey]? It was simply that his hatred for Israel was so great that he beat [his servant] to it and arose quickly all by himself. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You wicked man! Their ancestor Abraham has already anticipated you at the binding of his son Isaac,” as stated (in Gen. 22:3), “So Abraham arose early in the morning, saddled his he-ass.” (Numb. 22:21, cont.:) “And went with the princes of Moab.” [These words are] to teach you that he was as glad at the tribulation of Israel as they were. (Numb. 22:22:) “But God's anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took a stand [in the road as his adversary (satan)].” (A good example of this Hebrew word when it is not used as a proper noun.) He was an angel of mercy, but to [Balaam] he had become an adversary (satan). (Numb. R. 20:13.) And so he said [unto] Balaam, “You have caused me to practice a craft that is not my own, as stated (Numb. 22:32), “here I have come out as an adversary (satan).” (Numb. 22:22, cont.:) “And two of his servant boys were with him.” This is customary for one going out on the road. It is necessary for two to attend him. Then in turn they attend each other. (Numb. 22:23:) “Now the she-ass saw the angel of the Lord and a sword was drawn in his hand.” Was not the angel able to breathe on him and take away his spirit unless he drew his sword? And look at what is written about Sennacherib (in II Kings 19:35 = Is. 37:36 // II Chron. 32:21.), “the angel of the Lord went out and smote [one hundred and eighty-five thousand] in the camp of Assyria.” [It is also written (in Is. 40:24),] “he blows on them and they wither.” However, he said to him, “[Skill with] the mouth was given to Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 27:22), ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob.’ And [skill with] the hands to Esau, as stated (in Gen. 27:40), ‘Upon your sword shall you live.’ All the nations all live by the sword. Now you are trading off your craft and coming against them with their [craft]. I also am coming against you with your own [craft].” (Numb. 22:24:) “Then the angel of the Lord stood in a lane between the vineyards.” Could he not have gone after him into the field? (Numb. R. 20:14.) It is simply that this is the nature of the Holy One, blessed be He. When a king of flesh and blood sends an executioner (Lat.: speculator (“examiner”).) to kill a particular person, he goes after him for many days, so that this person who has incurred the penalty of death [continues] eating and drinking, while the executioner goes after him from place to place. With the Holy One, blessed be He, however, it is not like that. Rather the executioner is in his place and whoever has incurred the penalty of death comes to him of his own accord. So that the angel would not be bothered with going after Balaam, he simply went ahead of him on the road, for it is so written (ibid.), “Then the angel of the Lord stood in a lane between the vineyards.” He said to him, “Shall the vineyards (i.e., Israel) be given over to the foxes?” (Cf. the parallel text in Numb. R. 20:14, which has “like foxes.”) (Numb. 22:24, cont.:) “With a wall on one side and a wall on the other side.” You cannot prevail against them, because in their hand (according to Exod. 32:15) are tablets of stone, written [on both their sides], on the one side and on the other side they are written. (Numb. 22:25-26:) “When the she-ass saw the angel of the Lord, she was pressed [against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck it again]. Then the angel of the Lord moved forward again [and stood in a place so narrow that there was no room to turn aside to the right or to the left].” What reason did he have to go ahead of him three times? He showed him here symbols of the [three] patriarchs. When he stood before him the first time, there was space on one side and on the other, [as stated] (in Numb. 22:23), “so the she-ass turned aside from the road.” On the second occasion she could only move to one side. On the third occasion (according to Numb. 22:26) “there was no room to turn aside to the right or to the left.” So what do the symbols mean? If he ever sought to curse the Children of Abraham, he would find the Children of Ishmael and the Children of Keturah on one side and on the other. [If] he sought to curse the Children of Isaac, he would find the Children of Esau on one side, and (according to Numb. 22:25) “she was pressed against the (one) wall.” In the case of the Children of Jacob, however, he found among them no residue through which to touch them. It is therefore written about the third occasion (in vs. 26), “in a narrow (‘zar) place.” This is Jacob, as stated (in Genesis 32:8), “Jacob was very frightened and [it] distressed (ye‘zer) him.” (Numb. 22:26:) “There was no room to turn aside to the right or to the left.” As there was no residue in any of his sons. (Numb. 22:27:) “When the she-ass saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, [so Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the she-ass with a stick (mql)],” because of the shame with which she had shamed him. (Both the noun and verb, translated here as SHAME, come from the root, BZH; but the interpretation may have been suggested by a word with a similar meaning, namely MQLH, which means “putting to shame.” This word could have implied the relation between shame and MQL as used in Numb. 22:27.)
Furthermore it says: Fear not, thou worm Jacob (Isa. 41:14). Why is Israel compared to a worm? To teach us that just as a worm has only a soft and tender mouth with which to strike at a hard cedar tree, so Israel has only its prayers. Idolaters are likened to a cedar, as Scripture states: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon (Exod. 31:3). And yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars in Lebanon (Ps. 29:5). Whenever their enemies overpowered them, the Israelites would become penitent and would plead and pray. Hence it says: I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren which I took out of the hand of the Amorites, with my sword and with my bow (Gen 48:29). Did he actually seize it with his sword and his bow? Has it not already been said: For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me (Ps. 44:7)? This implies that my sword refers to prayer and my bow to beseeching. Scripture says: And this for Judah, and he said: “Hear Lord, the voice of Judah,” etc. (Deut. 33:7). Similarly, David said: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast taunted (I Sam. 17:45). It says also: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will make mention of the name of the Lord his God (Ps. 20:8), and it is said: There is none beside Thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength; help us, O Lord our God; for we rely on Thee, and in Thy name are we come against this multitude. Thou art the Lord our God; let not man prevail against thee (II Chron. 14:10). Concerning Moses it states: And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom … how our fathers went down into Egypt, and when we cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice (Num. 20:14–15). He said to them: Ye exalt yourselves because of your fathers’ legacy to you, but the voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau (Gen. 27:40). Thus the verse The children of Israel cried out unto the Lord indicates that they followed the practices of their fathers. After they cried out to Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them, as it is said: But from thence ye will seek the Lord thy God; and thou shall find him (Deut. 4:29).
Now (Jacob) was skilled in the Torah, and his heart dreaded the curse of his father. His mother said to him: My son ! If it be a blessing, may it be upon thee and upon thy seed; if it be a curse, let it be upon me and upon my soul, as it is said, "And his mother said to him, Upon me be thy curse, my son" (Gen. 27:13). He went and brought two kids of the goats. Were two kids of the goats the food for Isaac? But he brought one as a Paschal offering, and with the other he prepared the savoury meat to eat; and he brought it to his father, and he said to him: "Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison" (Gen. 27:19). Isaac said: "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (Gen. 27:22). Jacob (declares) the unity of God. "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.) in the meditation of the Torah. "And the hands are the hands of Esau" (ibid.), in all shedding of blood and in every evil death. Not only this, but also when they proclaim in heaven, "The voice is the voice of Jacob," the heavens tremble. And when they proclaim on earth, "The voice is the voice of Jacob" (ibid.), every one who hears will make his portion with "The voice which is the voice of Jacob." And every one || who does not hear and does not act (obediently), his portion is with "The hands, which are the hands of Esau."
“The Lord said to Moses: ‘Why are you crying out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and have them set forth’” (Exodus 14:15). “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Why are you crying out to Me?’” That is what is written: “They cried out and the Lord heard” (Psalms 34:18). Why is this so? Isaac bequeathed two inheritances to his two sons: He bequeathed the voice to Jacob, as it says: “The voice is the voice of Jacob” (Genesis 27:22). He bequeathed the hands to Esau, as it is stated: “But the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). Esau was proud of his inheritance, as it is stated: “Edom said to him: 'You shalt not pass through me, lest with a sword [I will come out against you’]” (Numbers 20:18). Jacob was proud of his inheritance, as it is stated: “We cried out to the Lord, God of our fathers” (Deuteronomy 26:7). In the future, both of them will receive their rewards. Esau will receive his reward, as it is stated: “As My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it will descend upon Edom” (Isaiah 34:5). Jacob will receive his reward, as it is stated: “The voice of gladness, the voice of joy” (Jeremiah 33:11). This is why it is written: “They cried out and the Lord heard,” because the children of Israel cried out at the sea, as it is stated: “The children of Israel cried out to the Lord” (Exodus 14:10). The Holy One blessed be He heard their prayer and said to Moses: “Why are you crying out to Me? I already heard their cry .” – “Speak to the children of Israel and have them set forth.”
Variantly: "And He said: The L-rd came from Sinai": When the L-rd appeared to give Torah to Israel, it is not to Israel alone that He appeared, but to all of the nations. First He went to the children of Esav, and He asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered: "You shall not kill" (Shemoth 20:13). They answered: The entire essence of our father is murder, as it is written (Bereshith 27:22) "And the hands are the hands of Esav." And it is with this that his father assured him (Ibid. 27:40) "And by your sword shall you live." He then went to the children of Ammon and Moav and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered "You shall not commit adultery." They answered: L-rd of the Universe, ervah (illicit relations) is our entire essence, as it is written (Ibid. 19:36) "And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father." He then went and found the children of Yishmael and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered: "You shall not steal" (Shemoth, Ibid.) They answered: L-rd of the Universe, our father's entire essence is stealing, viz. (Bereshith 16:12) "And he (Yishmael) shall be a wild man, his hand against all." There was none among all of the nations to whom He did not go and speak and knock at their door, asking if they would accept the Torah, viz. (Psalms 138:4) "All the kings of the earth will acknowledge You, O L-rd, for they heard the words of Your mouth." I might think they heard and accepted; it is, therefore, written (Ezekiel 33:31) "And they did not do them (the mitzvoth)." And (Michah 5:14) "And with anger and wrath will I take revenge of the nations because they did not accept (the mitzvoth)." And even the seven mitzvoth that the sons of Noach took upon themselves they could not abide by, until they divested themselves of them and ceded them to Israel. An analogy: One sent his ass and his dog to the threshing floor, loading his ass with a lethech (a dry measure) and his dog with three sa’ah. The ass went and the dog buckled, whereupon he took a sa'ah from it and put it on the ass; and so with the second (sa’ah) and so with the third. Here, too, Israel accepted the Torah with all of its explanations and inferences; but the sons of Noach could not even abide by the seven mitzvoth that they did take upon themselves, until they divested themselves of them and ceded them to Israel, wherefore it is written "And he said: The L-rd came from Sinai, etc."
The reward for teaching children is very great and their breath has many beneficial effects, including the ability to avert terrible decree. Thus the Sages comment (Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 65:20) on the verse, “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Bereishis 27:22), that when the voices of children are heard chirping in the study halls and synagogues of Yaakov, the “hands of Eisav” cannot bring upon us evil decrees, Heaven forbid.
We find further in the Midrash (Eichah Rabbah Pethichta): "(Bereshith 27:22): 'The voice is the voice of Jacob' — So long as the voice of Jacob "chirps" in the houses of prayer and the houses of study the hands of Esav will not prevail over him. But if the voice of Jacob, etc."
What is required in addition to remorse, is the forsaking of evil and the performance of good deeds. One needs to hold on to the pillar of Torah which is the banner of true freedom, i.e. freedom from the evil urge. We are capable of performing mighty deeds as long as we embrace Torah with our right hand, paraphrasing the words of Moses describing G–d's mighty deeds: ימינך ה' נאדרי בכח ימינך ה' תרעץ אויב. Our sages (Midrash Hagadol) in commenting on Genesis 27,22: הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, whereas the hands are the hands of Esau," interpret this phrase to mean that as long as the voice is the voice of Jacob, the hands of Esau are powerless against us.
והיה כי יביאך ה' אלוקיך אל הארץ אשר אתה בא שמה לרשתה . "When the Lord your G–d will bring you to the land to which you will come in order to inherit it." The Torah speaks of terrestrial ארץ ישראל which is similar to its celestial counterpart. The word הארץ refers to the "earth" after one's death in which one "sleeps," i.e. refines the body through metamorphosis in order to be able to take one's place in one's original inheritance, the one intended for Adam before the sin. Just as on our earth there are two mountains, Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival, which symbolize blessing and curse respectively, so there are two parallel mountains in the Celestial Regions. One is generally known in our scriptures as ההר הטוב, or הר ה', "the Mountain of ‘good,’ or the Mountain of G–d," the one which can be climbed only by people who have complied with the criteria set down in Psalms 24,4. The other Mountain is known as הר שעיר, the Mountain of Se'ir, symbolizing darkness exuded by the evil urge. Our rabbis describe it as a "Mountain" because they view the overcoming of the evil urge as similar to the scaling of a mountain. The wicked, on the other hand, consider the evil urge as something they can easily control and therefore the evil urge appears to them merely as high as an hair, hence the name הר שעיר, "the mountain no higher than an hair." Were it not for the "good angels" created by our various מצות, our access to the Mountain of G–d would be severed completely. G–d in His great mercy decided to pay more attention to the "voice" of what these good angels relate about us than to the foul deeds we commit with our hands, i.e. הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו, "though the hands are the hands of an Esau, the voice is that of Jacob." [A homiletical explanation by Midrash Shmuel of Genesis 27,22 applied to Akavyah's statement in Avot 3,1. Ed.] The words ואין אתה בא לידי עברה mean that if you have קול יעקב going for you you are in no danger at the hands of Esau, the hands of Satan. The meaning of the name הר גריזים is similar to the meaning of Psalms 31,23: ואני אמרתי בחפזי נגרזתי לפניך, "I said in my haste I am thrust out of Your sight." The Psalmist goes on to say that David learned that he had not been cast out by G–d after all. The function of Mount Gerizim then is to reassure us that Paradise lost is recoverable. Our deeds create the "good angels" whose pleas reach the throne of G–d. there are also barriers in the heavens between the different categories of צדיקים. Every righteous person occupies a station appropriate to his conduct while he lived on earth. Our Rabbis (Tanchuma Beshalach 10) explained that G–d made separate lanes when the tribes of Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds. They base this on Psalms 136,13: "Who divided the Sea of Reeds into גזרים, sections." The same happened when the Jewish people crossed the river Jordan into the Holy Land. This was one of the reasons twelve stones were erected in the river-bed; they marked where each tribe crossed.
So the two goats of the High Priest’s service evoke in multiple ways the figures of Jacob and Esau, and specifically the scene in which Jacob pretended to be Esau, dressing in his clothes so that he would feel and smell like his brother. It was then that, answering his father’s question, “Who are you, my son?” Jacob said the words, “I am your firstborn Esau,” leading Isaac to say, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Gen. 27:22).
“God heard our voice.” It was necessary for the Haggadah to quote this verse, “God heard their moaning,” (Ex. 2:24) because God listened to the cry of the Israelites came a result of the merit of their forefathers, as the verse goes on to state, “God (Elohim) remembered His covenant with Abraham Isaac, and Jacob.” God heard their cry because of forefathers and not because their ancestors in Egypt were worthy. In Deuteronomy, “God (Adonai) heard our voice,” the unique name (The expression Hashem Hamiyuchad, the unique name of God, is a reference to the tetragrammaton, the four letter name of God. The connection between this name and kol, voice, is not completely clear. When Jacob comes to his father to receive a blessing through deceit, Scripture states, "The voice is the voice of Jacob." The Talmud states: “So long as the voice of Jacob is heard in prayer and study, the hand of Esau is powerless against Jacob.” The voice, then, is associated with invoking God’s name. In Kabbalah, kol is an attribute of God.) of God appears in this verse, while in Exodus we read, “God (Elohim) heard their moaning,” using the name Elohim. The unique name of God is associated with the use of the word kol, voice, since the God of Jacob is also connected to the verse, “The voice is the voice of Jacob.” (Gen. 27:22) Understand this well! In the second verse, the name Elohim is used in connection with the word naakatam, their moaning, because Elohim is associated with the attribute of justice. One should note the order of this verse: “Elohim heard their moaning, Elohim remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Elohim saw the Israelites, and Elohim knew.” Elohim is mentioned separately four times instead of combining them together. (Elohim heard, remembered, saw, and knew…) This is a mighty matter. It teaches us that Israel was watched over by a higher power after they were abandoned and that God then brought them close and cleaved to them on four different stages. (This is the process by which God cleaves to Israel and brings them close to Him. By the same token it is also the process by which we bring God close to us as well. The Maharal writes: “According to the Ramban, this is a great mystery.” The Ramban uses this expression whenever he makes reference to Kabbalistic matters in his Torah commentary.) 1. Shemiyah, hearing is the first stage. In this stage, the wall that separates Israel from the divine is removed so that God can ‘hear’ their cry. 2. Zechirah, recalling, is the second level. God recalls but this is not a complete state of cleaving. It is simply a matter of remembering but it is still not completely known. 3. Ri’iah, seeing, is the third stage. This is a greater state of cleaving, but it is still only partial since one only cleaves to that which is outward. 4. Yediah, knowing, is the final and deepest stage. This is the stage of intellectual attainment through which outer and inner essence becomes known.
How goodly. The reason Bil'am did not want them to possess synagogues and academies of Torah study was in order to separate, God forbid, the spirit of Hashem from Yisroel. For all the while they possess synagogues and academies of Torah study, the spirit of Hashem is among them. Furthermore, because of (Bereishis 27:22), The voice is the voice of Yaakov; through their synagogues and academies of Torah study, the enemies of Yisroel have no effect on them and are unable to harm them.
It also states in the Midrash Rabbah on the Torah passage of Toldos, parasha 65, No one arose in the world who was as wise as Balaam the son of Beor and Abnimos of Guadara. The nations of the world came to them to inquire, “Tell us whether we can defeat (Literally “match them.”) this nation.” They replied, “Walk near their synagogues and their study halls. If you should find small children with voices uplifted there, you will not be able to defeat them. For so were they promised by their Father when he said to them, ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau.’” (Gen. 27:22.) When the voice of Jacob is found within the sanctuaries, the hands of Esau will have no power if not, the hands of Esau will have power, and you will defeat them.’”
There are some profound stories about listening in the Torah and Tanakh. Take, for instance, the fraught episode in which Jacob takes his father’s blessing, intended for Esau. The story eliminates sight as a dimension: Isaac is old and cannot see. Yet he has persistent doubts as to whether the son in front of him is indeed Esau. He goes through the various senses. He tastes the food his son has brought. He smells his clothes. He touches his hands. He concludes: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Gen. 27:22). How much anguish might have been spared had he followed the evidence of his hearing rather than his taste, smell, and touch.
God heard our voice… and God remembered His covenant: After the old Pharaoh died, his advisors advised his son to carry on the policies that his father had made with the nation and to continue to oppress the Israelites. God paid him back ‘measure for measure,’ by punishing the generations to come for the sins of the fathers with the final plague. The Torah says that God heard ‘our voice’ (in the singular). This is a problematic expression: how could they raise their voice and all their voices sound like a single voice? Elsewhere we learn, regarding the rebellious child, that he can only be found guilty if his parent’s voices are the same. (BT Sanhedrin71a) Rashi explains that this is derived from the Torah. The Torah says, “He won’t listen to our voice” – it does not say voices. (Deuteronomy 21:20) If the word koleinu means literally ‘our voice’ (and not our voices) in Deuteronomy, then it should have the same meaning here, too. But there is yet another problem with the expression here “God heard our voice.” We are taught, that “Anyone who raises his voice in prayer (instead of praying silently) lacks in faith.” (BT Berachot 24b) Therefore the word, kol, here implies thoughts and meditation and not a physical voice, as in the expression, “The voice is the voice of Jacob.” (Genesis 27:22) The people prayed quietly and directed their hearts to their Father in Heaven, and as a result, God remembered His covenant with them. Since they prayed silently, their voices were all the same.
In the days when the judges judged: The first letters of Vayehi bi’yemei shefot hashoftim spell shuvah, return/repent. All of the prophets prophesied that they people should return to God but they did not turn; therefore, there was a famine in the land. It might also be related to the statement of the sages: At a time when the voice is the voice of Jacob, the hands of Esau have no power. (This is a reference to Gen 27:22, So Jacob drew close to his father Isaac, who felt his arms and wondered out loud, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau.” Possibly this means that in that generation, the voice of Jacob was muted so the hands of Esau took precedence.) It is also taught, “If there is no Torah there is no bread.” (Pirkei Avot 3:17) There is an allusion to this - the numerical value of Kol Kol is the same as the word raav. famine, 272. When there is neglect of Torah, Esau, the demonic realm rules and there is prosecution from above. Thus, the verse states, “In the days when the judges judge.” Torah decreased and it caused a famine in the land.
וישמע את קולנו, “He listened to our voice (prayer).” This was a reference to the power of prayer i.e. הקול קול יעקב, “the voice is the voice of Yaakov,” bequeathed by Yitzchak to his son Yaakov (Genesis 27,22).
ויחר אף אלו-הים, “G’d’s anger was kindled.” G’d was angry because He realized Bileam had gone in order to curse. ויתיצב מלאך ה' בדרך לשטן לו, ”an angel of Hashem positioned himself on the way in such a manner as to obstruct him.” Bileam had tried to appropriate to himself a vocation which was meant to be exclusively that of the Jewish people, i.e. הקול קול יעקב, “the use of the voice is a use reserved for Yaakov” (Genesis 27,2). In retaliation for this trespass, the angel also made use of a weapon which is not really his own, i.e. the sword, the weapon allocated to Esau, as he was an angel dispatched by the attribute of Mercy. [Had it been an angel dispatched by the attribute of Justice he would have killed Bileam instead of preventing him from carrying out his sinful intent. Ed.]. We find here another demonstration of the principle מדה כנגד מדה, measure for measure.
One may also explain the wording of this prayer in a different way. Yaakov prayed for what he needed immediately and for his needs during future generations. As far as his immediate needs were concerned, he needed to be saved from “my brother.” During future generations, throughout a good part of Jewish history, he or his descendants would need to be saved “from Esau.” Concerning such future times, David also formulated a prayer in Psalms 10,15 when he said: שבור זרוע רשע, “break the power (arm) of the wicked!”
וישמע קלנו HE HEARD OUR VOICE — through the blessing with which our father, Jacob, had blessed us — “the voice is Jacob’s voice” (Genesis 27:22), because whenever we cry we are answered (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 9 on בשלח).
וביד חזקה AND WITH A STRONG HAND — relying upon our ancestors’ assurance: (Genesis 27:22) “and the hands are the hands of Esau” (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 9 on בשלח)
[28] The spider grasps with its hands This refers to Esau, as it is stated (Gen. 27:22): “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
I will now explain this midrashically: The remaining years of exile (four times Elohim) were abrogated through the four acts through which Israel atoned. It was written that because of four mighty things Israel was redeemed: They didn’t change their names, they didn’t change their language, they were chaste in their sexual behavior, and they did not slander one another…. These four acts atoned four times to Elohim (86) which was the amount of time that they had to remain in Egypt. This is alluded to in the verse, “And we cried out to Adonai, God of our ancestors…” (Deut 26:7) Their cry was because of the years of exile that they could not bear. “And Adonai heard our voice - specifically, “The voice is the voice of Jacob,” (Gen. 27:22) because they didn’t change their language. “And God saw our affliction,” this refers to the forced separation of husbands and wives which was a form of affliction since the Israelites refused to engage in sexually illicit relations. If they hadthe forced separation would not have been an affliction, for, “Filling his stomach is a type of sin.” (BT Berachot 32a the exact meaning of this saying from the Talmud is not clear here. Possibly, indulging in physicality is a sin.) “And our misery (amaleinu)” is our wealth. It alludes to the fact that the Israelites kept one another’s secrets. After plundering Egypt no one revealed where their money had gone. “And our oppression,” during all of the subjugation the Israelites did not change their names. If they had changed their names, their names would have been similar to the idolaters and they would not have been enslaved. But all of the Israelites were enslaved. It was because of these four acts that Israel had 344 years (4 times Elohim) removed from their years of slavery and they were treated compassionately by Adonai who promised them four redemptions.
אולי ימושני אבי, “perhaps my father will subject me to a “touch-test.” Yaakov did not worry that his father would need such a test to recognise him, but he was concerned that in the process of offering and serving him the meal, Yitzchok would unintentionally touch him, even wanting to kiss him, something which could alert him to the fact that he was not Esau. Actually, it is remarkable that Yaakov did not worry that his voce would betray him for who he was in reality. We know that in the event, Yitzchok became immediately aware that the voice speaking to him sounded like that of Yaakov (Genesis 27,22). It is possible that the brothers, being twins, had very similar sounding voices, and that is why Yaakov was not worried about being recognised by his voice. When the Torah wrote: “the voice sounds like the voice of Yaakov,” this is not a reference to the tone of voice, etc., but to the manner of Yaakov’s speech, which was so totally different from the mode of speech used by his brother. It is also possible that he had tried to fake his voice to sound like that of his brother. The art of impersonating other people’s voices is a well known phenomenon.
“He felt him and he said, the voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau” [27:22]. Isaac touched Jacob. Isaac said: the voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau. He thought that this must be Jacob because he speaks very quietly and not haughtily. However, Esau speaks with haughty words. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:22.)
Hizkuni writes. Isaac could not properly understand his voice. Sometimes a person can speak thinly and sometimes his voice is very thick. However, from the hands he understood that this must be Esau because they were full of hair. Therefore, he blessed him. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:22.)
They responded: "No hand shall touch it, for he shall be stoned." (Exodus 19:13), and they continued, "The voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau," (Genesis 27:22) and it is therefore clear that it is forbidden to go out wearing them.
§ Apropos its discussion of the destruction of the Temple and the calamities that befell Israel, the Gemara cites the verse: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22), which the Sages expounded as follows: “The voice”; this is the cry stirred up by the emperor Hadrian, who caused the Jewish people to cry out when he killed six hundred thousand on six hundred thousand in Alexandria of Egypt, twice the number of men who left Egypt. “The voice of Jacob”; this is the cry aroused by the emperor Vespasian, who killed four million people in the city of Beitar. And some say: He killed forty million people. “And the hands are the hands of Esau”; this is the wicked kingdom of Rome that destroyed our Temple, burned our Sanctuary, and exiled us from our land.
“Bettar was taken.” (A parallel text is Thr. rabba 3(38); cf. also Babli Gittin 57a–58a, Sanhedrin 93b.) Rebbi used to preach 24 facts about the Eternal swallowed and showed no mercy (Thr. 2:2.) , but Rebbi Joḥanan 60. So Rebbi Joḥanan more than Rebbi? Only since Rebbi was closer to the destruction of the Temple, there were there old men remembering, and those would cry and continuously silence him. It was stated: Rebbi Jehudah ben Rebbi Illai said, Baruch my teacher used to preach, the voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are Esau’s hands (Gen. 27:22.) . Jacob’s voice cries about what Esau’s hands did at Bettar.
There are some profound stories about listening in the Torah and Tanakh. Take for instance the fraught episode in which Yaakov takes his father’s blessing, intended for Esav. The story eliminates sight as a dimension, for Yitzḥak is old and cannot see. Yet he has persistent doubts as to whether the son who visits him is indeed Esav. He tries the various senses. He tastes the food his son has brought. He smells his clothes. He touches his hands. He concludes: “The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav” (Bereshit 27:22). How much anguish might have been spared had he followed the evidence of his hearing rather than his taste, smell, and touch.
We cried to יהוה who heard our plea, sending a messenger (messenger Or angel, that is, “[divine] messenger.”) who freed us from Egypt. Now we are in Kadesh, the town on the border of your territory.
Yaakov came close to Yitzchok, his father, and he [Yitzchok] touched him. He said, The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Eisov.
And Jakob drew near to Izhak his father, who touched him, and said, This voice is the voice of Jakob, nevertheless the feeling of the hands is as the feeling of the hands of Esau.
| וְלֹ֣א הִכִּיר֔וֹ כִּֽי־הָי֣וּ יָדָ֗יו כִּידֵ֛י עֵשָׂ֥ו אָחִ֖יו שְׂעִרֹ֑ת וַֽיְבָרְכֵֽהוּ׃ | 23 J | He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; and so he blessed him. |
ולא הכירו כי היו ידיו כידי עשו, he did not recognise him since his hands were like those of Esau. Isaac rejected the doubt created by Jacob's voice since a person can change his voice or the listener may mistake a voice for that of someone else, whereas he cannot change the hairs on his hands, a very distinctive mark of identification.
ויברכהו, he blessed him. Before Isaac touched Jacob and established that he was Esau nothing had contradicted his impression that it was Jacob's voice he heard and that therefore he was faced by a swindler. Isaac had begun to think along the lines Jacob had been afraid of, i.e. that the swindler deserved to be cursed. Even though Isaac had not yet thought that far, he did begin to hate the person who he thought was trying to swindle him. The Talmud reports in Baba Metzia 84 that when the righteous are looking at someone with displeasure this brings a curse in its wake. [Rabbi Yochanan's displeaure at Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish's remarks resulted in the latter dying. Ed.] The Torah reports Isaac as blessing Jacob as a result of feeling his hands to teach us that he reversed his erstwhile intentions.
Die Stimme und auch wohl die Redeweise — ד׳ אלקיך, wie die Weisen bemerken — erkennt Jizchak als Jakobs Stimme, und lässt sich doch durch eine solche einzelne Äußerlichkeit wie die haarichte Hand täuschen! So mag es wohl auch im ganzen Leben gewesen sein. Der Totaleindruck Esaus auf Jizchak war gewiß auch kein günstiger, und dennoch ließ er sich durch einzelne erkünstelte Äußerlichkeiten irre leiten.
They were hairy and he blessed him. Until he felt him he suspected he was an imposter and intended to curse him and as the Sages have taught — one who wrongly suspects his colleague is required to bless him.
He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother, Esau; and he blessed him. Although Jacob’s voice unnerved Isaac, his hands felt like those of Esau. Some say that Jacob’s vocabulary was also identical to that of Esau. 20
Rabbi Elazar said, It was Jacob who sang this song, when his father said to him, "Come near, I pray you, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not" (Beresheet 27:21). Then was Jacob in great distress, for he feared that his father will recognize and know him. Then it is written, "and he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands, so he blessed him" (Beresheet 27: 23). So he said, "In my distress I cried to Hashem, and He heard me."
“He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him” (Genesis 27:23). “He did not recognize him” – when wicked people were produced from him, he [Isaac] did not recognize them. “His father Isaac said to him: Approach and kiss me, my son” (Genesis 27:26). “Approach and kiss me” – he said to him: ‘You will be adjacent to me in burial, but no other will be adjacent to me in burial.’ “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed” (Genesis 27:27). “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There is nothing whose odor is viler than this goat hide, and you say: “He smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him”? It is, rather, that when our patriarch Jacob entered to his father, the Garden of Eden entered with him. That is what he said to him: “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field.” But when Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him, just as it says: “With the arrival of spite, disgrace arrives” (Proverbs 11:2). Another matter, “he smelled the scent of his garments [begadav], (This is expounded to mean “his traitors [bogedav]” have a good scent – they repent.) and blessed him” – e.g., Yosef Meshita and Yakum of Tzerorot. Yosef Meshita, when the enemies sought to enter the Temple Mount, they said: ‘Let one of them enter, and it (The desecration.) will begin with them.’ They said to him: (They wanted a Jew to enter the Temple Mount first, and chose Yosef Meshita, who agreed to enter.) ‘Enter, and whatever you take out is yours.’ He entered and took out a golden candelabrum. They said to him: ‘It is not appropriate for a commoner to make use of this. (It should be given to the emperor.) Instead, enter again, and what you take out is yours.’ He refused. Rabbi Pinḥas said: They offered him taxes for three years, (He could keep whatever taxes he would collect from the people.) but he refused. He said: ‘Is it not enough that I angered my God once, that I would anger Him a second time?’ What did they do to him? They placed him on a carpenter’s sawhorse and were sawing him. He was shouting and saying: ‘Woe is me that I angered my Creator.’ Yakum of Tzerorot was the son of the sister of Rabbi Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida. He was riding a horse on Shabbat. In front of him, a cross on which Jews who observed Shabbat would be crucified was being dragged. He [Yakum of Tzerorot] said to him [Yosei ben Yoezer]: ‘Look at the horse on which my master has me riding, and look at the horse on which your Master has you riding.’ (When the cross was too heavy to bear, very often they would drag it between their legs, so it looked like a horse.) He told him: ‘If so it is for those who anger Him, all the more so for those who perform His will.’ He [also] said to him: ‘If it is so for those who perform his will, all the more so for those who anger him.’ (Yosei ben Yoezer made two responses to his nephew. First, that if he had received a reward despite angering God, certainly, those who serve God will ultimately receive a reward. Second, if those who serve God suffer so much, certainly those who anger God will ultimately suffer more.) It [his uncle’s words] penetrated him like the venom of a serpent. He went and fulfilled in himself the four court-imposed death penalties – stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation. What did he do? He brought a beam and stuck it into the ground. He tied a string to it, arranged wood, and surrounded it with a stone fence. (The stone fence was supported by the wood which it surrounded.) He kindled a bonfire before it, (The bonfire was kindled near the fence, and when the fire reached the fence it kindled the wood which was within the fence and partially under the fence.) stuck a sword in the middle, (The sword was in the middle of the wood which was arranged within the fence near the beam.) kindled the fire under the stones, hanged himself from the beam and was strangled. The fire reached him, it severed the string, he fell into the fire, the sword reached him, the fence fell on him, and he was burned. Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida dozed and saw his bier floating in the air. He said: ‘That one preceded me by a small amount of time into the Garden of Eden.’
Another matter, it teaches that the Holy One blessed be He showed him the Temple built and destroyed and built. “See, the scent of my son” – that is built, just as it says: “My pleasing aroma; you shall observe” (Numbers 28:2). “Like the scent of a field” – that is destroyed, just as it says: “Zion will be plowed as a field” (Micah 3:12). “That the Lord blessed” – built and enhanced in the future, as it is stated: “For there the Lord commanded the blessing of life, for eternity” (Psalms 133:3). ##“And may God give you from the dew of the heavens, and from the fat of the land, and an abundance of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28).
(Gen. 27:23:) SO HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM BECAUSE HIS HANDS WERE < HAIRY LIKE THE HANDS OF HIS BROTHER ESAU >. He (Isaac) foresaw that the wicked ones were going to arise from him; and he did not want to bless him {since he foresaw Jakum. (I.e., Jakum of Seroroth. See Gen. R. 65:22; cf. M. Ps. 11:7.) When Jerusalem was conquered, the world said: They are afraid to enter into the Temple. What did he do? He entered and brought < out > the menorah. When < Isaac > saw him, he did not want to bless Jacob on his account. SO HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM}. When he foresaw that he would repent, there immediately follows (in vs. 27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS CLOTHES AND BLESSED HIM…. When Jacob entered, the Garden of Eden (i.e., Paradise) entered with him, as stated (ibid., cont.): LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD WHICH THE LORD HAS BLESSED. When Esau entered, Gehinnom entered with him. Thus it is stated (in vs. 33): WHO IS EPHO? (The natural translation is: WHO THEN?) Now EPHO can only be Gehinnom, since it is stated (in Is. 22:16): THAT YOU HAVE HEWN A TOMB HERE (poh) FOR YOURSELF.
Make yourself an ark of acacia-wood (Gen. 6:14). R. Huna said in the name of R. Yosé: The Holy One, blessed be He, forewarned the generation of the flood to repent its misdeeds for one hundred and twenty years. (This number is derived from And therefore shall his days be one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3).) When they refused to repent, He commanded Noah to build an ark of acacia-wood. Then Noah arose, repented his sins, and planted cedar trees. They asked him: “What are these cedars for?” “The Holy One, blessed be He, intends to bring a flood upon the earth, and He has ordered me to build an ark so that I and my family might escape,” he replied. They laughed at him and ridiculed his words. Nevertheless, he tended the trees till they grew large. Once again they asked him: “What are you doing?” He repeated what he had told them previously, but they continued to mock him. After some time, he cut down the trees and sawed them into lumber. Again they inquired: “What are you doing?” He warned them once again as to what would happen, but they still refused to repent. Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the flood upon them, as it is said: And they were blotted out from the earth (Gen. 7:23).
השכן אתם בתוך טומאתם, “that dwells with them amidst their contamination.” Even though the Jewish people are contaminated the Shechinah is amongst them (Sifra Acharey 4, 5). This is the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah in the Talmud Sukkah where he states his view that one may cover the Sukkah with material which is subject to becoming contaminated, although his view is not shared by the other scholars. He based his opinion on the text in our verse. We also have an opinion in Sanhedrin 37 according to which the words וירח את ריח בגדיו, “he inhaled the fragrance of his clothing” (Genesis 27,23) are understood as וירח את ריח בוגדיו, “he inhaled the fragrance of those who betray Him,” i.e. even though the person concerned is contaminated, seeing that they are Jews G’d does not totally reject them. Another allegorical approach along these lines is found in Shemot Rabbah 33,2 where the word עלית למרום שבית שבי (Psalms 68,19) are understood to mean that even if there were unfit Jews amongst the people this did not stop the Shechinah from being amongst them. The Midrash understands the words as a rebuttal to the Gentiles who believe that because Jews have served idols at one time they are forever cut off from G’d’s grace. Another comment by the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 18,8) on the words of Maleachi 2,16: “for I detest divorce- said the Lord G’d of Israel,” points to the fact that the prophet Malachi when mentioning G’d always uses the expression אלוקי צבאות, and only in this instance does he refer to G’d as אלוקי ישראל, “the G’d of Israel.” The author of the Midrash sees a clear message in this that the prophet wanted to reassure the people that G’d’s presence does not abandon the Jewish people even when they are sinful.
יהוה spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice.
He [Yitzchok] did not recognize him because his hands were like those of Eisov, his brother—they were hairy—and [thus] he blessed him.
But he recognised him not, because his hands were hairy as the hands of Esau his brother, and he blessed him.
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אַתָּ֥ה זֶ֖ה בְּנִ֣י עֵשָׂ֑ו וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָֽנִי׃ | 24 J | He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And when he said, “I am,” |
ויאמר אתה זה בני עשו He said: "you are indeed my son Esau" Isaac justified his bestowing the blessing. This verse is not a question. Jacob's reaction was a confirmation that Isaac was correct, of course.
There is another meaning to the words אתה זה. Inasmuch as Isaac had thought up to that moment that the voice indicated that Jacob stood before him, he now pointed at the body of the person before him saying: "you are Esau" seeing the hands had convinced him. When he articulated the blessings he concentrated on the person opposite him without regard to that person's name. This actually made Jacob the true recipient of the blessings, even though Isaac had made mention of Esau. At the time of the actual blessing Isaac concentrated exclusively on the person in front of him.
ולא...ויאמר אתה זה, this is a form of a question, even though it is not accompanied by the letter ה in front of the word אתה which we would have expected to introduce such a question. We find a similar construction in Kings I 1,24 אתה ומרת אדניה ימלוך אחרי? “did you (King David) say that “Adoniah will rule after me?” There are numerous similar constructions in Scripture. The reason why Yaakov phrased this as a question was that he was still not convinced that it was Esau because the voice [as well as the mode of speech. Ed.] was so similar to that of Yaakov. He was afraid of appearing as swindling Esau to whom he had promised the blessing, if he we were to bless Yaakov instead, although he loved Yaakov dearly. This is why he still continued with the examination.
אתה זה בני עשו, it would appear that you are my son Esau.
ויאמר אני AND HE SAID I AM — He did not say, “I am Esau”, but “It is I”.
He said: Are you my son Esau? Isaac sought further confirmation of his identity. He said: I am.
That is what is written: “Woe! The tranquil in Zion…” (Amos 6:1), this is the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who would recline in the palaces of pleasure. “And the secure on Mount Samaria” (Amos 6:1), these are the Ten Tribes who resided securely in Sebastia. (This is another name for Samaria.) “Those who name themselves the foremost of the nations” (Amos 6:1), who descend from two eponyms, Shem and Ever, as from there, Israel are called Hebrews [ivrim]. “And come to them the house of Israel” (Amos 6:1). Idolaters, when they eat and drink, they engage in trivial matters: ‘Who is as wise as Bilam; who is as mighty as Goliath; who is as wealthy as Haman?’ Then Israel comes and they say to them: ‘Was Aḥitofel not wise, was Solomon not wise; was Samson not mighty, was David not mighty; was Koraḥ not wealthy, was Solomon not wealthy, as it is stated in his regard: “The king caused silver to be in Jerusalem like stones…”’ (I Kings 10:27). Everyone agrees with the statement of Israel. “Come to Kalne and see” (Amos 6:2), this is Ketisifon. (A great city in Babylon.) “And go from there to greater Ḥamat” (Amos 6:2), this is Ḥamat of Antioch. “And descend to Gat of the Philistines” (Amos 6:2), these are the steep fortresses of the Philistines. “Are they (The cities mentioned.) better than these kingdoms?” (Amos 6:2). This is Zion and Samaria. “Is their border greater than your border?” (Amos 6:2). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘It is a great and excellent portion that I have given you, that none of all the nations has one greater and more excellent than your portion. Why, then, do you not perform My will and you do not fear Me, that I will bring upon you a punishment because you do not place My words upon your heart?’ That is what is written: “Who spurn the day of evil” (Amos 6:3) – this is the day of exile that they distance from their heart, and are not concerned about it. Rather, they say: “No harm will befall us” (Micah 3:11). “While you convene a session of villainy” (Amos 6:3) – you presented yourselves to reside alongside villainy, this is Esau, just as it says: “For the villainy to your brother Jacob…” (Obadiah 1:10). “Who lie on beds of ivory” (Amos 6:4); on beds from an elephant. (The Aramaic phrase means beds of ivory.) “And sprawl [usruḥim] on their couches” (Amos 6:4); that they sully [masrihin] their beds with transgressions, as they would swap their wives with one another and sully their beds with semen that is not theirs. “Eating the fattened sheep from the flock, and the calves from inside the stall” (Amos 6:4). Come and see, each tribe had a day of debauchery of its own. When he would seek to go to his debauchery, he would pass his entire flock before him, would take the fattest of them, stand over it, and slaughter it. “Who strum on the face of the lyre; they considered themselves like David with musical instruments” (Amos 6:5). Just as David would sing to the Holy One blessed be He by means of lyres, so, they prepared lyres for themselves, to sing over wine. That is what is written: “Who drink with wine bowls [mizrekei yayin]” (Amos 6:6). Rav, Rabbi Yoḥanan, and the Rabbis, Rav said: Congealed wine. (It is possible to toss [lizrok] cups of congealed wine from one to another, to whet their appetites for drink.) Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Small cups. (One tosses the small amount of wine from the cup directly into one’s throat.) The Rabbis say: Cups that have pipes attached to them. (When placed on their sides, a flow of liquid emerged from the pipe directly into the mouth of the drinker.) From where would they drink? Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: From Patgita, whose wine would seduce the body. The Rabbis said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: From Pelugeta. “And anoint themselves with virgin oils” (Amos 6:6); Rabbi Yehuda bar Yeḥezkel said: Oil from olives that were one-third ripened, that removes hair and smooths the skin. Rabbi Yanai said: Oil from Antioch. Even after all this goodness, “but they are not distressed over the destruction of Joseph” (Amos 6:6). (They did not take to heart the destruction that their sinful ways would bring to them. Joseph represents the kingdom of Israel, as opposed to the kingdom of Judah.) What will their end be? Because of wine they were seduced and strayed. That is what is written: “Therefore, they will now be exiled at the head of the exiles…” (Amos 6:7). We have learned that wherever there is wine, there is licentiousness. That is why the Holy One blessed be He wrote the portion of the nazirite after the portion of the sota, because wine causes licentiousness. Therefore, a person should abstain from wine because it will lead him astray. That is why it is stated: “When a man or a woman will articulate [to take the vow of a nazirite, to abstain for the Lord].”
You find that Moses alluded to the naziriteship of Samson in this portion, to teach you that there is no matter that is written in the Prophets and the Writings to which Moses did not allude in the Torah. “A man” (Numbers 6:2), this is the angel, who came to render Samson a nazirite, who was called a man, just as it says: “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” (Judges 13:11). “He said: I am” (Judges 13:11). The angel said to him: ‘You think of me that I am a man, but I am not a man; rather, I am an angel.’ Similarly, “He said: Are you my son Esau? He said: I am” (Genesis 27:24). I am not Esau, but rather, Jacob. (Meaning the word "I" can sometimes mean I am not who you think I am.) “Or a woman” (Numbers 6:2), it is because he first appeared only to the woman. “When…will articulate [yafli]” (Numbers 6:2), as his name is peli. “To take the vow of a nazirite to abstain for the Lord” (Numbers 6:2), “for the lad will be a nazirite of God” (Judges 13:5).
“From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain: vinegar of wine and vinegar of intoxicating drink he shall not drink; he shall not drink anything in which grapes were soaked, and grapes, fresh or dried, he shall not eat” (Numbers 6:3). “From wine and intoxicating drink…” – that is what is written: “Woe, the valiant to drink wine…who vindicate the wicked following a bribe…” (Isaiah 5:22–23). There it is written: “Happy are you, land, that your king is a free man” (Ecclesiastes 10:17). When is the land characterized as happy? It is when its king engages in Torah, as it is stated: “The tablets were the work of God [and the writing was the writing of God, engraved [ḥarut] on the tablets]” (Exodus 32:16) – do not read it as ḥarut, but rather, as ḥerut, freedom, as one is a free man [ben ḥorin] only when one engages in Torah study. “And your princes dine at the proper time” (Ecclesiastes 10:17), as they set fixed times for Torah and they eat thereafter, to realize what is stated: “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a good heart, as God has already accepted your actions” (Ecclesiastes 9:7). That is what is written thereafter: “In valor and not in drunkenness” (Ecclesiastes 10:17), with the valor of Torah, not with the drunkenness of wine. That is why Isaiah said: The valor of Torah is characterized with “happy” (Ecclesiastes 10:17), but the valor of wine is with “woe,” – “woe, the valiant to drink wine” (Isaiah 5:22). Likewise it says: “To whom, woe? To whom, alas…. To those who linger over wine” (Proverbs 23:29–30). “And capable men [anshei ḥayil] to mix intoxicating drink” (Isaiah 5:22). There it is written: “You shall identify from among the people [capable men [anshei ḥayil]]…They shall judge the people…” (Exodus 18:21–22). But these are capable men only to mix intoxicating drink, just as it says: “To those who come to assess the mixture” (Proverbs 23:30). What is “to mix intoxicating drink”? They would mix strong wine with weak wine in order to become inebriated with it. There was an incident involving a group of dissolute men, who would eat and drink until midnight but would not become inebriated. Wine was brought to them; they said mix wine with wine. They did so until the wine entered them. They arose and struck one another in a drunken state. Their cry circulated throughout the city. The constable came, apprehended them, transferred them to the custody of the kingdom, and they were all eliminated. What caused this to befall them? It was the wine that they were drinking. In their regard it is stated: “To those who come to assess the mixture” – the mixture is nothing other than wine mixed with wine. That is, “and capable men to mix intoxicating drink.” On account of this they forget the Torah and corrupt the law, as it is written thereafter: “Who vindicate the wicked following a bribe” (Isaiah 5:23), and it says: “Lest he drink, and forget what was legislated” (Proverbs 31:5) – he will forget the Torah that was given by means of the lawgiver, this is Moses, as it is stated: “As there the lawgiver’s plot is hidden” (Deuteronomy 33:21). What is written? “And subvert justice for all the children of the poor” (Proverbs 31:5). Wine and knowledge are likened to the Pleiades and Scorpio. Whenever the Pleiades are visible in the sky, Scorpio is not visible in the sky, and when Scorpio is visible, the Pleiades are not visible. So, wine is likened to Scorpio, and knowledge is likened to the Pleiades. Just as the scorpion strikes with its tail, so, wine, strikes in its aftermath, as it is stated: “At its end, it bites like a serpent” (Proverbs 23:32). Just as the Pleiades ripens fruits and provides them with flavor, so, knowledge provides flavor and fragrance to a person’s words. Wine enters, knowledge exits. Any place there is wine, there is no knowledge. Wine enters, a secret emerges; the numerical value of wine [yayin] is seventy (Yod – 10, yod – 10, nun – 50 = 70.) and the numerical value of secret [sod] is seventy. (Samekh – 60, vav – 6, dalet – 4 = 70. ) Knowledge is divided into four portions; two in the two kidneys, one portion in the mouth, and one portion in the heart. From where is it derived that two portions of wisdom are in the two kidneys? It is as it is stated: “Who set wisdom in obscurity [batuḥot]?” (Job 38:36). These are the kidneys, that are obscured [tuḥot] in the body. And one portion in the heart, as it is stated: “Inform me of wisdom in the closed place” (Psalms 51:8). And one portion in the mouth, as it is stated: “My mouth will speak wisdom” (Psalms 49:4). Wisdom was placed in these four receptacles and, corresponding to them, the Sages established the measure of inebriation in four receptacles, each containing a quarter log of undiluted wine, which constitute four cups. (Of wine diluted in the customary manner.) If a person drank one cup, which is a quarter log, one-quarter of his knowledge has departed. If he drank two cups, two portions of his knowledge have departed. If he drank three cups, three portions of his knowledge have departed, and his heart is confused. Immediately, he begins speaking inappropriately. If he drank the fourth cup, all of his knowledge has departed. Both his kidneys have gone mad, his heart is confused, and the tongue ceases. He seeks to speak but cannot. Instead, his tongue is despondent. This is why they said that a priest who drank a quarter log of wine was disqualified from Temple service, and an Israelite who drank a quarter log of wine was disqualified from serving as a judge. This is to teach you that no good emerges from wine. That is what is written: “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain: vinegar…” – due to inebriation. Why did the Torah prohibit “anything in which grapes were soaked,” that he would not become inebriated from them? Eating anything that emerges from the grapevine is also prohibited; things from which he would not become inebriated. Why? From here one learns that a person is obligated to distance himself from impropriety, and from anything resembling impropriety, and from anything that resembles anything that resembles it. From here one learns that the Torah established a fence surrounding its matters. There we learned: Be measured in judgment, establish many students, and establish a fence around the Torah (Mishna Avot 1:1). How does a person establish a fence around his matters, like the Torah did around its matters? It says: “To a woman in her menstrual impurity you shall not approach” (Leviticus 18:19). May one, perhaps, hug her, kiss her, or speak idle matters with her? The verse states: “You shall not approach.” May she, perhaps, sleep with him on the bed clothed? The verse states: “You shall not approach.” May she, perhaps, wash her face and line her eyes, and may he take a cup from her? The verse states: “And one who is afflicted with her menstruation [benidata]…” (Leviticus 15:33), as long as she is afflicted, she shall be ostracized [benidui]. (From her husband.) From here they said: Any woman who makes herself repulsive during the days of her menstruation, the Sages are pleased with her. But any woman who adorns herself during the days of her menstruation, the Sages are not pleased with her. It says: “Any man shall not approach his kin [to uncover nakedness]” (Leviticus 18:6). From here they said: A man may not enter into seclusion with any women at an inn, even with his sister, even with his daughter, and even with his mother-in-law, due to the [potential] allegations of the people [there]. One may not converse with a woman in the marketplace, even with one’s wife, and it goes without saying with another woman, due to the allegations of the people. Here, it is stated regarding his kin: “You shall not approach [tikrevu], and elsewhere it says: “You shall not approach [tikrav]” (Leviticus 18:19) – to a matter that brings one to a matter of transgression, you shall not approach; distance yourself from impropriety and from anything that resembles impropriety. For, so said the Sages: Distance yourself from a minor sin, lest it bring you to a major one; run to fulfill a minor mitzva, as it will bring you to a major one. “At its end, it bites like a serpent” – just as the serpent, because it incited Eve to drink wine, the earth was cursed because of it, as it is stated: “Cursed is the earth because of you” (Genesis 3:17), likewise, due to wine, one-third of the world was cursed, as it is stated: “Noah awoke from his wine…. He said: Cursed is Canaan” (Genesis 9:24–25). This is Ḥam, who was his third son, and he is called “the father of Canaan” (Genesis 9:18). Just as this adder sets aside between life and death, so wine sets man aside from the paths of life to the paths of death, as wine causes one to engage in idol worship. That is what is written: “Your eyes will see strange things [zarot]” (Proverbs 23:33), just as it says: “There shall be no strange [zar] god among you” (Psalms 81:10). Likewise, it says: “He shall not drink anything in which grapes were soaked…from anything that may be derived from the grapevine…” (Number 6:3–4). The Torah established a fence surrounding its matters, that one may not eat and may not drink from anything that is made from the grapevine, so that he will not come to drink. The parable says: ‘Go, go,’ one says to the nazirite, ‘around, around; do not approach the vineyard.’ “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain,” even if he said only: ‘Behold, I am a nazirite from wine,’ he is a full-fledged nazirite, as we found three matters are prohibited for a nazirite: Drinking wine, shaving hair, and becoming impure due to a dead person. Is one, perhaps, not a nazirite until he abstains from all of them? The verse states: “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain” – even from one of the three, he is a nazirite. They said: One who says: ‘Behold I am a nazirite from the [grape] seeds, from the [grape] skins, from shaving, from impurity’ is a nazirite, and all the minutiae of the nazirite are incumbent upon him. Rabbi Yosei HaGelili says: “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain” – why did the verse repeat “wine and intoxicating drink”? Is wine not intoxicating drink, and is intoxicating drink not wine? Why did it do so? It is because it says: “You shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place that He will choose…the tithe of your grain, [your wine…]” (Deuteronomy 14:23), is it perhaps that even the nazirite is included? How then do I realize: “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain”? It is with all other types of wine, with the exception of the wine of mitzva. Or, is it even with the wine of mitzva? How, then, do I realize the verse: “You shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place that He will choose…the tithe [of your grain, your wine…]”? It is regarding all other people, with the exception of the nazirite. The verse states: “From wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain,” to render the wine of mitzva as wine that is optional. Rabbi Elazar HaKapar says: “Wine,” this is diluted, “and intoxicating drink,” this is undiluted. Or, perhaps, it is that “wine,” this is undiluted; “and intoxicating drink,” this is diluted? The verse states: “Its libation is wine, one fourth of a hin…” (Leviticus 23:13), “Pour a libation of intoxicating drink […to the Lord]” (Numbers 28:7). You pour libations of undiluted wine, but you do not pour libations with diluted wine. Consequently, you must not say like the second formulation, but rather like the first formulation: “Wine,” this is diluted; “and intoxicating drink,” this is undiluted. “He shall abstain [yazir]” – nezirut everywhere is nothing other than separation. Likewise, it says: “They shall abstain [veyinazeru] from the sacred items of the children of Israel” (Leviticus 22:2). And it says: “[You shall not…gather] the grapes that you left untended [nezirekha]” (Leviticus 25:5). And it says: “They separated themselves [vayinazeru] from me and turned to the shameful” (Hosea 9:10). And it says: “Shall I weep during the fifth month, abstaining [hinazer]?” (Zechariah 7:3). Consequently, nezirut everywhere is nothing other than separation. “He shall abstain” – do I hear, from his commerce and from his healing? The verse states: “He shall not drink” – drinking is forbidden to him, but his medical needs and his commerce are permitted. (He is allowed to sell wine, and place wine on a wound if necessary.) “Vinegar of wine and vinegar of intoxicating drink he shall not drink,” this tells that it rendered vinegar like wine in this regard, and the vinegar of a mitzva like the wine of a mitzva. (If he took a vow to drink vinegar and then vowed to become a nazirite, he cannot drink the vinegar.) “Anything in which…were soaked” – it tells that if one soaked grapes in water, its status is determined by the flavor. (If the water tastes like wine, it is prohibited for him.) From here you expound to all Torah prohibitions: If what is derived from the vine, the prohibition of which is not an eternal prohibition, (The prohibitions of the nazirite are limited in time. At the time of the vow the person determines the amount of time that he will be a nazirite (with a thirty day minimum).) and the prohibition of which is not a prohibition against benefit, (A nazirite may not drink wine, but he may benefit from wine. For example, he can sell wine.) and there is dissolution of the prohibition, (A nazirite can have his vow abrogated if he has a sufficient reason.) it rendered flavor the same as substance; the rest of the Torah prohibitions, prohibitions that are eternal, prohibitions that are prohibitive of benefit, and there is no dissolution of the prohibitions, is it not logical that we would render flavor the same as substance? “And grapes,” in their plain sense; “fresh” to include the unripe; “or dried, he shall not eat,” to incur liability for this by itself, and for that by itself. From here you expound to all nazirite prohibitions. If, here, where it is one species with two names, one incurs liability for this by itself and for that by itself, so, too, in all cases where there is one species with two names, one incurs liability for this by itself and for that by itself. (If he was warned not to eat grapes and nevertheless ate fresh grapes and dried grapes, he gets punished twice, once for eating fresh grapes and once for eating dried grapes.) This comes to include new wine and grapes, that he incurs liability for two.
Isaac said to him (in Gen. 27:24): IS THIS YOU, MY SON ESAU? He said to him: It is I. He said to him (in vs. 25): SERVE ME, AND LET ME EAT…. < SO HE SERVED HIM, AND HE ATE. HE ALSO BROUGHT HIM WINE, AND HE DRANK >. Where did he get wine from? Note, we find that his mother did not give him wine. Rather (in Gen. 27:17): SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. Then who brought him the wine? Michael brought it to him, wine from the Garden of Eden. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:25.) Our masters have said: You only find wine resulting in a blessing in case of this < wine > and Abraham's, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 14:18f.): AND MELCHIZEDEK KING OF SALEM BROUGHT OUT BREAD AND WINE…. < AND HE BLESSED HIM >. (Cf. Gen. R. 43:6.) And in case of this < wine > also, when he had drunk it, he blessed him. He said to him (in vs. 26f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND KISS ME, MY SON; SO HE CAME NEARER AND KISSED HIM…. [It should have said: "Aha, the odor of his clothes; then he blessed him." Instead he said (in vs. 27): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON IS LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD.] And he should have said: "Aha, the odor of my son's clothes." Instead he said to him (ibid.): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON. < The verse > is teaching that the odor of the righteous is a hint of the world to come. What is the meaning of LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD … ? That < his clothes > were the garments of the first Adam and bore an odor from the garden of Eden. (See below, 6:22; Gen. R. 65:22.) He immediately said to him (in vs. 28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is Torah, as stated (in Deut. 32:2) LET MY SPEECH DRIP DOWN LIKE THE DEW. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. These are the Prophets. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN. This is Talmud. (Ibid., cont.:) AND NEW WINE. Here are the Midrashim. (Gen. R. 66:3.) Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is the manna, according to what is stated (in Numb. 11:9): SO WHEN THE DEW CAME DOWN < UPON THE CAMP AT NIGHT, THE MANNA WOULD FALL UPON IT >. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. Here is the well. (See Exod. 17:6; Numb. 21:16-18. According to tradition this well followed Israel in the wilderness. See, e.g., TSuk. 3:11-13. Similarly I Corinthians 10:4.)
The Torah reports Isaac as blessing Jacob immediately after Isaac smelled the fragrance of Paradise, i.e. ויברכהו. He did not investigate further, for in the event that it was indeed the real Esau, he was entitled to the blessings valid in this world, whereas in the event it was Jacob who stood before him, Isaac intended these blessings to apply in the Hereafter. This is in accordance with what I wrote at the beginning, that these blessings must be understood on two different levels. The word ויברכהו was the umbrella term for these blessings. Only afterwards did Isaac want to know who really stood in front of him. When the Torah describes Jacob as bringing wine from which Isaac drank (27,25), this is a reference to the "wine preserved in its grapes since the days of creation,” which will be served to the righteous in the Hereafter, as we have explained on several occasions.
He said, Are you indeed my son, Eisov? [Yaakov] said, [Behold] I am.
And he said, But art thou my son Esau? And he said, I am.
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הַגִּ֤שָׁה לִּי֙ וְאֹֽכְלָה֙ מִצֵּ֣יד בְּנִ֔י לְמַ֥עַן תְּבָֽרֶכְךָ֖ נַפְשִׁ֑י וַיַּגֶּשׁ־לוֹ֙ וַיֹּאכַ֔ל וַיָּ֧בֵא ל֦וֹ יַ֖יִן וַיֵּֽשְׁתְּ׃ | 25 J | he said, “Serve me and let me eat of my son’s game that I may give you my innermost blessing.” So he served him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. |
This is what is written concerning Yaakov: When he saw that he was the aspect of birkayim in the place of judgment—because twice ELoHIM with its ten letters has the same numerical value as YaAKoV —he drew the root of the gevurot, an aspect of the wine of joy, as is written (Genesis 27:25), “and [Yaakov] brought him wine and he drank”—the root of the berakhah.
ויבא לו יין וישת, “he brought his father wine and Yitzchok drank it.” Wine was apt to confuse a person’s mind at times, so that he would not proceed further with worrying if this was indeed Esau or an impostor.
ויבא לו יין וישת, “he brought him (his father) wine and he drank.” Where did Yaakov suddenly get the wine from? We have not heard a word about his mother having given him wine to take along. Our sages assume that the angel Michael brought that wine from the celestial regions. This occasion, and the one when Malki Tzedek brought wine to Avraham when the latter had miraculously defeated the greatest army of its time, (Genesis 14,18) are the only two instances in the Torah when wine is described as a source of blessing. In both instances the people drinking the wine pronounced a blessing.
AND I WILL EAT OF MY SON’S VENISON. The alef of ve-okhelah (and I will eat) is a first person imperfect prefix. It is vocalized with a cholam to compensate for the missing alef of the root. (The root of akhal (eat) is alef, caf, lamed. The alef prefixed to a verb in the first person imperfect is usually vocalized with a segol. I.E. points out that in okhelah the alef is a first person imperfect prefix and is vocalized with a cholam rather than a segol to make up for the missing root letter.) We find the same in the word omerah in I will say (omerah) unto God my Rock (Ps. 42:10). (The root of amar (say) is alef, mem, resh. In omerah the alef is the alef of the first person imperfect prefix and it, too, is vocalized with a cholam to make up for the missing alef root letter.)
The nun of tevarakhanni (may bless me) (v. 19) receives a dagesh to make up for the missing nun (According to I.E. when a verb is combined with a pronominal suffix, a nun is added to the end of the root. Since ni is the sign of the first person pronominal suffix, tevarakhanni should have been spelled with two nuns (we have spelled it with two nuns because of the dagesh. In the Hebrew it has one nun). It should be noted that I.E.’s comment is misplaced as it pertains to verse 19.) which should have been in our word, as we find in yesovevenhu (He compassed him about) (Deut. 32:10) and similarly in yeshacharuneni (they will seek Me) (Hos. 5:15). (In yesovevenhu we see that a nun is added to the root when a verb is combined with a pronominal suffix. In yeshacharuneni we see that when a verb is combined with a first person pronominal suffix, two nuns are added to the root.)
ויאמר...ואכלה מציד בני, as if he had said: “from your venison.” However, he used a formulation which was customary at the time.
ויבא לו יין, in order to gladden his heart. In those days people generally did not drink wine with their meals unless the expression משתה, is employed by Scripture to indicate that wine was served.
He said, in a somewhat ceremonial fashion: Serve me, and I will eat from my son’s game so that my soul will bless you. He served him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank.
ויבא לו יין וישת, “he brought him wine, and he (Yizchok) drank it.” Where did Yaakov take the wine from, seeing that his mother had only given him bread to accompany the delicacies she had prepared? According to the Midrash the angel Gavriel brought the wine whose origin was in Gan Eden to Yaakov. Presumably, the words of the Midrash were inspired by the fact that this is the only time in Scripture that the drinking of wine is described as having only positive results. When wine is mentioned as a gift by Malki Tzedek to Avraham, it was a subsidiary to the bread. (Genesis 14,18)
“He brought him wine and he drank” [27:25]. Hizkuni writes. Wine confuses a person and therefore Isaac could not properly recognize Jacob. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:25.)
It is written, "and he brought him wine, and he drank" (Beresheet 27: 25), (not 'he served him'). By this he hints that he served him wine from afar. According to Rabbi Elazar, this means that he brought him wine in which there is complete joy, to gladden Isaac, for he needed cheering, as the side of the Levites needs cheering, Therefore, "he brought him wine, and he drank."
Isaac said to him (in Gen. 27:24): IS THIS YOU, MY SON ESAU? He said to him: It is I. He said to him (in vs. 25): SERVE ME, AND LET ME EAT…. < SO HE SERVED HIM, AND HE ATE. HE ALSO BROUGHT HIM WINE, AND HE DRANK >. Where did he get wine from? Note, we find that his mother did not give him wine. Rather (in Gen. 27:17): SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. Then who brought him the wine? Michael brought it to him, wine from the Garden of Eden. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:25.) Our masters have said: You only find wine resulting in a blessing in case of this < wine > and Abraham's, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 14:18f.): AND MELCHIZEDEK KING OF SALEM BROUGHT OUT BREAD AND WINE…. < AND HE BLESSED HIM >. (Cf. Gen. R. 43:6.) And in case of this < wine > also, when he had drunk it, he blessed him. He said to him (in vs. 26f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND KISS ME, MY SON; SO HE CAME NEARER AND KISSED HIM…. [It should have said: "Aha, the odor of his clothes; then he blessed him." Instead he said (in vs. 27): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON IS LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD.] And he should have said: "Aha, the odor of my son's clothes." Instead he said to him (ibid.): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON. < The verse > is teaching that the odor of the righteous is a hint of the world to come. What is the meaning of LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD … ? That < his clothes > were the garments of the first Adam and bore an odor from the garden of Eden. (See below, 6:22; Gen. R. 65:22.) He immediately said to him (in vs. 28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is Torah, as stated (in Deut. 32:2) LET MY SPEECH DRIP DOWN LIKE THE DEW. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. These are the Prophets. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN. This is Talmud. (Ibid., cont.:) AND NEW WINE. Here are the Midrashim. (Gen. R. 66:3.) Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is the manna, according to what is stated (in Numb. 11:9): SO WHEN THE DEW CAME DOWN < UPON THE CAMP AT NIGHT, THE MANNA WOULD FALL UPON IT >. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. Here is the well. (See Exod. 17:6; Numb. 21:16-18. According to tradition this well followed Israel in the wilderness. See, e.g., TSuk. 3:11-13. Similarly I Corinthians 10:4.)
The sense of taste includes as its species four qualities, namely, Joy (Cheerfulness), Grief (Apprehensiveness), Penitence, and Tranquility. Dost thou not see that the greatest pleasure is derived through eating and drinking, which is attained by means of the sense of taste? Hast thou not heard of the saying on the part of Isaac (Gen. xxvii. 25), "Bring it here unto me and I will eat of my son's venison"; and also (Ruth iii. 7), "And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was merry." Speech, consisting as it does of words, which are of a kind with (the objects of) taste, sometimes gives rise to joy; thus it is said (Prov. xv. 23), "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth." Opposed to this we find that grief follows upon the failure to exercise this sense, as it is said (i Sam. i. 7), "She wept and did not eat." It is also related of Jonathan (id. xx. 34), "He did eat no meat the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David." Many such expressions are used with reference to Saul and others.
He said, Bring it close to [before] me and I will eat from my son’s trappings, so that my soul will bless you. He brought it close to him and he ate. He [then] brought him wine and he drank.
And he said, Draw near, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he approached him, and he ate; and he had no wine; but an angel prepared it for him, from the wine which had been kept in its grapes from the days of the beginning of the world; and he gave it into Jakob's hand, and Jakob brought it to his father, and he drank.
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו יִצְחָ֣ק אָבִ֑יו גְּשָׁה־נָּ֥א וּשְׁקָה־לִּ֖י בְּנִֽי׃ | 26 J | Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come close and kiss me, my son”; |
"And kiss me". And he did not say "And I will kiss you". Kissing always depends on the greater party who kisses someone of lesser status. When they are equal each one kisses his fellow as in "And each man kissed his friend". Rather he said so (kiss me) because Yitzchak could not see Yaakov and was not able to kiss only to feel. Therefore he told his son to kiss him.
After eating, Isaac’s spirits lifted, and he sensed a closeness to his son. And Isaac his father said to him: Approach and kiss me, my son.
גשה נא ושקה לי בני, “come closer please and kiss me, my son.” Yitzchok was confused seeing that on the one hand, the voice of the person serving him sounded like that of Yaakov, whereas his skin felt like that of Esau. By making a third test, the fragrance of his clothing, something that could not be determined unless the person came very close to him, Yitzchok meant to decide who this person was. When he smelled the familiar fragrance of Esau’s clothes, he conferred the blessing having been convinced that Esau was in front of him.
“He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him” (Genesis 27:23). “He did not recognize him” – when wicked people were produced from him, he [Isaac] did not recognize them. “His father Isaac said to him: Approach and kiss me, my son” (Genesis 27:26). “Approach and kiss me” – he said to him: ‘You will be adjacent to me in burial, but no other will be adjacent to me in burial.’ “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed” (Genesis 27:27). “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There is nothing whose odor is viler than this goat hide, and you say: “He smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him”? It is, rather, that when our patriarch Jacob entered to his father, the Garden of Eden entered with him. That is what he said to him: “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field.” But when Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him, just as it says: “With the arrival of spite, disgrace arrives” (Proverbs 11:2). Another matter, “he smelled the scent of his garments [begadav], (This is expounded to mean “his traitors [bogedav]” have a good scent – they repent.) and blessed him” – e.g., Yosef Meshita and Yakum of Tzerorot. Yosef Meshita, when the enemies sought to enter the Temple Mount, they said: ‘Let one of them enter, and it (The desecration.) will begin with them.’ They said to him: (They wanted a Jew to enter the Temple Mount first, and chose Yosef Meshita, who agreed to enter.) ‘Enter, and whatever you take out is yours.’ He entered and took out a golden candelabrum. They said to him: ‘It is not appropriate for a commoner to make use of this. (It should be given to the emperor.) Instead, enter again, and what you take out is yours.’ He refused. Rabbi Pinḥas said: They offered him taxes for three years, (He could keep whatever taxes he would collect from the people.) but he refused. He said: ‘Is it not enough that I angered my God once, that I would anger Him a second time?’ What did they do to him? They placed him on a carpenter’s sawhorse and were sawing him. He was shouting and saying: ‘Woe is me that I angered my Creator.’ Yakum of Tzerorot was the son of the sister of Rabbi Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida. He was riding a horse on Shabbat. In front of him, a cross on which Jews who observed Shabbat would be crucified was being dragged. He [Yakum of Tzerorot] said to him [Yosei ben Yoezer]: ‘Look at the horse on which my master has me riding, and look at the horse on which your Master has you riding.’ (When the cross was too heavy to bear, very often they would drag it between their legs, so it looked like a horse.) He told him: ‘If so it is for those who anger Him, all the more so for those who perform His will.’ He [also] said to him: ‘If it is so for those who perform his will, all the more so for those who anger him.’ (Yosei ben Yoezer made two responses to his nephew. First, that if he had received a reward despite angering God, certainly, those who serve God will ultimately receive a reward. Second, if those who serve God suffer so much, certainly those who anger God will ultimately suffer more.) It [his uncle’s words] penetrated him like the venom of a serpent. He went and fulfilled in himself the four court-imposed death penalties – stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation. What did he do? He brought a beam and stuck it into the ground. He tied a string to it, arranged wood, and surrounded it with a stone fence. (The stone fence was supported by the wood which it surrounded.) He kindled a bonfire before it, (The bonfire was kindled near the fence, and when the fire reached the fence it kindled the wood which was within the fence and partially under the fence.) stuck a sword in the middle, (The sword was in the middle of the wood which was arranged within the fence near the beam.) kindled the fire under the stones, hanged himself from the beam and was strangled. The fire reached him, it severed the string, he fell into the fire, the sword reached him, the fence fell on him, and he was burned. Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida dozed and saw his bier floating in the air. He said: ‘That one preceded me by a small amount of time into the Garden of Eden.’
ויאמר, ה׳ מסיני בא, He said: "Hashem came from Sinai, etc." Our sages in the Sifri understand this to mean that G'd came towards the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, וזרח משעיר למו, and that on the way towards the Jewish people He first offered the Torah to the descendants of Esau (who lived in Se-ir). The words הופיע מהר פארן would mean that G'd also offered the Torah to the Ishmaelites whose abode was in the desert of Paran. The difficulty with this exegesis is why would the Torah mention the Ishmaelites last when, geographically speaking, G'd would have first encountered the Ishmaelites, seeing He is described as coming from Sinai? Furthermore, we need to know why the Torah employs three different verbs for describing G'd's arrival, i.e. בא, זרח, הופיע? Why did the Torah not simply lump all this together by writing: "He came from Sinai, Se-ir and Paran?" Besides, why did the Torah first mention the place when referring to Sinai, whereas it describes G'd's "shining" or "appearing" before mentioning where this took place, i.e. Se-ir or Paran respectively?
We have now explained all the nuances in our verse including the fact that Sinai is mentioned at the outset as the source from which the Shechinah travelled to these other nations. The purpose of the whole verse is to demonstrate the spirituallly high level of the Jewish people at the time which made it possible for Moses to bestow such far-ranging blessings upon them both collectively and according to their respective tribes. Moses acted no differently from Isaac when he prepared himself to bless Jacob and asked him to approach his father so that he could kiss him (Genesis 27,26). Extolling Israel's superiority put them in a suitable frame of mind to receive the blessing just as being kissed by his father put Jacob in the right frame of mind to receive the blessing.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. She recites this song with her mouth in her exile and in her widowhood, “If only King Shlomo would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth as of yore,” (“With the kisses of his mouth” is obviously superfluous, therefore Rashi explains that it refers to the days of yore. (Sifsei Chachomim) ) because in some places they kiss on the back of the hand or on the shoulder, “but I desire and wish that he behave with me as his original behavior, like a bridegroom with a bride, mouth to mouth.” (If it were not mouth to mouth the verb נשק [=kiss] would be followed with a lamed as in Bereishis 27:26 and Ibid. 29:11, and in many other places. (Sifsei Chachomim) )
His father Yitzchok said to him, Come close to me [now] and kiss me, my son.
And Izhak his father said, Draw near now, and kiss me, my son;
| וַיִּגַּשׁ֙ וַיִּשַּׁק־ל֔וֹ וַיָּ֛רַח אֶת־רֵ֥יחַ בְּגָדָ֖יו וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֑הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר רְאֵה֙ רֵ֣יחַ בְּנִ֔י כְּרֵ֣יחַ שָׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בֵּרְכ֖וֹ יְהֹוָֽה׃ | 27 J | and he went up and kissed him. And he smelled his clothes and he blessed him, saying, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that יהוה has blessed. |
Genesis 8,21. “He smelled the pleasing odour, etc;” The Baal Haturim mentions that the expression וירח את ריח הניחוח, “he smelled a pleasing odour,” occurs only here and when Yitzchok smelled what he thought were Esau’s garments in Genesis 27,27. On the face of it, the comparison appears strange. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 37), throws light on this by suggesting that instead of reading the word בגדיו in Genesis 27,27 we should read it as בוגדיו, “its traitors, deviationists,” and the message is that in the future, even such people will please G’d by their actions. In Esau’s case, the deferential manner in which he addressed his father entitled him to be described in such complimentary terms. Noach’s deference before G’d, (when he could have asked G’d embarrassing questions about finding the earth in ruins) elicited this positive response by G’d. G’d Himself testified to this at the end of this verse (acknowledging the fact that man, having been born with an evil urge, was predisposed to do evil), hence, if he nonetheless decides to follow the path of goodness, thereby defeating the evil urge within him, this is a major moral achievement. The author, quoting his father (if I understand correctly) traces the source of this pleasing odour, הניחוח, to pleasurable experiences by man on earth, (as opposed to spiritual experiences). If man can sublimate these pleasurable experiences to reinforce him in his service of the Lord, then G’d can truly “boast” of him as we read in Isaiah 49,3 ישראל אשר בך אתפאר, “Israel, I can glory in you.” The author continues by quoting Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezeritch, as tracing the word אתפאר, to the word תפר, describing the first garments Adam and Chavah made themselves from fig leaves to cover their nudity. (Genesis 3,7) “A pleasant smell” originating from appropriate clothing, is therefore the most ancient method of ingratiating oneself with G’d after one has fallen out of favour. Pleasant smells as a source of pleasure are familiar to us all, and describing G’d’s reactions to man’s good deeds in such terms is not at all far-fetched. “Clothes” has long been a simile for the deeds of people wearing them, whether good or evil; it is therefore appropriate that when the Torah describes these clothes in complimentary terms, i.e. as pleasing, the reference is to the good deeds performed by the people so described.
Genesis 27,22. “He came close, and Yitzchok kissed him, etc.;” ….he said: “the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that has been blessed by the Lord.” The first letters in the line: אשר ברכו ה', are the same as in the word אבי, “my Father,” i.e. Yitzchok felt that the son in front of him represented his father in heaven.
“… See, the smell of my son is like the smell of the field which God has blessed.” (Bereshit, 27:27) “Field” hints at the expansion of desire. Therefore Eisav was called a man of the field since he extended himself into all kinds of lusts and evil desires. Yaakov Avinu, however, expanded in Kedusha, and this is “the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which God has blessed,” meaning the field of the Holy Apples. (This is a term in kabbalah denoting Malchut—sovereignty, the Shekhina, and the “workers of the field” are those involved in the study of divine mysteries.)
Now, there is yet another type of radiation to his disciples. However, it does not vest itself truly in their mind—as is the case with the first one, but radiates over them, from aloft. It stems from the ascent of his ruach and his neshamah to the source from where it was hewn, that is to the “orchard of the holy apples” (chakal tapuchin kadishin). (The Garden of Eden; Zohar III:84a. Cf. Rashi on Genesis 27:27; see also Zohar I:142b. More on this term see Aspaklarya Hameirah on Zohar III:142b, par. 23.) (This ascent) effects a unification there (yichud) by means of the elevation of the mayin nukvin (Feminine waters; see above, Epistle 4, note 46; Intro., note 199.) of all his doings, his Torah, and the Divine service which he served all the days of his life. And in the chakal tapuchin kadishin are implanted most sublime lights corresponding to the nether ones, i.e., his Torah and worship.
And this is the meaning of the statement in the sacred Zohar (III:71b; cf. Chullin 7b.) that “When the tzaddik departs, he is to be found in all worlds more than in his lifetime.” That is, he is to be found more even in this world of action [“this day to do them” (Deuteronomy 7:11; see Eruvin 22a.) ], because the action keeps growing growths of the second degree from the “light implanted for the righteous” (Psalms 97:11.) in the field which the L–rd blessed; (The Garden of Eden (see Genesis 27:27 and Rashi, ad loc.; below, note 62).—See Chagigah 12a and below, Epistle 29, note 21.) (this light) radiates to the earth and the outside places, (Par. Proverbs 8:26.) and also to us—those that are here this day, all of us that live in his ways, “the holy way shall it be called.” (Par. Isaiah 35:8.) This is as regards the service of G–d, with respect to heavenly matters. (Religious matters.)
וירח את ריח בגדיו, “he smelled the aroma of his clothes,” and as they smelled just as he expected them to smell,
ויאמר: ראה בני, he said: “see, “ etc; as soon as he had smelled the aroma of the clothes Yaakov wore he no longer had any doubts and began to bestow his blessing: commencing with the words: “see the fragrance emanating from my son is like the fragrance from the field;” he even omitted to say the first word in the line that we would have expected, i.e. “see my son, this fragrance is etc;”a different exegesis: the word ראה can have a number of meanings depending on the context in which it appears. The equivalent word in other languages also has different meanings on different occasions. For instance: Deuteronomy 1,8 ראה נתתי לפניכם את הארץ, “see here I have given to you the land;”
כריח שדה, “like the smell of the field;” Yitzchok smelled the field in which Esau made his livelihood reflected in the aroma exuded by the clothes he wore.
אשר ברכו ה, “which the Lord has blessed;” some commentators understand these words not as applying to the field, but to Yitzchok’s son, i.e. בני; in other words: “my son whom the Lord has blessed.” The blessing he refers to is the gift of the land of Israel.
[AND KISSED HIM.] When the word kiss is followed by a lamed it means to kiss upon the hand, shoulder or neck; when it is not followed by a lamed it indicates a mouth to mouth kiss. (I.E. offers no proof for this statement (Weiser).)
AND HE SMELLED. The resh of va-yarach (and he smelled) is vocalized with a pattach because it precedes a gutteral. (Va-yarach is an ayin vav in the hifil. Ayin vavs in the hifil are usually vocalized with a segol. Compare, va-yashev, va-yarem (Cherez).) Va-yana (was moved) and va-yanach (and rested), in And his heart was moved (va-yana) (Is. 7:2) and and rested (va-yanach) in all the borders of Egypt (Ex. 10:14), (Va-yana and va-yanach are vocalized with pattachs because they end in gutturals, va-yana with an ayin, va-yanach with a chet.) are similar. All of the above come from roots whose middle letter is a vav. (They are ayin vavs. Va-yarach comes from the root resh, vav, chet, va-yana from nun, vav, ayin and va-yanach from nun, vav, chet.)
SEE. Isaac said this to himself. (So Weiser. Krinsky suggests that “see” is to be understood as perceive, since it is impossible to see smell.) The garments gave off a pleasant odor when Isaac thought in his heart that it was Esau before him and that Esau had just come in from the field. (Part of Isaac’s pleasant sensation was psychological.) The garments gave off the scent of trees in blossom since it is possible that this episode took place in the first month. (The month of Nisan. Hence the trees were in bloom and the garments absorbed their scent and gave off the smell of the field.)
ויברכהו ויאמר ראה He blessed him saying: "re-ey." This word does not mean "see!" as usual, but is connected to the word ראוי, suitable, worthy. Isaac meant that it was fitting that the fragrance of his son should reflect the fragrance of the fields which themselves enjoyed G'd's blessings.
ויגש...וירח את ריח בגדיו, while he was still engaged in kissing him the fragrance of Yaakov’s clothes inspired Yitzchok. We had described the fact that one kept good clothing in scented bags or wooden boxes until they would be worn again.
ויברכהו, after having inhaled the pleasant fragrance of his clothes and having said: 'ראה ריח בני כריח שדה אשר ברכו ה, that he enjoyed the odour of his clothes. Why, if he blessed him after inhaling the fragrance, does the Torah write the word ויברכהו before describing the odour of the clothing in detail? This was to tell us that Yitzchok’s heart was already gladdened by both the food and the wine so that the Holy Spirit came to rest upon him and to inspire the blessing.
ראה, an imperative mode; who was this addressed to? This was not addressed to a specific person, but it is a mode of speech addressed to anyone who considers what follows as pertinent to himself. We have a similar usage of the imperative not being addressed to someone specific in Jeremiah 13,18 אמר למלך ולגבירה, as well as in Isaiah 60,6 קול אומר קרא!, “a voice says: call out!” No specific person is addressed by this proclamation. Similarly, in Isaiah 35,3 חזקו ידים רפות. Also in verse 4 of that chapter we encounter a similar construction.
'אשר ברכו ה, He blessed the field, i.e. the grass growing there was of good quality. “The fragrance of my son is comparable to the growth of the vegetation on the field which G’d has blessed.” The meaning of the letter ו at the beginning of the next verse which commences with the actual blessing, is not that it adds to what preceded it, but that it introduces something new. It is similar to the letter ו in וישא אברהם את עיניו in 22,13 where it also is not a continuation of what preceded it but the beginning of a new paragraph, a new detail of the story being discussed. There are many examples of the letter ו performing such a function. It is, however, also possible to explain the letter ו at the end of the word ברכו, as referring to Yitzchok’s son, so that Yitzchok would be saying: “behold the fragrance of my son which is like a field which G’d has blessed, so that his blessing would be that Yaakov should continue to enjoy such fragrance also in the future. The blessing would then continue in the next verse with the words ויתן לך spelling out specific elements of that blessing. The letter ו in ויתן would then be the standard connective letter ו.
ריח בגדיו, the costly ones. The clothing worn by people in those days were scented with incense.
'אשר ברכו ה, a reference the word שדה, to the field which has been blessed by G’d. This is also how Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir understood it in his liturgical poem where he wrote שדה מבורך כהריח ברכו במתן טל. [the poem starts with the words אאגרה בני, this is part of the full length Tal prayer printed in the German Machzorim as well as in the older editions of Machzorim featuring the whole range of the Piyutim. Yaakov is described there as smelling as fragrantly as a field blessed with dew. Ed.]
’וירח וגו AND HE SMELLED etc.— Surely there is no more offensive smell than that of washed goat-skins! But Scripture implicitly tells us that the perfume of the Garden of Eden entered the room with him (Genesis Rabbah 65:22).
כריח שדה אשר ברכו AS THE ODOUR OF A FIELD WHICH THE ETERNAL HATH BLESSED — to which God has given a pleasant perfume: it refers to a field of apple-trees. So have our Rabbis, of blessed memory, explained it (Taanit 29b).
(27-28) Wir wissen bereits, welche Vorliebe Jizchak für den von Gott gesegneten Ackerbau hatte. Siehe, spricht er daher, mein Sohn duftet bereits nicht nach dem Walde, sondern nach dem von Gott gesegneten Acker: so möge dir denn Gott geben die Stätte der Fruchtbarkeit und das von ihm gesegnete Aufblühen.
וירח את ריח בגדיו, in order to expand his good mood by enjoying the fragrance. Our sages have described such an experience in Berachot 42 where they said: “which is something which the soul enjoys while the body does not benefit from it? It is a pleasant fragrance.”
ויברכהו, What happened here is similar to what is described in Kings II 3,15, where the prophet Elisha, who had been unable to secure a prophetic vision he had craved, after listening and enjoying music played for him, was able to secure the prophetic insight for which he had been waiting. Yitzchok, who, though desirous of blessing his son Esau, had not felt in the right frame of mind to do so successfully, now was able to proceed with full confidence.
ראה ריח בני, “you my son, take note that this is the appropriate fragrance.”
כריח שדה, the field does not only provide physical nourishment, its herbs, etc., but in addition it provides enjoyment for the soul which appreciates and is nurtured by the body it inhabits inhaling the fragrance of these herbs. [Yitzchok establishes the connection between ריח and רוח, “fragrance” and “spirit,” something alluded to frequently when the Torah describes G’d’s reaction to man’s sacrifices, especially the incense. Ed.]
It is part of G’d’s goodness, 'אשר ברכו ה, to provide phenomena on earth which are apt to lift his spirits.
This teaches that the smell of the Garden of Eden entered with him. This is because Eisov coveted these garments [and took them] from Nimrod, who inherited them from Adam, who wore them in the Garden of Eden.
Which is that of an apple-orchard. “Blessed by Hashem” refers to “field”, as if saying: Like the fragrance of a field to which Hashem has given a pleasant scent, i.e., an apple-orchard.
He , Jacob, approached and kissed him. He, Isaac, smelled the scent of his, Esau’s, fine garments, which had absorbed the scent of one who frequents the fields, and he blessed him and said: See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed. The Sages suggest that Isaac smelled the scent of an orchard, 21 as a field of grain does not emit a pleasant fragrance, whereas one can smell the fruit in an area planted with trees.
ראה ריח בני כריח שדה, “indeed the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of the field.” The meaning of the word ראה here is that the expression does not reflect something Yitzchok saw with his eyes, but that this is what he observed internally, when thinking about what his son Esau’s presence projected. He felt that there could not be any doubt that of his two sons it was Esau who represented the fragrance of blossoming flowers and all the blessings associated with nature when it unfolds. This is why he determined to accord him the blessing. Other commentators see in this statement about the fragrance simply a reference to the perfume with which Esau sprayed his garments, something which matched what could be found in the field.
“He smelled the scent of his clothes” [27:27]. Isaac smelled the scent of his garments, a very fine scent. Rashi asks. The goat’s hide stinks badly, so how did it have a very fine scent? The explanation is that Jacob had Esau’s garments. He took the garments from Adam, who wore these same garments in the Garden of Eden. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:27.) These garments had a nice scent from the Garden of Eden. All the animals were depicted on these garments and when Esau went out into the field with these garments, all the animals came running to these garments and he caught those that he wanted. (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chap. 24.)
One should make it a practice on both nights of Rosh Hashanah to eating according to this order at his table: Dates are first. He should recite the blessing, "who has created the fruit of the tree," and eat a date [tamrah]. And afterward, he should say, "May it be His will that our enemies come to an end [yitamu]." Then one should eat a second date. And his intention should be for the lower enemies with this petition. And then he should eat beans [rubiya] — and that is what we call lubia in Arabic — and he should say, "May it be His will that our merits increase [yirbu]!" And according to that which the brilliant Magen Avraham wrote, that one should also make petitions according to the apparent meaning [of the sound of the Hebrew and Aramaic words] in the language of the country, we people of Baghdad who call it lubia should accordingly say, "May it be His will that our merits increase and You take us to heart [telabevenu]!" And it is like that which we are accustomed to saying two petitions with pumpkin [kra, "May it be His will that You rip up [tikraa] the bad decree of our punishment, and may our merits be read out [yikreu] before You," [the latter] being the meaning of the tearing, which is based on kraa. And likewise is it with the matter of beans in our country's language [Arabic]. And then one eats leeks [karti] and says, "that our enemies and haters be cut off [yekaretu)!" And with this, his intention should be for the evil forces created by the inequities of a person and the drops of seminal emissions that we have in mind with the recital of Shema at bedtime. And about them, it is said, those that inhabit a man's house are his enemies (alluding to Micah 7:6). And after the leeks, one eats the beets [selek] and says, "that our enemies be removed [yistalku], etc." And with this, his intention should be for the prosecutors and the forces of judgment that accuse [us] above. And afterward, he should eat the pumpkin and say, "that You rip up the bad decree of our punishment (and his intention should be for the name, Karaa [which refers to God's judgment]) and may our merits be read out before You!" And then one eats a sweet pomegranate and says, "that we should be as full of commandments as the pomegranate!" And then one should eat an apple cooked in sugar and say, "May it be His will that a sweet and good year be renewed upon us!" But we do not say, "like honey." And the later scholars, may their memory be blessed, wrote [that] the reason that we bring an apple [to the table] is as a hint about the field of holy apples from the secret of See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field (Genesis 27:27). And, with the help of the Heavens, it appears to me that the reason for the apple on Rosh Hashanah night is because the apple has three types of enjoyment, taste, appearance, and smell. And that is a good omen for our request for general bounty — which is 'life, children, and sustenance' — for the whole year. And, with the help of the Heavens, it also appears to me that there is another reason, according to that which is written in the Zohar, Parashat Shemini 40, about the verse: refresh me with apples (Song of Songs 2:5): The apple removes the wine, and directs [God's] will, such that the wine not cause damage. And that is [why] we eat an apple after the wine, so that the wine does not cause damage. Hence, people's custom is to dunk the apple into a cup of wine, as is written in the books. And it is known that wine is [considered indicative of the] restrictive powers [gevurot]. Yet now on Rosh Hashanah, our entire goal is to flavor and sweeten the restrictive powers. That is why we eat an apple. And, with the help of the Heavens, there is another reason that appears to me: It is found in the holy Zohar that the root of all the fruits is in Kingship [Malkhut], whereas only the root of the apple is in the Male, which is the secret of Splendor [Tiferet]. And this is as I have written in a preface [about this] in another place. And that which Ari, may his memory be blessed, wrote is well known: That the months of summer, from Nissan to Tishrei, are in the Female, which is the secret of Kingship, whereas the months of winter are in the Male, which is the secret of Splendor. And that is why on Rosh Hashanah, which is the beginning of the months of the Male, we eat an apple, the root of which is in the Male.
And know from what our sages z”l said: “It is forbidden to enjoy something from this world without a blessing, they were speaking about all pleasures in general, whether from something one tastes, from something one smells, or from something one sees and hears – for all four of these senses they fixed a blessing. The sense of taste: from what is written, “set aside [kidesh – lit., “make holy”] for jubilation [hilulim] before the Lord,” (Lev 19:24.) it comes to teach you that every edible thing is forbidden to you as if it were hekdesh – “holy” food set aside to the priests and Temple – until one sings praises [yi-hallel], that is, says a blessing to the Holy One Blessed be He before and after over the same food, and this is why hilulim is plural, not the singular form hilul. For the sense of smell one has to say a blessing as well, and there is support for this in the verse, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that the Lord has blessed.” (Gen 27:27.) From here we get that the sense of smell is blessed. And it is also written, “’Let every soul praise [tehallel] the Lord!’ (Ps 150:6.) Which thing is it that gives joy to the soul but not to the body? You must say that this is smell!” (B. Berakhot 43b.) For the sense of sight there are many blessings such as one sees the sun at the summer solstice should say this blessing: “Blessed is He who makes Creation,” (Current practice is to recite this Birkat Ha-Hamah – “the Blessing of the Sun” – every 28 years at tekufat Nisan –the beginning of spring, rather than tekufat Tammuz – the beginning of summer, to which R. Bahya refers here. See b. Berachot 59b: “He who sees the sun at its turning point should say, ‘Blessed is He who makes the works of Creation.’ And when is this? Abaya said: every 28th year.”) and similarly the blessing for moon in each month. (B. Sanhedrin 42a.) And they said in the chapter Ha-Ro-eh – “He who sees”: (B. Berakhot 59b. R. Bahya’s quotation differs slightly from its source in the Talmud.) “He who sees the sun at its turning point,the moon in its purity, the planets in their courses, and the signs of the zodiac in their season, should say: ‘Blessed is He who makes the work of creation.’” And this is what you will find in the story of the making of Creation: “They shall serve as signs for the set times – the days and the years,” because the lights, besides giving light, also are signs by which the future is hinted at, what our rabbis z”l meant by saying: (B. Sukkah 29a.) “When the lights are in eclipse, it is a bad sign for “the nations of the world.” (“The lights” – the moon and the stars; “the nations of the world” – a euphemism for Israel!) And they are also a sign for Israel when to recite the Shma in the morning, because the mitzvah is to recite it at sunrise, (B. Berakhot 9b.) and when to recite the Shma in the evening, because the mitzvah is to recite it “when the stars come out.” (B. Berakhot 2a.) And this is the meaning of what is written in: “Lift high your eyes and see Who created these,” (Is 40:26.) because through looking at this, a person is roused to see that the are creations, and to praise his Creator for them by either a blessing or some other expression of praise. And in the chapter Ha-Ro-eh, it also says, “Whoever goes out in the days of Nisan and sees the trees sprouting, he should say, ‘Blessed is He who has not left His world lacking in anything and has created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees for the enjoyment of humanity.” (B. Berakhot 43b.) And likewise whoever sees their friend after not seeing them for twelve months, one says, “Blessed is He Who revives the dead,” (Ibid., 58b.) and after thirty days he says a Shehekheyanu blessing, (Ibid.) and likewise whoever sees a rainbow says, “Blessed is He Who remembers the covenant, (Ibid., 59a.) and so with all the rest of the things for which they fixed a blessing for seeing them. And so that’s what the chapter Ha-Ro-eh talks about. (Ibid., 54a.) For the sense of hearing they also fixed blessings. For good news, one recites the blessing Ha-Tov ve-Ha-Metiv; for bad news, “Barukh dayan ha-emet”- “Blessed is the true Judge.” (Ibid.) However, they did not fix a blessing for when someone hears a sound [kol] of a lyre or pipe so sweet that it make their soul happy and it enjoys it, as it is written, “for your voice [kol] is sweet.” (S.S. 2:14.) The reason why is because sound isn’t actually a thing. Now if you would say the same is true of smell, there is actually something in fruits that give off their smell. And if you would say that there is something in the instrument or singer that produces the sound, the smell that comes from fruits is not like the sound that comes from a person’s body or a musical instrument. For the smell of a fruit or a spice is from their body and essence, but the sound of a human being or musical instrument is not from their body and essence, but rather the result of air blowing through it. Nor did they fix a blessing for the sense of touch, because it is included in the sense of taste. And this is the reason why the Torah mentions these four senses explicitly. When it is written, “that cannot see or hear or eat or smell,” (Dt 4:28: “There you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, that cannot see or hear or eat or smell,” is the whole verse. The original context, where this refers to the idolatry that the Israelites will eventually fall into, is certainly thought-provoking in light of R. Bahya’s discussion here of the significance of the senses.) it does not mention the sense of touch, because it is included in “that cannot eat,” which is the sense of taste. And you must understand that it is among the wonders of the formation of the human body that these five senses in it are implanted in the five organs that are the tools and gateways of the intellectual soul, which derives its nobility from the Holy Spirit in it, and human being’s high rank and greatness is their result, because they are the basis for his activity in doing mitzvot, and likewise for committing sins, for by means of them he will be rewarded, and by means of them he will be punished, according to how he chooses to use them. Therefore Scripture faults avodah zarah for its lack of these senses in order to instruct us about their importance. Because idols are lacking in their ability to sense and are generally incomplete, they have no power to save. And if so, how could those who worship these other gods in times of distress call out, “Rise up and save us!?” (R. Bahya is referring back to Dt. 4:28 in its original context. See note above.)
(1) The seventeen years in Egypt were also part of the years under the special Providence of G-d; although Joseph did provide for his father, he did so as an instrument of G-d’s Providence, as he had said himself, "Not you have sent me here, but G-d." The line, "Who has been my shepherd until this day," refers to G-d’s Providence during those last seventeen years. The word hazeh, this, equals seventeen in numerical value. (2) "Do not bury me in Egypt!" Since we have pointed out earlier that during one's lifetime an ever increasing bond is forged between body and soul, and that this bond is not completely dissolved at death, but takes twelve months until it is completely severed, Jacob did not want the remains of his soul to be connected with Egypt for any part of this period. Compare Shabbat 152, "The soul ascends and descends during the twelve months after the body ceases to function." The importance of the place of burial and how it facilitates the ascent of the acquired spiritual qualities of man, has been discussed in Chapter twenty-two. Jacob did not even want to be interred in Egypt temporarily, being afraid that re-interment would be postponed indefinitely; therefore, he said, "As soon as I die, I want to lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and bury me in my father's grave." By replying, "I will do as you say," Joseph implied that his father's wish was more compelling than any oath. Jacob insisted on an oath however, to enable Joseph to tell Pharaoh that he had sworn an oath, should the latter make any difficulties. The fact that Joseph had to tell Pharaoh, "My father has made me swear an oath" shows that Jacob's fears were well founded. When Jacob recalled the vision he had had at Looz, he tells Joseph that he had learned two things on that occasion. Firstly, that there is a connection between the blessing and residence in the land of Israel. Secondly, that at least part of that blessing applied to him personally, not only to his future issue (vayevarech oti, He blessed me). Therefore, the promise of possession of the land applied only to the future. For this reason, Jacob starts once more "He said to me" as a separate communication from G-d (48,34). Jacob realized that the meaning of the second part of the blessing was that just as his children would remain "alive," so would he remain "alive," which is part of the meaning of our sages' statement that "Jacob did not die." (4) On that occasion, at Bet El, we find that G-d blessed Jacob by saying, "Nation and community of nations will stem from you" (35,9-13). Apparently, this referred to children as yet unborn. Since only Benjamin had not been born yet at that time, Jacob was entitled to apply the second part of that blessing to himself having been promised more children. Joseph's two sons therefore could rightfully be considered as belonging to Jacob. Although they had been born in Egypt, the promise to Jacob had been made while he was in the land of Israel. Future events which dictated that the tribe of Levi would be separated into a separate unit with special functions, thus depriving the encampment of the children of Israel of one of their twelve armies, necessitated that Levi be replaced. Since Jacob allocated a double portion to the firstborn in the inheritance, he thus appointed Menashe and Ephrayim to represent the share of Joseph. Jacob did not discuss future children of Joseph then, but the words "And your offspring," refer to his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. We find the latter being counted as heads of tribal families in Numbers Chapter twenty-six. This shows that Menashe and Ephrayim, though belonging to a later generation, are given the same status as Reuben and Shimon. There cannot, therefore, be a question of non-fulfilment of a promise of future children for Joseph. (5) The fact that Rachel died almost immediately after Jacob had received that blessing, made it clear to him that this blessing could not have referred to his having any more children. The line, "When I came from Padan Aram, Rachel died etc.," is introduced as justification for appointing Menashe and Ephrayim as sons in the forthcoming distribution of the land of Israel. (6) Jacob saw a number of people around his bedside, not recognizing them. The Torah reports that they were Joseph's sons, but Jacob had not realized this until told by Joseph "these are my sons,” the ones born to him in Egypt, prior to Jacob's arrival. He had now brought them so that they could receive the blessing discussed previously. Jacob asked that they come closer so that perhaps he could recognize them despite his failing eyesight. The kissing and embracing substituted for his inability to see, just as in the case of his father Isaac, when Jacob had received the blessing (Genesis Chapter 27). Jacob expressed his satisfaction at having been granted not only reunion with his son Joseph, but at having seen his children also. When Joseph saw his father like this, in a happy frame of mind, he removed the children from his father's knees to position them so that they could receive the blessing in order of their seniority. (7) After Joseph had already heard his father give Ephrayim precedence when he compared his position to that of Reuben, although Ephrayim was the younger, Joseph, thinking his father had erred, placed Ephrayim on his right side. When, despite the way Joseph had positioned the children, Jacob crossed his hands, it became clear that Jacob could not have erred previously when he mentioned Ephrayim ahead of Menashe. The words of the Torah "And he was the younger," in describing Ephrayim, are not to be understood as "although he was the younger," but rather as "because he was the younger." It is clear that G-d did not intend for Jacob's left hand to come to rest on the head of Ephrayim. Jacob was presumably inspired by the order in which G-d had blessed him at Looz "be fruitful and multiply; the "be fruiful" came first. Since the name "Ephrayim" is derived from the same root as the word "fruitful," Jacob took this as his cue. The fact that the right hand represents the more important activities and achievements is well known and already documented in Proverbs 3,16, "Long life from its right, wealth and honor from its left." The word sikel seems the same as we find in connection with Achitofel (Samuel II 15,31), "Please make foolish the advice of Achitofel." It does not seem to matter whether the word is spelled with the letter sin or samech. The Torah tells us that the fact that he crossed his hands indicated that Jacob himself had not known who the firstborn was. He blessed Joseph." Being blessed in the name of G-d is a three-stage process: 1) The wish for successful spiritual development. 2) The wish for the material blessings which enable one to devote oneself to one's spiritual progress. 3) Protection against negative influences that stand in the way of one's achieving one's spiritual objectives. (8) Concerning the first portion of the blessing, Jacob said, "The G-d before whom my fathers have walked." Concerning the second portion of the blessing, he said, "The G-d who has been my shepherd." Concerning the third portion of the blessing, he said, "The angel who has acted as my redeemer etc." The line, "May my name be proclaimed through them in the name of my fathers," is confirmation that Ephrayim and Menashe are going to be treated like the other tribes. (9+10) "My name will attach to them." Joseph's objections were not based on begrudging Ephrayim the blessing; rather, he believed his father had erred in placing his right hand on Ephrayim, and that if so, the blessings might not be fulfilled since they had been given based on a mistaken premise. He felt that just as his father had remained unaware of what the brothers had done to him, so he might be unaware now as to which of the sons standing in front of him was the firstborn. Jacob's answer, stressing twice, "I know, my son, I know," reassures Joseph on both counts, tells him that his father is well aware of what the brothers had done to him. He also tells him that he is aware that Menashe would become a tribe on account of his being the firstborn, however the younger one would achieve even greater status, though not at the expense of the older one. (3) Apparently, Joseph was mollified, and when Jacob said, "With you Israel will bless," this indicates that Joseph joined in that blessing. Jacob's saying to Joseph, "I will give you one Shechem additional to your brothers," refers to the city that had been conquered by Shimon and Levi. When the Almighty gives territory to Israel, no one can claim it as his own, since they have not conquered it. Shechem, however, had not been given, but had been conquered. It, therefore, became the property of the conqueror and his to dispose of as he saw fit, seeing it was not part of the land promised to the children of Israel as a whole, as a gift from G-d. When David mourned Saul, he mourned the fact that it had become necessary to fight against Israel's enemies militarily, i.e. "to teach the sons of Yehudah the use of the bow" (Samuel II 1,18). This need had first manifested itself when Israel had been attacked by Amalek, and Moses had to tell Joshua to go and select fighting men. When at the end of that episode, the victory is described as, "He weakened Amalek by the sword;" the reference is to all conquests based on merely military superiority. Human conquest, by definition, is "weak," as compared to territory that is acquired by the direct intervention of Providence on our behalf.
e.g., if you wish to describe the king of a country to one of his subjects who does not know him, you can give a description and an account of his existence in many ways. You will either say to him, the tall man with a fair complexion and grey hair is the king, thus describing him by his accidents; or you will say, the king is the person round whom are seen a great multitude of men on horse and on foot, and soldiers with drawn swords, over whose head banners are waving, and before whom trumpets are sounded; or it is the person living in the palace in a particular region of a certain country: or it is the person who ordered the building of that wall, or the construction of that bridge; or by some other similar acts and things relating to him. His existence can be demonstrated in a still more indirect way, e.g., if you are asked whether this land has a king, you will undoubtedly answer in the affirmative. “What proof have you?” “The fact that this banker here, a weak and little person, stands before this large mass of gold pieces, and that poor man, tall and strong, who stands before him asking in vain for alms of the weight of a carob-grain, is rebuked and is compelled to go away by the mere force of words: for had he not feared the king, he would, without hesitation, have killed the banker, or pushed him away and taken as much of the money as he could.” Consequently, this is a proof that this country has a ruler and his existence is proved by the well-regulated affairs of the country, on account of which the king is respected and the punishments decreed by him are feared. In this whole example nothing is mentioned that indicated his characteristics, and his essential properties, by virtue of which he is king.
Again, since we perform all these actions only by means of corporeal organs, we figuratively ascribe to God the organs of locomotion, as feet, and their soles; organs of hearing, seeing, and smelling, as ear, eye, and nose; organs and substance of speech, as mouth, tongue, and sound; organs for the performance of work, as hand, its fingers, its palm, and the arm. In short, these organs of the body are figuratively ascribed to God, who is above all imperfection, to express that He performs certain acts; and these acts are figuratively ascribed to Him to express that He possesses certain perfections different from those acts themselves. E.g., we say that He has eyes, ears, hands, a mouth, a tongue, to express that He sees, hears, acts, and speaks: but seeing and hearing are attributed to Him to indicate simply that He perceives. You thus find in Hebrew instances in which the perception of the one sense is named instead of the other; thus, “See the word of the Lord” (Jer. 2:31), in the same meaning as “Hear the word of the Lord,” for the sense of the phrase is, “Perceive what He says”; similarly the phrase, “See the smell of my son” (Gen. 27:27) has the same meaning as “Smell the smell of my son,” for it relates to the perception of the smell. In the same way are used the words, “And all the people saw the thunders and the lightnings” (Exod. 20:15), although the passage also contains the description of a prophetical vision, as is well known and understood among our people. Action and speech are likewise figuratively applied to God, to express that a certain influence has emanated from Him, as will be explained (chap. lxv and chap. lxvi.).
He opened with the verse, "Moreover, land has an advantage for everyone, he who tills a field is a king" (Kohelet 5:8). "Moreover, land has an advantage" (is the Nukvah) "for everyone." Certainly, "All" (Heb. כֹּל). Because (from Yesod) emanate spirits and souls and goods to the world. Of the verse, "He who tills a field is a king," who is the king? He is the Holy One, blessed be He, who "tills a field" when it is properly cultivated. The King is the supernal King (Zeir Anpin) who is joined to the field when it is tilled. What is the field? This is a field which Hashem has blessed (Nukvah), "Like the smell of a field which Hashem has blessed" (Gen. 27:27). For when it is tilled and cultivated properly, the supernal King unites with it.
"And make it fit for yourself in the field." This is "a field which Hashem has blessed" (Beresheet 27: 27). After learning the mystery of wisdom and perfecting himself therein, it is then written, "and afterwards build your house" (Mishlei 24: 27). (A house is) a man's soul, that he will then fix within his body, to become a whole man. Therefore, when Isaac dug and formed the well peacefully, he called that "peace", Rechovot. And all was properly done. Happy are the Righteous, whose deeds before the Holy One, blessed be He, are to preserve the world, as it is written, "For the upright shall dwell in the land" (Mishlei 2:21), which should be read as, 'cause to dwell', as was already explained.
"And said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which Hashem has blessed" (Beresheet 27:27). The meaning of "and said" is not clear. Some say it is the Shechinah; some say it was Isaac who said "like the smell of a field which Hashem has blessed." What is this field? This is a field of apple trees (referred to as 'the field of Holy apples' which the supernal Patriarchs support and cultivate.
Chapter (42) [43]: Torah [1] "And God shall give you the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28). This means the dew of Mount Hermon, as it is written, "Like the dew of Hermon" (Psalms 133:3). "And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Genesis 27:27). What were these garments? Our sages taught that before the Tabernacle was built, the animals were considered fit for sacrifice, and the service was dependent on the firstborn. Adam, who was the firstborn of the world, first dressed in priestly garments, as it is written, "And God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). And it is written, "He shall wear a holy linen tunic" (Leviticus 16:4). "The first man gave the garments [to Eve, and Eve to Methuselah, and Methuselah to Noah, and Noah] to Shem, who was Noah's firstborn, as it is said: 'And Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine.'" (Genesis 14:18), where they were given to Abraham, who gave them to Isaac, who gave them to Esau, who was the firstborn. When Isaac saw that his wives were practicing idolatry, he took them away from Esau and entrusted them to Rebecca. When Jacob took the birthright from Esau, Rebecca said, "Since Jacob has taken the birthright, it is fitting that he should wear these garments," as it is written, "And Rebecca took the garments of Esau" (Genesis 27:15). Jacob then went to his father and he smelled them, as it is written, "And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Genesis 27:27), and Isaac smelled the same fragrance that had been sacrificed on the altar.
“He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him” (Genesis 27:23). “He did not recognize him” – when wicked people were produced from him, he [Isaac] did not recognize them. “His father Isaac said to him: Approach and kiss me, my son” (Genesis 27:26). “Approach and kiss me” – he said to him: ‘You will be adjacent to me in burial, but no other will be adjacent to me in burial.’ “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed” (Genesis 27:27). “He approached and kissed him, and he smelled the scent of his garments” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There is nothing whose odor is viler than this goat hide, and you say: “He smelled the scent of his garments, and blessed him”? It is, rather, that when our patriarch Jacob entered to his father, the Garden of Eden entered with him. That is what he said to him: “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field.” But when Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him, just as it says: “With the arrival of spite, disgrace arrives” (Proverbs 11:2). Another matter, “he smelled the scent of his garments [begadav], (This is expounded to mean “his traitors [bogedav]” have a good scent – they repent.) and blessed him” – e.g., Yosef Meshita and Yakum of Tzerorot. Yosef Meshita, when the enemies sought to enter the Temple Mount, they said: ‘Let one of them enter, and it (The desecration.) will begin with them.’ They said to him: (They wanted a Jew to enter the Temple Mount first, and chose Yosef Meshita, who agreed to enter.) ‘Enter, and whatever you take out is yours.’ He entered and took out a golden candelabrum. They said to him: ‘It is not appropriate for a commoner to make use of this. (It should be given to the emperor.) Instead, enter again, and what you take out is yours.’ He refused. Rabbi Pinḥas said: They offered him taxes for three years, (He could keep whatever taxes he would collect from the people.) but he refused. He said: ‘Is it not enough that I angered my God once, that I would anger Him a second time?’ What did they do to him? They placed him on a carpenter’s sawhorse and were sawing him. He was shouting and saying: ‘Woe is me that I angered my Creator.’ Yakum of Tzerorot was the son of the sister of Rabbi Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida. He was riding a horse on Shabbat. In front of him, a cross on which Jews who observed Shabbat would be crucified was being dragged. He [Yakum of Tzerorot] said to him [Yosei ben Yoezer]: ‘Look at the horse on which my master has me riding, and look at the horse on which your Master has you riding.’ (When the cross was too heavy to bear, very often they would drag it between their legs, so it looked like a horse.) He told him: ‘If so it is for those who anger Him, all the more so for those who perform His will.’ He [also] said to him: ‘If it is so for those who perform his will, all the more so for those who anger him.’ (Yosei ben Yoezer made two responses to his nephew. First, that if he had received a reward despite angering God, certainly, those who serve God will ultimately receive a reward. Second, if those who serve God suffer so much, certainly those who anger God will ultimately suffer more.) It [his uncle’s words] penetrated him like the venom of a serpent. He went and fulfilled in himself the four court-imposed death penalties – stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation. What did he do? He brought a beam and stuck it into the ground. He tied a string to it, arranged wood, and surrounded it with a stone fence. (The stone fence was supported by the wood which it surrounded.) He kindled a bonfire before it, (The bonfire was kindled near the fence, and when the fire reached the fence it kindled the wood which was within the fence and partially under the fence.) stuck a sword in the middle, (The sword was in the middle of the wood which was arranged within the fence near the beam.) kindled the fire under the stones, hanged himself from the beam and was strangled. The fire reached him, it severed the string, he fell into the fire, the sword reached him, the fence fell on him, and he was burned. Yosei ben Yoezer of Tzereida dozed and saw his bier floating in the air. He said: ‘That one preceded me by a small amount of time into the Garden of Eden.’
(Genesis 45:8) "So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh." I am like a creditor to him, as it is stated (Exodus 22:24), "Do not impose interest upon him." Just as the way of a creditor is to lend to a borrower (Proverbs 22:7), in the book of Rabbi Meir, it is written, "And he has made me a father," as it says, "which the Lord, your God, gives you" (Deuteronomy 15:2). This is a legal judgment derived from the full texts written in the Torah, which emerged from Jerusalem during the Sabbatical year and ascended to Rome, and the scrolls were stored in the synagogue of Asvyros. "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). "For a man and his wife, leather tunics" (Genesis 3:21). "I will descend now and see their outcry" (Genesis 18:21). "The Lord who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth" (Genesis 24:7). "And he sold his birthright" (Genesis 25:33). "Behold, now, I am old; I do not know the day of my death" (Genesis 27:2). "The fragrance of a field that the Lord has blessed" (Genesis 27:27). "And Oholibamah bore Jeush" (Genesis 36:5). "Eliphaz, the son of Esau" (Genesis 36:10). "These were the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau" (Genesis 36:14). "They arose and went down to Egypt" (Genesis 43:15). "And I buried her there on the way" (Genesis 48:7).And he has made me a father to Pharaoh." And here are the names that came down to Egypt (Genesis 46:8). "So shall you say to the children of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:3). "The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses" (Exodus 12:37). "For it is a sign between Me" (Exodus 31:13). "Five for the planks on one side" (Exodus 26:27). "We have no barricade against it." "And the priest shall take from its blood" (Leviticus 4:34), for if it is a lamb. "And when the zav becomes purified with living water" (Leviticus 15:13). "One lamb of the first year without blemish" (Leviticus 14:10). "All who come to join the ranks must be counted in their census" (Numbers 4:3). "From the first of your dough, you shall give" (Numbers 15:20). "Avenge the vengeance of the children of Israel" (Numbers 31:2). "And they came to Moses and to the congregation of the children of Israel" (Numbers 12:1). "The heads of the families of the house of Joseph approached" (Numbers 36:1). "But I have not the power to go up" (Deuteronomy 1:26). "And they shall inherit it, they and all the people of the land" (Numbers 32:22). "To give us into the hands of the Amorites" (Deuteronomy 1:27). "Nor take a mother upon her young" (Deuteronomy 22:6). "Brimstone and salt burning" (Deuteronomy 29:22). "Like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah" (Deuteronomy 29:22). "I said, I would scatter them" (Deuteronomy 32:26). So they are written in the Torah that emerged from Jerusalem.
(Fol. 37) (Songs 7, 3) Thy navel is protected like a round goblet which lacketh not the mixed wine. Navel refers to the Sanhedrin. And why were they called navel? Because they used to sit in the centre (navel) of the world. Is protected — i.e., it protects the whole world. Round goblet — i.e., the Sanhedrin sat in a circle. Which lacketh not the mixed wine — i.e., if one wished to leave, it must be seen that there would remain twenty-three, corresponding to the number of the small Sanhedrin; then he was able to leave. But if there were less, he could not leave. Thy body is like a heap of wheat fenced about with lilies; i.e., just as from a heap of wheat all derive benefit, so all were pleased to hear the reasons given by the Sanhedrin in their discussions. Fenced about with lilies — i.e., even a fence of lilies was not broken by them to go out of it. This is what was said by a certain heretic to R. Cahana: "Your law permits a man to stay alone with his wife during the days of her menstruation. Is it possible that flax and fire should be together and should not burn?" And he answered: "The Torah has testified for us, fenced about with lilies — i.e., even a fence of lilies is sufficient for us — and it will never be broken." Resh Lakish said: "This is inferred from (Ib. 6, 7) Like the half of the pomegranate is the upper part of thy cheek — i.e., even thy lowest are full of meritorious acts — like the pomegranate." R. Zera said: "From (Gen. 27, 27) And he smelled the smell of his garments, etc. Do not read b'gadav (garments), but read bogdav (his transgressors)." There were insolent fellows in the neighborhood of R. Zera, who nevertheless associated with them and showed them respect, so that they should repent. The Rabbis, however, were not satisfied with this. When R. Zera died the insolent fellows said: "Hitherto there was the little man who prayed for us, but now who will do so?" Whereupon they repeated and became righteous.
(Gen. 27:6, 8, & 9:) AND REBEKAH SPOKE UNTO JACOB…. AND NOW MY SON, HEED ME IN WHAT < I CHARGE YOU >. PLEASE GO TO THE FLOCK…. As soon as Esau had gone to get < the venison >, he (Jacob) went to his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:18 & 19): THEN HE WENT UNTO HIS FATHER…. AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS FATHER: < I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN >…. So he blessed him (in Gen. 27:27). Even though you may say Jacob lied, he did not lie. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:21): NO ONE HAS BEHELD FALSEHOOD IN JACOB. [He said] merely (in Gen. 27:19 &. 20): I am Jacob; ESAU [IS] YOUR FIRST-BORN…. (It is possible to interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: IT IS I. ESAU IS YOUR FIRST-BORN. Cf. Gen. R. 65:18.) PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. THEN ISAAC SAID UNTO HIS SON: < HOW IS IT THAT YOU WERE SO QUICK > … ? He said to him (in Gen. 27:20, cont.): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. Then in addition he said to him: (Cf. Gen. R. 65:19.) When you were bound upon the altar, the angel said (in Gen. 22:12): DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST THE LAD. Perhaps there was something there. The Holy One only caused < a sacrificial animal > to sprout forth for your sake, as stated (in Gen. 22:13): THEN ABRAHAM LIFTED HIS EYES < TO LOOK, AND THERE WAS A RAM BEHIND HIM >…. So also he said (here in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. (Gen. R. 65:19 argues a fortiori that, if God would bless Isaac by making a sacrifice appear at the time of the binding, he certainly would expedite matters in preparing this meal.) Now, when Isaac heard him say: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, he said: This is not Esau. He said: Esau never mentions THE LORD YOUR GOD. He said to him (in vss. 21f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, MY SON…. SO JACOB CAME NEARER TO HIS FATHER ISAAC…. He said to him: Behold, in voice you are Jacob; (Buber notes that his text here is garbled and suggests the reading translated here from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) BUT (in vs. 22, cont.) THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. R. Judah bar Il'ay said: (yTa‘an. 4:8 (68d); Git. 57b; Gen. R. 65:21.) In former generations one would ask: What is the meaning (of Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB? The voice of the Emperor (Lat.: Caesar.) Hadrian, < who > [killed] eight thousand myriads (80,000,000) in Bethther. (This town in Southern Israel is also known as Bithter or Bettar. The present Greek spelling is that adopted by Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah in The Macmillan Bible Atlas (New York: Macmillan, 1968.) R. Johanan said: The voice of Jacob was crying out < over > what the hands of Esau did to him in Bethther.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:27): LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD. (See Gen. R. 65:23.) He foresaw that he was going to build Zion and offer sacrifices in its midst; so he blessed him. Now A FIELD can only be Zion, since it is stated (in Micah 3:12): ZION SHALL BE PLOWED AS A FIELD. (Gen. 27:27, cont.:) < A FIELD > WHICH THE LORD HAS BLESSED. That is what he wrote about (in Ps. 133:3): LIKE THE DEW OF HERMON < WHICH COMES DOWN UPON THE HILLS OF ZION >.
Furthermore, our masters have also taught (in Zev. 14:4) BEFORE THE TABERNACLE WAS SET UP, THE HIGH PLACES WERE PERMITTED AND THE SACRIFICIAL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED BY THE FIRST-BORN. (See above, 6:4, and the other references cited there.) Therefore, the Holy One clothed Adam in garments of high priesthood, since he was the first-born of the world. Noah came [and passed them on to Shem; Shem] passed them on to Abraham; Abraham passed them on to Isaac; and Isaac passed them on to Esau, who was his first-born. Esau, however, saw his wives serving idols and deposited them (the clothes) with his mother. When Jacob arose and took the birthright of Esau, Rebekah said: Inasmuch as Jacob has taken the birthright from the hand of Esau, he has the right to put on these garments. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:15): THEN REBEKAH TOOK THE BEST GARMENTS OF HER OLDER SON ESAU, < WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE, AND HAD HER YOUNGER SON JACOB PUT THEM ON >. Jacob came in to his father Isaac and emitted an aroma on him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS AND BLESSED HIM…. How did he bless him? According to what they read on the matter (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU….
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina: (See Tanh., Gen. 6:13.) One does not say: EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY unless there was another < event > before it (for it to exceed). So what were the two tremblings that Isaac had? One was on Mount Moriah when his father bound him and took up the knife to slaughter him. The Holy One appeared above the angels and opened up the firmament. When Isaac raised his eyes and saw the chambers of the chariot, he trembled and shook. But here he trembled, and his trembling was greater than the first time! There he trembled when he saw the Holy One, the chambers of the chariot, and the angels. But here, because Jacob had entered and taken the blessings, his trembling was greater than that < former > trembling. But why did he tremble? Nathan the Haver said in the name of R. Aha and R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite < who said > in the name of R. Johanan: When Jacob entered, the Garden of Eden entered with him, as stated (in Gen. 27:27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS…. (See above, 6:16; Gen. R. 65:22; Cant. R. 4:11:2.) And note that he did not put on anything but clothes of goat's hair, as stated (in vs. 16): THEN SHE CLOTHED HIS ARMS < AND THE HAIRLESS PART OF HIS NECK > WITH THE SKINS OF GOAT KIDS. And you do not have a worse odor in the < whole > world than goatskins washed smooth. But what is the meaning (of vs. 27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS? Some interpret it to say: The Holy One blew on the clothes of Isaac the odor of the incense which was going to be used in the Temple. When Esau the Wicked entered, however, < the result was as > R. Aha and R. Johanan have said: Gehinnom entered with him. Thus it is stated (in Prov. 18:3): WHEN A WICKED ONE COMES, THERE IS ALSO DESPISING; AND WITH DISGRACE, SHAME. When Esau arrived, Isaac perceived the house becoming hot and < so > perceived Gehinnom. (See above, 6:1, 4.) He began to scream and tremble, as stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED < EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY >.
Three words in this one verse are expressions of pleading, humility, and meekness. The wicked one, however, said merely: Let my father arise, and eat. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob: Inasmuch as you said Arise, I pray thee, your descendant Moses will say to Me: Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered (Num. 10:35). Inasmuch as you said sit (shevah), your descendants will say: Return (shuvah), O Lord, unto the tens of thousands (ibid., v. 36). However, because Esau said Let my father arise, I will exact retribution from him through that very expression, as it is said: Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered (Ps. 68:2). Let my father arise. At that moment Isaac recognized his voice and began to tremble. Who art thou? (Gen. 27:32), he asked. When Jacob entered the room, a fragrance from the Garden of Eden accompanied him; a fragrance so pleasant that the righteous one’s mind was set at ease, as is said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed (ibid., v. 27). However, when Esau entered, Gehenna was revealed to him. Hence, it says: Isaac trembled very exceedingly (ibid., v. 33). Isaac was astonished and cried out: I see Gehenna and Esau is causing the flames to rise.
... Another explanation. Why does the verse (Psalms 81:2) mention Yaakov and not all of the forefathers? Our rabbis taught: a man is measured with the measure by which he measures, as it says “In that measure (b’saseah), when they sent them out, it strove with it…” (Isaiah 27:8) A seah with a seah. I only know seah, from where do I learn tirkav and a half tirkav, kab and a half kav, rovah and a half rovah, a tuman and an uchlah? Scripture says “For every victory shout (s’on soein) sounds with clamor…” (Isaiah 9:4) Here there are many measures. I only know about something which comes by measure, from where do I learn little bits that add up to a large amount? Scripture says “…adding one to another to find out the account.” (Ecclesiastes 7:27) This is like a king who had three people that loved him, and sought to build himself a palace. He brought the first one and said to him: I want to build a palace for myself. His love replied to him: I recall that it was a mountain in the beginning. He called to the second love and said to him: I want to build a palace for myself. He replied: I recall that it was a field in the beginning. He called to the third love and said: I want to build a palace for myself. He replied: I recall that it was a palace in the beginning. He said to him: by your life! I will build that palace and call it by your name. So too Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov were lovers of the Holy One. Avraham called the Holy Temple ‘mountain,’ as it says “On the mountain, the Lord will be seen.” (Genesis 22:14) Yitzchak called it field, as it says “…the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field…” (Genesis 27:27) Yaakov called it ‘house’ even before it was built, as it says “This is none other than the house of God…” (Genesis 28:17) The Holy One said to him: by your life! You called it a house before it was built and I will call it by your name, as it says “Come, let us go up to the Lord's mount, to the house of the God of Jacob…” (Isaiah 2:3) So too Jeremiah said “So said the Lord: Behold I am returning the captivity of the tents of Jacob…” (Jeremiah 30:18) So too Asaf decorated his words and only recalled the God of Yaakov with a trumpet blast, as it says “…sound the shofar to the God of Jacob.” (Psalms 81:2)
“Honey and milk are under your tongue” – Rabbi Berekhya said: There is no beverage that is more disgusting than a beverage that is under the tongue, and you say: “Honey and milk are under your tongue”? Rather, if the halakhot that are dull under your tongue (The halakhot that are unclear to you.) are honey and milk, the halakhot that are fortified, all the more so. Rabbi Levi said: Even one who reads a verse in its pleasantness and in its melody, the verse says in his regard: “Honey and milk are under your tongue.” “And the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon” – it is written: “He came near, and he kissed him. He smelled the scent of his garments” (Genesis 27:27). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: You have no item whose odor is fouler and harsher than washed goatskin, and it says: “He smelled the scent of his garments”? Rather, when Jacob our patriarch entered, the Garden of Eden entered with him. That is what he said to him: “See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field that the Lord blessed” (Genesis 27:27). When the wicked Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him. What is the reason? “With the arrival of malice, disgrace has arrived” (Proverbs 11:2). That is what he said to him: “Who then [efo]” (Genesis 27:33), who is baked [ne’efeh] in this oven? The Divine Spirit answered him: “The one who hunted game” (Genesis 27:33). Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon asked Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Yosei ben Lakonya, his father-in-law: ‘Did weaving utensils depart with Israel to the wilderness?’ He said to him: ‘No.’ He said to him: ‘From where did they have what to wear all those forty years that Israel spent in the wilderness?’ He said to him: ‘It was from what the ministering angels clad them. (After they said: “We will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7).) That is what is written: “I clad them in embroidery”’ (Ezekiel 16:10). Rav Simi said: A purple woolen garment. Akilas translated: A multi-colored embroidered garment. He said to him: ‘But did they not grow worn?’ He said to him: ‘Have you never studied Bible? “Your garment did not grow worn from upon you”’ (Deuteronomy 8:4). He said to him: ‘But did they not grow?’ He said to him: ‘Go out and learn from the snail, for as long as it grows, its shell grows with it.’ He said to him: ‘Did they not require laundering?’ He said to him: ‘The cloud would rub them clean and iron them.’ He said to him: ‘But would they not burn?’ (From contact with the cloud that was fire.) He said to him: ‘Go out and learn from this garment made of stone fibers, which is ironed only in fire.’ He said to him: ‘But did they not grow lice?’ He said to them: ‘If in their deaths they did not, (The bodies of everyone who heard the voice of God at Sinai were not infested with worms and maggots after their deaths (Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer 41).) did they in their lifetimes?’ [Rabbi Elazar asked:] ‘Did they not give off a foul odor from the perspiration of their bodies?’ He said to him: ‘They would roll in the grass [produced due to the water of] the well. That is what is written: “He has me lie down in green pastures” (Psalms 23:2). Their fragrance would waft from the end of the world to its end. Solomon came and articulated: “And the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.”’
What all five cases have in common is that they facilitate deception. In each case, they bring about a situation in which things are not as they seem. Jacob wore Esau’s clothes because he was worried that his blind father would feel him and realise that the smooth skin did not belong to Esau but to his younger brother. In the end it was not only the texture but also the smell of the clothes that deceived Isaac: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field the Lord has blessed” (Gen. 27:27).
Similarly, tradition imparts that the following figure the glory of the shekhinah: “like the apple among the forest’s trees” [Cant. 2:3]; “your breath is like apples’ fragrance” [Cant. 7:9]; “refresh me with apples” [Cant. 2:5]; and “under the apple tree I aroused you” [Cant. 8:5]. This figure derives from the change of the apple’s cover from green to red to white, like the appearance of the rainbow within the cloud. ( Ezek. 1:28.) The apple also figures the two cherubim, as it states in the tractate Shabbat: “‘Like the scent of a field blessed by God’ [Gen. 27:27]. R. Yehudah states in the name of Rav: ‘Like the scent of a field of apple trees.’” ( b. Ta ‘anit 29b.)
וירח at Tanakh are 2 different places that teach, "smelled the sweet scent" as burning. And that's what they demanded of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, even the rebels of Israel in the future, Let them give a scent and that is he and the moon the smell of his clothes Ibn Tibon his clothes but in his clothes and the Lord gave the smell of the fragrance that they will give a scent of the fragrance. Another thing hinted that the smell of heaven entered with him when (Yitzak says from Yakov) "the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed" (Gen 27:27)
וערך עליה העולה, and He will arrange on it the burnt-offering, etc. We have to understand this in the sense of what we learned in Baba Kama 83: הכל לפי המביש והמתביש, "the amount of compensation payable to someone who has suffered 'loss of face' is determined by the relative social position of the party suffering the shame and the party who shamed him." One cannot compare an insult received by a socially highly placed person heaped upon a person who is also at the top end of the social ladder to someone at the bottom of the social ladder who insulted someone at the top of that ladder. We certainly cannot compare those situations to that of a slave insulting his master. When the Torah speaks of arranging the burnt-offering on it (the altar), the "burnt-offering" is a simile for the whole of the Jewish nation. והקטיר עליה חלבי השלמים, and He will burn up on it the fat parts of the peace-offering. G'd will also arrange on that altar the elite of this Jewish nation, חלבי השלמים whose lifestyle was equivalent to burning up sweet-smelling fragrances for G'd (compare Genesis 27,27: "look! the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of the field which G'd has blessed"). Remember that we perceive of anyone who has committed a sin as exuding an unpleasant odour. The story is told that once the prophet Elijah passed by a wicked man and tried to avoid inhaling the evil smell which that person exuded and which was more pungent than the smell exuded by a carcass. On the other hand, the fragrance exuded by the righteous person is comparable to that which emanates from a rose-garden. The Torah therefore chose to describe the belovedness of the righteous before G'd in terms of a pleasant fragrance. The message of the verse is that G'd will match the punishment in detail to what the Gentiles have done to His righteous, the people who exuded fragrance such as the incense.
וכל העם רואים את הקולות, “And all the people saw the sounds (thunder), etc.” The word “saw” in this context is to be understood as “understood, comprehended,” similar to when Yitzchak spoke of ראה ריח בני “look at the fragrance of my son” (Genesis 27,27). He was well aware that fragrance just as sound cannot be seen by the eye. He meant that just as the eye is used to understand something clearly, so he experienced a clear understanding of what his son’s fragrance represented. Similarly, here; the Torah describes that the aural perceptions of the people were as convincing to them as if they had experienced the same thing with their eyes, a normally superior tool for clear perceptions. An alternative meaning could be that the Torah employed the word “saw” because these thunders were invariably accompanied by fire, something very visible to the eye. We have examples of such expressions and meanings in Psalms 29,7: “the voice of the Lord kindles flames of fire.” The people then saw the fire not the thunder. The words of the text may then be understood literally without the Torah telling us of an additional miracle.
השכן אתם בתוך טומאתם, “that dwells with them amidst their contamination.” Even though the Jewish people are contaminated the Shechinah is amongst them (Sifra Acharey 4, 5). This is the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah in the Talmud Sukkah where he states his view that one may cover the Sukkah with material which is subject to becoming contaminated, although his view is not shared by the other scholars. He based his opinion on the text in our verse. We also have an opinion in Sanhedrin 37 according to which the words וירח את ריח בגדיו, “he inhaled the fragrance of his clothing” (Genesis 27,23) are understood as וירח את ריח בוגדיו, “he inhaled the fragrance of those who betray Him,” i.e. even though the person concerned is contaminated, seeing that they are Jews G’d does not totally reject them. Another allegorical approach along these lines is found in Shemot Rabbah 33,2 where the word עלית למרום שבית שבי (Psalms 68,19) are understood to mean that even if there were unfit Jews amongst the people this did not stop the Shechinah from being amongst them. The Midrash understands the words as a rebuttal to the Gentiles who believe that because Jews have served idols at one time they are forever cut off from G’d’s grace. Another comment by the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 18,8) on the words of Maleachi 2,16: “for I detest divorce- said the Lord G’d of Israel,” points to the fact that the prophet Malachi when mentioning G’d always uses the expression אלוקי צבאות, and only in this instance does he refer to G’d as אלוקי ישראל, “the G’d of Israel.” The author of the Midrash sees a clear message in this that the prophet wanted to reassure the people that G’d’s presence does not abandon the Jewish people even when they are sinful.
" I will show thee" (literally, I will cause thee to see). He ought to have said, I will cause thee to hear, for he did not show him any thing more than the vision of the horses, which he had shown him from the beginning. " I will show thee," may mean, I will cause thee to hear ; for the sense of seeing is employed figuratively for the other senses, as it is said, " And all the people saw the thunderings." (Exodus 20:15) " See the smell of my son." (Genesis 27:27.) But the literal interpretation of " I will show thee," is also good, for it may refer to the other vision of the four horns, which is clearer than this, though he did not understand it until it was explained to him.
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
וירא יעקב, “Yaakov saw, etc.” Ibn Ezra writes that seeing that the origin of the 5 senses, hearing, seeing, smelling, etc., are all located next to one another, as we know from when Yitzchok spoke about ראה ריח בני, “Look, the smell of my son, etc.” (Genesis 27,27) [He referred to the pleasant sensation of light, a sensation as pleasant as a pleasant fragrance. Ed] seeing he himself was already blind at the time. The names of the senses themselves may on occasion be used interchangeably, so that in our verse the true meaning of the word וירא is: “he heard,” as we know from Yaakov’s own lips in the very next verseהנה שמעתי כי יש שבר במצרים, “here I have heard that there is food for sale in Egypt.” If he had already “seen” it in the literal sense of the word, why would he have to repeat: “I have heard,” a far less reliable source of information?
Reish Lakish says that the source to rely on them not to transgress is from here: “Your temples [rakkatekh] are like a pomegranate split open” (Song of Songs 6:7), which teaches that even the empty people [reikanin] among you are as full of mitzvot as the pomegranate is full of seeds. Rabbi Zeira says that the source is from here: The verse states concerning the occasion when Isaac blessed Jacob: “And he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed” (Genesis 27:27). Do not read “his garments [begadav]”; rather, read: His traitors [bogedav], meaning that even traitors and sinners among the Jewish people have qualities “as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.”
The Gemara mentions a couple of other statements in the name of the same Sages mentioned above. First, it cites a verse that is referring to the Babylonian exile. “To give to you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: These are palm trees and garments of linen, which are long-lasting and bring benefit as long as they exist. With regard to Isaac’s comment about Jacob: “And he said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed” (Genesis 27:27), Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: This smell was like that of a field of apple trees.
Sweetness drops From your lips, O bride; Honey and milk Are under your tongue; And the scent of your robes Is like the scent of Lebanon.
He came close and kissed him. He [Yitzchok] smelled the fragrance of his garments, and he blessed him. He said, See, my son’s fragrance is like the fragrance of a field blessed by Adonoy.
and Jakob drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his vestments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of the fragrant incense which is to be offered on the mountain of the house of the sanctuary, which shall be called a field which the Lord hath blessed, and that He hath chosen, that therein His Shekinah might dwell.
| וְיִֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים מִטַּל֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּמִשְׁמַנֵּ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְרֹ֥ב דָּגָ֖ן וְתִירֹֽשׁ׃ | 28 J | “May God give you Of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth, Abundance of new grain and wine. |
Genesis 27,28. “and may the Lord give you of the dew of heaven and an abundance of grain, etc.” This line is best understood in accordance with the Talmud [source not found Ed.]. Parnassah, usually translated as livelihood, “economic well being,” is understood as a pleasurable experience, תענוג, i.e. the service performed by the Jewish people for G’d results in a satisfying experience for the Lord. The reason that the Lord desires for Israel to serve Him and the resulting satisfaction is known as דלת, a word derived from דלה ועניה, poverty, inadequacy. Just as a poor man constantly feels in need, so G’d constantly feels the desire to be served by His creatures. By doing so, they provide Him with what in our parlance is “a livelihood.” [I have paraphrased this. Ed.]
Genesis 32,4. “I have remained a stranger at Lavan’s” (all the time); my late father of blessed memory, commented on Rashi’s interpretation of Yaakov having chosen the word גרתי, that he referred to the numerical value of the letters in this word being 613, a symbol of the 613 commandments of the Torah that Yaakov observed even while in Padan Aram. He supposedly emphasized to Esau that in spite of his having acquired considerable wealth, none of it had been at the expense of Esau, as his father’s blessing which was: “may the Lord give you from the dew of heaven and the fat parts of the earth” (Genesis 27,28) had not been fulfilled. Should Esau counter that the reason Yitzchok’s blessing had not been fulfilled was that he, Yaakov, had not observed the commandments, this was not so. Esau knew that his father’s blessings were conditional on a certain mode of conduct by Yaakov, and that is why he had told him (Genesis 27,40) והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עול מעל צוארך, (according to Rashi) “if the Israelites will fail to observe the commandment, you will be able to shake off his yoke from your neck.” Yaakov hints to his brother that in spite of having observed the commandments he does not own any land, so that his father’s blessings could not have been fulfilled. Yaakov reassures Esau that he has no reason to revenge himself for Yaakov having obtained this blessing.
There is a distinct difference in the blessings that Yaakov received from Yitzchak compared to those of Eisav. Regarding Yaakov, it states (Bereishit 27:28), "And Hashem will give you," whereas regarding Eisav, it states, "Your place will be." This implies that Eisav's blessing is something fixed, while Yaakov's blessing requires constant renewal. The tzadik (righteous person) prefers not to have anything solely from himself; he continuously desires to receive from Hashem whenever he is deserving. This ensures that he does not consume his portion for the world to come in this world. The Midrash explains "And Hashem will give you" to mean He will give and give again, highlighting the continuous nature of divine provision. This approach also fosters a deeper connection with and appreciation for Hashem each time He bestows blessings. The Rebbe of Pershischa noted that even a small amount from Hashem is significant, emphasizing the value of receiving directly from the Divine. Additionally, whatever a person receives from human sources eventually depletes, whereas what is in Hashem's hands lasts eternally. This is reflected in the blessing "for our life that is given into Your hands." In contrast, Eisav's blessing is tied to his "resting place," and once he disconnects from the source, he loses the blessing and holiness. This is why the sages state that the wicked are considered "dead" even in their lifetime, as their life force comes from negative forces, not directly from Hashem. This underscores that Bnei Yisrael will receive blessings only if they remain worthy and connected to the Divine.
ויתן לך אלוקים, “and may G–d give you, etc.;” Yitzchok, -remarkably- addresses the attribute of Justice of G–d when we might have expected him to address the attribute of mercy. By doing so he implied that this blessing was conditional on the person on whom it had been bestowed being worthy of it. Nonetheless, when it comes to Esau, we see that Yitzchok does not include such a condition in his blessing, as in verse 39 in our chapter he reassures him by saying: “your dwelling will be in the fat parts of the earth and you will enjoy the dew from above. You will live by the sword, although you will serve your brother.” He adds that on the contrary, the blessing given to his brother Yaakov is conditional on his not making your life intolerable.” [my choice of words. Ed.] It is noteworthy that in his lengthy prayer after consecrating the Temple he has built, King Solomon attaches the condition of worthiness when speaking of how G–d shall respond to the prayers of the Israelites, whereas when speaking of gentiles coming to Jerusalem to pray there, he does not attach such a condition but asks G–d to grant the wishes of such gentiles, regardless. (Kings I 8,32-43) Solomon is concerned that the gentiles should not get the impressions that our G–d is someone with Whom one needs to bargain. Yitzchok was concerned about the same when realising that Esau, if he insisted on his blessing surely credited G–d in heaven with being the One Who would provide its becoming reality. If he did not think so, why would he demand it? [When G–d fulfills the requests of a gentile, without regard to his worthiness, if the gentile as a result does not become G–d fearing and grateful, he will find that the very fulfillment of his request will eventually boomerang and he will more than lose its benefit. Ed.] You will also find that there are ten different categories of blessings, corresponding to the ten utterances used by G–d when He created His universe, and corresponding to the Ten Commandments. These blessings were pronounced on seven different occasions. 1) here; 2).Genesis 28,3: ואל שדי יברך אותך and the attribute of G–d known as shadday will bless you. 3) Genesis 28,13 (to Yaakov); 4) Genesis 32,27: “I will not let you depart (Yaakov to the angel he had wrestled) until you bless me;” 5) Genesis 35,9: “G–d appeared to Yaakov;” 6) Genesis 46,3; and Genesis 12,2, where G–d blessed Avraham for the first time. Avraham was blessed by G–d on seven different occasions. The Jewish people were given seven different (days) that are holy, most of them festivals: Sabbath, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Sh’mini Atzeret. There are seven stars that serve the sun and the moon in their orbits. [The author adds some astronomical observation that have to do with the time to plant and harvest being related to sunset and sunrise which I have not understood. Ed.]
[OF THE DEW.] The mem of mi-tal (of the dew) is also to be prefixed to mishmane (of the fat places). (According to I.E. the word for fat is mishman. The particle mem, which means from, is thus missing. The word should have read mi-mishmane, hence I.E.’s comment (Cherez).) Shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Micah 6:7) is similar. (There, too, the bets of be-alfe (with thousands) and be-rivevot (with ten thousands) are to be read as if prefixed to pishi (my transgression) and chattat (the sin of). Micah 6:7 reads, Will the Lord be pleased with thousands (be-alfe) of rams, With ten thousands (be-rivevot) of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression (pishi), The fruit of my body for the sin (chattat) of my soul. However, its literal reading is: Shall I give my first born my transgression, the fruit of my body, sin of my soul? This makes no sense. Hence I.E. points out that the bet of be-alfe is to be applied to pishi (my transgression) and that of be-rivevot to chattat (sin of). Thus pishi is to be translated, for my transgression (be-fishi) and chattat, for the sin of (be-chattat) (Weiser). Our verses are thus similar in that letters prefixed to one word also apply to other words.)
ויתן לך אלוקים מטל השמים, "May the Lord give you of the dew of the heavens, etc." The resason this verse commences with the conjunctive letter ו is because it continues the theme begun in verse 27, i.e. ויברכהו, "He blessed him." Those blessings had not been detailed because the Torah merely told us that just as the key to blessings had first been entrusted to Abraham and subsequently by Abraham to Isaac, Isaac now handed this key to Jacob. (based on Bereshit Rabbah 39,11). Accordingly the word ויברכהו means that Isaac transferred this key to blessings to Jacob.
It is also possible that Isaac divided the blessings into both spiritual and material ones. The spiritual blessings are referred to by the word ויברכהו, whereas the material blessings are introduced by verse 28. The letter ו then introduces the material blessings as something additional to the spiritual blessings Isaac had already bestowed upon Jacob.
Aternately, the mention of the word האלוקים, the attribute of Justice, is to show that whereas up to then Isaac had invoked only the attribute of Mercy, he now also invoked the attribute of Justice, asking it to agree to the blessing he bestowed on his son.
ויתן לך...מטל השמים, something that you will require. Yitzchok did not mention rain, seeing that dew is always beneficial whereas rain can prove very destructive on occasion, as we know from the deluge or when it falls at the wrong time. These blessings were said not only to Yaakov (Esau) personally, but were meant to remain effective also for his offspring. Similarly, the blessing Yitzchok gave to Esau afterwards was also meant not only for himself but for his descendants afterwards.
ומשמני, the letter מ in the word מטל is to be understood as if it were written twice as if the Torah had written וממטל (the מ in front of the letter ש not having been a formative letter in the word ומשמני) Alternatively, the meaning of the word assuming the letter מ was a formative letter, it would be the same as the word משמני in the blessing Esau received in verse 39.
OF THE DEW OF HEAVEN. The blessing is not that G-d give him of the dew of heaven for the dew descends in all places. Now had he said that G-d give him an abundance of dew, or that it come in its season, even as it says, Then I will give your rains in their season, (Leviticus 26:4.) that would have constituted a blessing. Instead, its meaning is as follows: Since above he mentioned G-d’s blessing, As the odor of a field which the Eternal hath blessed, (Verse 27 here.) meaning “which G-d had blessed for my son” (Ramban interprets the phrase, which the Eternal hath blessed, as referring back to the word b’ni (my son), thus making it “the field which G-d had blessed for my son.” Isaac thus continues his blessing by saying, “Just as He has blessed the field for you, my son, may He also give you another blessing, namely, of the dew of the heavens.”) — that is, since G-d blessed him in the field by giving him success there in his hunt and by guarding him from death or any mishap — he now says, So G-d give thee, [as an additional blessing], of the dew of heaven, and of the fat places of the earth. It is thus a blessing of addition and abundance. It may be that the expression, And plenty (‘verov’) of corn and wine, is written in the Torah with an extra vav, [which should not affect the meaning], with the sense of the verse being: “So G-d give thee of the dew of heaven and of the places of the earth, i.e., plenty of corn and wine.” In my opinion the correct interpretation is that G-d’s gift is steady and there is never any interruption in it. Therefore he says, “So G-d give thee for the extent of your days upon your land of the dew of heaven, and give thee of the fat places of the earth,” meaning the fattest of all lands, even as it is written, The beauty of all lands. (Ezekiel 20:6.) Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that the prefix mem in the word mital, (of the dew) applies to itself and yet to another word, [namely, mishmanei (the fat places of the earth), which is then to be understood as] umimishmanei ha’aretz and from the fat places of the earth. (According to Ibn Ezra, reference is thus to the fruits from the fat places of the earth.) To Esau, on the other hand, he gave a blessing which mentions neither through a gift of G-d nor with abundance. Rather he said, “For you too I have reserved a blessing after him: of the fat places of the earth and of the dew of heaven shall your dwelling be.” (Based on Verse 39 here.) That is “as long as you will dwell there,” thereby alluding that he will ultimately be destroyed and lost, for only as long as he will live will his lot be good.
ויתן לך, these words are a continuation of the words אשר ברכו ה' which precede them. They describe the type of blessing G’d will provide for Yaakov (Esau). מטל השמים, essentially what is known as the “blessing of the field.”
ויתן לך THEREFORE GOD GIVE THEE — May he give thee and give thee repeatedly (Genesis Rabbah 66:3). However, according to its real meaning it must be connected with the preceding statement — viz., with the words, “See, the smell of my son, which the Holy One, blessed be He, has given him is like the smell of the field etc.“ And may He also give thee of the dew of heaven
מטל השמים OF THE DEW OF HEAVEN — Take it in the ordinary sense of the words; but there are Midrashic explanations giving many different meanings
האלהים GOD [GIVE THEE]—What denotes the use here of the Divine Name אלהים which signifies God in His attribute of Justice? May He act in justice! If you are worthy of it may He give it to you, and if not, let Him not give it to you. But to Esau he said, (Genesis 27:39) “The fat places of the earth shall be thy dwelling” —whether you be righteous or wicked He will give you this. From him (Isaac) did Solomon learn when he built the Temple how to compose his prayer (having in mind a similar idea): An Israelite who is a man of faith and acknowledges that God’s judgment is just will not reproach You;—therefore (1 Kings 8:39) “Render unto every man (Israelite; 1 Kings 8:38) according to his ways whose heart thou knowest”. A stranger, however, is lacking in faith; therefore Solomon said, (1 Kings 8:43) “Hear thou in heaven … and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for — whether he be worthy or unworthy grant him his request in order that he may not reproach You. This explanation of האלהים is found in an old and correct text of Rashi.
And abundance of grain. Sufficient that he would be able to support others.
May he give repeatedly. Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written ויתן, with a ו? Perforce, it means as follows: He will give to you — and even if sins cause the blessing to cease, He will give again. This explanation follows the Midrash. But according to the simple meaning, the ו connects it to what preceded, saying: Hashem gave you one blessing; may He give you another. And where did Hashem bless Yaakov before? The answer is: It is written (v. 27), “Blessed by Hashem.” Here, Hashem blessed Yaakov, as this phrase refers back to, “My son,” written earlier in the verse. It is as if saying: “See that the fragrance of my son, whom Hashem has blessed, is like the fragrance of a field to which Hashem gave a pleasant fragrance.”
While smelling the scent of the blessed field in the present, Isaac blesses Jacob with successful fields throughout his life. God will give you from the dew of the heavens, from the fat of the earth, and an abundance of grain and wine.
ויתן לך האלוקים, “and may G’d grant you, etc.” Rashi emphasizes that Yitzchok deliberately chose the attribute of Justice to be the origin of Esau’s blessing, i.e. אלוקים, instead of Hashem, as this implied that the blessing would be fulfilled only if Esau remained worthy of it in the eyes of the attribute of Justice. [note that when Yaakov made his vow after the dream of the ladder, he too conditioned fulfillment on the promise that he would be worthy of what he asked for in the eyes of the attribute of Justice. (Genesis 28,21) Ed.] Later on, when Yitzchok knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was Esau who had stood before him, he promised him material blessings without conditioning this on his worthiness. (Genesis 27,39-40) This is remarkable, as by then Yitzchok had been made aware of Esau’s true character and he had confirmed the blessing he had given to Yaakov.
ויתן לך האלוקים מטל השמים, “and G’d will give you from the dew of the heaven, etc.” According to Nachmanides this is not a formula appropriate for use in blessings. Dew descends on the earth all over the earth, and does not require a special blessing to make it happen. If Yitzchok had implored G’d to give Esau an additional amount of dew, this would be different, but all he did was to assure him that he would participate on an equal basis in the blessing of dew, something that every farmer enjoys. Yitzchok’s blessing meant that Esau should enjoy the blessing of dew and the other blessings G’d bestows on the earth, and through it on His creatures, without any interruption through famine of drought, etc. Alternately, the letter ו at the beginning of the word ורב דגן ותירוש means that the ordinary amount of dew, etc., should result in his crops being especially abundant. [I have difficulty with this kind of blessing, seeing Esau was a hunter, not farmer. Maybe Yitzchok suggested obliquely that Esau should stop hunting and become a farmer instead. Ed.] Possibly, what is introduced as a consolation prize for Esau, the blessing in verse 40 that he would survive by means of his sword, was in fact a denial of the blessings he had given Yaakov while he thought that Yaakov was Esau.
Before reciting the berachah, place both hands on the bread because the ten fingers are symbolic of the ten mitzvos involved in making bread. [The ten are] 1. It is forbidden to plow with a team comprised of an ox and a donkey. 2. It is forbidden to plant diverse species together. 3. The stalks that fall during harvesting must be left for the poor. 4. A sheaf forgotten in the field must be left for the poor. 5. A corner of the field must be left unharvested for the poor. 6. It is forbidden to muzzle a working animal. 7. A portion of grain must be separated and given to the kohein (priestly family). 8. A tenth of the remaining harvest must be given to the Levite. 9. A tenth of the remaining harvest is then separated to be taken up to Jerusalem and eaten by the owner. 10. A piece of the dough is separated and given to the kohein. For this same reason there are ten words in the berachah of Hamotzi, and ten words in the verse (Psalms 145:15): "The eyes of all look expectantly to You" etc., and ten words in the verse (Deuteronomy 8:8): "A land of wheat and barley" etc., and ten words in the verse (Genesis 27:28): "And may Hashem give you" etc. When you pronounce the Name of Hashem, lift up the bread. On Shabbos lift up both loaves, and recite the berachah with concentration, making sure to enunciate clearly the letter hei in the word Hamotzi. Also allow a short pause between saying the word lechem and the word min, so as not to slur over the letter mem. After reciting the berachah, you must immediately eat the bread, because it is forbidden to interrupt between saying the berachah and eating [the bread], even to answer Amein. You should try to eat a kazayis of bread without interruption.
However, there is a second group of people, those who lead a life totally lacking in direction and purpose, imposing no restraint on the bestial part of their nature. These people are described by Solomon (Proverbs 2,14) as "enjoying doing evil." Such people can cheer tightfistedness at the same time as they cheer wastefulness, as long as the objective of both is wicked and evil. Yotam in chapter nine of the book of Judges, describes these people when he lambasts the citizens of Shechem in the famous parable of the thornbush being elected as king of the trees. Although this category of people is united by a common denominator, they do not share unity of purpose and are therefore at odds with one another. Their apparent common purpose masks the diversity of their personal lust and depravity. The opposite is true when one observes apparent dissension among pious people, whose dissension does not concern fundamental objectives, but merely the methods to be employed in order to achieve their common objectives. Just as an oriental would honour a king by not appearing in the king's presence with his head uncovered, whereas an occidental would not appear before a king until he had first removed his headgear, the common denominator being that both desire to pay homage to the king, so pious Jews may sometimes disagree on the means of honouring G-d, but their disagreement stems from their desire to honour G-d. What unites them therefore, is far more formidable than what divides them. The opposite is true of wicked people, who are only interested in themselves, and whose union when there is such is merely organizational, not organic. Compare the discussion on “eylu ve-eylu divrey elokim chayim,” both versions are words of the living G-d and are true (Chagigah 3). This is why the Mishna in Avot 5,20 teaches that all disagreements which have as their objective the promotion of matters spiritual, will endure, meaning both parties involved will achieve their purpose. Hillel and Shammai's arguments were all centred on the desire to perform the will of G-d. This is also demonstrated in Joshua Chapter 22 after the tribes residing on the East bank of the Jordan had erected an altar. After it had become clear to the other tribes that their motivation had been pure, not divisive or idolatrous, not only was civil war averted, but good relations were restored.
From the belief in G'ds power, we proceed to the belief in Torah prophecy as being of Divine origin. This was proved by the collective experience at Mount Sinai, on the occasion of which Israel exclaimed "today we have seen that it is possible for G'd to speak with man, and for man to survive such an encounter alive."(Deut. 5,21) Before dealing with that experience in detail, in remembrance of which we observe Shavuot, Pentecost, we read about the mitzvah of Omer, the offering of the new barley harvest, and the counting from that day. This adds to our appreciation of what had transpired at Sinai. Teaching us the proper appreciation of Torah and what it stands for, involves three preliminary phases. Firstly, while Torah knowledge without physical and material well being is difficult to achieve by the average person, (see Mishnah "im eyn kemach eyn Torah," where there is no flour there is no Torah Avot, 3,17) this material blessing is necessary, but at the same time its function must be clearly delineated. Before matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, we read about the Omer "when you come to the land which I give you and you will reap its harvest, you shall bring the Omer, the first of your harvest, to the Priest." (Leviticus 23,10) Already Isaac had used this formula when he blessed Jacob i.e. "and may the Lord give you." (Genesis 27,28) The conjunctive letter vav indicated the subordinate nature of material blessings to spiritual rewards. Though the latter had not been spelled out, the former is introduced merely as an addition to the spiritual reward which had not been specified. When Solomon says in Proverbs 3,16, concerning Torah and its rewards, "long life is at its right, wealth and honour at its left," he emphasizes the greater reward which will be handed out by the right hand. The reward to be handed out by the left hand, being temporal in nature, is of course, inferior. Oredi chayim, long life, or better "length of life,” refers to the life in the world to come, a world of infinity. Elsewhere, Kohelet, 10,2, contrasting the wise man and the fool, says "the heart of the fool is on his left, the wise man's heart is on the right side." He who prefers the rewards that originate from the left side is foolish, because he does not have his priorities right. Our striving must be directed towards obtaining the rewards that originate from the right. The fool, in his folly uses wisdom as an instrument to gain transient values, whereas the wise strives for material wealth, transient though it is, to enable him to pursue gains of enduring, eternal value. Psalm 67, which is recited when we count the Omer, contains forty nine words, paralleling the symbolism inherent in the seven arms of the menorah, candelabra in the tabernacle.
They also say, the Patriarchs did not seek another life; and that Isaac only blessed Jacob with temporal goods. In everything, they are manifestly deceiving themselves. As Abraham felt the happiness of the soul well, he despised his life and that of his son Isaac, and all the temporal goods that God had promised him, to merit eternal life. Likewise, Isaac blessed his son Jacob with spiritual goods, and so it was written twice before the material blessing, ויברכהו and he blessed him (Genesis 26:12; 27:27) And although this is not explained so clearly, they were indeed spiritual blessings, and when the temporal blessings begin, it says, ויתן־לך and give you (Genesis 27:28) ויתן־לך האלהים מטל השמים and may God give you the dew of heaven (Genesis 27:28) with a conjunctive (ו) Vav as one following the period (marking the time), from which the ancients infer, those spiritual blessings are paused with that (ו) Vav which is the emphasis of that conjunction. For it is clearly seen how careful Jacob was to be buried with his parents, as was Yosef whose bones were taken from Egypt, all of which is a clear indication of immortality, because if everything ends with the body, such care would be ridiculous. With this, I think we have given this issue enough consideration.
The skull of Atika The skull, namely, Keter, of the white head, that is, the head of Arich Anpin that is completely white, which denotes the sway of Chesed, has neither beginning nor end of the appearance of Chochmah. This refers to the upper Chochmah and the lower Chochmah, since the flow of Chochmah and the flow of Chassadim are united within it as one light of Chassadim. The unison of its abundance pours and shines from it, and the righteous receive from it four hundred desirable realms in the world to come. From the unity of streams, which is the white head, dew – abundance – drips daily down to Zeir Anpin, which is the location called heaven. With it, this dew, the dead will arise in the future as written, “therefore Elohim give you of the dew of heaven” (Bereshit 27:28). That is the dew of Zeir Anpin that is called heaven. And its head is filled. It flows from this Zeir Anpin to the apple field, which is Malchut, and the entire apple field is illuminated by this dew.
The skull of Zeir Anpin Dew flows from the white head, which is the skull of Arich Anpin, through the skull of Zeir Anpin. The dew appears in two colors. Even though it is Chassadim that are considered white in color, it still has a reddish hue, which alludes to the inclusion of Chochmah, like the color of bdellium. The field of sacred apple trees, which is Malchut, is sustained by Zeir Anpin; manna is ground from the skull’s dew for the righteous in the world to come, and the dead will be resurrected with it. An occasion for the dew to settle occurred only during the time when the children of Israel traversed the desert and the most ancient sustained them from that place of dew above the skull. This has not occurred since. This is the meaning of, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you” (Shemot 16:4), as said, “therefore Elohim give you of the dew of heaven…” (Bereshit 27:28); for the dew of the skull of Arich Anpin flows over the skull of Zeir Anpin called heaven. That was then when they were sustained by the dew of heaven. At another time, we learned, “The providential support of man is as difficult…” (Tractate Pesachim 118b) before the Holy One, blessed be He; since sustenance depends on luck (Mazala) at this time. It comes from fate, which contains judgments, rather than from the dew of the skull of Arich Anpin, which is wholly in a state of mercy. This is why children, longevity and sustenance depend on luck rather than merit, as we explained. Everything derives from Mazala, as we explained that it is the beard of Arich Anpin that is called Mazala (see section 36).
And if he waits until they complete the sanctification, all those wicked people who are in Gehenom acknowledge the justice brought upon them by the Holy One, blessed be He. And they confirm the blessings that are recited by the congregation, and bring them upon him. "Therefore Hashem gives you of the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28), and "Blessed shall you be in the field..." (Deuteronomy 28:3).
"Therefore the Elohim give you of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine" (Beresheet 27:28). Rabbi Abba said, This verse has already been explained. Nevertheless, come and look at the verse, "A song of ascent. In my distress I cried to Hashem, and He heard me" (Tehilim 120:1). How many songs and praises did David say before the Holy One, blessed be He, all in order to fix his grade and to make himself a name, as it is written, "And David got him a name" (II Shmuel 8:13). This song he said when he saw what Jacob accomplished, that he was answered and received the blessings. He said, "In my distress I cried to Hashem, and He heard me." [If it were not for Jacob, who received the blessings, the secret of the whole Mochin to construct the Nukva, David could not have made Her a name.]
Come and behold, Of the time when the serpent brought curses upon the world, and the land was accursed, it is written, "And to the man he said, Because you have hearkened to the voice of your wife...cursed is the ground for your sake" (Beresheet 3:17), for it will not produce fruit nor vegetation in a proper measure. Correspondingly, "...and the fatness of the earth", "in sorrow shall you eat of it" (Ibid.). "of the dew of heaven"; "thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you,"He was blessed accordingly with "plenty of corn and wine." In opposition to, "in the sweat of your face shall you eat bread."; "let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you," as they will cultivate the land and till the field, as it is written, "and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers" (Isaiah 61:5). Jacob took it all measure for measure, and of his own he took. The Holy One, blessed be He, caused Jacob to receive these blessings and cleave to his place and portion, while Esau cleaved to his own place and portion.
and those who bless you, are blessed. (Genesis 27:28,29)
Chapter (42) [43]: Torah [1] "And God shall give you the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28). This means the dew of Mount Hermon, as it is written, "Like the dew of Hermon" (Psalms 133:3). "And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Genesis 27:27). What were these garments? Our sages taught that before the Tabernacle was built, the animals were considered fit for sacrifice, and the service was dependent on the firstborn. Adam, who was the firstborn of the world, first dressed in priestly garments, as it is written, "And God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). And it is written, "He shall wear a holy linen tunic" (Leviticus 16:4). "The first man gave the garments [to Eve, and Eve to Methuselah, and Methuselah to Noah, and Noah] to Shem, who was Noah's firstborn, as it is said: 'And Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine.'" (Genesis 14:18), where they were given to Abraham, who gave them to Isaac, who gave them to Esau, who was the firstborn. When Isaac saw that his wives were practicing idolatry, he took them away from Esau and entrusted them to Rebecca. When Jacob took the birthright from Esau, Rebecca said, "Since Jacob has taken the birthright, it is fitting that he should wear these garments," as it is written, "And Rebecca took the garments of Esau" (Genesis 27:15). Jacob then went to his father and he smelled them, as it is written, "And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Genesis 27:27), and Isaac smelled the same fragrance that had been sacrificed on the altar.
[3] "And God gave it to you" (Genesis 27:28). According to the law, if you have merits, God gives to you, but if not, He does not give to you. However, when it came to Esau, the verse did not say, "And God gave it to you," but rather, "Behold, of the fat of the earth," etc. (Genesis 27:39), and the name of God was not mentioned, only "of the fat of the earth." But to Jacob, God gave him "the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28). This can be compared to a merchant who sold two sets of dishes to one buyer, one set for ten gold coins, and the other for a hundred gold coins. They went with him to collect the money, and immediately he gave the ten gold coins and left. But the second seller hesitated and said to the buyer, "You give me the hundred gold coins and I'll wait." The buyer replied, "I only have ten gold coins to give you now, and I'll stand at the table waiting for you to take the rest." This is what God did with Esau, giving him what was only of this world. But for Jacob, God gave him the abundant blessings, as it is written, "How great is Your goodness that You have hidden away for those who fear You" (Psalm 31:20).
Chapter (43) 44: Prophets [1] "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord" (Micah 5:6). This means that our roots are open like water [and dew remains on my branches during harvest] (Job 29:19). The people of Israel said this because our children engage in Torah study, which is compared to water, as it is written, "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters" (Isaiah 55:1). Therefore, blessings come upon us, as it is written, "And my roots will be open to the water." When did God come back to the world to give them the Torah? As it is written, "The Lord came from Sinai" (Deuteronomy 33:2). They did not seek to receive it, but when it came to Israel, they immediately accepted it, as it is written, "And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do'" (Exodus 19:8). God said to them, "If so, the blessings are for yourselves," as it is written, "And He will give you" (Genesis 27:28). Therefore, "my roots are open to the water" and "dew remains on my branches during harvest.
Mem, nun, tzadi, peh, kaf, the double letters, (These letters are written differently when they appear as the last letter of a word.) were stated by the prophets. Kaf kaf alludes to Abraham: “Lekh lekha” (Genesis 12:1) – he will beget a son at the age of one hundred. (The letter kaf appears twice in lekh lekha. Lamed – 30 + kaf – 20 = 50 x 2 = 100. Mem mem) is for Isaac: “For you have grown much mightier than we [mimenu]” (Genesis 26:16). (The letter mem appears twice in mimenu. An alternative term meaning “than we” could have been employed, but wasn’t.) He alluded to him that he and his descendants would be mighty in two worlds. Nun nun for Jacob: “Deliver me, please [hatzileni na]” (Genesis 32:12); deliver in two worlds. Peh peh to Israel, [when God said] to Moses: “I have remembered you [pakod pakadeti]” (Exodus 3:16). Tzadi tzadi – “Behold a man, Tzemaḥ is his name, [and he will sprout [yitzmaḥ…]” (Zechariah 6:12). And it says: “I will establish for David a righteous offshoot [tzemaḥ tzadik] and he will reign as king and succeed, and he will perform justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5). “A leader of fifty” (Isaiah 3:3) – twenty-four books; add to them eleven of the twelve minor prophets, excluding Jonah, which stands alone, six orders of Mishna, and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim (The Torat Kohanim is a midrash halakha on Leviticus. At the time that this midrash was written, the Torat Kohanim was apparently divided into nine large chapters.) – that is fifty. “They are sixty queens” (Song of Songs 6:8) – sixty tractates; “and eighty concubines” (Song of Songs 6:8) – eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem, corresponding to its entrances; “and young women without number” (Song of Songs 6:8) – external Mishna. (Tannaitic statements which were not incorporated into the Mishna.) “Behold the bed of Solomon: There are sixty valiant men around it” (Song of Songs 3:7) – sixty letters of the Priestly Benediction. (Numbers 6:24–26.) “Three hundred and eighteen” (Genesis 14:14) – it is Eliezer. (The number of members of his household whom Abraham took to recover Lot corresponds to the numerical value of Eliezer: alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + yod –10 + ayin – 70 + zayin – 7 + reish – 200 = 318.) “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice, and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5) – at the age of three he recognized Him. (Abraham heeded God’s voice for ‘ekev’ years: ayin – 70 + kof – 100 + beit – 2 = 172. He lived a total of one hundred and seventy-five years. He recognized God at age three.) HaSatan – three hundred and sixty-four, (Heh – 5 + sin – 300 + tet – 9 + nun – 50 = 364.) the number of days in the solar year that he [the Satan] has license to inform on all of them, excepting Yom Kippur. Rav Ami said in the school of Rabbi Abba: Abraham, as long as he was not circumcised and had not begot a son, was lacking a heh. The heh was added, he became whole, and he begot a son at the sum of his letters. (Alef – 1 + beit – 2 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 + mem – 40 = 248, the number of limbs in a person’s body.) “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4) – this is Sarah. Sarai was her name; two amora’im have a dispute regarding this: One said: The yod was split in two, heh for Abraham and heh for Sarah. (Yod is ten and heh is five.) And one said: The yod that was taken from Sarah objected, until Joshua [Yehoshua] came and Moses added a yod (Yehoshua's name, originally, was Hoshea.) – may the Lord rescue you [Ya yoshiakha] from the counsel of the spies. (Yehoshua is a portmanteau of ya yoshiakha.) The yod of Isaac [Yitzḥak] corresponds to the ten ordeals; tzadi,to the ninety years of age that Sarah was when he was born; ḥet, to the eight days [of age] at which he was circumcised; kof, Abraham was one hundred years of age. (When Isaac was born.) Jacob [Yaakov] was named for himself. Yod corresponds to the tenth. Calculate from Benjamin until Levi; (Counting backwards from Benjamin, Levi is the tenth.) he is the tenth. Ayin – “with seventy people” (Deuteronomy 10:22); (This is the number of people with whom Jacob descended to Egypt. kof) – corresponding to the letters in the blessing of: “May God give you” (Genesis 27:28). Beit remains. It is corresponding to the two angels that ascended. (When Jacob left Canaan to go to Aram.) The tablets contained six hundred and thirteen mizvot, corresponding to the letters from “I am” (Exodus 20:2) until “that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:14), no more and no fewer. All of them were given to Moses at Sinai, among them statutes, ordinances, Torah, Mishna, Talmud, and aggada. “Fear of the Lord, that is his treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). Among all the attributes, there are none greater than fear and humility (Since humility is not mentioned elsewhere in this portion of the midrash, Matnot Kehuna and Etz Yosef write that it should be erased.) – “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The numerical value of yirat is six hundred and eleven, (Yod – 10 + reish – 200 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 611.) and of Torah is six hundred and eleven. (Tav – 400 + vav – 6 + reish – 200 + heh – 5 = 611.) Add fear and Torah to them; (When a gematria is used, sometimes the word or words being discussed are used to add 1 to the gematria. Thus, 611 + Torah + yirat = 613.) the result is six hundred and thirteen. Tzitzit – the Rabbis taught: Eight strings that are drawn and five knots, two above (Adjacent to the corner of the garment.) and three below, that is six hundred and thirteen. (Tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tzadi – 90 + yod – 10 + tav – 400 = 600 + 8 strings + 5 knots = 613.) The days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years; Isaac, one hundred and eighty years; Jacob, one hundred and forty-seven years. When you add them together, the result is five hundred and two years. That is, likewise, the distance between the heavens and earth: “Like the days of the heavens over the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21). (The preceding phrase is: “regarding which the Lord has taken an oath to your forefathers.” And "the days of the heavens over the earth" is interpreted as the time that it would take to walk from the earth to the heavens.) “[These are David’s last words: The utterance of David son of Yishai, and the utterance of the man] raised on high [al]” (II Samuel 23:1) – this corresponds to one hundred blessings. (The numerical value of al is 100: Ayin – 70 + lamed – 30 = 100.) Each day one hundred men of Israel would die. David came and instituted for them one hundred blessings. Once he instituted them, the plague was halted. Al – the yoke [ol] (Both al and ol are written with an ayin and lamed.) of Torah and the yoke of suffering. “Forgive all iniquity, and accept good [tov], and instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips” (Hosea 14:3). Israel said: ‘Master of the universe, when the Temple was extant, we would sacrifice an offering and gain atonement; now, we have nothing in our hand other than prayer.’ The numerical value of tov is seventeen; prayer contains nineteen blessings? (The Amida.) Exclude from there the blessing of the heretics, (This refers to the twelfth blessing in the Amida.) that they instituted it in Yavne, and “the offshoot of David” (This refers to the fifteenth blessing of the Amida.) that they instituted after him because of: “Examine me, Lord, and test me” (Psalms 26:2). (See Sanhedrin 107a, where David fails the test of Bathsheba.) Rabbi Simon says: On the basis of a numerical cypher, “and accept good [tov]” equals the value of nefesh [person]. (With the atbash cypher, the distance of a letter from the beginning of the alphabet is measured, and it is replaced bythe letter that is the same distance from the end of the alphabet. Tet – nun; vav – peh; beit – shin: tov becomes nefesh.) Israel said: ‘When the Temple was extant, we would burn fats and the other portions on the altar and gain atonement. Now, here are our fats, our blood, and our souls. May it be Your will that they will serve as atonement on our behalf’ – “instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips.” “The Lord granted her pregnancy [herayon]” (Ruth 4:13). Its numerical value is two hundred and seventy-one. (This is the number of days in nine full months, plus the first day of the tenth month.) The measure of water in a ritual bath is forty se’a, which corresponds to the number of times that the water of a well [be’er] is written in the Torah. How many egg bulks are in a ritual bath? There are five thousand seven hundred and sixty. Each and every se’a is one hundred and forty-four egg-bulks. Ḥalla is forty-three and one-fifth egg-bulks. From where is it derived that one requires forty se’a for a ritual bath? “The water of Shilo’aḥ that flows slowly [le’at]” (Isaiah 8:6), whose numerical value is forty. One who is separating ḥalla must, by Torah law, separate one from forty-three and one-fifth [egg-bulks], in accordance with the numerical value of ḥalla. (Ḥet – 8 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 43.) The primary categories of labor are forty less one, as it is written: “These are the matters [eleh hadevarim]…” (Exodus 35:1). (The following verse begins: “Six days labor shall be performed…” Eleh) – thirty-six, (Alef – 1 + lamed – 30 + heh – 5 = 36. devarim) – two, (Devarim (matters) is written in the plural. The minimum plural possible is two. hadevarim) –three; (Deriving an additional one from the heh prefix.) that is forty less one. “Forty he shall flog him, he shall not add” (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponding to the forty curses that the serpent, Eve, Adam, and the ground were cursed. The Sages deducted one due to “he shall not add.” Those who recommended acquittal would have a majority of one, and thus the iniquities are fewer. (Iniquities can refers to people who the court puts to death by mistake. According to that explanation, the midrash here explains that in order to prevent the iniquity of mistakenly killing somebody, for acquittal a majority of one is sufficient, but a majority of two is required for a guilty verdict.) It is preferable when convicting that at least a majority of two will prevail, rather than one. “Sheshakh” (Jeremiah 25:26, 51:41) is Babylon [Bavel] in the atbash cypher. “[Son of] Tave’al” (Isaiah 7:6) according to the albam (Alef becomes lamed. The alphabet is divided in two in the middle, with eleven letters in each group. The first letter in the first group – aleph – is replaced by the first letter in the second group – lamed. The second letter – bet – is replaced by mem, etc.) cypher is Remala. (The son of Tave’al, mentioned in the verse, is a reference to Pekaḥ ben Remalyahu, king of Israel.) “With this [bezot] shall Aaron enter the Sanctum: with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering” (Leviticus 16:3), bezot is an allusion to the first Temple, that would stand four hundred and ten years. (Beit – 2 + zayin – 7 + alef – 1 + tav – 400 = 410.)
Another matter, it teaches that the Holy One blessed be He showed him the Temple built and destroyed and built. “See, the scent of my son” – that is built, just as it says: “My pleasing aroma; you shall observe” (Numbers 28:2). “Like the scent of a field” – that is destroyed, just as it says: “Zion will be plowed as a field” (Micah 3:12). “That the Lord blessed” – built and enhanced in the future, as it is stated: “For there the Lord commanded the blessing of life, for eternity” (Psalms 133:3). ##“And may God give you from the dew of the heavens, and from the fat of the land, and an abundance of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28).
“And may God give you from the dew of the heavens.” It is written: “My root will be open to water, and dew will lie on my branch” (Job 29:19) – Job said: ‘Because my doors were wide open, everyone would reap dry crops, and I would reap full, lush kernels.’ What is the source? “My root will be open to water.” (The verse is being interpreted as saying that the door was open and everything was available to a guest, just as water is freely available. The word root is interpreted as referring to the door since the house "begins" from the door and the tree begins from it's roots (Radal).) Jacob said: ‘Because I was engaged in Torah that is likened to water, I was privileged to be blessed with dew,’ as it is stated: “And may God give you from the dew of the heavens.”
Rabbi Berekhya began: “Return, return, the Shulamite; return, return, and we will gaze upon you” (Song of Songs 7:1) – “return” is written four times, corresponding to the four kingdoms into which Israel entered whole and emerged whole. “The Shulamite” – it is a nation that the peace [shalom] of the One who lives forever moves with it, from tent to tent. “The Shulamite” – the nation that the priests instill peace into it every day, as it is stated: “They shall place My name” (Numbers 6:27), and it is written: “And grant you peace” (Numbers 6:26). “The Shulamite” – the nation that the One who is peace of the worlds resides in its midst, as it is stated: “They shall craft for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8). “The Shulamite” – the nation that I am destined to instill peace into it, as it is stated: “I will grant peace in the Land” (Leviticus 26:6). “The Shulamite” – the nation toward which I will direct peace; that is what is written: “So said the Lord: Behold, I will direct peace to her like a river” (Isaiah 66:12). Rabbi Shmuel bar Tanḥum and Rabbi Ḥana in the name of Rabbi Idi: A nation that made peace between Me and My world, as were it not for it, I would destroy My world. Rav Huna in the name of Rav Aḥa began: “The earth and all its inhabitants melted away” (Psalms 75:4) – just as it says: “All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away” (Exodus 15:15). “I set firm” (Psalms 75:4) – I, once they accepted upon themselves, “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2), “I set firm its pillars, Selah” (Psalms 75:4) – and the world was filled with joy [venitbasem]. (There is a variant reading: Venitbases – the world was firmed.) Rabbi Elazar ben Maron says: The nation that preserves [meshalema] the stability of the world, both in this world, and in the World to Come. Rabbi Levi said: A nation that all the good that comes into the world comes only due to its merit. Rains fall only due to its merit, dews fall only due to its merit, as it is stated: “And may God give you from the dew of the heavens” – to you, due to your merit, and the matter is dependent upon you.
“May [God] give you [veyiten lekha]” – He will give, and give you again. (This is expounded from the fact that the word begins with a vav. ) He will give you blessings and He will give you a hidden place. (A place where you can retain the blessings. Namely, peace, based on the statement (see Mishna Okatzin 3:12) that the vessel which can retain blessings is peace (Maharzu).) “May [God] give you” – yours, and “may [God] give you” – your father’s. “May [God] give you” – yours, and “may [God] give you” – your brother’s. Rabbi Aḥa said: May [God] give, “and may God give you” divine aid. When? It will be when you need it. That is what is written: “And said: My Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me” (Judges 16:28) – he said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, remember for me that blessing that Father blessed me: May [God] give, “and may God give you” divine aid.’ “From the dew of the heavens” – this is the manna, as it is stated: “The Lord said to Moses: Behold, I am raining food for you from the heavens” (Exodus 16:4). “And from the fat of the land” – this is the well that would bring up for them types of fish that were exceedingly fat. “And from the fat of the land” – these are the offerings, as it is written: “I will offer up to You burnt offerings of fattened animals” (Psalms 66:15). “And an abundance of grain” – these are the lads, as it is written: “For how good and how beautiful it is, there will be grain for the young men” (Zechariah 9:17). “And wine” – these are the maidens, as it is written: “and new wine will make the maidens talk” (Zechariah 9:17). Another matter, “from the dew of the heavens” – this is Zion, as it is stated: “Like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion” (Psalms 133:3). “And from the fat of the land” – these are the offerings. “Grain” – these are the first fruits. “Wine” – these are the libations. Alternatively, “from the dew of the heavens” – this is the Bible; “and from the fat of the land” – this is Mishna; “grain” – this is Talmud; “wine” – this is aggada.
Another matter, “Jacob sent messengers” (Genesis 32:4) – this is what was said with divine spirit by Solomon king of Israel: “Blessings upon the head of the righteous, and villainy will cover the mouth of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:6). Corresponding to whom did Solomon state this verse? He said it corresponding only to Jacob and Esau. “Blessings upon the head of the righteous” – this is Jacob. “And villainy will cover the mouth of the wicked” – this is the wicked Esau. Happy are the righteous who are blessed on earth and are blessed in Heaven, and this is appropriate, as it is stated: “So that one who blesses himself in the land will bless himself by the God of faithfulness” (Isaiah 65:16) – to inform you that all the blessings that Isaac blessed Jacob, corresponding to those, the Holy One blessed be He blessed him from on High. Isaac said to him: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens…” (Genesis 27:28), and the Holy One blessed be He blessed him with dew and rain, as it is stated: “The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew [from the Lord, like raindrops]” (Micah 5:6). Isaac said to him: “and from the fats of the earth” (Genesis 27:28), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “He will give rain for your seeds with which you will sow the ground” (Isaiah 30:23). Isaac said: “Peoples will serve you” (Genesis 27:29), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Kings will be your caregivers, and their princesses, your wet nurses” (Isaiah 49:23). Isaac said: “You will be a lord to your brethren” (Genesis 27:29), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him through Moses: “To place you uppermost over all the nations” (Deuteronomy 26:19). You learned that all the blessings that Isaac blessed Jacob from below, corresponding to that, the Holy One blessed be He blessed him from on High. His mother Rebecca, too, blessed him corresponding to them, as it is stated: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High” (Psalms 91:1). So she said to him: “For He will charge His angels on your behalf [to guard you in all your ways]” (Psalms 91:11). When she said that to him in that language, the Divine Spirit blessed Him: “When he calls upon Me, I will answer him…” (Psalms 91:15). Once the Holy One blessed be He blessed him, why did his father bless him again, as it is stated: “Isaac summoned Jacob, and he blessed him”? (Genesis 28:1). It is, rather, that Isaac saw through the divine spirit that his descendants were destined to be exiled among the nations. He said to him: ‘Come and I will bless you blessings of exile, so that the Holy One blessed be He will return to you and gather you from the midst of the exiles.’ What are the blessings? “In six troubles He will deliver you, and in seven, no harm will touch you. …From the scourge of the tongue you will be hidden, and you will not fear pillage when it comes. At pillage and hunger you will laugh, and from the beasts of the earth, do not fear” (Job 5:19, 21–22). That is why it is stated: “Blessings upon the head of the righteous.”
“Jacob arrived intact.” It is written: “Those who sow in tears, reap with joyous song” (Psalms 126:5). “Those who sow in tears” – this is our patriarch Jacob, who sowed the blessings in tears: “Perhaps my father will feel me” (Genesis 27:12). “Reap with joyous song” – “God will give you from the dew of the heavens and from the fat of the earth” (Genesis 27:28). “Though he walks weeping” (Psalms 126:6) – “he raised his voice and wept” (Genesis 29:11). “Bearing his sack of seed” (Psalms 126:6) – as he is drawn to the place that he is destined to procreate from there, as it is written: “Take a wife for you from there” (Genesis 28:2), “Isaac sent Jacob and he went to Padan Aram; to Laban, son of Betuel” (Genesis 28:5). “He returns in joyous song, bearing his sheaves [alumotav]” (Psalms 126:6) – he came bearing young men [uleimin] and young women [ve’uleimita].
“This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death” (Deuteronomy 33:1). Halakha: A person of Israel who passed before the ark (He served as prayer leader.) and erred, (He is unable to continue the prayer for some reason.) how must he act? So the Sages taught: One who passes before the ark and errs, let another pass in his stead. Our Rabbis taught us, Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: If one erred in the first three blessings, he returns to the beginning of “Shield.” (“Shield of Abraham,” the first blessing of the Amida prayer.) Rav Huna said: If one erred in the middle three (There are actually thirteen middle blessings in the weekday Amida prayer. Thus, the midrash is referring to a case in which someone made a mistake in one of the thirteen middle blessings. In the Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah there are three middle blessings.) blessings, he returns to “the holy God.” (The third blessing ends with the words "the holy God." The midrash states that the person who made the mistake starts from the fourth blessing, which begins right after the words "the holy God.") Rav said: If one erred in the final three, he returns to the beginning of “we give thanks.” (Which is the first of the last three blessing) Another matter, one who passes before the ark and erred, another passes in his place. From where does he begin? It is from the beginning of the blessing where he erred. From where did they derive it? It is from the patriarchs of the world. Why? It is because each of them would begin only from where the other ended. How so? Abraham blessed Isaac. From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5). What did he give him? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: He gave him the birthright, like the matter that is stated: “He sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:33). Rabbi Neḥemya said: He gave him a blessing, like the matter that is stated: “May God give you [of the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth…]” (Genesis 27:28). Isaac arose to bless Jacob, he said: ‘From the place that father ended, I will begin. Father ended with veyiten, I, too, will begin with veyiten,’ as is it is stated: “May God give you [veyiten lekha].” With what did Isaac end? It was with summoning, as it is stated: “Isaac summoned Jacob and blessed him” (Genesis 28:1). Jacob arose to bless the tribes, he said: ‘I will begin only with summoning,’ as it is stated: “Jacob summoned his sons” (Genesis 49:1). With what did he end? It was with zot, as it is stated: “And this [vezot] is what their father spoke to them” (Genesis 49:28). Moses arose to bless Israel, he said: ‘I will begin only with zot.’ From where is it derived? It is from what is written regarding the matter: “This is [vezot] the blessing.”
Another matter, what is “You [have circled] enough…”? Rabbi Aḥa said: If you harm him, you are really harming yourselves. How so? His father blessed him with one blessing: “By your sword you will live” (Genesis 27:40), and he blessed Jacob with ten blessings. From where is this derived? As it is written: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens” (Genesis 27:28). (Ten blessings are listed in this verse and the following one. ) If his blessing is void, your ten blessings will be void – “you have circled enough…” (The midrash is commenting on the verses that follow, in which the Israelites are warned not to confront Edom. Alternatively, it is picking up on the Hebrew words for “you…enough [rav lakhem],” which can be translated to mean that what is yours [lakhem] is greater [rav] than that which is Esau’s (Midrash HaMevoar). )
Another matter: “The Lord will open for you” – the Rabbis said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘My children, all the goodness that comes to the world comes due to your merit. How so? Dew falls only due to your merit.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “May God give you from the dew of the heavens” (Genesis 27:28). ‘Rain falls only due to your merit.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse.” ‘Peace, too, comes only due to your merit.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “And grant you peace” (Numbers 6:26) – due to your merit. There was an incident involving a certain idolater who asked Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakai; he said to him: ‘We have appointed times, and you have appointed times. We have Calends, Saturnalia, and Kratesis, and you have Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. What is the day that we and you are joyful?’ Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakai said to him: ‘This is the day of rainfall.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The meadows are covered with flocks of sheep; the valleys are wrapped in grain. They shout for joy, and they sing” (Psalms 65:14). What is written thereafter? “A psalm. Shout out to God, all the land” (Psalms 66:1).
(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY THE GOD GIVE TO YOU < FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN >. {His fulfillment is simply < that of > God. In that my fulfillment belongs to God,} (Buber feels that the text in braces (from Codex Vaticanus, Ebr. 34) makes no sense and has substituted the text in square brackets, which he derived from MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) ["A God" is not written here but THE GOD. When the God accomplishes his fulfillment], he will give you the blessings with which I have blessed you. Why? Because Jacob was collaborating with his Creator in every matter. R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said in the name of R. Reuben: Look at what is written (in Jer. 10:16): NOT LIKE THESE (idols) IS THE PORTION (i.e., the God) OF JACOB, FOR HE HAS FORMED EVERYTHING, < AND ISRAEL IS THE TRIBE OF HIS INHERITANCE >….
(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU. Let our master instruct us: Is it correct that one may fold his garments on the Sabbath? Thus have our masters taught (in Shab. 15:3): ONE MAY FOLD GARMENTS EVEN FOUR OR FIVE TIMES. ONE MAY ALSO MAKE BEDS ON THE NIGHT OF THE SABBATH (i.e., on Friday night) FOR THE SABBATH, BUT NOT ON THE SABBATH FOR THE NIGHT FOLLOWING THE SABBATH. Now concerning these garments, they said that one may fold any garments that one is to wear on the Sabbath; but < as for those > to be worn after the Sabbath, it is forbidden to fold them on the Sabbath. Also with respect to garments which are folded by two people, it is forbidden. (yShab. 15:3 (15a); Shab. 113a.) In the case of an individual, it is permitted to fold one. And he should not be apprehensive, because one should honor the Sabbath with his clothes, as stated (in Is. 68:13): AND YOU SHALL CALL THE SABBATH A DELIGHT. (Cf. yPe’ah 8:8 (21b); PR 23:1.) And in what way does Israel honor the Sabbath? Through eating, through drinking, and through clean clothes, because the Holy One did so from the beginning, as stated (in Gen. 3:21): THEN [THE LORD] GOD MADE TUNICS OF SKIN FOR ADAM AND HIS WIFE AND CLOTHED THEM. What were TUNICS OF SKIN? [Garments] of high priesthood, which the Holy One put on them, since he (Adam) was the glory of the world.
Furthermore, our masters have also taught (in Zev. 14:4) BEFORE THE TABERNACLE WAS SET UP, THE HIGH PLACES WERE PERMITTED AND THE SACRIFICIAL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED BY THE FIRST-BORN. (See above, 6:4, and the other references cited there.) Therefore, the Holy One clothed Adam in garments of high priesthood, since he was the first-born of the world. Noah came [and passed them on to Shem; Shem] passed them on to Abraham; Abraham passed them on to Isaac; and Isaac passed them on to Esau, who was his first-born. Esau, however, saw his wives serving idols and deposited them (the clothes) with his mother. When Jacob arose and took the birthright of Esau, Rebekah said: Inasmuch as Jacob has taken the birthright from the hand of Esau, he has the right to put on these garments. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:15): THEN REBEKAH TOOK THE BEST GARMENTS OF HER OLDER SON ESAU, < WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE, AND HAD HER YOUNGER SON JACOB PUT THEM ON >. Jacob came in to his father Isaac and emitted an aroma on him. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS AND BLESSED HIM…. How did he bless him? According to what they read on the matter (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU….
[(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU.] It is written (in Job 29:19): MY ROOT IS OPEN UNTO WATER. (Cf. Gen. R. 66:1.) Who spoke this verse? Job spoke it about himself, about the Temple, and about Jacob. In what way did he say about himself: MY ROOT IS OPEN … ? The doors of his house were open to those passing by, especially to Torah scholars. What is the meaning of UNTO (ele) WATER? To the rams (ele) of Torah and its warriors. It is just as you say (in Dan. 8:4): I SAW THE RAM CHARGING SEAWARD AND NORTHWARD. ["To water"] is not written here (in Job 29:19), but UNTO (ele) WATER, because the house of Job was opened to < such > wayfarers. Therefore (in Job 29:19, cont.): AND DEW SHALL LODGE ON MY BRANCHES (qatsir). R. Hanina said: Everybody saw that when Job harvested his field, there were clouds gathered over his harvest (qatsir) because it would not have recovered its freshness from the burning heat. (Cf. MS 1240 from the De Rossi library in Parma: “Because he would plant it away from the burning heat.”) Ergo (in Job 29:19): AND DEW SHALL LODGE ON MY BRANCHES (qatsir).
Another interpretation (of Job 29:19): MY ROOT IS OPEN UNTO WATER. This was Jacob pursuing < the water of Torah > in the academies which were open to the Torah. Therefore (ibid., cont.): AND DEW SHALL LODGE ON MY BRANCHES? For, when he comes to his father to receive ten blessings, he begins for YOU with dew (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE YOU FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN….
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU. May he give to you and give to you. (Gen. R. 66:3.) May he give to you from his own, may he give to you from what belongs to my ancestors, and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham.
(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU. What is the meaning of GOD? < That he acted > in justice. If you were worthy, he will give to you; but if not, he will not give to you. To Esau, however, he did not say this; but (according to Gen. 27:39): OF THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH < SHALL BE YOUR DWELLING >…. Whether you are righteous or wicked, he will give to you. Why? Isaac simply said this: Esau is wicked, and Jacob is righteous. Even though he performs a commandment and is afflicted, he does not voice a complaint [against divine justice. However, if the wicked one performs one commandment or prays, and is not answered, he begins to say]: Just as I have prayed to idols and found nothing tangible, [so I have prayed to God and found nothing tangible]. Solomon also said so. When he built the Temple, he prayed to the Holy One, as stated (in I Kings 8, beginning with vs. 12): THEN SOLOMON SAID: THE LORD SAID THAT HE WOULD DWELL IN THICK DARKNESS. He began reciting his prayers and said: Sovereign of the World, when someone from Israel comes to pray in the future and asks for sons or for something else, if he is worthy, give to him; but if not, do not give to him. Thus it is stated (in vs. 39): AND GIVE TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO ALL HIS WAYS, SINCE YOU KNOW HIS HEART. But if a foreigner should come to pray there, give to him whatever he asks. Thus it is stated (in vss. 41 & 43): AND ALSO UNTO THE FOREIGNER … YOU SHALL {ALSO} HEARKEN IN HEAVEN…. For perhaps, if you do not do for him all that he asks, he will talk and say to himself: So it is with this house of Solomon. I have gone from one end of the world to the other and have been worn out from so many journeyings. Then I came and prayed in here and have found nothing tangible in here, just as I did not find it in idolatry. Ergo (in Gen. 27:39): SEE, OF THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH < SHALL BE YOUR DWELLING >…. Why? Because he is lacking faith. But to Jacob, since he possessed faith and was righteous, he said (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU, < i.e., > injustice.
[(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY < GOD > GIVE TO YOU.] What is written above of the matter (in Gen. 27:1, 6, 17)? NOW IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD < AND HIS EYES WERE TOO WEAK TO SEE >…. THEN REBEKAH SAID UNTO HER SON JACOB…. THEN SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite said in the name of R. Helbo: She brought him in as far as her partition, as far as she had authority to enter. (Gen. R. 65:17.) She said to him: My son, I have accompanied you in this far. From here on your God will accompany you in. He entered as he said to him (to Isaac in Gen. 27:20): BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME. R. Johanan said: When he said: BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD MADE IT HAPPEN FOR ME, (See above, 6:10; Gen. R. 65:19.) Isaac said: This language is not the language of Esau, but the language of Jacob, as stated (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You know that it is so. When Jacob entered, what did he say (in vs. 19)? PLEASE ARISE; SIT UP < AND EAT >…. But when Esau entered, [what did he say to him (in vs. 31)? LET MY FATHER ARISE. Look at] what he is saying, how he speaks with difficulty: LET MY FATHER ARISE…. Isaac began saying to Jacob (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER AND LET ME TOUCH YOU, < MY SON >…. R.Joshua said: When he said (in vs. 21): PLEASE COME NEARER, his body trembled, and he hung back like wax. (Cf. Gen. R. 44:3; 65:19.) What did the Holy One do? He spoke to two of the angels, to Gabriel and Michael, and they assisted him, Michael to his right and Gabriel to his left, with that one in his glory, may his name be blessed, supporting him from his rear. Then he said to him: Jacob, why are you afraid, with your body buckling over upon itself? I am God. My army (Gk.: stratia.) < has come > to help you, and they are supporting you. Still, you are afraid! Thus it is stated (in Is. 41:10): FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU; BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU, I ALSO HELP YOU, AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU. Let not your body sink down, FOR I AM WITH YOU. BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I STRENGTHEN YOU with Michael. I ALSO HELP YOU with Gabriel. AND I UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND. Immediately [Isaac] said to him (in Gen. 27:22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU. Your power is stronger than his. If Esau captures anyone, see, he is in his hand; but if [that one] flees, he cannot do a thing to him. With you, however, even though someone flees from one end of the world to [the other], (in vs. 22): THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB. You say something in the synagogue; and look, it comes to pass of its own accord.
Isaac said to him (in Gen. 27:24): IS THIS YOU, MY SON ESAU? He said to him: It is I. He said to him (in vs. 25): SERVE ME, AND LET ME EAT…. < SO HE SERVED HIM, AND HE ATE. HE ALSO BROUGHT HIM WINE, AND HE DRANK >. Where did he get wine from? Note, we find that his mother did not give him wine. Rather (in Gen. 27:17): SHE GAVE HIM THE DELICACIES…. Then who brought him the wine? Michael brought it to him, wine from the Garden of Eden. (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:25.) Our masters have said: You only find wine resulting in a blessing in case of this < wine > and Abraham's, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 14:18f.): AND MELCHIZEDEK KING OF SALEM BROUGHT OUT BREAD AND WINE…. < AND HE BLESSED HIM >. (Cf. Gen. R. 43:6.) And in case of this < wine > also, when he had drunk it, he blessed him. He said to him (in vs. 26f.): PLEASE COME NEARER AND KISS ME, MY SON; SO HE CAME NEARER AND KISSED HIM…. [It should have said: "Aha, the odor of his clothes; then he blessed him." Instead he said (in vs. 27): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON IS LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD.] And he should have said: "Aha, the odor of my son's clothes." Instead he said to him (ibid.): AHA, THE ODOR OF MY SON. < The verse > is teaching that the odor of the righteous is a hint of the world to come. What is the meaning of LIKE THE ODOR OF A FIELD … ? That < his clothes > were the garments of the first Adam and bore an odor from the garden of Eden. (See below, 6:22; Gen. R. 65:22.) He immediately said to him (in vs. 28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is Torah, as stated (in Deut. 32:2) LET MY SPEECH DRIP DOWN LIKE THE DEW. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. These are the Prophets. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN. This is Talmud. (Ibid., cont.:) AND NEW WINE. Here are the Midrashim. (Gen. R. 66:3.) Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is the manna, according to what is stated (in Numb. 11:9): SO WHEN THE DEW CAME DOWN < UPON THE CAMP AT NIGHT, THE MANNA WOULD FALL UPON IT >. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. Here is the well. (See Exod. 17:6; Numb. 21:16-18. According to tradition this well followed Israel in the wilderness. See, e.g., TSuk. 3:11-13. Similarly I Corinthians 10:4.)
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): FROM THE DEW OF HEAVEN. This is Jerusalem, according to what is stated (in Ps. 133:3): LIKE THE DEW OF HERMON < WHICH COMES DOWN UPON THE HILLS OF ZION >. (Gen. 27:28, cont.:) AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH. Here is the fine flour of the oblations. (Ibid., cont.:) AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN AND NEW WINE. Here is olive oil.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN AND NEW WINE. These are high priests. When he had given him these blessings (in vs. 29), he added six < more > blessings so that there would be ten. These are the following: (Gen. R. 67:10; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:29; Frag. (Jerusalem) Targum, Gen. 27:29.)
(Gen. 32:5 [4]:) AND HE INSTRUCTED THEM, SAYING: THUS YOU SHALL SAY TO MY LORD ESAU. He called him MY LORD. Jeremiah has said (in Jer. 13:21): WHAT WILL YOU SAY WHEN HE SHALL APPOINT AS YOUR HEADS THOSE WHOM YOU HAD TAUGHT TO BE YOUR FRIENDS? R. Pinhas said: Antoninus gave Our Rabbi (Judah the Prince) the highest honors; but, when Our Rabbi sent me to him, he wrote him a letter and wrote in it: Your servant Judah asks about your welfare. But it displeased Antoninus, namely, that he called himself a servant. He said to him: Do not write again like this. Our Rabbi said to him: I write in such a way to you because I am no better than the patriarch Jacob. When he sent away to Esau, what did he say to him (according to Gen. 32:5 [4])? THUS SAYS YOUR SERVANT JACOB: I have not become an independent authority. (Gk.: authentes.) (Ibid., cont.:) I LIVED WITH LABAN. Not one of the blessings with which your father blessed me has reached me. (Cf. Gen. R. 75:11.) Your father blessed me (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU OF THE DEW OF HEAVEN AND THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH; yet, I do not have one of them in hand. Rather (according to Gen. 32:6 [5]), I HAVE OX AND ASS, SHEEP, which are neither of the heavens nor of the earth. Do you hate me merely because of the blessings, [even though one has yet to reach me]? Did he have < only > one ox and one ass, in that it says (ibid.): I HAVE OX AND ASS … (in the singular)? (Cf. Gen. R. 75:6.) R. Judah and R. Nehemiah differ. R. Judah says: It is a figure of speech, as in the case of one who says in a collective sense: Ass went; cock crowed. (This is the interpretation of modem translations.) But R. Nehemiah said: < He spoke > to him, saying: Here am I, your servant Jacob, humbling myself before you. If you desire it, see, it is fine. But, if not, (ibid.:) I HAVE < AN > OX AND < AN > ASS < … >. [AN OX:] This is Joseph, as stated (of him in Deut. 33:17): LIKE A FIRSTLING OX HE HAS MAJESTY, < AND HIS HORNS ARE THE HORNS OF A WILD OX…. SUCH ARE THE MYRIADS OF EPHRAIM, AND SUCH ARE THE THOUSANDS OF MANASSEH >. There is an aggadic tradition that Esau will only fall at the hands of Rachel's children. Why? Because it is stated (in Jer. 49:20): SURELY THE YOUNGEST OF YOUR FLOCK SHALL DRAG THEM AWAY. These < youngest > are the children of Rachel. (Gen. 32:6 [5], cont.:) AND < AN > ASS. This is the Messianic King, as stated (in Zech. 9:9): REJOICE GREATLY, O DAUGHTER OF ZION, SHOUT ALOUD, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM; < behold your king comes > … HUMBLE AND RIDING UPON AN ASS. (Gen. 32:6 [5], cont.:) A FLOCK. This is Israel, as stated (in Ezek. 34:31): FOR YOU, MY FLOCK, THE FLOCK OF MY PASTURE, YOU ARE HUMANS. (Gen. 32:6 [5], cont.:) MALE AND FEMALE SLAVES. This < also > refers to Israel, about which it is stated (in Ps. 123:2): BEHOLD, AS THE EYES OF MALE SLAVES < LOOK TO THEIR MASTER'S HAND, AS THE EYES OF A FEMALE SLAVE TO THE EYES OF HER MISTRESS, SO DO OUR EYES LOOK TO THE LORD OUR GOD >….
The Seers (i.e., the prophets) were the ones who said the doubled letters, mantzepakh (mem, nun, tzadi, peh, and kaf, which are the letters that have a different form when they appear at the end of a word). [The doubling of kaf that is found in Genesis 12:1,] "Lekh lekha (Go for yourself)," hints to Avraham that he will father Yitschak at one hundred years [of age] (as the numerical value of these two words is one hundred). [The doubling of mem that is found in Genesis 26:16,] "ki atsamta memenu (as you have become more powerful than us)" is a hint [to Yitschak] that hints that he and his seed will be powerful in both worlds. The doubling of nun [that is found in Genesis 32:12,] "Hatsileini na (Save me)" [is a hint to] Yaakov, [that] he will be saved in both worlds. The doubling of peh [that is found in Genesis 50:24,] "pakod yifkod (He will surely remember you)" [is a hint to] Yosef, [that] He will remember you in this world, and He will remember you in the world to come. The doubling of tzadi [that is found in Zachariah 6:12,] "hinei eesh, Tsemach shemo, ou'metachtav yitsmach (behold, a man called Branch shall branch out from the place where he is,)" is [referring to] the messiah. And so is it stated (Jermiah 23:5), "vahikimoti leDaveed tsemach tsadeek (and I will raise up a true branch of David)." ["The leader of fifty" (Isaiah 3:3)] ("Sixty were the queens" [Song of Songs 6:8]). Twenty-four books (of the Bible), and add to them eleven of the thirteen [books of the minor prophets] - besides Yonah which is by itself - and six orders of the Mishnah and nine chapters of Torat Kohanim, behold ["The leader of fifty"] ("Sixty were the queens"). "[Sixty were the queens] and eighty were the concubines" (Song of Songs 6:8). Sixty tractates and eighty study halls that were in Jerusalem corresponding to its gates. "And maidens without number" (Song of Songs 6:8). The study outside. "Behold the bed of Shlomo, sixty warriors" (Song of Songs 3:7). [This] corresponds to the [number of] letters of [the priestly blessing,) "May the Lord bless you and keep you, etc." (Numbers 6:24-26). The Satan (HaSatan) has the numerical equivalent of the count of the days of the solar year, as he rules over all the year to slander, except for Yom Kippur. Rabbi Ami bar Abba said, "Avraham was missing five organs before he was circumcised and [before he] fathered. The [letter] hay (with a numerical value of five) was added [to his name] and he became complete and fathered, and he was called Avraham [corresponding to the complete set of organs, two hundred and forty-eight], the numerical count of his letters." [Regarding] Sarai, two Amoraim (later rabbinic teachers) differed. One said, "The [letter] yod [with a numerical count of ten that was taken from her] was divided into two, [to give] a hay to Avaraham and a hay to Sarah." And [the other] said, "The yod that was taken from Sarah raised a protest until Yehshoua came and had a yod added, as it is stated (Numbers 13:16), "and Moshe called Hoshea [...], Yehoshua." And it saved him from the counsel of the [other] spies. [The significance of the letters in the name,] Yitschak [is as follows]: Yod [with a numerical count of ten] corresponds to the ten trials [of Avraham]. [The letter] tsadi [with a numerical count of ninety, as] Sarah was ninety when he was born. [The letter] chet [with a numerical count of eight, as] he was circumcised on the eighth day. And the letter kof [with a numerical count of one hundred, as] Avraham was a hundred years old when he was born. Yaakov was called according to [the significance of the letters of] his [own] name: Yod [corresponds to] the tenth of his offspring going backwards, Levi. Count from (the last son), Binaymin to Levi - there are ten sons, and Levi was the tenth. And he gave him as a tithe to the Omnipresent to fulfill [what he said] (Genesis 28:22), "all that You give to me, I will surely tithe it to You." [The letter] ayin [with a numerical count of seventy corresponds to the number of offspring he took to Egypt], "with seventy souls" (Deuteronomy 10:22). Kof corresponds to the [number of the] letters of the blessing [that he received], "And may He give you [etc.]" (Genesis 27:28). Take away the name [of God] from there, and one hundred [letters] remain. [The letter] bet [with a numerical count of two] corresponds to two angels [that he saw on the ladder in his dream] rising. Yehudah was called according to [the significance of the numerical count of the letters of] his [own] name: Thirty, corresponding to the thirty virtues of the monarchy. There were six hundred and thirteen letters on the tablets - from "I am" (Exodus 20:2) to "to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:14) - corresponding to the six hundred and thirteen commandments. And they were all given to Moshe at [Mount] Sinai; and in them are statutes and judgments, Torah and Mishnah, Talmud and aggadah. "The fear of the Lord is his treasure" (Isaiah 33:6). There is no greater characteristic than fear and humility, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), "And now Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you [besides to fear Him]." "The fear of" (Yirat) has a numerical value of six hundred and eleven; along with Torah and circumcision, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. [The numerical value of] fringes (tsitsit) is six hundred. [Add] eight strings and five knots, behold that is six hundred and thirteen. "[The man (David)] raised on high" (II Samuel 23:1) - [high (al)] has a numerical value of one hundred, corresponding to one hundred blessings. As on every day, one hundred men of Israel were dying. [So] David and ordained [the daily saying of] one hundred blessings. "And now Israel, what (mah) does the Lord, your God, ask of you" - read it as one hundred (meah), these are the hundred blessings. Once he ordained it, the pestilence ceased. "This is the law of the burnt-offering (olah), it is the burnt-offering" (Leviticus 6:2), [meaning] the yoke (ulah) of Torah and the yoke of repentance. "Two anointed ones" (Zechariah 4:14). These are David and Aharon who were anointed with the anointing oil, such that their anointing was for [all] the generations. With Aharon, it is written (Numbers 25:13), "It shall be for him and his descendants after him, a pact of priesthood for all time." With David it is written (Ezekiel 37:25), "and My servant David as their prince for all time." "Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov)" (Hosea 14:3). Israel said, "Master of the world, at the time that the Temple existed, we would offer a sacrifice and be cleansed. But now all we have in our hand is prayer." The numerical value of tov is seventeen. Prayer [consists of] nineteen [blessings]. Take away from them the blessing for the malfeasers that was composed at Yavneh, and "Let the sprout of David blossom," which they ordained for the sake of "Probe me, Lord, and try me" (Psalms 26:2). Rabbi Simon says, "'Forgive all guilt and take the good (tov).' The numerical value of tov in at-bash (matching letters based on how close they are to the center of the alphabet) is [the same as] soul (nefesh). Israel said, 'Behold the fat from us, from our souls. May it be Your will that it be atonement for us and "that we pay with the words of our lips" (Hosea 14:3).'" "And the Lord gave her conception (herayon)" (Ruth 4:13). [Herayon] has a numerical value of the [number of the] days of the nine months of birthing (two hundred and seventy one). The name of the angel that is appointed for conception is night, as stated (Job 3:3), "and the night [that it was] said, 'A man was conceived." The measure of the water of a mikveh (ritual bath) is forty seah corresponding to the [forty mentions] of well, written in the Torah. And [the volume of] how many eggs is the measure of the mikveh? Five thousand seven hundred and sixty. And a seah is a hundred and forty-four eggs. Forty-three and a fifth eggs is the measure of [what is required for] hallah [tithe]. And from where [do we know] that a mikveh requires forty seah? As it is written (Isaiah 8:6), "Since this nation has rejected the waters of Shiloach that flow gently (le'at)." The numerical value of le'at is forty. Behold the measure of a seah is a tefach by a tefach with the height of [sixteen] tefach [and a fifth]. And one who separates the measure of the hallah [tithe] must separate [one part in forty three] and a fifth [from Torah writ like the numerical value of hallah]. Forty lashes (which are actually thirty-nine) is from Torah writ, as it is written (Exodus 35:1), "These (eleh) are the things which the Lord commanded." [The numerical count of] "eleh" is thirty-six; "things" (being plural) is two; "the things" [indicates an additional] one - behold, forty minus one (thirty-nine). "He shall strike him forty, he shall not add" (Deuteronomy 25:3), corresponds to the forty curses received by the snake, Chava, Adam and the ground, and the sages lessened one, because of "he shall not add." A Sanhedrin is twenty-three, so [that it is possible for] those advocating innocence to have one more (than twenty), and those advocating guilt to have two more. It is best for the two to come and push off one. The numerical value of anathmea (cherem) is two hundred and forty-eight. And Shmuel said, when it takes force it takes force on [all] two hundred and forty-eight organs, and when it leaves, it leaves from two hundred and forty-eight limbs, as it is written (Habakuk 3:2), "in anger, remember to have mercy (rachem, which is made up of the same letters as cherem)." It is written,"tirash," but we read it [as] tirosh. [If] he merits, he becomes a rosh (leader); [if] he does not merit, he becomes a rash (poor person). Our rabbis, may their memory be blessed said, "A man is recognized by three things: by his purse, by his glass and by his anger. Tavel is Ramaliah. Seshach is Bavel (Babylon) [according to] its numerical value of in at-bash. The numerical value of Gog and Magog is seventy, as they are the seventy nations [of the world].
"The Lord has returned our captivity. Rabbi Yitzchak said: The day of rain is as great as the resurrection of the dead, as it is written: "The Lord has returned our captivity as streams in the Negev." And there are no streams except for rain, as it says: "And they saw the streams of the sea." Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. Rabbi Yehuda said: When a bull walks and cries, on its return it eats from the same mound. Another explanation: Those who sow in tears are referring to Jacob, who sowed blessings with tears. "He will reap with joy" (Genesis 27:28) and God will give you. "He went, he walked, and he cried" (Genesis 29:11) and he raised his voice and wept. The one who sows will bear the burden of the seed, as the tribes are compared to a burden. He who comes, comes with joy, bearing his sheaves. I implore my worlds and all worlds."
Another interpretation of "Happy is the man" (Psalm 1:1): This refers to the righteous men. The prophets are happy because they give form to the image of God, and to the one who plants the tree. This is what the scripture means by "For the Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psalm 84:12). Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said: "Happy are they who are like the sun, which shines forth, and like a shield, which protects." Another interpretation of "shield": This refers to the Persian Targum for a curtain that surrounds a person, protecting them from the four winds. And how do we know that it includes the fourth wind? It is written, "You crown us with loving-kindness" (Psalm 5:13). Another interpretation of "sun" and "shield": This refers to Abraham, our forefather. "Sun" refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Who raised up righteousness from the east" (Isaiah 41:2) The shield represents Abraham, as it is said, "I am your shield" (Genesis 15:1). The God represents Abraham, as it is said, "You are a prince of God in our midst" (Genesis 23:6). Grace and glory God gives represent Abraham, as it is written, "And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold" (Genesis 13:2). "He does not withhold good from those who walk with integrity" represents Abraham, as it is said, "Walk before me, and be blameless" (Genesis 17:1). If Scripture speaks of Abraham in this way, then when it says, "He does not withhold good from those who walk with integrity," what does it mean to walk with integrity? Rather, just as Abraham, who walked with integrity before the Holy One, Blessed be He, had a shield, so too anyone who walks with integrity before Him has a shield. After him, what is written? "Happy is the man who trusts in You" (Psalms 84:13). Abraham is not written here, but rather "man," meaning all people. David said, "Happy is the man whom You discipline, Lord, and whom You teach from Your law" (Psalms 94:12). Rabbi Yudan opened by saying, "Do not boast before the king, and do not stand in the place of great men" (Proverbs 25:6). Rabbi Yudan read it from the place where this section was closed and from the place where the previous section was opened. Rabbi Pinchas worked an extended passage from Psalms 119:100, "I understand more than the aged." At first, the Holy One, Blessed be He, blessed His world, as it says, "And God blessed them" (Genesis 1:28). Once Noah stood, He blessed him, as it says, "And God blessed Noah and his sons" (Genesis 9:1). Once Abraham stood, He blessed him, as it says, "And God blessed Abraham in everything" (Genesis 24:1). What is the meaning of "it will be a blessing"? Rav Nachman said that He handed the blessings over to him and said, "Until now, I have been required to bless the world, but from now on, the blessings are in your hands, and whomever you bless will be blessed." Once Isaac stood, he blessed him, as it says, "And Abraham gave everything he had to Isaac" (Genesis 25:5). What did he give him? Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Nechemia, and the Rabbis (said): Rabbi Yehuda said it was the firstborn. Rabbi Nechemia said it was a blessing. And the Rabbis said it was burial and a deed of inheritance. Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Chama: they only gave him gifts. And why didn't they give him a blessing? It is like a king who had a garden and gave it to a tenant, and in it were all kinds of trees intertwined with each other, one of the Tree of Life and one of the Tree of Death. The tenant said, "If I water the Tree of Life, the Tree of Death will live with it. And if I do not water it, how will the Tree of Life live?" The tenant returned and said, "This year I will complete my tenancy and go, and what do I care about the king's garden?" Abraham said, "I will not bless Isaac now because the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah are now being blessed." I am flesh and blood today, but tomorrow I will be in the grave, and what needs to be done in his world will be done. When Abraham died, God revealed Himself to Isaac and blessed him, as it says, "After Abraham's death, God blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). And so He did to Jacob, as it says, "God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan Aram, and He blessed him" (Genesis 35:9). And Isaac stood and blessed Jacob with giving, as it says, "May God give you of the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28), and he sealed it with a call, "And Isaac called Jacob, and he blessed him" (Genesis 28:1). Jacob stood to bless the tribes and began with what Isaac had sealed. This is what is written, "And Jacob called to his sons and said" (Genesis 49:1), and he sealed it with this, as it says, "And this is what their father said to them" (Genesis 49:28). Moses stood to bless Israel, and said, "Jacob is the firstborn of the Holy One, blessed be He," and he began with a call and sealed it with "And this is the blessing" (Deuteronomy 33:1), and he sealed it with "Happy are you" (Deuteronomy 33:29). When David stood, he opened with "God is my Lord," and sealed it with "Blessed are You, God" (Psalms 118:27).
Rabbi Jehudah said: Isaac blessed Jacob with ten blessings concerning the dews of heaven and the corn of the earth, corresponding to the ten words whereby the world was created, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of the heaven" (Gen. 27:28); "Let peoples serve thee, …" (Gen. 27:29). When Jacob went forth from the presence of his father Isaac, he went forth crowned like a bridegroom, and like a bride in her adornment, and the quickening dew from heaven descended upon him, and refreshed his bones, and he also became a mighty hero; therefore it is said, "By the hands of the mighty Jacob, from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel" (Gen. 49:24).
THE VISION OF JACOB AT BETHEL "BETTER is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). The first blessings wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob were concerning the dews of heaven, and concerning the corn of the earth, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth" (Gen. 27:28). The final blessings were the blessings of the foundation of the world, and in them there is no (interruption), either in this world or in the world to come, as it is said, "And God Almighty bless thee" (Gen. 28:3). And he further added unto him the blessing of Abraham, || as it is said, "And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee" (Gen. 28:4). Therefore (say): "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). "Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit" (ibid.). "Better is the patient in spirit"—this (saying) is applicable to our father Jacob, for every day he was patient in spirit, and he spake all kinds of words of entreaty. (The words) "than the proud in spirit" (ibid.) refer to the wicked Esau, because every day he was eating the flesh of that which he had hunted. Owing to his pride he did not give any of his food to Jacob. Once he went out to hunt but he did not meet with any success. He saw Jacob eating lentil food, and he desired this in his heart, and he said to him: "Let me gulp down, I pray thee, some of that red pottage" (Gen. 25:30). Jacob said to him: Thou camest forth red at thy birth from thy mother; (now) thou dost desire to eat (this) red food; therefore he called his name "Edom" (red), as it is said, "And Esau said to Jacob" (ibid.).
“Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, and we will gaze upon you. Why will you gaze at the Shulamite like at a dance of two companies?” (Song of Songs 7:1) “Return, return, O Shulamite,” Rabbi Shmuel bar Ḥiyya bar Yudan [said] in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: Four times “return,” is written here, corresponding to the four kingdoms that rule over Israel. Israel comes under their control unscathed and emerges unscathed. “The Shulamite,” a nation in whose midst the eternal One who lives in peace [shalom] moves about; that is what is written: “I have moved about in a tent and a Tabernacle” (II Samuel 7:6). (God rested His presence in the Tabernacle in the midst of Israel. The Tabernacle resided in four places in the Land of Israel: Gilgal, Shilo, Nov, and Givon, corresponding to the four times “return” is written here, as though the word Shulamite is written with each one (Maharzu, Bereshit Rabba 66:2).) Another matter, “the Shulamite,” a nation to whom [a blessing] concluding with peace is [recited] each day, just as it says: “And grant you peace [shalom]” (Numbers 6:26). Alternatively, “the Shulamite,” the nation that I am destined to settle in an abode of peace; that is what is written: “My people will live in a peaceful abode…” (Isaiah 32:18). Another matter, “the Shulamite,” the nation to whom I extend peace; that is what is written: “Behold, I will extend peace toward it” (Isaiah 66:12). Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Maron said: A nation that completes [mashlemet] the stability of the world, both in this world and in the World to Come. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: A nation that all the good of the word comes only due to its merit. That is what is written: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens, and from the fat of the earth” (Genesis 27:28); “you,” the matter is dependent upon you and your merit, as it is written: “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse” (Deuteronomy 28:12), the matter is dependent upon you and your merit. Rabbi Shmuel bar Tanḥum and Rabbi Ḥanan, the son of Rabbi Berekhya from Botzra, [said] in the name of Rabbi Yirmeya: The nation that made peace between Me and My world, as had they not accepted My Torah, I would have returned My world to emptiness and disorder, as Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: It is written: “The earth and all its inhabitants melt away” (Psalms 75:4). Had Israel not stood before Mount Sinai and said: “Everything that the Lord has said, we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), the world would have begun to disintegrate. Who buttressed the world? It is I [anokhi], as it is stated: “I [anokhi] set its pillars firm, Selah” (Psalms 75:4); by the merit of: “I [anokhi] am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2), I set its pillars firm. (God caused the pillars of the world to be firm in the merit of the people of Israel accepting the Ten Commandments, the first of which was “I am the Lord your God” (Etz Yosef).)
"to a land of corn and wine": as Isaac their father blessed them, viz.
(Bereshith 27:28) "And may G-d give you of the dew of the heavens, etc." "His heavens, too, shall drip dew," as in (Isaiah 45:8) "Let the heavens pour from above and the heights drip righteousness."
And just as dew descends for blessing, so, rain. And thus is it written (Bereshith 27:28) "And may G-d give you of the dew of the heavens," and (Devarim 32:2) "My teaching (Torah) shall drip as the rain," and (Hosea 14:6) "I shall be like the dew to Israel," and (Michah 5:6) "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the L-rd, like the droplets upon the grass."
“Through you, ancient ruins will be rebuilt; you will reestablish generations-old foundations” (Isaiah 58:12). Rabbi Tarfon gave Rabbi Akiva six hundred silver talents and said to him: ‘Go and purchase for us property so we can toil in Torah and support ourselves from it.’ He took them and distributed them to Bible teachers, Mishna teachers, and those who toil in Torah. Sometime later, [Rabbi Tarfon] was standing with him and said to him: ‘Did you purchase that property for us that I said to you?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘Are you able to show it to me?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He took him and showed him the Bible teachers, Mishna teachers, and those who toil in Torah. He said to him: ‘Is there a person who gives something for nothing; where is the documentation?’ He said to him: ‘It is with David, king of Israel, of whom it is written: “He gives freely to the needy; his righteousness stands forever”’ (Psalms 112:9). “You will be called: Repairer of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12). Rabbi Avin said in the name of Rabbi Berekhya: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘It was incumbent upon Me to repair this breach, but you stood and repaired it. As you live, I ascribe to you [credit] like the one of whom it is written: “Were it not for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach”’ (Psalms 106:23). “Restorer of paths for habitation” (Isaiah 58:12); Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: (The upcoming statement is phrased as though stated by God. ) This poor person sits and says resentfully: ‘How am I different from so-and-so? He sleeps on his bed, and I sleep here; so-and-so sleeps in his house, and I, here. (The poor person is resentful toward God that others sleep in comfort and he has nowhere to sleep. ) And you stood and gave to him. As you live, I will ascribe to you as though you made peace between him and Me.’ That is what is written: “Then He will strengthen my stronghold, will make peace for me, will make peace for me” (Isaiah 27:5). “If you restrain your foot because of the Sabbath” (Isaiah 58:13); the Rabbis taught: A person may not walk in the city on Shabbat so that immediately when it gets dark he will bathe in the bathhouse. (Since one may not bathe on Shabbat, one may not walk toward the bathhouse on Shabbat in order to bathe immediately after Shabbat. ) “Pursuing your needs on the day of My holiness” (Isaiah 58:13); from here [it is derived] that it is prohibited for a person to go out into his field on Shabbat to ascertain what it needs. There was an incident involving a certain pious person who went out into his vineyard to ascertain its needs, and found a certain breach and considered on Shabbat to repair it. He said: ‘I will not repair it because I considered it on Shabbat.’ What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He provided a caper bush and it grew and repaired it, and he drew sustenance from it all his days. “And you call the Sabbath a delight” (Isaiah 58:13); this is the Shabbat of Genesis. (The seventh day of the week.) “The sacred of the Lord, honored (Isaiah 58:13); this is Yom Kippur. “And you shall honor it” (Isaiah 58:13); this is a festival day. “By refraining from engaging in your business” (Isaiah 58:13); these are the intermediate days of the festival. “From seeking your needs” (Isaiah 58:13); from here it is [derived] that it is prohibited for a person to demand his needs on Shabbat. Rabbi Ze’ira asked before Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, he said to him: ‘What about those who say: Our shepherd, feed us, support us, on Shabbat?’ He said to him: ‘That is the formula of the blessing.’ (Since this is a standard line in Grace after Meals, it is permitted on Shabbat. ) “And from speaking of matters” (Isaiah 58:13); the mother of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, when she would speak extraneous words on Shabbat, he would say to her: ‘It is Shabbat,’ and she would be silent. “Then you will delight in the Lord and I will mount you onto the heights of the earth” (Isaiah 58:14); these are fourteen. (To this point, these are fourteen blessings of one who gives charity.) The other ten are written regarding Jacob, as it is written: “I will feed you the inheritance of Jacob your forefather” (Isaiah 58:14), and these are: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens, and from the fat of the earth…” (Genesis 27:28).
In order to answer all these problems allow me two introductory remarks: 1) The blessings are capable of two interpretations. One interpretation, i.e. the פשט, views all the blessings in terms of material benefits in this world. G–d will grant sufficient dew in the summer to enable the fruit to grow in the fields. He will allow Jacob to feed on the fat part of the earth etc. 2) The other interpretation of the blessings sees in their wording allusions to the real blessings of the Torah which pertain to a "higher" world, i.e. the world in which blessings are of enduring value. The Midrash describes טל השמים as an allusion to the written Torah, משמני הארץ as a reference to Mishnah; דגן alludes to Talmud, whereas תירוש alludes to the Aggadic material in the Talmud. According to this interpretation both the words השמים and הארץ refer to their respective counterparts in the Celestial Regions. It appears that Bereshit Rabbah 67,2 refers to this when quoting Isaac as telling Esau ואוכל מכל, "I ate from it all" (Genesis 27,33). We find there that Rabbi Yehudah understands the word as meaning "all that has been created during the six days of creation," whereas Rabbi Nechemiah understands the expression as meaning "all that is stored up for future consumption in the World to Come." Both these Rabbis have correctly interpreted the blessings, each one emphasizing a different aspect. Even though the delicacies served Isaac were certainly made of foods available here on earth, of items created during the six days of Creation, they exuded a taste of something super-natural, something of the World to Come.
ויהי לי שור וחמור . This statement has to be understood at face value when it was addressed to Esau in line with Rashi's explanation that, whereas in Isaac's blessing Jacob was promised "dew from the heavens and the fat parts of the earth," i.e. success as a farmer, he had in fact only acquired herds. Esau had no reason to be jealous, since that part of Isaac's blessing had not been fulfilled. The same words put in the mouth of Jacob's spiritual emissaries convey a different meaning, however. These words allude to a number of merits Jacob had acquired and that would accrue to him in the future. They correspond very much to Bereshit Rabbah 75,6 which explains that the word שור refers to the כהן משוח מלחמה, the priest who accompanied the troops into battle (Deut. 20,2). The Midrash bases this on Moses' blessing to the tribe of Joseph in Deut. 33, 17: בכור שורו הדר לו, "His firstling bullock, majesty is his." The word חמור is understood as a reference to the Messiah who traditionally is perceived as riding on a donkey, based on Zachariah 9, 9: עני ורוכב על החמור. The צאן, flock, that Jacob also mentions refers to the people of Israel who are repeatedly called צאני"My flock," by G–d in Ezekiel 34. The words עבד ושפחה also refer to Israel as the latter are alluded to in that manner in Psalms 123, 2.
Fetch me two choice kids. The Midrash Rabba (Ber. 65:14) states, “good for you and good for your descendants: Good for you, because you will receive the blessings through them; good for your descendants, because they will pardoned through them on the Day of Atonement, one for God and one for Azazel [cf. Lev. 16:8] One ought to inquire as to the intent of the Midrash in stating this and for what purpose the Midrash points out that this alludes to the two kids that are part of the service on the Day of Atonement. One also ought to inquire as the the root cause of Rebeccah’s concern that the blessings be given to Jacob and she made several interventions with food and hides to ensure this. Also, Jacob received significant heavenly intervention. One ought to understand, first, that one main point is that all blessings pertain only to this world – “the fat of the earth, abundance of new grain and wine. (Gen. 27:28)” We do not generally find that the righteous make such an effort to engage in the materialism of this world. The second point is more difficult in that we see that even though Jacob is now blessed, most of the blessings of material benefits of this world accrue to Esau and the lesser portion accrued to the children of Jacob for only a few years. Therefore, it appears that all of this effort was for nothing, and Jacob suffered tremendously as a result of this because he needed to run away and be afraid of Esau.
הֶאֱכִילָנוּ אֶת־הַמָּן “God fed us the manna.” “The manna,” is written with a definite article (hei hayediah) since there are some places where manna that comes down is from a higher place, where it states, “I will rain down bread for you from the heavens.” (Ex. 16:4 It is explained that God rained down rain from a place that is called (hashamayim) “The Heaven.” (This is possibly a reference in Kabbalah to the Sefirah of Tiferet.) It would then descend with the dew from above and below as if it were placed in a box. The lower (earthly) dew was not like the higher dew; rather their order was based on their introduction - the higher dew came first, before the regular manna. The dew was higher because it is the dew of which Isaac spoke to Jacob, ““May God give you the dew of heaven…” (Gen 27:28) Enough has been said for those who understand…” (Phrases such as this one are often used by the Ramban and others to allude to hidden mystical secrets in the text. Apparently the dew of which Isaac spoke was the divine plenty.)
And let it not be difficult in your eyes, [as to] why the Torah wrote the main [narrative] of creation in this way, and did not explicitly write [that] God created the water and the dirt, and the fire and the wind, so that [by not doing the latter] 'the empty man would not be made wise.'
It is also explained by way of that which the verse states (I Kings 18:39), "The Lord is God;" and the intention [of this] is that even if the name Elohim relates to [strict] justice, nonetheless it is [indicative of] mercy. And all of the names of the Holy One, blessed be He, intend, for the good, together to do good and to do kindness; but from the angle of the acts of the backward ones, judgment came out to chastise whoever is fitting to be chastised. And besides this, the attribute of the name, Elohim, is also to do good. And this is what it is saying, "In the beginning, created Elohim," since the name Elohim, did good and created the world to have grace and mercy and to do good to those that dwell in the heavens and the earth and there is no greater mercy than this. And this is what the verse states (Genesis 27:28), "And Elohim will give to you;" behold, that also the name Elohim does good to the good by way of a free gift; but evildoers cause Elohim to give them chastisement. And in the anticipated future, so will it be, [that] the Lord (the name associated with mercy) shall be one and His name shall be one.
The reason that G’d’s response to Moses’ prayer commences with the conjunctive letter ו, i.e. ואביה, instead of אביה, is merely an indication that this is the beginning of a verbal communication. It is not an isolated occurrence. The author quotes Numbers 18,8, Genesis 27,28, Number 9,2, Kings II 2,9 as examples of such constructions in the Bible. No doubt in each such instance there is a compelling reason why the author chose to commence a sentence with a conjunctive letter ו.
It is worthwhile to note that the total number of animals offered on New Moons was 11 as this number corresponds to the 11 hours which the sun is older than the moon. The sun was created (made operational) on the fourth day at the beginning of the day (night), whereas the moon was made operational 11 hours later. The number 11 also recalls the fact that the solar year is (on average) 11 days longer than the lunar year (12 months), seeing the solar year is 365 days and the lunar year 354 days. The reason that the bulls were being offered in respect of Avraham (and Sarah) is because Avraham and Sarah originally were like טומטום ואנדרונינוס, hermaphrodite and epicene (people whose sexual organs were underdeveloped preventing them from bearing or siring children). The ram offered in respect of Yitzchak symbolised the uniqueness of the ram Avraham had slaughtered at the time, of which we learned in Avot 5,6 that it had been designated as such an offering since the days of the creation. The seven sheep offered in respect of Yaakov acknowledge symbolically that his features are engraved on the throne of G’d above the seven heavens (Bereshit Rabbah 68,18). The three tenths ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a gift-offering for each of the bulls correspond to the three verses in which G’d is described as appearing to Avraham (Genesis 12,7; 17,1; 18,1). The two tenths ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as gift-offering which accompanied the ram offering were in respect of the two verses in the Torah in which G’d is described as appearing to Yitzchak (Genesis 26,2; 26,24). The reason that only one tenth ephah fine flour mixed with oil was brought as gift-offering alongside the seven sheep is that we have only one verse in which G’d is described as appearing (וירא) to Yaakov (Genesis 35,9). The reason that the Torah repeats the word עשרון in connection with the single tenth ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as gift-offering in respect of the seven sheep symbolising Yaakov, is that it alludes to both of Yaakov’s names, יעקב and ישראל. It also alludes to the two blessings he received (from his father), one instead of Esau’s blessing, the other prior to his departure to Charan. He also received 10 blessings when he was called Yaakov when his father gave him the first blessing (compare Genesis 27,28-29 and Genesis 32,30 [where the individual blessings are not enumerated; presumably G’d confirmed Yitzchak’s blessing. Ed.]). Yaakov also used the word עשר twice when he promised to tithe (twice) everything G’d would give him (Genesis 28,23). This applied especially to his son Levi as we pointed out in connection with Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 37 why Levi was considered the tenth son (compare author’s comments on Genesis 28,22). It may be worth considering in this connection that Jeremiah 31,8 quotes G’d as saying: “Ephrayim is My firstborn.” When you count backwards from Ephrayim you will find that Levi is the tenth son. When you count from Levi to Aaron in descending order, i.e. Gershon, Kehat, Merari, Livni, Shimi, Amram, Yitzhar Chevron, Uzziel, Aaron you also have Aaron as the tenth (collective) descendant of Levi named by the Torah (compare Chronicles I 6,1-3). This is also why we find in Chronicles I 23,13: “Aaron was set apart, he and his sons, forever to be consecrated most holy, to make burnt-offerings to the Lord, etc.”
אחי יהי לך אשר לך , “keep what is yours my brother.” Bereshit Rabbah 78,11 comments on these words of Esau that up until that moment Yaakov still entertained doubts whether the blessings were securely his. Now that he heard Esau acknowledge “keep what is yours,” he was visibly relieved concerning the validity of these blessings. He based this on the precise wording of Esau’s comment which contained ten letters. These ten words corresponded to the ten blessings which formed the blessing commencing with the words ויתן לך (Genesis 27,28-29).
אף שמיו יערפו טל ALSO HIS HEAVENS SHALL DRIP DEW — Also Isaac’s blessing will be added to Jacob’s blessing: “And God shall give thee of the dew of heaven, etc.” (Genesis 27:28) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 356:7).
Also, Yitzchak’s blessing, etc. Meaning, not only Yaakov’s blessing will be fulfilled regarding you, but also Yitzchak’s blessing. I.e., this blessing is like the blessing of Yaakov [that he gave to his sons], and also like the blessing of Yitzchak where it says (Bereishis 27:28), And may G-d give you of the dew of heaven. Therefore Yitzchak’s blessing is alluded to in the words shall drip dew.
Summary: While we associate the first washing at the Seder with Passover, Chida argues that whenever one dips food in liquid, one should wash. His discussion here deals solely with the halachah of washing. U’rechatz: The washing is for the purpose of dipping karpas (greens) in a liquid. For the sages decreed that one must wash one's hands when eating anything that is dipped in liquid. (See BT Pesachim 115a, states, “Rabbi Elazar said that Rav Oshaya said: Anything that is dipped in a liquid before it is eaten requires the ritual of washing of the hands. The obligation to wash one’s hands was instituted to preserve ritual purity and to prevent people from causing teruma food to contract ritual impurity.” Sefaria, Talmud) The word is written with a vav (U’rechatz), to imply repeatedly washing, in the same way that the sages said, “May God give you of the dew of heaven,” (Vayiten lecha) means, “May God give thee repeatedly.” (See Genesis 27:28, Rashi and Bereshit Rabbah 66:3) In other words, U’rechatz means washing throughout the year before anything that requires dipping in liquid and also on Passover eve. This is meant to exclude those who take foods that involve dipping in liquids throughout the year and do so without washing, such as dipping cookies in coffee and other such things. They have transgressed the law in the Shulchan Aruch. (See Shulchan Aruch Orech Chaim, 158:4, Taz ad loc.) This is the opinion of most of the decisors of Jewish law… including the Taz and the Shelah.
[101] Admirable therefore also is the prayer of Isaac the self-taught for the lover of wisdom that he may receive the good things both of mind and of sense: “May God give thee,” he says, “of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth” (Gen. 27:28), which is equivalent to saying in the first place “May He pour down on thee perpetually the heavenly rain apprehended by mind alone, not violently so as to deluge thee, but in gentle stillness like dew so as to do thee good”; and secondly “May He grant thee the earthly, the outward and visible wealth; may that wealth abound in marrow and fatness and may its opposite, the poverty of the soul and its parts, be withered and dried up by His grace.”
Rebbi Jacob from Kefar Ḥanan (This paragraph explains the reason of those who say that Elijah’s prediction that there would be no dew never came true. The homily belongs to the school of R. Simeon ben Laqish (Resh Laqish). R. Jacob from Kefar Ḥanan was his student in homiletics.) in the name of Resh Laqish: When Abraham their forefather did My will, I swore to him that dew will never move away from his descendants forever; what is the reason? (Ps. 110:3) “You have the dew of your youth.” And it is written after that (Ps. 110:4) “The Eternal swore and He will not change His intention.” Rebbi Judah ben Pazi said, by a will (Greek διαθήκη “will, permanent disposition.”) I gave it to Abraham, as a gift I gave it to him. (Gen. 27:28) “God may give you from the dew of heaven.” Rebbi Samuel ben Naḥmani said, when Israel sin and do evil the rains are arrested. They bring an old man like Rebbi Yose the Galilean, he prays for them and the rains come. But dew does not descend by the merit of any creature, what is the reason? (Micah 5:6) “Like dew from the Eternal, like light showers on grass, that do not listen to anybody nor wait for humans.”
(This paragraph explains the reasons of those who say that Elijah’s prediction that there would be no dew never came true.) Rebbi Jacob from Kefar Ḥanan in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: When Abraham their forefather did My will, I swore to him that I never shall remove dew from his descendants forever; what is the reason? The Eternal swore and He will not change His intention, you are appointed forever (Ps. 110:4.) . And it is written there (Ps. 110:3.) , you have the dew of your youth. Rebbi Judah ben Pazi said, by a will (Greek διαθήκη.) I gave it to Abraham: God may give you from the dew of Heaven (Gen. 27:28. While this is Isaac’s blessing for Jacob, later (28:4) it is called “Abraham’s blessing”.) . Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman said, when Israel comes to sin by their evil deeds the rains are arrested. They bring an old man like Rebbi Yose the Galilean, he prays for them and immediately the rains come. But dew does not descend by the merit of any creature, what is the reason? Which do not listen to anybody nor wait for humans (Micah5:6. The verse starts, like dew from the Eternal, like light showers on grass.) .
Thus Israel dwells in safety, Untroubled is Jacob’s abode, (abode Others “fountain.”) In a land of grain and wine, Under heavens dripping dew.
And may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness [riches] [goodness] of the land, and abundance of grain and wine.
Therefore the Word of the Lord give thee of the good dews which descend from the heavens, and of the good fountains that spring up, and make the herbage of the earth to grow from beneath, and plenty of provision and wine.
| יַֽעַבְד֣וּךָ עַמִּ֗ים (וישתחו) [וְיִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֤וּ] לְךָ֙ לְאֻמִּ֔ים הֱוֵ֤ה גְבִיר֙ לְאַחֶ֔יךָ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲו֥וּ לְךָ֖ בְּנֵ֣י אִמֶּ֑ךָ אֹרְרֶ֣יךָ אָר֔וּר וּֽמְבָרְכֶ֖יךָ בָּרֽוּךְ׃ | 29 J | Let peoples serve you, And nations bow to you; Be master over your brothers, And let your mother’s sons bow to you. Cursed be they who curse you, Blessed they who bless you.” |
THY BRETHREN. The children of the concubines. (Abraham’s concubines (Gen. 25:6). I.E. interprets brethren in the sense of relatives (Weiser). Or I.E. assumed that Isaac had concubines.)
THY MOTHER’S SONS. Esau and his children.
CURSED BE EVERYONE THAT CURSETH THEE. Each one of those that will curse you. (The verse literally reads: Those who curse you is cursed. Those who curse you (orerekha) is a plural, is cursed (arur) is a singular. Hence, I.E.’s explanation that a plural followed by a singular means each one of the plural (Weiser).) But the righteous are secure as a young lion (Prov. 28:1) (The righteous is in the plural; will be secure is in the singular. The verse literally reads: And righteous people he will be secure as a young lion. I.E. interprets this: each one of the righteous will be as secure as a young lion.) is similar. There are many other analogous expressions in Scripture. And blessed be everyone that blesseth thee is also similar. (Literally, and those who bless you (u-mevarakhekha, a plural) is blessed (barukh, a singular). It means each one of those who blesses you will be blessed.)
יעבדוך עמים וגו׳. "Nations will serve you, etc." This might mean that the king would not impose on the people the taxes due him. We find that even when the second Jewish commonwealth was still a satellite of the Persians, their leaders, i.e. their Torah scholars were exempt from taxes as we know from Ezra, 7,24. When verse 40 continues "and you will serve your brother," this refers to a descendant of Esau when the latter had become king.
הוה גביר לאחיך. "Be your brother's superior;" This refers to Esau personally, i.e. that Esau himself will never become Jacob's servant, as opposed to some of his descendants to whom the words וישתחוו לך בני אמך, "your mother's sons will bow down to you" will apply.
Another meaning contained in the blessing may be that as long as Jacob will exercise his dominion over Esau by serving the Lord in holiness, the blessing would remain in effect; were he not to do so, one brother could never become a servant to another brother. Should Jacob (or his descendants) fail to serve the Lord, Esau would assume dominion over him. This is why we find that even a relatively mild dereliction of duty towards G'd by the kingdom of Yehudah led to Edom recovering politically (Kings II 8,22).
אררך ארור ומברכיך ברוך. "Those who curse you will be cursed and those who bless you will be blessed." Those who plan to curse you in the future will already be cursed now so as to make their curse ineffective, whereas those who plan to bless you will already be blessed now so as to make their blessing effective.
The reason the Torah employs the plural when referring to those who will bless, whereas the word "will be blessed" is in the singular, (and similarly when referring to the cursers and the cursed) is to tell us that not all those who curse will be cursed, such as in the case of Achiyah Hashiloni and people like him (Kings I 11,29). The same applies in reverse to people such as Bileam who blessed the Jewish people. He was not blessed as a result because his intention was not honourable.
The reason the Torah adds the conjunctive letter ו before the word ומברכיך is to allude to the type of person who curses and is yet within the category of people deserving blessings since he uses the wording of a curse in order to bestow a blessing. We find an example of this in Moed Katan 9 where the Rabbis couched their blessing for Rabbi Eleazar, son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, in words which sounded like a curse. We are therefore able to read the verse as if the three words ארריך ארור ומברכיך belonged together.
יעבדוך....הוה גביר לאחיך, a reference to Esau’s sons (descendants); the same is meant when Yitzchok speaks about בני אמך, “your mother’s sons,” i.e. her descendants. These blessings came true in the time when David defeated the Edomites, and they will come true again in the days of the Messiah.
אררך ארור, in the singular mode, meaning each person cursing you will be cursed individually.
CURSED BE EVERY ONE THAT CURSETH THEE, AND BLESSED BE EVERY ONE THAT BLESSETH THEE. But in the case of Balaam it says, Blessed be every one that blesseth thee, and cursed be every one that curseth thee. (Numbers 24:9. The question thus arises: Why did Isaac mention first the curse and then the blessing while Balaam did the opposite?) [The reason for this change in order is that] the righteous begin with affliction and ultimately attain tranquility, so that those who curse them precede those who bless them. (Therefore, Isaac, himself a righteous man, speaks first of those who afflict the righteous, and then mentions those who bless them. The opposite is true in the case of Balaam.) But the wicked experience tranquility first and their end is affliction. Hence Balaam mentioned the blessing before the curse. This is Rashi’s language quoting Bereshith Rabbah. (Bereshith Rabbah 66:5.) But if this be so, why did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Abraham, And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee? (Above, 12:3. Now here in the case of the righteous, it still mentions the blessing first!) This however is no difficulty since He concludes there, And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Thus there is a blessing at the beginning and at the end. It may be, as we have explained it there, that He speaks in terms of both an individual and many, (The blessing is expressed in plural form — And I will bless ‘those’ who bless thee — while the curse is expressed in singular form — and curse ‘him’ that curseth thee.) suggesting that Abraham will be universally blessed, and the single person who will curse him will be cursed. (Hence He mentions the blessing first as there will be many who will bless Abraham.)
בני אמך, here the word וישתחו appears in the singular, whereas in a parallel blessing pronounced by Yaakov who had several wives (Genesis 49,8) the word וישתחוו appears in the plural.
בני אמך THY MOTHER’S SONS — Jacob, however, said to Judah (49:8) “Thy father’s sons (shall bow down to thee]”, because he had sons by several wives, but here, because he (Isaac) had but one wife he said “thy mother’s sons” (Genesis Rabbah 66:4).
ארריך ארור ומברכיך ברוך THEY THAT CURSE THEE SHALL BE CURSED AND THEY THAT BLESS THEE SHALL BE BLESSED — But in the case of Balaam Scripture says (Numbers 24:9) “Blessed be everyone that blesseth thee and cursed be every one that curseth thee”. The explanation is: the righteous have sufferings first and happiness afterwards, so that in point of time those who curse and afflict them (cause them suffering) come before those who bless them (cause them happiness) — therefore Isaac, a righteous man, invokes a curse upon those who themselves curse before he invokes a blessing upon those who bless. The wicked however have happiness first and suffering afterwards; therefore Balaam, a wicked man, invokes the blessing before the curse (Genesis Rabbah 66:4).
Völker und Staaten beugen sich nicht der geistigen, beugen sich nur der materiellen Größe. Jizchak meint ja, Esau stehe vor ihm. Gott hatte Abraham verheißen, sein Volk werde zum Segen werden für alle Völker. In dieser Aufgabe, meint Jizchak, sollte Esau das Pensum des materiellen Wohlstandes werden, dem sich der Respekt der Völker und Staaten zuwendet. הְֶנֵה ist Imperativ, nicht Segen, sondern Aufgabe: durch die materielle Fülle, die dir Gott gewähren wird, werden Völker und Staaten sich vor dir beugen; suche nun aber auch mit Jakob um die geistige Größe zu wetteifern, daß nicht bloß die Fremden dich achten, daß auch die Söhne deiner Mutter mit Achtung vor dir sich beugen, du auch ihnen als "Mann" dastehest, dann, wenn dir dies gelungen, dann: אורריך ארור ומברכיך ברוך!
וישתחוו לך לאומים, for even the kingdoms which will not serve you directly will be in a state of dependence on you seeing that you will be the superpower.
הוה גביר לאחיך, seeing that Yitzchok was under the impression that he was speaking to Esau, he thought that it would be in Yaakov’s interest to endure some degree dependence upon Esau while at the same time holding on to the Land of Israel as its Abrahamitic heritage. Such a political dependence would ensure that Yaakov’s descendants would turn their attention to matters other than geo-politics, conquest, etc. The fact is, that at some time in the future the Jewish state did display expansionary tendencies, only to suffer setbacks as a result. The prophet Amos 6,8 already warned his people against such tendencies when he quotes G’d’s loathing for power politics practiced by the Kingdom of the ten tribes under the kings of Samaria. Moreover, Yitzchok thought that if Yaakov had to be subjected to foreign domination, it would be better for it to be subjected to the rule by his brother than by other nations which would treat it more cruelly. Our sages (Gittin 17) phrased this as או בטולך או בטולך דבר עשו, “it is better to be under the protection of You (G’d), or the protection of the descendants of Esau than to have to live under the rule of the Persians.” The way Yitzchok phrased his blessing was based on his knowledge that the Land of Israel would be Yaakov’s descendants exclusively, that Esau’s descendants would not have a share in it. This is why he made no mention at all of the blessing G’d gave to Avraham, nor did he make any mention of the Land of Israel.
אוויך ארור, the word אורריך is in the plural mode seeing that there would be numerous nations or individuals who would curse the kings and ministers of Esau when they would not be granted their rightful aspirations. The Torah therefore warned the Jewish people not to curse the political leadership or the judiciary as such curses might backfire (Exodus 22,27)
Whereas here that he married only one woman he says, “Your mother’s sons.” [Yitzchok said it in this manner] because he did not want to say that his sons will be slaves, relating the curse to himself. (Gur Aryeh)
Regarding Bilam it states, “Those who bless you... and those who curse you...” Meaning: Concerning the righteous, the troubles come first. Thus Yitzchok mentioned the curses of the cursers first. The Ramban asks: Why is it written in Lech Lecha (12:3), “I will bless those who bless you, and he who curses you, I will curse”? He answers: Because it is written afterward, “And through you, will be blessed...” Thus, the curses of the cursers indeed precede the blessings of those who bless. Although Bilam said to B’nei Yisrael, “Those who bless you are blessed,” he spoke as he did because he was accustomed to addressing the wicked. Alternatively, he blessed them with the reward of the wicked: B’nei Yisrael too, should have tranquility at the beginning.
From bread and wine, the blessing turns to the nation that will descend from Jacob. Peoples will serve you, and nations will prostrate themselves to you. Be a lord and leader to your brethren, conquer them, and your mother’s sons will prostrate themselves to you. Cursed be one who curses you, and blessed be one that blesses you.
יעבדוך עמים וישתחוו לך לאומים, “nations will serve you, and states will pay homage to you.” This promise/blessing was fulfilled at the threshing grounds of Atad, (Genesis 50,11) when the various Canaanite kings, and representatives all paid homage to Yaakov’s coffin as it was on the way to burial in the cave of Machpelah. According to tradition, these kings saluted Yaakov by placing their crowns on the fence of that threshing ground.
הוי גביר לאחיך, “be your brother’s superior, etc.” Seeing that at this point Yitzchok thought that Esau stood in front of him, we cannot escape the conclusion that Rivkah had never told him of the prophecy that the younger son would be the superior one, otherwise Yitzchok would have now rebelled against the prophecy.
אורריך ארור ומברכיך ברוך, “the ones who will curse you will themselves become cursed, and those who will bless you will themselves become blessed.” In Bileam’s blessings, the order is reversed; he said מברכיך ברוך ואורריך ארור, “those who bless you will themselves be blessed, and those that curse you will find themselves cursed.” The righteous will endure problems before finding themselves rewarded and blessed, whereas the wicked may start out as if enjoying blessings, whereas in reality they will wind up being accursed. Still, when G’d spoke to Avraham in chapter 12,2-3 He phrased it thus: ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה, “all the families of the earth will enjoy blessing, thanks to you.” Seeing G’d wanted to conclude with this blessing, He commenced also with a blessing.
“Let your mother’s sons bow to you” [27:29]. The children of your mother will bow down to you. The Devek Tov asks a question here. They had a father; why did it not say the children of your father? Hizkuni gives an explanation. Isaac thought: Rebecca is still young. She would take another husband after his death and would have children. That is why Isaac says in the blessing, all of your mother’s children should bow down to you, even those that she will have with another husband. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:29; Devek Tov, Genesis, 27:29, note 9.)
“Cursed be they who curse you, blessed be they who bless you” [27:29]. Whoever curses you shall be cursed, and the one who blesses you will be blessed. Rashi asks a question here. Concerning Balaam, it is written first, the one who blesses you will be blessed, and then the one who curses you will be cursed. The explanation is that the lives of the righteous are first bad and afterwards are good. Here, Isaac first said, the one who curses you should be cursed and afterwards he said, the one who will bless you will be blessed. However, the evil Balaam first said, the one who blesses should be blessed, since it first goes well for the evildoers. Afterwards he said, the one who curses you should be curses, since the evildoers have a bad end. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:29.) Hizkuni writes. Even though Isaac thought that Esau was pious, yet Isaac knew well that Esau was argumentative and that many people hated him and cursed him. Therefore, Isaac first cursed those who would curse Esau, since there were more cursers than blessers. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:29.)
(2) Concerning the twelve mitzvot singled out for emphasis at the Mount Gerizim assembly, the following is worth noting. Whenever something is accorded special attention or protection, this may be due to either of two causes. A) the subject matter is so vital that its loss is irretrievable; therefore every effort must be made to protect it against loss or damage. Examples are vital human organs such as the heart, lung, liver all of which are surrounded by a protective ribcage as additional protection. B) The subject matter is so fragile and exposed, devoid of defenses that is must be defended from the outside. Examples are the fingers or toes which need nails and gloves to protect them against the cold; the heel has a tough skin to protect it where it treads. Similarly, the Torah has emphasized the protection of the weak, i.e. the stranger, the widow, the orphan. The Torah warns no less than thirty six times against abusing these weaker members of society. The selection of the twelve commandments in question seems to be motivated by similar considerations. 1) The severity of the sin itself. 2) The ease with which one falls victim to the lure to commit this sin. In the latter instance, there may be three immediate causes for a person to commit such a sin. A) The victim is defenseless; B) the sin is so commonly practiced that one does not feel embarassed when committing it. C) lack of self restraint on the part of the sinner. Each of these "groupings" is represented by three "curses." Category one comprises the making of idols, physical violence against one's parents, violating other people's property rights, in other words violating the principle of "love your fellow man as you love yourself." Murder is not mentioned, since it is not a crime that the average person is ever guilty of. The second category, -the naturally weak,- are represented by A) misleading the blind; B) depriving widows and orphans of their just deserts; C) taking advantage of the widow of one's father, who may not protest the rape, since for financial reasons she may be dependent on the very step-son who forces his attentions on her. Category three are three examples of sexual licentiousness due to proximity, i.e. easy availability or easily obtained consent by the partner. One example is sleeping with one's sister, the second one is sleeping with one's mother-in-law. The third one is sleeping with one's livestock. (3) The reason the latter example is positioned between the other examples of incest, is to indicate that the Torah assumes a different motive for sleeping with one's mother-in-law than for sleeping with one's widowed step mother. The last category that of 1) hitting a fellow human being when there are no witnesses, 2) accepting bribes to murder the innocent, and 3) failing to see to it that Torah legislation is observed, can be viewed in the following manner. The first two sins appeared inconsequential to the sinner since he feels protected by the secrecy surrounding his deed. Our sages even regard the instance of "hitting someone in a secret place" as referring to lashon hara, evil tongue. (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer 53) In such a case, the perpetrator certainly does not realise the impact of what he has done. (4) At any rate, the perpetrator hides behind a facade of piety, wishes to be known as a pillar of society. Concerning all such people, the Torah comes out and says "cursed all those who do not maintain and support the words of this Torah." Whosoever occupies a position that enables him to strengthen Torah must do so personally, first and foremost. When we turn to the list of blessings promised for observing the commandments, we find three apparently superfluous comments by Moses, interspersed in the blessings cited. A) 28,2, "all these blessings will reach you as a result of listening to Me." B) 28,9, "G'd will establish you as a holy nation when you observe the mitzvot and walk in all His ways." C) 28,13, "G'd will make you top not bottom, when you listen." In view of the fact that verse one had already included all that is repeated in the three quotations just listed, the repetition may reflect that at that point a certain collective moral progress had been successfully completed. It is possible to absorb Torah teachings, live accordingly, without acting out of any deep seated conviction of the truth and validity of these teachings. This stage is concluded by what is said in verse two "having listened to the voice etc." Once one has adopted the Torah way of life, and the performance of good deeds has become habitual, such a lifestyle begins to influence the person living it, beneficially. This stage is concluded and rewarded by verse nine "as a result of your observing etc." The final stage in the progression towards becoming the personality the Torah wishes to shape, is when the student's personality is the result of having assimilated all the teachings and following same to elevate him to a level of perception of his purpose in life that he had not previously even dreamed of. At that point, as per verse thirteen, "G'd will make you head etc." When this development has been completed, Moses is able to say with confidence (verse 14) "you will not depart from all the things that I command you." The message of the blessing stands out clearly. A Torah personality does not mature overnight. It develops gradually. The help extended by Heaven along the way is roughly proportionate to the distance towards the objective one has already travelled. The way is paved initially by an easing of one's financial problems. (Verse two, the blessings that will be conferred are material) The second stage will be attended by spiritual blessings, (i.e. verse nine "a holy nation") The third and last stage will be reached when G'd fulfils the promise in verse twelve, "He will open all His store of goodness to you." When the nations of the world will witness the ongoing "boom" conditions in Israel, this will testify that the Jewish nation is "a great and wise nation," (Deut. 4,6) something that Torah quotes the gentiles as saying. The gentiles are impressed by an ongoing economic miracle, ascribe it to Israel's sagacity.
And this resolves many problems. For Isaac blesses Jacob and says to him (Genesis 27:29): "Be a lord over your brother…" Now this is not the prophecy destined to materialize in the end of days when "Jacob will be a flame, etc."; for when Esau will be consumed he will be free of his master! There is no escaping the fact that the forecast applies to a time when Esau is still alive. It is also not to be understood as implying that he will be a lord only for a limited time, for one is not blessed in being told: Today you will be a lord, and you will spend the rest of your time in exile and servitude. The blessing, then, can only be understood as applying to the greater part of the time, but how is this seen to coincide with reality! And even if the Blessed One causes David's horn to be exalted [i.e. brings the redemption] tomorrow, most of our time will have been spent in servitude to our brothers, in bondage to the sons of our mother! How much more so in that we are told by our sages that we now find ourselves in his [Edom's] exile and we cannot hope to be redeemed from it until there arises the high priest for the Urim Vetumim to destroy Esau and render us free of our master. We can only say, then, that our sins have cut down the time span of that goodly presaged state. For Isaac was not in the category of those prophets whom we are commanded to heed; his forecasts, therefore, retained their original natures, all of them being susceptible to change in accordance with the actions of their objects.
"Be lord over your brethren" (Beresheet 27:29). Why Heveh (be), instead of the more accepted Heyeh or Tih'yeh? This is a supernal mystery of faith, for these letters, HEI-VAV-HEI are mysteries of faith. The upper Hei above (Binah), Vav in the middle (Tiferet), and the last Hei (Malchut). Therefore he said "Heveh (be) a lord over your brethren," rule over them, and govern them, when king David will appear. Rabbi Yosi said that all that will happen when Messiah will come. For (as long as) Yisrael transgress the words of the Torah, then, "you shall break his yoke from off your neck"
Another interpretation of, "Better is one lightly esteemed" is that it refers to Jacob, who humbled himself before Esau so that Esau should later become his servant. By controlling him, he fulfilled the meaning of the verse, "Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you" (Beresheet 27:29). It was not yet time for Jacob to rule over Esau. Jacob left this to happen at a later time, for he was lowly then. Later, however, the one who pranks himself will become his servant, and then he will "lack bread." This refers to Esau, who will become Jacob's servant, who was given "plenty of corn and wine" (Ibid. 28).
Here also it is written, "I have oxen and donkeys," that is, do not pay attention to the blessing my father bestowed on me, to think that it was fulfilled in me. He blessed me, "be lord over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you" (Beresheet 27:29). Hence, I say to you, "to my master Esau; Your servant Jacob." He blessed me with "plenty of corn and wine," yet I have no stock of these; "I have oxen, and donkeys, flocks and menservants," as a shepherd in the field. He blessed me with "the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth," yet instead I "have sojourned with Laban," a sojourner without even a house, let alone "the fatness of the earth." The last was not fulfilled in me, as I have no land. I have only sojourned with Laban. He said all this so that Esau would not be jealous of him, on account of the blessings he received, and bring accusations against him.
“His offering was one silver dish, its weight one hundred and thirty; one silver basin of seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel; both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:49). “His offering was one silver dish [kaarat]….” – this is the offering that he presented in the name of Jacob, who had him precede Manasseh, and in the name of Joseph, who, because of his love, Jacob blessed him all those blessings, just as it says: “He blessed Joseph and said: The God [before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked…]” (Genesis 48:15), and it says: “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh…” (Genesis 48:20). “Dish [kaarat]” – this is Jacob; do not read it as kaarat, but rather, as akeret, who uprooted [akar] the right hand from Manasseh in favor of Ephraim. “Silver” – after, “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver” (Proverbs 10:20); what he said to Joseph: “His father refused, and said: I know, my son, I know; he too shall become a people…” (Genesis 48:19). “Its weight one hundred and thirty” – corresponding to the one hundred and thirty words that there are from “he laid it on Ephraim’s head” (Genesis 48:14) until “he placed Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). “One silver basin [mizrak]” – this is Joseph, who was cast away [shenizrak] from his father and sold to Egypt. “One” – as he was king in Egypt, just as it says: “One of the people (Avimelekh said this referring to himself.) almost lay [with your wife]” (Genesis 26:10). Likewise it says: “Joseph was the ruler over the land…” (Genesis 42:6). “Silver” – after “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver,” as due to his wisdom he was privileged to achieve kingship, just as it says: “After God has disclosed all this to you.… You will be in charge of my house…” (Genesis 41:39–40). “Seventy shekels in the sacred shekel” – as Gabriel came and added one letter from the name of the Holy One blessed be He to his name and taught him seventy languages, as it is stated: “He established it as a precept for Joseph [bihosef] (He added a heh, changing Joseph [Yosef] to Yehosef.) when he went out over Egypt; I learned a language I had not known” (Psalms 81:6), as were it not so, the Egyptians would not have accepted Joseph to rule over them. “Both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” – Jacob and Joseph were both full-fledged righteous men, and the two of them resembled one another. This accords with what Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph” (Genesis 37:2). It should have said nothing other than: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Reuben.” Why is it stated: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph”? It is to teach you that Joseph resembled his father in every respect. Just as Jacob was born circumcised, so too, Joseph was born circumcised. Just as this one, his mother was barren, so too, that one, his mother was barren. Just as this one, his mother suffered from the pain of her pregnancy, so too that one, his mother suffered during birth. Just as this one, his mother bore two, so too that one, his mother bore two. Just as this one, his brother seeks to kill him, this one, too, his brothers seek to kill him. This one, his brother hates [soneh] him, and that one, likewise. This one is a shepherd and that one is a shepherd. This one is hated [nistam] and that one is hated. (See Genesis 27:41, 49:23.) This one was stolen from twice: “Stolen in the day and stolen at night” (Genesis 31:39); that one, there is a double expression of stealing: “For I was abducted [gunov gunavti] [from the land of the Hebrews]” (Genesis 40:15). This one was blessed with ten blessings, (See Genesis 27:28–29.) and that one was blessed with ten blessings. (See Deuteronomy 33:13–17.) This one departed and went outside of the Land of Israel, and that one departed and went outside of the Land of Israel. This one took a wife outside of the Land of Israel, and that one took a wife outside of the Land of Israel. This one begot children outside of the Land of Israel, and that one begot children outside of the Land of Israel. This one, angels accompanied him, and that one, angels accompanied him. (A midrash says that when Joseph went to his brothers at the behest of his father, three angels accompanied him.) This one ascended to greatness by means of a dream (See Genesis 28:10–16.) and that one ascended to greatness by means of a dream. This one, his father-in-law’s household was blessed on his account, and that one, his father-in-law’s (According to Bereshit Rabba 86:3, Joseph’s father-in-law Potifera was Potifar.) household was blessed on his account. This one descended to Egypt, and that one descended to Egypt. This one ended the famine and that one ended the famine. (See Bereshit Rabba 89:9.) This one administered an oath to his son, and that one administered an oath to his brothers. This one died in Egypt, and that one died in Egypt. This one was embalmed, and that one was embalmed. This one, his bones ascended, and that one, his bones ascended. Because Joseph resembled his father, that is why it is stated: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph”; and that is why it is stated: “Both of them full…” – regarding Jacob and Joseph. “One gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense” (Numbers 7:50). “One…ladle [kaf]” – it corresponds to the palm of his right hand, which he placed on Ephraim’s head. Why does it call it “one”? It is because it is more significant than the left. “Gold…ten shekels” – it corresponds to the ten words that there are from: “Israel extended his right hand” (Genesis 48:14) until “and he was the younger” (Genesis 48:14). “Filled with incense” – Jacob saw this matter through the divine spirit, that Ephraim was worthy for him to place his right hand on his head. Likewise it says: “Guiding [sikel] his hands, as Manasseh was the first born” (Genesis 48:14). His hands were guided [hiskilu] by the divine spirit, just as it says: “Maskil of Eitan the Ezraḥite” (Psalms 89:1). (This is a psalm stated by Eitan the Ezraḥite with divine guidance.) “One young bull, one ram, one sheep in its first year, as a burnt offering” (Numbers 7:51). “One young [ben bakar] bull” – corresponding to Abraham, as it is stated: “Abraham ran to the cattle [habakar]” (Genesis 18:7). “One ram” – corresponding to Isaac, in whose regard it is written: “[Abraham…] took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). “One sheep” – corresponding to Jacob, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob separated the sheep” (Genesis 30:40). Why did he sacrifice these three kinds of burnt offerings? It corresponds to the three patriarchs, corresponding to the blessing that Jacob blessed them: “Let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be called upon them” (Genesis 48:16). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:52). “And for the peace offering, two bulls, five rams, five goats, five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama son of Amihud” (Numbers 7:53). “One goat as a sin offering” – corresponding to Joseph, as it is written: “They slaughtered a goat” (Genesis 37:31). Why did he sacrifice this corresponding to Joseph? It is because when Jacob blessed them with the name of the three patriarchs, likewise, he blessed them with the name of Joseph and made them dependent upon him, as it is stated: “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). “And for the peace offering, two bulls” – corresponding to the two blessings that he blessed them: the former, “[may the angel…] bless the lads” (Genesis 48:16), and the latter, “by you Israel shall bless….” “Five rams, [five goats, five lambs]” – three species, corresponding to three generations that Joseph saw for Ephraim, who were attributed to Joseph, and they were patrilineal houses, as it is stated: “Joseph saw great-grandchildren from Ephraim” (Genesis 50:23). Likewise it says: “These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: Of Shutelaḥ.… And these are the sons of Shutelaḥ: Of Eran…” (Numbers 26:35–36). Ephraim, Shutelaḥ, Eran, these are three sons from three generations. Why were they five each? It corresponds to the five words (In the Hebrew phrase.) of “he placed Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20), as it is from there that Ephraim merited to present his offering first. “This was the offering…” – because he presented the offering in this order, the Holy One blessed be He began lauding his offering: “This was the offering of Elishama….”
“He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, Balak leads me, the king of Moav from the highlands of the east; Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” (Numbers 23:7). “He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, [Balak] leads me [yanḥeni]” – he began and said: ‘I was of the exalted [haramim], but Balak took me down to the pit of perdition.’ Yanḥeni, just as it says: “Wail [neheh] for the multitude of Egypt, and cast it down…[with those who descend into the pit]” (Ezekiel 32:18). Another matter, “from Aram” – with the exalted [im ram], I was exalted, but Balak caused me to descend from my prominence. This is analogous to one who accompanies a king. He saw a robber, forsook the king, and walked with the robber. When he returned to the king, the king said to him: 'Go with the one with whom you walked, as it is not possible for you to accompany me.' So, Bilam had been attached to the Divine Spirit, and returned to be a sorcerer, as he had been initially, as it is stated: “Bilam son of Beor the sorcerer” (Joshua 13:22). That is why he screamed: ‘I was exalted and Balak took me down.’ Another matter, “from Aram, [Balak] leads me” – he said to him: 'We are both equal in our being ingrates. Had it not been for Abraham their patriarch, there would be no Balak, as it is stated: “It was when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and He sent Lot” (Genesis 19:29). Had it not been for Abraham, Lot would not have escaped Sodom, and you are from the descendants of Lot. Had it not been for Jacob their patriarch, I would not be in the world, as Lavan had sons only due to the merit of Jacob.' Initially, it is written: “Rachel came with the flock” (Genesis 29:9). If he had sons, how is his daughter herding? When Jacob went there, he was granted sons, as it is stated: “Jacob heard the statement of Laban’s sons” (Genesis 31:1). Likewise he [Laban] said to him [Jacob]: “I have divined, and the Lord has blessed me on your account” (Genesis 30:27). “Go, curse [Jacob] for me” – one who curses, curses himself, (The Hebrew phrase “ara li” which is translated "curse for me" can also be read to mean "curse me" (Matnot Kehuna).) as, so it is written: “And he who curses you, I will curse” (Genesis 12:3), and it says: “Cursed be those who curse you” (Genesis 27:29). “Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” – had he asked me to curse another nation, e.g., the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, I would have been able. (This is because Abraham and Isaac had descendants not only from Israel, but from Ishmael and Esau.) But Jacob, a king who selects a portion for himself and another stands and disparages it, will he live? These are His lot, His inheritance, His treasured possession, as it is stated: “For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is stated: “You will be My treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5). “And go, censure Israel” – this is analogous to a king who took a crown and placed it on his head, and a person said ‘That, it is nothing,’ will he live? These, it is written in their regard: “Israel, in whom I glory [etpa’ar]” (Isaiah 49:3). (Pe’arim is a term meaning hats or crowns, (see Isaiah 3:20).) “How will I curse whom God has not cursed? How will I censure whom the Lord has not censured?” (Numbers 23:8). “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they were deserving of being cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob entered to take the blessings, he entered deceitfully, as it is stated: “And the hides of the kids of the goats, [she placed on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck]” (Genesis 27:16). His father said: “Who are you?” (Genesis 27:18). He said to him: “I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19). One who expresses falsehood from his mouth, is he not deserving of being cursed? Moreover, he was blessed, as it is written: “Indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). How then will I curse whom God has not cursed? Another matter, “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” The way of the world is that a legion that rebelled against the king incurs liability for death. These denied Him and rebelled, and said: “This is your god, Israel” (Exodus 32:4). (Referring to the Golden Calf.) Should He not have eliminated them? But even at that moment, He did not move from love for them. He accompanied them with clouds of glory, and the manna and the spring did not stop for them. Likewise it says: “When they crafted themselves a cast figure of a calf…but You in Your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not withdraw from over them by day…You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:18–20). How, then, can I curse them? “How will I curse whom God has not cursed”? When He commanded them regarding the blessings and the curses, regarding the blessings, He mentioned them, as it is stated: “These shall stand to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12). But, regarding the curses, He did not curse them directly, as He says: “These will stand for the curse on Mount Eival” (Deuteronomy 27:13). When they sin, and He says to bring a curse upon them, He does not write that He will bring it [directly], but in the blessings, He, Himself, blesses them [directly], as it is stated: “The Lord your God will place you supreme…” (Deuteronomy 28:1); “the Lord will command for you the blessing” (Deuteronomy 28:8). But regarding the curses, He would not curse them directly, as it says: “It shall be that if you do not heed [the voice of the Lord your God…] all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15); on their own. That is, “how will I curse whom God has not cursed?” “For from the top of precipices I will see it, and from hills I behold it; behold, it is a people that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). “For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. (He intended to curse the "tops of precipices" but in the end, blessed them. The "tops of the precipices" refers to the patriarchs (as mentioned in the continuation of the midrash), who are the roots of the tribes.) To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.” Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs. “Behold, it is a people that will dwell alone” – and when He causes them joy, He causes them joy by themselves, as it is stated: “The Lord will guide them alone” (Deuteronomy 32:12). When the nations in this world rejoice, they (Israel.) eat with each and every kingdom, but it does not cost them from their portion, as it is stated: “and will not be reckoned among the nations.” “Who has counted the dust of Jacob, or tallied one quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his” (Numbers 23:10). “Who has counted the dust of Jacob” – who can enumerate the mitzvot that they perform regarding dust? “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10); “you shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9); “A pure man shall gather the ashes of the heifer” (Numbers 19:9); (See Numbers 19:17, where the word used in Hebrew for dust (afar) is also used for ashes.) “the priest shall take from the dirt that is on the floor of the Tabernacle” (Numbers 5:17); “three years shall it be as forbidden unto you” (Leviticus 19:23), and likewise regarding all of them. “Or tallied one quarter [rova] of Israel” – their procreation [reviit]. Who can count the population that emerged from those who snatch and love the mitzvot? “She said to her: Is the taking of my husband insignificant…[Rachel said: Therefore, he will lie with you tonight]” (Genesis 30:15); “Here is my maidservant Bilha, consort with her” (Genesis 30:3); “Leah saw that she had ceased bearing; [she took Zilpa her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife]” (Genesis 30:9); “Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar… [and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife]” (Genesis 16:3). “Let me die the death of the upright” – this is analogous to a butcher who comes to slaughter a king’s cow. (He was doing so to harm the king, at the behest of his enemies.) The king began to look. Once he sensed that the king was looking, he began casting the knife aside, petting it, and filling the trough before it. He began to say: ‘May my soul depart, (The phrase "my soul departs" means "I sympathize with myself," that instead of doing one thing, I had to do the opposite.) as I came to slaughter it, but I left it alone.’ So, Bilam said: ‘May my soul depart, as I came to curse, but I will bless.’ “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak, and he built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar” (Numbers 23:14). “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak” – it is a peak where there are breaches, as it is stated: “Ascend to the top of the peak” (Deuteronomy 3:27). (In that place, something negative will happen to Israel and "breach" their security.) Is there a breach greater than that that he saw through divination, and he believed that there they would be eliminated.
“Peoples will serve you, and nations will prostrate themselves to you. Be a lord to your brethren, and your mother’s sons will prostrate themselves to you. Cursed be one who curses you, and blessed be one who blesses you” (Genesis 27:29). “Peoples will serve you” – these are the seventy nations. “And nations will prostrate themselves to you” – these are the descendants of Ishmael and the sons of Ketura, in whose regard it is written: “Ashurim, Letushim, and Leumim” (Genesis 25:3). “Be a lord to your brethren” – this is Esau and his chieftains. “And your mother’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” – here it says: “And your mother’s sons will prostrate themselves to you,” but elsewhere it says: “And your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” (Genesis 49:8). It is that Jacob, because he took four wives, Leah, Rachel, Zilpa, and Bilha, he says: “Your father’s sons.” Isaac took Rebecca, he said: “Your mother’s sons.” “Cursed be one who curses you…” – and elsewhere it says: “Those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed” (Numbers 24:9). It is that Bilam, because he was a hater, began with a blessing and concluded with a curse. Yitzḥak, who was a lover, opened with a curse and concluded with a blessing. Rabbi Yitzḥak bar Rabbi Ḥiyya said: The wicked, because their beginning is tranquility and their end is suffering, they begin with blessing and end with curse. The righteous, because their beginning is suffering and their end is tranquility, they begin with curse and end with blessing: “Cursed be one who curses you, and blessed be one who blesses you.”
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He [Isaac] sought to curse him [Jacob]. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Be careful, if you curse him, you are cursing yourself, as you said: “Cursed be one who curses you”’ (Genesis 27:29). Rabbi Levi said: Six items serve a person; three are in his control, and three are not in his control. The eye, the ear, and the nose are not in his control – he sees what he does not wish, he hears what he does not wish, and he smells what he does not wish. The mouth, the hand, and the foot are in his control – [the mouth,] if he wishes he toils in Torah; if he wishes, [he speaks] evil speech; if he wishes, he curses and blasphemes. The hand, if he wishes, he performs a mitzva; if he wishes, he steals; if he wishes, he kills. His foot, if he wishes, he goes to theaters and circuses; and if he wishes, he goes to synagogues and study halls. When he merits, the Holy One blessed be He renders the ones in his control to be not in his control. The hand – “his hand that he had extended toward him shriveled” (I Kings 13:4); the mouth, “indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33); the foot, “My son, do not walk on the way with them…for their feet run to evil” (Proverbs 1:15–16).
Another matter, “Jacob sent messengers” (Genesis 32:4) – this is what was said with divine spirit by Solomon king of Israel: “Blessings upon the head of the righteous, and villainy will cover the mouth of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:6). Corresponding to whom did Solomon state this verse? He said it corresponding only to Jacob and Esau. “Blessings upon the head of the righteous” – this is Jacob. “And villainy will cover the mouth of the wicked” – this is the wicked Esau. Happy are the righteous who are blessed on earth and are blessed in Heaven, and this is appropriate, as it is stated: “So that one who blesses himself in the land will bless himself by the God of faithfulness” (Isaiah 65:16) – to inform you that all the blessings that Isaac blessed Jacob, corresponding to those, the Holy One blessed be He blessed him from on High. Isaac said to him: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens…” (Genesis 27:28), and the Holy One blessed be He blessed him with dew and rain, as it is stated: “The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew [from the Lord, like raindrops]” (Micah 5:6). Isaac said to him: “and from the fats of the earth” (Genesis 27:28), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “He will give rain for your seeds with which you will sow the ground” (Isaiah 30:23). Isaac said: “Peoples will serve you” (Genesis 27:29), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Kings will be your caregivers, and their princesses, your wet nurses” (Isaiah 49:23). Isaac said: “You will be a lord to your brethren” (Genesis 27:29), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him through Moses: “To place you uppermost over all the nations” (Deuteronomy 26:19). You learned that all the blessings that Isaac blessed Jacob from below, corresponding to that, the Holy One blessed be He blessed him from on High. His mother Rebecca, too, blessed him corresponding to them, as it is stated: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High” (Psalms 91:1). So she said to him: “For He will charge His angels on your behalf [to guard you in all your ways]” (Psalms 91:11). When she said that to him in that language, the Divine Spirit blessed Him: “When he calls upon Me, I will answer him…” (Psalms 91:15). Once the Holy One blessed be He blessed him, why did his father bless him again, as it is stated: “Isaac summoned Jacob, and he blessed him”? (Genesis 28:1). It is, rather, that Isaac saw through the divine spirit that his descendants were destined to be exiled among the nations. He said to him: ‘Come and I will bless you blessings of exile, so that the Holy One blessed be He will return to you and gather you from the midst of the exiles.’ What are the blessings? “In six troubles He will deliver you, and in seven, no harm will touch you. …From the scourge of the tongue you will be hidden, and you will not fear pillage when it comes. At pillage and hunger you will laugh, and from the beasts of the earth, do not fear” (Job 5:19, 21–22). That is why it is stated: “Blessings upon the head of the righteous.”
“He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of his father Isaac” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: I circulated among all of the aggada experts in the south so that they would explain this verse to me, (His question was why Jacob invoked the God of Isaac and did not mention Abraham. ) but they could not tell me [the explanation] until I stood with Yehuda ben Pedaya, the son of ben Kappar’s sister. He said to me: ‘If a teacher and disciple are walking on the way, one first inquires after the wellbeing of the disciple, and then one inquires after the wellbeing of the teacher.’ (The disciples would walk before the teacher. That is why Jacob invoked the name of the God of Isaac and not the God of Abraham.) Rav Huna said: When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Tiberias, he asked Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: ‘A person is obligated in the honor of his father more than the honor of his grandfather.’ Reish Lakish said: He sacrificed offerings for the covenant of the tribes. (This is the covenant that God made with Abraham that would be fulfilled through Isaac and not Ishmael (see Genesis 17:21).) Bar Kappara and Rabbi Yosef bar Patros, one said: [Jacob said:] ‘Just as Father was eager to satisfy his throat, I, too, am eager to satisfy my throat.’ (Isaac had loved Esau because of the food he brought him (see Genesis 25:28), and Jacob was descending to Egypt to be sustained by Joseph (see Etz Yosef). ) The other said: [Jacob said:] ‘Just as Father distinguished one son from his other son, so, too, I distinguished one son from my other sons. (Jacob had shown preferential treatment toward Joseph, which had led to the events that brought Jacob to travel to Egypt, and he now brought offerings in order to achieve atonement (Etz Yosef). Alternatively, in Egypt, Joseph would rule over and provide for the entire family, which would give him an elevated status (Yefeh To’ar). Therefore, Jacob said he was going to Egypt despite this danger only because of the needs of the many people who required sustenance. ) Then I said: Father had only the burden of one life, but I have the burden of seventy lives upon me.’ (Jacob said he was descending to Egypt.) Rabbi Yudan said: [Jacob said:] ‘Father blessed me with five blessings. Corresponding to them, the Holy One blessed be He appeared to me five times and blessed me.’ Rabbi Yudan said another [explanation], Rabbi Yudan said: [Jacob said:] ‘I was under the impression that He would give me a taste of those blessings.’ What were those blessings? “Peoples will serve you and nations will prostrate themselves to you” (Genesis 27:29) – this is Joseph. (Jacob saw that one of the blessings granted to him by Isaac was being fulfilled through Joseph, so he brought offerings of thanksgiving, and particularly mentioned “the God of his father Isaac.” ) Rabbi Berekhya said two [statements], Rabbi Berekhya said: The Holy One blessed be He associates His name with a living person only for those who undergo suffering. That is why it is not written here: “He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of Jacob,” but rather, “to the God of his father Isaac,” who was already dead. Rabbi Berekhya said another [explanation]: It is because he had undergone suffering. The Rabbis say: Isaac’s ashes are viewed as though they are accumulated upon the altar. That is why he mentioned Isaac.
“Judah, you shall your brothers acknowledge; your hand will be at the nape of your enemies; your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” (Genesis 49:8). “Judah, you shall your brothers acknowledge” – your brothers acknowledge you; your mother acknowledges you; I, myself, acknowledge you. (All acknowledge you as worthy of honor and kingship. ) Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: All your brothers will be called by your name. A person does not say: I am a Reubenite, I am a Simeonite, but rather: I am a Jew [Yehudi]. (Judah is called Yehuda in Hebrew.) Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: This is analogous to a king who had twelve sons, and there was one who was more beloved to him than all of them, and he gave him a portion of his own and a portion with his brothers. (Similarly, Judah was its own tribe, and additionally the entire nation became known as Jews. ) “Your hand will be at the nape of your enemies” – how many times did Joshua prostrate himself so that the nape would be shown him, but it was not granted to him, as it is stated: “Please, my Lord, what can I say after [Israel] has turned [its nape before their enemies?]” (Joshua 7:8). To whom did He grant it? To David: “My enemies, you had them turn their napes to me” (II Samuel 22:41). Why? Because it was his ancestral endowment, as it is written in his regard: “Your hand will be at the nape of your enemies.” “Your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” – here it says: “Your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you,” but elsewhere, it says: “Your mother’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” (Genesis 27:29). It is that Isaac, because he took only one wife, said: “Your mother’s sons will prostrate themselves to you.” But [when] Jacob [gave blessings], because he took four wives, it is written: “Your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you.”
“Judah, you shall your brothers acknowledge; your hand will be at the nape of your enemies; your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” (Genesis 49:8). Simeon and Levi, too, emerged with their faces crestfallen, and Judah feared that [Jacob] would mention the incident of Tamar to him. He began calling him: “Judah, you shall your brothers acknowledge [yodukha].” The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You confessed [hodeita] (Hodeita has the same root in Hebrew as the term yodukha. ) in the incident of Tamar; your brothers will acknowledge you to be king over them.’ “Your hand will be at the nape [beoref] of your enemies” – this is David, who descended from him, and in whose regard it is written: “My enemies, You had them turn their backs [oref] to me” (II Samuel 22:41). “Your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you” – Isaac said to Jacob: “Your mother’s sons” (Genesis 27:29), as he had only one wife, Rebecca. But Jacob, who had four wives, said to Judah: “Your father’s sons.” “Judah is a lion cub; from prey, my son, you ascended. He crouches, lies like a lion; and like a great cat, who shall rouse him” (Genesis 49:9). “Judah is a lion cub; from prey, my son, you ascended” – from the prey of Joseph, as you said: “What profit [is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?]” (Genesis 37:26). Alternatively, “from prey” – from the prey of Tamar, as you saved four lives – you, Tamar, and her two sons. (When Tamar’s pregnancy became known, Judah sentenced her to death, thinking she had committed sexual immorality. When she proved to him that he was the father, he conceded that she was innocent and ordered her life spared, after which she gave birth to twins. See Genesis, chapter 38. ) The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You saved four; I will save four of your descendants – Daniel, Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya.’ He called him four names: “Judah is a lion cub”; “he crouched and lay like a lion, and like a great cat, [who shall rouse him?]” (Numbers 24:9). (Thus, Judah is referred to as a lion, a cub, again a lion, and a great cat. ) “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, or the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shilo arrives; and to him nations will assemble” (Genesis 49:10). “The scepter shall not depart from Judah” – this is the royal throne: “Your throne is of God forever; the staff of righteousness” (Psalms 45:7) – when? “The ruler’s staff from between his feet” – with the arrival of the one to whom kingship belongs, of whom it is written: “With feet will the crown [of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim] be trampled” (Isaiah 28:3). “Until Shilo arrives” – the one to whom kingdom belongs [shelo]. “And to him nations will assemble [yik’hat]” – the one who dulls [mak’heh] the teeth of all the nations, as it is stated: “They will place hand over mouth; their ears will be deafened” (Micah 7:16). Alternatively, “and to him nations will assemble” – the one for whom the nations of the world will assemble, as it is stated: “The root of Yishai, that stands as a banner of the peoples, nations will seek him” (Isaiah 11:10). (In other words, the verse here is a reference to the Messiah, as is the verse in Isaiah. ) “He will bind his foal to the vine, and to the branch of the vine his donkey’s foal; he launders his garments in wine, and in the blood of grapes, his clothes” (Genesis 49:11). “He will bind his foal to the vine” – when He will gather all of Israel, which is called “vine,” as it is stated: “You transported a vine from Egypt” (Psalms 80:9). “And to the branch of the vine his donkey’s foal” – this is the one in whose regard it is written: “He is humble, and riding upon a donkey…” (Zechariah 9:9). Another matter: “And to the branch of the vine his donkey’s foal” – it is the one who plants all of Israel like a vine branch. How does he do so? “I will sprinkle pure water upon you” (Ezekiel 36:25). “He launders his garments in wine” – as wine is abundant within his borders. And in the blood of grapes, his clothes [suto]” – suto is nothing other than error, as it is written: “If your brother…will entice you [yesitekha]…” (Deuteronomy 13:7). (This is referring to one who incites another to engage in idol worship.) If they err in halakha, it will be laundered within his domain. (It will be clarified before the Great Sanhedrin, in the Temple, which is located in the tribal portion of Judah.) “His eyes shall be red from wine, and his teeth white from milk” (Genesis 49:12). “His eyes shall be red [ḥakhlili] from wine” – from here you learn that wine is abundant in his domain, like a person who says to another: ‘Pour for me, and again, as my palate is sweet to me, a sweet palate for me, for me [ḥeikh li li].’ “And his teeth white from milk” – due to the merit of the Torah, “if your sins will be like scarlet, they will be whitened as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
Rabbi Berekhya said: When Esau came in to his father and saw that Jacob had taken the blessings, he said to [Isaac]: ‘Did you not leave even one blessing for me?’ As it is stated: “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36). Isaac said to him: ‘Even if I bless you, I will be blessing him. Did I not say so to him: “Be a lord to your brethren”? (Genesis 27:29). The slave and everything that he has, do they not belong to his master?’ What is “turn yourselves to the north [tzafona]”? Rabbi Ḥiyya said: [God] said to them: ‘If you see that he (The reference is to Esau, meaning, his descendants. ) is seeking to provoke you, do not confront him. Instead, conceal [hatzpinu] yourselves from him until his world will pass.’ (Until his success and power pass.) That is, “turn yourselves to the north.” Rabbi Yehuda bar Shalom said: Israel said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, his father gave him the blessing: “By your sword you will live” (Genesis 27:40), and You confirmed it for him, and You say to us: Conceal yourselves from him? To where will we flee?’ He said to them: ‘If you see that they are confronting you, flee to the Torah.’ Tzafona is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “He reserves [yitzpon] the Torah for the upright” (Proverbs 2:7). Another matter, what is “tzafona”? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Wait until the time when the messianic king will come and fulfill: “How great is the goodness [You have in store [tzafanta] for those who fear You]”’ (Psalms 31:20).
(Numb. 23:7, cont.:) COME, PLEASE, (Na. The word is not found in the Masoretic Text.) CURSE FOR ME. Whoever curses them (i.e., the children of Jacob) is cursing himself, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:3): AND THE ONE WHO CURSES YOU, I WILL CURSE. It also says (in Gen. 27:29): CURSED BE THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, (See above, Gen. 6:16.) AND BLESSED BE THOSE WHO BLESS YOU.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:28): AND ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN AND NEW WINE. These are high priests. When he had given him these blessings (in vs. 29), he added six < more > blessings so that there would be ten. These are the following: (Gen. R. 67:10; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:29; Frag. (Jerusalem) Targum, Gen. 27:29.)
When Jacob came to bless Judah, he said to him (in Gen. 49:8): AND MAY YOUR FATHER'S CHILDREN BOW DOWN TO YOU, because he had a lot of wives. But Isaac, because he only had Rebekah, said to Jacob (in Gen. 27:29): AND MAY YOUR MOTHER'S CHILDREN BOW DOWN TO YOU. (Gen. R. 66:4.)
(Gen. 27:36:) THEN HE SAID: HAVE YOU NOT RESERVED ME] (See above, 5:6, n. 25; 6:1, n. 1.) A BLESSING? (With the word BLESSING, Buber is able to follow his Oxford MS again.) Resh Laqish said: This is one of three children of Adam who came with a legal circumvention against the Holy One. (Sanh. 101a (bar.) names Cain, Esau, and Manasseh as the three.) Esau said to him: If both of us are righteous, does not your God have < enough > blessings to bless both of us? The Holy One said to him: May your mouth be stopped up! Look, Jacob is blessing twelve tribes, and it is not a case of him blessing one as he blesses another. Even so he was filled with compassion for him. He came to bless him, but the Divine Presence departed from him. He began to pray and say (in the words of Is. 26:10): LET THE WICKED BE SHOWN FAVOR. (Gen. R. 67:5.) He said to him (ibid., cont.): HE WILL NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. He said to him: Do you desire to bless this one? He is going to destroy my house and confuse lands (‘Aratsot. Perhaps the text should read ‘otsarot (“treasures”) here. See MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) and riches. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): IN A LAND OF INTEGRITY HE WILL ACT UNJUSTLY. Isaac said to him: Give to him in this world, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SHALL NOT SEE THE MAJESTY OF THE LORD in the world to come because he would compel (Gk.: anangke.) me to repay him the glory with which he honored me. Esau immediately raised his eyes upward and wept, as stated (in Gen. 27:38): AND ESAU LIFTED UP HIS VOICE AND WEPT. The Holy One said: Although he is wicked, flatter him. R. Eleazar said: Esau shed three tears, one from his right < eye >, one from his left, and one disappeared in the midst of his eye. (M.Pss. 80:4.) The Holy One said: Look, the wicked one is weeping over his life! How am I to turn him away empty! He immediately told his father to bless him. This text is related (to Ps. 80:6 [5]): YOU HAVE FED THEM THE BREAD OF TEARS AND HAVE HAD THEM DRINK A SHALISH (The word SHALISH has the same spelling as shelish, which means “one-third,” and has the same root as the word for “three.” In the context of the psalm shalish denotes a dry measure, which is a third of an ephah.) OF TEARS. R. Abbin said in the name of R. Aha: Israel said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, now if in the case of Esau the Wicked, because he had shed two tears, < you were > filled with compassion for him immediately; how much the more so in our case, when our tears < flow > constantly day and night like bread, as stated (in Ps. 42:4 [3]): MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY BREAD DAY AND NIGHT. Up to now the proper time has not arrived for him to be filled with compassion over you. David has said (in Ps. 39:13 [12]): HEAR MY PRAYER, O LORD, AND GIVE EAR TO MY CRY. DO NOT KEEP SILENCE AT MY TEARS. The Holy One said to them: I will repay Esau the Wicked for the glory of his ancestors, and I will exalt him. Afterwards, I am coming to exalt you and repay {them} [you] for what you have achieved and for what your ancestors achieved. It is so stated (in Ps. 46:11 [ 10]): I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE GENTILES; I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH. It is simply that the Holy One said to Jacob (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH. It is also written (in Mal. 3:12): FOR YOU WILL BE A DELIGHTFUL LAND. Esau said to him (in Gen. 27:37): BLESS ME ALSO, O MY FATHER. Isaac said to him: With what shall I bless you? R. Berekhyah said: He said to him: I made him a lord over you. In anything whatever that I should bless you, I should be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the slave acquires, he acquires for his master. (Gen. 27:29:) BE A MASTER TO YOUR BROTHER is what Isaac said to Jacob. That was the seventh blessing (in Gen. 27:29). Now Isaac had set down ten blessings with which he had blessed him, but he said to him only (in vs. 27:37): "BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE HIM A MASTER OVER YOU." He did, however, say to him: With everything that you are thinking I should bless you, I should only be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the servant has belongs to the master. Thus in Egypt, even though they had been enslaved to them, when they left them they took all their property. So also in the case of thirty-one kings (in Josh. 12:7-24), Israel drove them from their land and took their wealth. So also now in respect to what the peoples of the world are plundering from Israel, Israel belongs to the LORD. Thus it is stated (in Is. 23:18): HER (in reference to Tyre as a harlot) PROFITS AND HER HIRE SHALL BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD {OF HOSTS}. THEY SHALL NOT BE TREASURED OR STORED, FOR HER PROFITS SHALL BELONG TO THOSE WHO DWELL BEFORE THE LORD FOR EATING THEIR FILL AND FOR SPLENDID CLOTHING.
(Gen. 49:6:) FOR IN THEIR ANGER THEY KILLED A MAN, when they killed Shechem ben Hamor. He said to them: You have afflicted me. Immediately (in vs. 7): CURSED BE THEIR ANGER SO FIERCE. These tribes were unable to dwell together. Rather (ibid., cont.): I WILL DIVIDE THEM IN JACOB AND SCATTER THEM IN ISRAEL. Judah came in and < Jacob > praised him (in vs. 8): YOU, O JUDAH, YOUR BROTHERS SHALL PRAISE (rt.: YDH). In your case, your mother gave praise (rt.: YDH) through your name (Judah, rt.: YDH). When she bore you, she said (in Gen. 29:35): THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE (rt.: YDH) THE LORD; < THEREFORE SHE CALLED HIS NAME JUDAH (rt.: YDH) >. And what did she see to praise in Judah? It is simply that she had given birth to Reuben and foreseen Dathan and Abiram (in Numb. 16:1); so she had not given praise over him (i.e., Reuben). She had given birth to Simeon and foreseen Zimri; so she had not given praise over him. She had given birth to Levi and foreseen Korah; so she had not given praise over him. When she gave birth to Judah, she immediately gave praise (rt.: YDH) over him because he made a confession (rt.: YDH) in the Tamar incident, as stated (in Gen. 38:26): THEN JUDAH GAVE ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND SAID: SHE IS MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I. (See Gen. R. 99 (another version):8 (= p. 1279 in the Theodor-Albeck edition).) His father said to him: Your mother has given praise (rt.: YDH) over you, and you have made a confession (rt.: YDH). Therefore your brothers shall praise (rt.: YDH) you. (Although the Buber text has “him” here, the correct reading must be “you.”) When Isaac blessed Jacob, he had said to him (in Gen. 27:29): AND MAY YOUR MOTHER'S CHILDREN BOW DOWN TO YOU, since he had only one wife. But, since Jacob had four wives, he said (in Gen. 49:8): YOUR FATHER'S CHILDREN < SHALL BOW DOWN TO YOU >. (Gen. R. 66:4.) Why shall your brothers praise you? Because all Israel shall be called by your name, < i.e., > Jews. (Gen. R. 98(99):6. In Hebrew the word “Jews” is simply the plural of Judah, which in turn has the same root as the Hebrew verb meaning “praise.”) And not only that, but out of you is coming the Messiah, who is saving Israel, as stated (in Is. 11:10): BUT A SHOOT SHALL COME FORTH FROM THE STEM OF JESSE…. (Cf. Romans 15:12; Rev. 5:5.)
(Numb. 23:4:) “Then God encountered Balaam.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing?” (Ibid., cont.:) “And [Balaam] said unto him, ‘I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].’” [The matter] is comparable to a money-changer who lies about the weights. When the head of the marketplace came, he noticed him. He said to him, “What are you doing inflating and lying about the weights?” [The money changer then] said to him, “I have already sent a gift (Gk.: doron.) to your house.” So also it was in the case of Balaam. The holy spirit cried out to him. It said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing.” He said to it (in Numb. 23:4), “I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].” It said to him (in Prov. 15:17), “’Better a meal of vegetable greens [where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred in it].’ Better the dinner of unleavened bread and bitter herbs which Israel ate in Egypt, than bulls which you offer with hands of [hatred].” (Numb. 23:5:) “So the Lord put a word (davar) in Balaam's mouth,” which twisted his mouth and pierced it, (Both “twisted” and “pierced” connote the use of a bit on a horse.) as one would drive a nail into a board. R. Eliezer (understanding davar as word) says, “An angel was speaking.” But R. Joshua says, “[It was] the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated, (in Numb. 23:5), “Return unto Balak and speak thus.” (Numb. 23:6:) “So he returned unto him, and there he was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the ministers of Moab,” who stood anxiously awaiting [the time] when he would come and speak. (Numb. 23:7:) “So he took up his theme and said, ‘From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.’” I was one of the exalted ones, (Ramim. The midrash links this word with ARAM in Numb. 23:7.) but Balak has brought me down to the pit of corruption. (Numb. R. 20:19; also above, Lev. 5:1 and the notes there.) (Ibid.:) “Brought me (yanheni, rt.: nhh),” [is to be understood] just as you say (in Ezek. 32:18), “bring (rt.: nhh) the masses of Egypt [and cast them down… unto the lowest part of the netherworld along with those who go down to the pit].” (Thus Numb. 23:7 comes to mean that Balak BROUGHT (rt.: NHH) Balaam down to the grave. The unusual Biblical translation is necessary to fit the sense of the midrash.) Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram.” I was with the highest (ram) of the high, and Balak has brought me down from my glory. [The matter] is comparable to one who was walking with the king. When he saw [some] robbers, (Gk.: lestai.) he left the king and toured along with the robbers. When he returned to be with the king, the king said to him, “Go with whomever you have toured with, because it not possible for you to walk with me again.” Similarly Balaam had been bound to the holy spirit. When he paired himself with Balak, the holy spirit departed from him. So he returned to being a diviner as in the beginning. Thus it is stated (at his execution in Josh. 13:22), “Balaam ben Beor the diviner….” Therefore did he say, “I was high up (ram), and Balak brought me down.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.” [Balaam] said to [Balak], “We are alike, even both of us, for being ungrateful, because were it not for our father Abraham, there would have been no Balak. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 19:29), ‘And it came to pass that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away.’ Except for Abraham, he would not have delivered Lot from Sodom; and you are one of the children of the children of Lot. (As a Moabite, Balak was descended from Moab, the son of Lot. See Gen. 19:37.) Moreover, if it were not for their father Jacob, I should not have been present in the world, because Laban had sons only through the merit of Jacob, since it is written at the beginning (in Gen. 29:9), ‘Rachel came with the sheep.’ Now if he had sons, how was his daughter a shepherdess? As soon as Jacob came there, sons were given to him, as stated (in Gen. 31:1), ‘Now he heard the things that Laban's sons [were saying].’ (Jewish tradition gives three views on Balaam’s relation to Laban: That he was Laban himself, that he was Laban’s nephew, and that he was Laban’s grandson. See Ginzberg, vol. III, p. 354; vol.. V, p. 303, n. 229; vol. VI, pp. 123f., nn. 722f.; p. 130, n. 764.) And it also says [that Laban said] (in Gen. 30:27), ‘I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.’ So if it were not for their ancestors, you and I would not have been present in the world”. (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “Come, curse Jacob for me.” Whoever curses the Children of Jacob is cursing himself, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:3), “and the one who curses you, I will curse.” It also says (in Gen. 27:29), “cursed be those who curse you, (See above, Gen. 6:16.) and blessed be those who bless you.” (Numb. 23:7:) “Come, curse [Jacob] for me.” If you had told me to curse another people, for example, the Children of Abraham from the concubines, I would have been able [to do so]. But Jacob? When a king selects a portion for himself, and someone else gets up and speaks disparagingly about it, will he keep his life? Now these people are the Holy One, blessed be He’s, heritage, His portion, and His treasure. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:9), “For the Lord's share is His people; Jacob the portion of His heritage.” And it is written (in Exod. 19:5), “and you shall be My treasure.” (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “And come, denounce Israel.” When a king takes a crown and puts it on his head, and someone says of it that it is nothing, will he keep his life? Now in regard to these people it is written about them (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” (Numb. 23:8:) “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed, when Jacob went in to receive the blessings. It is written (in Gen. 27:16), “Then [she clothed his arms and the hairless part of his neck] with the skins of goat kids.” His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18), “Who are you?” He said to him (in vs. 19), “I am Esau, your first-born.” Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only [was he not cursed], but he was blessed; as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “he shall also be blessed.” So how do I curse them? (In the words of Numb. 23:8) “God has not cursed.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” According to universal custom, when a legion (Lat.: legio.) rebels against the king, it incurs the penalty of death. Now since these denied and revolted against Him, when they said to the calf (in Exod. 32:4), “This is your God, O Israel,” did they not, therefore, deserve to have Him destroy them at that time? [Still] He did not cease to cherish them. Instead He had clouds of glory accompany them. Nor did He withhold the manna and the well from them. And so it says (in Neh. 9:18-20), “Even though they had made themselves a molten calf […], You in Your great mercies did not abandon them in the desert […]; and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth […].” How can I curse them? This [question] is related (to Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When He commanded them concerning the blessings and the curses, He mentioned them (as the people) in connection with the blessings where it is stated (in Deut. 27:12), “These shall stand [on Mount Gerizim] for blessing the people;” but He did not mention them in connection with the curses. Thus it is stated (in vs. 13), “And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse.” Moreover, when they sin and He plans to bring a curse upon them, it is not written that He Himself is bringing them (i.e., the curses); but with respect to the blessings, He Himself is blessing them; for so it says (in Deut. 28:1, 8), “And it shall come to pass that, if you diligently obey […], the Lord your God will set you high [over all the nations of the earth]. The Lord will command the blessing to be with you.” But with respect to the curses, it is written (according to Deut. 28:15), “And it shall come to pass that, if you do not obey […], then [all these curses] shall come upon you,” [i.e.,] of their own accord. Ergo (in Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” (Numb. 23:9:) “For from the top of the rocks I see him,” in order to make the hatred of that evil man (i.e., Balaam) known to you. As from his blessing you may know his thoughts. To what is he comparable? To someone who came to chop down a tree. One who is not an expert chops off the branches one at a time and becomes tired, but the clever one exposes the roots and [then] chops it down. Similarly that wicked man said, “How shall I curse each and every tribe? Rather I will go to their roots.” When he came to touch them, he found them hard [to cut]. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks I see him.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks,” these are the patriarchs; (ibid., cont.) “and from the hills I behold him,” these are the matriarchs. (Numb. 23:9, cont.:) “Here is a people dwelling alone.” When He makes them rejoice, no nation rejoices along with them. Rather they are all afflicted, [as stated (in Deut. 32:12),] “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign god with him.” (Numb. 23:9, cont.:), “And they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” But when the nations are rejoicing in this world, they (i.e., the Children of Israel) eat with each and every kingdom, and no one is charging [such pleasures] against their account (rt: hshb). (In other words the pleasures that Israel enjoys in this world are not to be deducted from their pleasures in the world to come.) It is so stated (in Numb. 23:9, cont.), “and they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” (Numb. 23:10:) “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” Who is able to count the commandments which they carry out upon the dust: (In Deut. 22:10,) “You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together”; (in Deut. 22:9,) “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed”; (in Numb. 19:9,) “Then someone clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer”; (in Numb. 5:17,) “[Then the high priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel] and some of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle”; (in Lev. 19:23,) “[Moreover, when you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall count its fruit as forbidden,] three years it shall be forbidden to you, [it shall not be eaten]”; and so on with all of them. (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Or numbered the sand (rb') of Israel,” [i.e.,] their copulations (rt.: rb'). (For this interpretation, cf. Nid. 31a.) Who can number the masses (Gk.: ochloi.) that have emerged from them, from those women who seize on and cherish the commandments (of procreation), as stated (in Gen. 30:15), “But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?’” [And so too (in Gen. 30:3, 9),] “Here is my maid Bilhah; go into her.” “When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, [she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife].” [And so too (in Gen. 16:3),] “So Abraham's wife Sarai took her maidservant Hagar the Egyptian… [and gave her to her husband Abraham as a wife].” (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Let me die the death of the upright.” The matter is comparable to a butcher who came to slaughter a cow that belonged to a king. The king began to take notice. When [the butcher] realized [what was happening], he began by discarding the knife, then giving [the cow] a rubdown [and] filling the feeding trough for it. He began to say, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to slaughter it; but observe that I have [now given it sustenance].” Similarly Balaam said, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to curse, but I will bless [them].” Ergo (in Numb. 23:10), “let me die the death of the upright!”
"Until the appointed time, his word had not yet come. Rabbi Chiya bar Abba and the rabbis disagreed. One said, 'Until Joseph's word comes to pass,' while the other said, 'Until the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to pass, which Joseph said to the chief butler (Genesis 40:14), "But think of me when it is well with you." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "You spoke truthfully; you will live another two years," as it says (Genesis 41:1), "After two years of time." Therefore, "Until the appointed time, his word had not yet come." The king sent and released him, and he was put in charge of his household. Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan ben Saul, "Joseph said to them, 'What do you think, that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not let me taste of what my grandfather Jacob blessed, saying (Genesis 27:29), "Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you"? Therefore, as it says (Genesis 41:40), 'And Joseph ruled over the land.' 'Put him in charge of his household, to bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his elders wisdom' (Psalms 105:21-22)." Another explanation is that his rulership is alluded to in the verse (Genesis 41:45), "Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potiphera." And he ruled over his people, and the Egyptians strengthened him. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, "What is this matter comparable to? It is like two officials who are in the palace, one is great and the other is also great, but one is greater than the other. It is also like two mighty warriors, one is mighty and the other is also mighty, but one is mightier than the other. Their hearts were turned against him." Rabbi Chiya said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, and Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Yehozadak, "Yesterday (Genesis 45:16), 'The voice was heard,' etc., and Pharaoh was pleased with him. Now their hearts were turned against him (Exodus 1:8), 'And there arose a new king over Egypt.'"
Rabbi Jehudah said: Isaac blessed Jacob with ten blessings concerning the dews of heaven and the corn of the earth, corresponding to the ten words whereby the world was created, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of the heaven" (Gen. 27:28); "Let peoples serve thee, …" (Gen. 27:29). When Jacob went forth from the presence of his father Isaac, he went forth crowned like a bridegroom, and like a bride in her adornment, and the quickening dew from heaven descended upon him, and refreshed his bones, and he also became a mighty hero; therefore it is said, "By the hands of the mighty Jacob, from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel" (Gen. 49:24).
Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in [the administration of] justice, raise many disciples and make a fence round the Torah.
(Ibid. 5): "And Joseph dreamed a dream… (8) …Will you reign over us?": Scripture expatiates upon the dreams to rationalize somewhat the extreme hatred of the brothers to Joseph to the point of wanting to remove him from the world: They assumed that he desired to reign over them, for which reason he had brought "evil report" of them to their father, so that he should remove them from his presence [as Rashi explains (Ibid.): "for his dreams and for his words" — "for the evil report that he had brought to their father." And the robe that his father made him served as "supporting evidence" that he had accepted his report], and that perhaps, G-d forbid, he would agree with Joseph, so that he [Joseph] would be a "master" over them, as in Isaac's blessing to Jacob (Ibid. 27:29): "Be a master to you brothers, and your mother's sons will bow down to you." Or, [they thought,] G-d forbid, that he [Jacob] would banish them altogether, as Noach said (Ibid. 9:25): "Cursed is Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." Therefore, they took counsel on how to rid themselves of him.
The reason Jacob had to be called Israel is to teach us that he had a dual task. First he had to remove the influence of evil. We should not think that tricking Esau was unethical; on the contrary, it was part of the process of neutralizing spiritually negative influences. Next, as Israel, his task was to help positive spiritual forces to assert themselves, and for him personally to achieve ever closer affinity to G–d. The name Jacob was never discarded, not even after he was given the name Israel. The reason for this is that even the name ישראל contains elements of the name יעקב. We have demonstrated that the עקב part equals the number 172, the number of words in the Ten Commandments, whereas the letter י before is the link to them. We have also pointed out that Jacob's function as יעקב is the principle of היום לעשותם, whereas the function of ישראל is the מחר לקבל שכרם, receiving the reward for the מצות in the Celestial Spheres as alluded to in the name ישראל. The name יעקב contains numerous allusions to a variety of moral imperatives, some of which we have already mentioned. When Isaac said to Jacob, in his blessing: הוה גביר לאחיך, "be your brother's superior" (27,29), this was a command to subjugate the אדומי, the evil urge represented by Esau. Jacob was to do this in his capacity of יעקב. This is analogous to the Mishnah in Avot 4,1 we quoted earlier.
When these Romans referred to the "Master," and it seemed to mean Jacob, they referred to him sarcastically, seeing that Isaac had designated him as such in the blessings, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך. They did not mean to challenge the validity of Isaac's blessing; they felt that Jacob/Israel had already outlived the period during which it was valid. Now that Israel's fortunes had declined, they felt sure that their turn had come. The kingdom of Edom had, after all, undergone a period during which eight Jewish kings reigned and the Edomites themselves did not even have a king. [Edom had lost its independence, as Rashi elaborates on 36,31 at the end of Parshat Vayishlach.] The Romans believed that Isaac's warning had been fulfilled when the first Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people endured 70 years of exile. Even after the rebuilding of the Temple five major manifestations of G–d's Presence in their land were never regained. Because of this the Romans were sure that the star of Israel was in permanent decline. They viewed the 70 years of exile as the reversal of the seventy years that David and Solomon ruled over greater Israel in all its glory.[I do not quite understand that figure. According to our best known sources that period was at least 73 years. Maybe David's reign is counted only after the capture of Jerusalem. Ed.]
Some of the proud vaunt themselves in the exercise of this blameworthy quality, because they delight therein (and try to excuse themselves by) arguing, that the soul inclines to distinction, and finds lowliness irksome. Again, they hold that domineering (supremacy) strengthens it, while submission weakens it, and were there no domination, the world would not be well adjusted. ( Guttmann ("Saadya," pp. 276, 277, note 2, Emunoth we-Deoth, x. 9) points out that Gabirol closely follows the teaching of Saadya with respect to the love of dominion ; it is worthy of notice that Gabirol quotes the same scriptural passages. S. Landauer (pp. xix.-xxi. of his introduction to the Arabic text of Saadya's work) holds that this chapter, the tenth, is a later addition to the book; cf. D. S. A. Taubeles ("Saadia Gaon," Halle, 1888, p. 32, note 43).) They further say that the prayers of the excellent had the attainment thereof in view when they said (Gen. xxvii. 29), "Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee."
ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאור, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you;” you may question why elsewhere G-d uses the reverse order, i.e. “he who curses you, and I will bless him who blesses you” (Genesis 27,29). The reason for that formulation is that as a general rule, the righteous first experience trials and tribulations in their lives, whereas their relative serenity does not occur until they are well advanced in age.[When Yaakov was well advanced in years and thought the time had come for him to “retire,” according to Rashi in his commentary on Bereshit Rabbah 84,3, he attributes his problem with Joseph to Yaakov expecting worry free life in this world also. Ed.] The answer to the above question is that we must distinguish between who does the blessing and cursing. When the subject is a human being, a righteous person who bestows a blessing, he will commence by mentioning the negative first and the positive as the conclusion (as did Yitzchok when he blessed Yaakov, thinking that Esau was righteous, as in Genesis 27,29) When the subject is G-d Himself, as when G-d blessed Avraham, here, it is more appropriate that He should commence by mentioning the positive aspects first. Furthermore, as generally speaking there are likely to be more people who bless a man such as Avraham, seeing that they are the majority, they are mentioned first, whereas the Torah speaks of מקללך, “he who curses you,” in the singular mode, not “they who curse you,” in the plural mode.ונברכו, a weak conjugation, according to Rash’bam, in the sense of refining through mixing. Through mixing with your descendants many nations will become spiritually uplifted. This is also why the Torah refers here to: משפחות האדמה, “the families on earth.”
The expression: את והב (verse 14) is to be understood as being a single word, just as the word אתיהב, where the letter ו has been exchanged for the letter א. We have a parallel for this in Genesis 45,1 where Joseph is described as misrepresenting himself with the word: בהתודע, a word from the root ידע. Another example of such an unusual construction is found in Genesis 27,29, where Yitzchok in his blessing to Yaakov is quoted as saying: הוה גביר לאחיך, “be senior over your brothers.” We would have expected the word: היה instead of הוה. It, i.e. the word והב is intended as an alternative to נתינה as in “gift,” as in Numbers 26,62, כי לא נתן להם נחלה, “for no ancestral piece of land had been given to to them.” The Targumim, translators into Aramaic, render the word נתן there as אתיהב. Here where we hear about the defeat of the King of Moav against Sichon of the Emorites, the words ואת והב בסופה, mean that that king at the end of that war had had to cede lands to the victor.
מברכיך ברוך ואורריך ארור, “those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed.” Bileam ridicules people who wish to curse the Jewish people, as in so doing they only bring a curse upon themselves. The Torah had made this point already in Genesis 12,3, when G-d said so to Avraham when he set out to migrate to the land of Canaan. In addition, Yitzchok had passed on this blessing to his son Yaakov, when he said to him in Genesis 27,29: “those who curse you will themselves be cursed, whereas those who bless you will be blessed.”
Isaac fully understood the nature of his two sons. He loved Esau but this did not blind him to the fact that Jacob would be the heir of the covenant. Therefore Isaac prepared two sets of blessings, one for Esau, the other for Jacob. He blessed Esau (Gen. 27:28–29) with the gifts he felt he would appreciate, wealth and power: “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine” – that is, wealth; “May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you” – that is, power. These are not the covenantal blessings.
Had she spoken to Isaac on the day of the blessing, Isaac might have said something that would have changed the entire course of their, and their children’s, lives. I imagine Isaac saying this: “Of course I know that it will be Jacob and not Esau who will continue the covenant. But I have two quite different blessings in mind, one for each of our sons. I will give Esau a blessing of wealth and power: ‘May God give you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth…. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you’ (Gen. 27:28–29). I will give Jacob the blessing God gave to Abraham and to me, the blessing of children and the promised land: ‘May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham’ (Gen. 28:3–4).”
That is what happens in this parasha. After his wrestling match with the stranger, Jacob undergoes a change of personality. He gives back to Esau the blessing he took from him. The previous day he had given him back the material blessing by sending him hundreds of goats, ewes, rams, camels, cows, bulls, and donkeys. Now he gives him back the blessing that said, “Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you” (Gen. 27:29). Jacob bows down seven times to Esau. He calls Esau “My lord” (33:8), and himself “your servant” (33:5). He actually uses the word “blessing,” though this fact is often obscured in translation. He says “Please take my blessing that has been brought to you” (33:11). The result is that the two brothers meet and part in peace.
The answer is relatively simple. As long as he had not prayed for G’d’s help and it was a matter of how the angels (or human messengers) were to announce his impending arrival to Esau, Yaakov did not want to do anything which could be interpreted as provocative. Now that he had prayed and had prevailed over the celestial force representing Esau, he had changed his stance and wanted to do something which would make Esau afraid of him rather than the reverse. He therefore deliberately placed the goats first to hint that he had no reason to feel afraid of him. Had he not obtained the blessing through having presented his father with two goats and obviously G’d had approved the part in which his father had said “be an overlord over your brothers, etc.?” He wanted to remind his brother that their father had designated Esau as becoming a servant to Yaakov. By placing the asses and donkeys last, in that order, Yaakov hinted that in the distant future the descendants of Esau would become the victims of the Jewish messiah who would appear riding on a donkey. We find the following verse in Zechariah 9,9 concerning this future event: “Rejoice fair Zion; raise a shout fair Jerusalem! Lo, your king is coming to you He is victorious, triumphant, yet humble, riding on an ass, on a donkey foaled by a she-ass.” When you look at things in that way you will find that Yaakov caused Esau to become afraid of him both by the first part of the gift he sent, i.e. by the goats, as well as by the last item, the donkeys.
ישתחוו לך בני אביך, when they will observe that you are successful, then they will prostrate themselves before you and declare that you are fit to be their king. When Yitzchok blessed Yaakov in Genesis 27,29 he referred to “the sons of your mother” prostrating themselves before him. Seeing that Yitzchok had only one wife this was quite normal. Seeing that Yaakov had four wives it would not have been good enough to refer to the sons of Yehudah’s mother, as that would have included only half the tribes. By phrasing the blessing as applicable to the “sons of your father,” Yaakov included all 12 tribes.
בני אביך, Yaakov chose this formulation because having had four wives it was the simplest way. On the other hand, when Yitzchok (who had only one wife) blessed Yaakov, he spoke of בני אמך, “the sons of your mother” (27,29)
It is stated: One answers Amen after a Gentile who recited a benediction for the Eternal, [but if he recited a benediction with the Name one does not answer (The text in parenthesis is from the Rome manuscript; it seems that it is missing from the Leyden manuscript and the Venice print because here also, the final clause “one answers only if one heard the entire benediction” is missing since it is implied by the Mishnah. The complete text is that of most sources of the Tosephta (Berakhot 5:21). The correct interpretation seems to be that given by R. Saul Lieberman in Tosephta kifshutah: Since the Gentile is not subject to our rules, if he praises the Eternal, one answers after him Amen. But if he uses a Jewish formula, one may not answer after him Amen unless one has ascertained that he conformed with our rules.) .] Rebbi Tanḥuma said, if a Gentile blesses you, answer after him Amen since it is written (Deut. 7:14) “You shall be blessed by all peoples.” A Gentile met Rebbi Joshua and blessed him. He answered: The word about you has already been said. He met a second one who cursed him; he answered: The word about you has already been said. His students said to him: Rebbi, did you say to the one what you said to the other? He said to them, so it is written (Gen. 27:29): “Those who curse you are cursed, but those who bless you are blessed.”
Rebbi Hoshaya stated: One answers Amen even if he did not eat, but he may not say: “Let us praise Him, of Whose bounty we ate,” except if he did eat. It is stated: “One answers neither an orphan Amen, nor a plucked Amen. Ben Azai said, if one answered an orphan Amen, may his children be orphans; hurried, may the end of his days be hurried; plucked, may his soul be plucked off. For a long Amen, they lengthen his days and years in a good way. What is an orphan Amen? Rebbi Huna said, that is one who is obligated to recite a blessing, he answers Amen, and is not conscious for what he answered Amen. It is stated: One answers Amen after a Gentile who recited a benediction for the Eternal. By the Name, one does not answer Amen after him. Rebbi Tanḥuma said, if a Gentile blesses you, answer after him Amen since it is written (Deut. 7:14.) You shall be blessed by all peoples. A Gentile met Rebbi Ismael and blessed him. He answered: The word about you has already been said. He met a second one who cursed him; he answered: The word about you has already been said. His students said to him: Rebbi, did you say to the one what you said to the other? He said to them, so it is written (Gen. 27:29.) Those who curse you are cursed, but those who bless you are blessed.
(It seems that the original of this paragraph is in Berakhot8:9.) Rebbi Hoshaya stated: One answers Amen even if he did not eat (A person hearing other people reciting Grace has to say Amen; obviously he cannot participate in reciting part of the text; cf. Berakhot7:2.) , but he may not say: “Let us praise Him, of Whose bounty we ate,” except if he did eat. It is stated (Tosephta Megillah3:27, Babli Berakhot 47a.) : “One answers neither an orphan Amen, nor a plucked (Amen not completely pronounced. The other sources have here an addition: “Ben Azai said, if one answered an orphan Amen, may his children be orphans; hurried, may the end of his days be hurried; plucked, may his soul be plucked off. For a long Amen, they lengthen his days and years in a good way.”) Amen. What is an orphan Amen? Rebbi Huna said, that is one who is obligated to recite a blessing, he answers Amen, and is not conscious for what he answered Amen. It is stated: One answers Amen after a Gentile who recited a benediction for the Eternal, but if he recited a benediction with the Name one does not answer (Since the Gentile is not subject to our rules, if he praises the Eternal, one answers after him Amen. But if he uses a Jewish formula one may not answer after him Amen unless one has ascertained that he conformed with our rules (S. Liebermann.)) . Rebbi Tanḥuma said, if a Gentile blesses you, answer after him Amen since it is written (Deut. 7:14.) You shall be blessed by all peoples. A Gentile met Rebbi Ismael and blessed him. He answered: The word about you has already been said. He met a second one who cursed him; he answered: The word about you has already been said. His students said to him: Rebbi, did you say to the one what you said to the other? He said to them, so it is written (Gen. 27:29.) Those who curse you are cursed, but those who bless you are blessed.
Peoples will serve you and nations bow to you [kingdoms will be subservient to you]. Be master over your brothers, and your mother’s sons will bow to you. Those who curse you are [will be] cursed, and those who bless you are [will be] blessed.
Let peoples serve before thee, all the sons of Esau: all kings be subject to thee, all the sons of Ishmael: be thou a chief and a ruler over the sons of Keturah: all the sons of Laban the brother of thy mother shall come before thee and salute thee. Whoso curseth thee, Jakob, my son, shall be accursed as Bileam ben Beor; and whoso blesseth thee shall be blessed as Mosheh the prophet and scribe of Israel.
Let peoples be subject to thee, all the sons of Esau, and kingdoms bend before thee, all the sons of Keturah; a chief and a ruler be thou over thy brethren, and let the sons of thy mother salute thee. Let them who curse thee, my son, be accursed as Bileam bar Beor; and them who bless thee be blessed as Mosheh the prophet, the scribe of Israel.
| וַיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר כִּלָּ֣ה יִצְחָק֮ לְבָרֵ֣ךְ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹב֒ וַיְהִ֗י אַ֣ךְ יָצֹ֤א יָצָא֙ יַעֲקֹ֔ב מֵאֵ֥ת פְּנֵ֖י יִצְחָ֣ק אָבִ֑יו וְעֵשָׂ֣ו אָחִ֔יו בָּ֖א מִצֵּידֽוֹ׃ | 30 J | No sooner had Jacob left the presence of his father Isaac—after Isaac had finished blessing Jacob—than his brother Esau came back from his hunt. |
Genesis 27,30 “it was that as soon as Yitzchok had concluded blessing Yaakov, etc.;” we need to understand why Yitzchok had not wanted to bestow a blessing on Yaakov, originally. Nachmanides writes: (not found in Torah commentary) that Yitzchok preferred Yaakov to remain unaware of the blessings bestowed upon him. [Perhaps he felt that way seeing that his own father, Avraham, also had not bestowed a blessing upon him, and left it for G’d to do so after he had died. Compare. Genesis 28,4 where Yitzchok makes it plain to Yaakov that he had not received this blessing from his own father. Ed.] This seems difficult to understand. Perhaps we may understand it better in conjunction with what the Talmud B’rachot 45 states that the person translating the public Torah reading must not raise his voice to be louder than the voice of the person reading the Torah from the original scroll. The reader represents G’d, Who has given us the Torah, whereas the translator only represents the reader. The Talmud cites Exodus 19,19 as the source for this ruling. Anyone reading that verse will be astounded, as it sounds as if G‘d, responding to Moses spoke louder than Moses, when repeating what Moses had told Him. (Compare Tossaphot on that folio) However, the point is, as we learned in B’rachot 12, that any benediction that does not contain a reference to G’d as King, is not considered a benediction in the full meaning of the word. Similarly, any benediction which follows immediately after another benediction also does not rank as a (separate) benediction in the full sense of the word so that it does not need to include another reference to G’d as “King”. It appears that Avraham had a “claim” on the word א-ל as a name of G’d, as G’d uses this name when bestowing acts of loving kindness on His creatures. Yitzchok, on the other hand, had a similar claim on the word אלוקים for G’d, as this name represents Justice or judgment. This is why his son Yaakov in Genesis 31,42 speaks of פחד יצחק “He Who Yitzchok was in awe of and Who assisted me,” when describing Yitzchoks’ G’d.” Yaakov, had a “claim” on the tetragram, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה, the name of G’d representing primarily the attribute of Mercy. In order for the attribute of Justice to be “sweetened” somewhat, it needs to be applied in conjunction with the other two attributes we mentioned. The Ari z’al said that the word אתה when used in the beginning of each benediction is an allusion to the attribute א-ל, so that when one commences the benediction with the words ברוך אתה י-ה-ו-ה, the word ברוך signifying continuation, or conduit, meaning that G’d continuously dispensing loving kindness by means of both His names אתה א-ל י-ה-ו-ה. Through His continuing to do so, G’d automatically “sweetens,” i.e. softens the impact of the attribute of Justice, the one referred to as אלוקינו in every benediction we pronounce. It follows that when one benediction follows on the heels of another benediction, there having been no prayer or psalm interrupting the two, that there is no need to acknowledge G’d once more as being King, as the full impact of the attribute of Justice has already been softened so that we do not need to appeal to G’d as a benevolent ruler, i.e. King, to soften the attribute of Justice once more.
ויהי אך יצא יצא יעקב, “and it happened when Yaakov only just left, etc.”, Yaakov had actually seen Esau come in by the opposite door as it was lit up when opening it, whereas Esau, standing in the light, could not see Yaakov who stood in relative darkness across from him at the other door. (B’reshit Rabbah 66,5)
ויהי כאשר כלה, As soon as he had finished, etc. The reason for the apparently superfluous word ויהי which always introduces something of a painful nature, is that the Torah testifies that Isaac completed his blessing prematurely; instead of giving Jacob the entire blessing he was capable of bestowing as he did for Esau afterwards, he did not do so now. Had Isaac truly completed giving Jacob all the blessings he was capable of bestowing, Esau would have gone out empty-handed.
ויהי אך יצא יצא יעקב, Jacob had barely left his father's presence, etc. The extra words: ויהי, אך, יצא are all meant to draw our attention to the fact that Jacob would not have left yet except that he noticed that Esau was arriving (as pointed out at the end of the verse). This caused Jacob to make a hasty exit. The Torah hints at the embarassment Jacob felt at leaving the presence of his father as if he were a thief beating a hasty retreat. Our sages in Midrash Rabbah pursue a different approach.
ויהי...מצידו, as if the Torah had written מצודו, “from his hunting expedition.” The Torah chose a noun instead of a verb in its infinitive form. We find a similar construction in Numbers 10,2 ולמסע את המחנות, which means the same as ולהסיע את המחנות, “and to set the camps (army groups) in motion.” We also find such a construction in Ezekiel 17,9 למשאות אותה משרשיה, “and to remove it from its roots.” A third example which comes to mind is Numbers 23,10 ומספר את רבע ישראל, “or number the animals born to the livestock of Israel?” The word מספר is used there as if the Torah (Bileam) had said לספר, “to count.” [I assume that when the Torah quotes a human being, such as here, G’d dictated Bileam’s words to Moses, seeing that neither Moses nor any other Jew had heard a single one of Bileam’s blessings. Ed.]
ויהי אך יצא יצא, this detail has been recorded to illustrate the miracles which were performed in order to enable Yaakov to obtain this blessing. If Esau had returned just one minute sooner, Yaakov would not have secured this blessing.
יצא יצא [JACOB] WAS YET SCARCE GONE OUT — this means, as one went out the other came in (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 11).
As one went out the other came in. Otherwise, why does it repeat: יָצֹא יָצָא? Perforce, Yaakov left his father’s tent while Eisov left the field and came to the house. But Re’m explains that [Rashi knows this because] אך diminishes the leaving. [I.e., before Yaakov finished leaving, Eisov had come].
It was when Isaac concluded blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just departed from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came from his hunt. Fortunately, Esau arrived only after Jacob had received the blessings and left the room.
ויהי אך יצא יצא, “and as soon as Yaakov had left the presence of his father,” The reason why the Torah speaks of 2 exits, i.e. יצא, יצא, indicates that as soon as Yaakov saw Esau approach he quickly hid himself, and when the way was clear he emerged from his hiding place and left the house of his father.
You will surely send away... – it is this that is written: (Gen. 8:8) And he sent the dove away from him... and it is stated of Jacob: (Gen. 27:30) ... and it was, as he surely went out (yatzo yatza) ... – corresponding to: You will surely send away (shale-aḥte-shalaḥ) ... (Deut. 22:7) – and they are two arms, two expulsions (ge-rishin) , and they are two wanderings, and this is: You will surely send away the mother, and the children you will take for yourself – these are the six parts, that are in the two arms – the Hei (ה) remains Dalet (ד) , without Vav (ו) (6) .
one is of the Shechinah and one of Jacob. For when Jacob entered, the Shechinah came in with him, and he was blessed before the Shechinah. Isaac said the blessings and the Shechinah approved. Therefore, when Jacob went out, the Shechinah went out with him. This is the hidden meaning of the phrase "and Jacob went out going," which mentions two goings out together.
"Esau his brother came in from his hunting" (Ibid.). Why is it written "his hunting", and not "the hunting." It is Esau's hunting that contains no blessing. And the Holy Spirit cried out, "Do not eat the bread of him who has an evil eye" (Mishlei 23:6).
“It was when Isaac concluded to bless Jacob, and Jacob had just departed from the presence of Isaac his father, and Esau his brother came from his hunt” (Genesis 27:30). “It was when Isaac concluded to bless Jacob” – Rabbi Aivu said: The tent of our patriarch Isaac was open on all sides. One came from here and one came from there. The Rabbis say: It was hinged, and the doors would fold backward. Jacob stood behind the door until Esau entered, and then he went out. That is what is written: “Jacob had just departed [Akh yatzo yatza]” – he appeared to go out but was not going out. “And Esau his brother came from his hunt [mitzeido]” – he was armed to hunt for his life, just as it says: “But if one did not have intent [tzada]” (Exodus 21:13). (The verse appears in the context of murder.)
Another matter, “blessed be one who blesses you” – it is taught: An idol worshiper who blesses the Name, one answers amen after him; with the Name, one does not answer amen after him. (If a gentile blesses God, one should answer ‘Amen.’ If he blesses a Jew using the name of God, one should not answer ‘Amen,’ to indicate that his blessing does not help (Etz Yosef).) Rabbi Tanḥuma said: If one idolater blesses you, answer amen after him, as it is written: “You shall be blessed more than all the peoples [mikol haamim]” (Deuteronomy 7:14). (Literally – “from all the nations.”) A certain idolater encountered Rabbi Yishmael and blessed him. He said to him: ‘The response is already stated.’ A certain idolater encountered Rabbi Yishmael and cursed him. He said to him: ‘The response is already stated.’ They said to him: ‘What you said to this one, you said to that one.’ He said to them: ‘So it is written: “Those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed”’ (Numbers 24:9).
(Gen. 27:30:) AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN ISAAC HAD FINISHED BLESSING JACOB, AND < JACOB > HAD JUST GONE OUT, GONE OUT. (Such verbal repetition, with the first verb vocalized as an infinitive absolute, is common in biblical Hebrew and generally indicates emphasis.) Two departures are recorded here: GONE OUT, GONE OUT. {Isaac said:} Isaac's gateway (The Buber text reads “window” (hallon) here, but the word makes little sense. Buber himself suggests this emendation of “gateway” (pilon, from the Gk.: pylon). So Gen. R. 66:5.) had two ends, a gate to the north and a gate to the south. Jacob left with the plate (Gk.: diskos; Lat.: discus.) in his hand. He saw Esau and hid behind the door. One who is in the light does not see {him. He forgets him.} [one who is in the darkness]. (See Tanh., Gen. 6:11.) Ergo: JUST GONE OUT, GONE OUT. < He hid > because, if Esau had seen him, he would have killed him. R. Joshua ben Levi said: At the second hour (8:00 A.M.) he learned Esau had gone in to his father, and at the sixth hour (12:00 M.) he was going out. But, while Jacob was detained [for so long] over all this business, where was Esau during this time? R. Joshua ben Levi said: He was catching game and binding it, but an angel was setting it free and driving it away. (See above, 6:10.) That is what is stated (in Prov. 12:27): A DECEPTIVE ONE SHALL NOT ROAST HIS GAME, BUT A DILIGENT ONE IS A PERSON OF PRECIOUS WEALTH. (According to Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:31, Esau deceived his father by serving him dog meat instead of the venison he had been unable to catch.) It was not known to Jacob what miracles were performed for him, for, while he was going out, Esau was coming in. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:30): AND < JACOB > HAD JUST GONE OUT, GONE OUT…. Therefore, David has said (in Ps. 86:10): FOR YOU ARE GREAT, AND YOU PERFORM WONDERS (rt.: PL'), YOU GOD BY YOURSELF. You know what miracles and wonders (rt.: PL') you are doing with such a person, but he does not know. This person sleeps upon his bed < and > arises to put on his clothes. Unless they make a search (rt.: PL') for whether there is a snake or a scorpion there, he will cast them off without knowing about them and < so > be delivered from them. Therefore, David has said to him: < It is > for you alone to do wonders (rt.: PL'); < it is incumbent > upon us to be blessing you, as stated (in Ps. 72:18): BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD < OF ISRAEL, WHO ALONE DOES WONDERS (rt.: PL') >. In Egypt you did miracles for us, and we on our part uttered a song by the sea for you (in Exod. 15:1-18). The Holy One said to them: In this world I have performed wonders (rt.: PL') for you and redeemed you from the bondage of Egypt. Thus I am going to redeem you in the world to come from the bondage of Edom (i.e., of Esau) and perform wonders for you. It is so stated (in Micah 7:15): AS IN THE DAYS OF YOUR EXODUS FROM [THE LAND OF EGYPT], I WILL SHOW HIM WONDERS (rt.: PL').
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:33): Why did he tremble? Because he had blessed the younger before the elder; for he had intended to bless both of them. So he called Esau in order to bless him first, since he was the elder. Then afterwards, < he would call > Jacob. So he intended. Why? Because before the Holy One it is difficult to supplant a genealogical chain, to replace primogeniture. So note that he only called Esau. On what basis do you say that he wished to bless Jacob? On the basis of what Jacob said, {and he said} [to his mother] (in Gen. 27:12): THEN I WILL BRING UPON MYSELF A CURSE INSTEAD OF A BLESSING. He said to her: Even the blessing which he was going to give me, in the end he will not give me. Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is on my hands that the genealogical chain should be ruined at my hands, for me to bless the younger < first > and the elder afterwards? And so you find: In every place Moses comes before Aaron; (Cf. Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Pisha, 1.) but when it comes to genealogy, Aaron is before Moses. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 3:1): NOW THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF AARON AND MOSES. R. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan of the Bet Guvrin: In the case of Reuben also, when that event (the selling of Joseph) happened at his hands, his father gave his birthright to Joseph. Thus it is stated (in I Chron. 5:1): AND THE SONS OF REUBEN, THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. NOW HE IS FIRST-BORN; BUT, WHEN HE HAD DEFILED HIS FATHER'S BED, HIS BIRTHRIGHT WAS GIVEN TO (JOSEPH) [THE SONS JOSEPH BEN ISRAEL]. Hence the birthright belonged to Joseph. In the genealogy, however, he was not able to keep his birthright away from him, as stated (in Exod. 6:14): THE SONS OF REUBEN THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. "Now he was the first-born" is not written here (in I Chron. 5:1), but: NOW HE IS THE FIRST-BORN. So also in the case of the sons of Noah, Japheth was the oldest: but because Shem was more righteous, < Scripture > counts him first in every place. (See above, 2:19.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 9:18): AND THE CHILDREN OF NOAH WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK WERE SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH. In regard to genealogy, however, < Scripture > mentions Japheth as being the eldest. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 10:21): AND UNTO SHEM THERE WERE CHILDREN BORN. HE WAS ALSO FATHER TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER < AND > THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH, WHO WAS THE OLDEST. (The last eight words can be, and commonly are, translated: THE ELDER BROTHER OF JAPHETH. See Gen. R. 37:7.) R. Tanhuma said: But you also have to learn < through > greater insight, that Shem was second to Japheth. Therefore, you find that Noah sired a son at < an age of > five hundred years. It is written (in Gen. 5:32): AND NOAH WAS FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD; < AND NOAH BEGOT SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH >. Now the flood took place (according to Gen. 7:11): IN THE SIX HUNDREDTH YEAR OF NOAH'S LIFE…. {Since} it is also written of Shem that he sired a son at < the age of > a hundred years, {he was lacking two} [two years after the flood). It is so stated (in Gen. 11:10): THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM: SHEM WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. If he had been the eldest, it would have been necessary to say only: HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. You also learn from here that Japheth was two years older than Shem according to the reckoning of my calculation. Here also (in Gen. 27:33), Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is there on my hands that I have blessed the younger before the elder and have changed the order? Jacob went out and Esau came in, as stated (in Gen. 27:30): AND JACOB HAD JUST GONE OUT…. He (Esau) said to his father (in vs. 32): I AM [YOUR SON], YOUR FIRST-BORN, ESAU. His father began saying: Who is this one who entered and received the blessings? The Holy Spirit said to him: It was Jacob. He said to him (in vs. 33): AND I HAVE EATEN OF EVERYTHING. R. Isaac said: In that dish Isaac had a taste OF EVERYTHING that the Holy One had created during the six days of creation. (Tanh., Gen. 6:11; Gen. R. 67:2.) Also R. Judah b. R. Shallum said in the name of R. Ayyevu: In that dish Isaac had a taste of whatever is stored up for the righteous in the days to come. [Isaac said to him: In that dish I tasted everything that the Holy One has created]. Esau said to him: Daddy, [tell me:] What is that dish? Isaac said to him: < Whatever I ask for >. I asked for pheasant; (Gk.: phasianos.) I tasted it. Esau said to him: Daddy, tell me the basic < ingredient >. He said to him: It was meat. R. Hananyah b. R. Isaac said: When Esau heard this, he began striking his face. He said: Woe to that man, as stated (in Gen. 27:34): AND HE LET OUT A GREAT AND BITTER CRY…. Esau said: He fed me pottage of lentils, and I gave him my birthright. Now he has fed Daddy meat. You must know with what blessings he blessed him! HE BEGAN TO CRY AND SAY: IS HE NOT RIGHTLY NAMED JACOB (rt.: 'QB)? [FOR HE HAS CHEATED (rt.: 'QB) ME THESE TWO TIMES. HE TOOK MY BIRTHRIGHT; AND, SEE, NOW HE HAS TAKEN MY BLESSING.] His father said to him: So what should I do for you? He said to him: He has already taken my birthright. Isaac said to him: Over this matter I was sorry. He also said: Perhaps I transgressed a commandment of the Law in blessing the younger before the elder. Now that I have already blessed him, (according to Gen. 27:33:) HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED.
ותיראן המילדות את האלוקים, The midwives were G'd-fearing, etc." Why did the Torah repeat that: 1) "they did not do what the king had told them to do," 2) "they kept the children alive?" According to Sotah 11 they supplied food and water for these boy babies. If so, why had they not been doing this before the king's decree came into effect? Perhaps all the Torah wanted to tell us is that they did not stop to provide these services at their own expense. The Torah therefore would describe the level of the midwives' fear of G'd. They did what they could to keep these babies alive; they most certainly did not kill the babies.
כאשר דבר, as he had said. The letter כ which precedes the word אשר is a Kaf hadimyon describing a comparison, a similarity. The Torah tells us that not only did the midwives not do what the king had ordered them to do, but that they did not even do anything similar to what the king had demanded of them. The Torah could also be telling us something about the general fate of Royal decrees. Normally, when a powerful king issues a decree it is observed by his subjects due to fear. As people notice that not every violation is followed by severe penalties, more and more people begin to ignore irksome decrees. In this instance the Torah tells us that the decree was not even observed when it was still new. The midwives לא עשו, never carried out, כאשר דבר, as soon as he had said it. The word כאשר may be understood as "as soon as," just as in Genesis 27,30: "as soon as Isaac finished speaking."
According to the Midrash the reason for the word פנים is that they were one handbreadth thick, and our sages said (Sukkah 5) that the word פנים is not used for something thinner than one handbreadth. We refer to Leviticus 16,2 אל פני הכפורת, “facing the kapporet,” and we had explained in connection with the Ark that the thickness of the kapporet was 1 handbreadth. We have another verse in Genesis 27,30 מאת פני יצחק אביו, “from the face of his father Yitzchak.” The face of a human being is never thinner than a handbreadth.
And so it is in full agreement with philosophical truth that Moses represents the outgoing of Jacob as being the incoming of Esau. “It came to pass,” he says, “that as soon as Jacob went out Esau his brother came in” (Gen. 27:30).
[135] No, the lesson is that in the past, in the present, in the future, that hallowing may be for ever repeated in the soul. When the most dominant elements of blind passion are destroyed then comes the sanctification of the elder and precious offspring of Israel who has the clear vision of God. For the exodus of evil works the entrance of virtue, and the opposite is true also. When good withdraws, the evil that is biding its time takes its place. Hardly has Jacob gone out (Gen. 27:30) when Esau is with our mind, which is open to all that come. He thinks to efface the image of virtue and impress in its stead, if he can, the stamp of vice. Yet he shall not be able to accomplish his purpose. The wise man will ward off the blow before it fall, and Esau shall wake to find himself tripped, supplanted, and his inheritance passed to the other.
of a bird called bar Yokhani, whose face is significantly larger than a handbreadth? The Gemara rejects this suggestion: If you grasped many, you did not grasp anything; if you grasped few, you grasped something. The Gemara asks: If so, say that it is like the face of a bird, which is extremely small? Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: Rav Huna derives that the thickness of the Ark cover was one handbreadth not through an actual comparison to the real faces of different creatures but rather by means of a verbal analogy between the terms penei and penei written in different places in the Torah. It is written here: “Before [penei] the Ark cover” (Leviticus 16:2), and it is written there: “From the presence of [penei] Isaac his father” (Genesis 27:30). The dimension of the Ark cover is like that of the face of a person, a handbreadth.
It was when Yitzchok had finished blessing Yaakov, and Yaakov had just left the presence of Yitzchok, his father, that Eisov came back from his trapping.
And it was when Izhak had finished blessing Jakob, and Jakob had only gone out about two handbreadths from Izhak his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
| וַיַּ֤עַשׂ גַּם־הוּא֙ מַטְעַמִּ֔ים וַיָּבֵ֖א לְאָבִ֑יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְאָבִ֗יו יָקֻ֤ם אָבִי֙ וְיֹאכַל֙ מִצֵּ֣יד בְּנ֔וֹ בַּעֲבֻ֖ר תְּבָרְכַ֥נִּי נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ | 31 J | He too prepared a dish and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may give me your innermost blessing.” |
יקום אבי, “arise my father!” Esau awakened his father who had taken a nap after having eaten.
ויעש...ויאמר, this is quite clear.
He, Esau, too made tasty food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father: Let my father arise, and eat from his son’s game, so that your soul will bless me.
“Let my father sit up” [27:31]. Hizkuni writes. Isaac fell asleep after eating Jacob’s food. Therefore, Esau said: my father should get up and should eat of my food. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:31.)
For that reason, and in order to avoid application by G'd of the harshest most painful detergents, Israel is exhorted by the prophet to do penitence. Failing this, removal of the stains on its character by outside forces will leave permanent scars on its body. If, however, Israel will take action herself to wash and cleanse its heart from evil, instead of waiting for the suffering imposed by outside pressures, it will be helped, will experience salvation. Jeremiah 2,21, then discusses repentance due to fear of retribution, whereas chapter four discusses repentance occasioned by love for G'd.
[And these did he offer] [Var. introduce] [Var. and with these was brought close] Esau to Isaac, and he said to him: (Gen. 27:31) ... Let my father arise, and eat from the hunt of his son... And Samael, because of him, introduced [Var. offered] to the left, to give to taste to the blessed Holy One of the sins of his son, which are the ‘bitter foods’, because of which, it is written: (Mal. 1:3) And Esau I hated...
"And he also had made savory food...Let my father arise" (Beresheet 27:31). His speech was impertinent, rough, and impolite. Come and behold the difference between Jacob and Esau. Jacob talked to his father humbly, with humility. It is written, "And he came to his father, and said, My father" (Ibid. 18). The difference between the language of Esau and Jacob is that Jacob did not want to frighten him. Thus, he spoke humbly, saying "arise, I pray you, sit and eat of my venison." Esau, however, said "Let my father arise," as if he was not speaking to him.
Chapter (81) 82: Torah [1] "And Jacob called unto his sons" (Genesis 49:1). The scriptures say: "For Sheol will not praise you (Isaiah 38:18), it was not for you to say 'let Esau be called to his sons,' as he was the firstborn, and why did he not perform the duty of honoring (i.e. burying) his father Isaac, but rather Jacob did it? It is because in the custom of the world, a murderer does not perform the duty of honoring, for he does not know when he will die, and who performs the duty of honoring for the fathers who died in their beds. Thus, Esau was not allowed to perform the duty of honoring, as he was a murderer, as it is said 'Now, therefore, let me get some game and make me savory food, that you may eat, and bless me' (Genesis 27:31), and 'For my soul is weary of murderers' (Jeremiah 4:31), and tired only means killing, as it is said 'Woe is me! For my soul is weary of murderers' (Jeremiah 4:31). Therefore, he did not call his sons, as it is said 'They do not know nor do they understand; they walk in darkness' (Psalms 82:5). Therefore, 'For Sheol will not praise you' (Isaiah 38:18), but a father will inform his sons, and he will call Jacob."
“He came to his father, and said: My father, and he said: Here I am; who are you, my son?” (Genesis 27:18). “Jacob said to his father: I am Esau your firstborn; I did as you spoke to me. Arise please, sit and eat from my game, so that your soul will bless me” (Genesis 27:19). “He came to his father, and said…I am Esau your firstborn” – Rabbi Levi said: I am destined to receive the Ten Commandments, but Esau is your firstborn. “Arise please, sit” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Jacob: ‘You said: “Arise please, sit.” (Jacob asked his father politely to sit up.) As you live, I will repay you,’ as it is stated: “Arise Lord, and may Your enemies be dispersed” (Numbers 10:35). “Some are swept away without justice” (Proverbs 13:23) – this is Esau. (Who was punished for his speech and not for his action.) The Holy One blessed be He said to Esau: ‘You said: “let my father arise” (Genesis 27:31) – like an idolic talisman which you stand up? (Esau gave a command to his father to get up, which is considered rude behavior.) As you live, with that same expression, I will exact retribution against you’: “May God arise and His enemies scatter” (Psalms 68:2).
“He, too, prepared delicacies, and brought them to his father, and said to his father: Let my father arise, and eat from his son’s game, so that your soul will bless me” (Genesis 27:31). “He, too, prepared delicacies, and brought them to his father, and said to his father: Let my father arise” – that is what is written: “The spider grasps with hands” (Proverbs 30:28). Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: By virtue of what merit does the spider grasp? (A metaphor for the Roman Empire, that descended from Esau.) It is due to the merit of those hands – “he, too, prepared delicacies.” “Let my father arise” – because he said to him: “Let [my father] arise,” I will exact retribution against him with that same expression: “May God arise…His enemies scatter” (Psalms 68:2).
(Gen. 27:30:) AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN ISAAC HAD FINISHED BLESSING JACOB, AND < JACOB > HAD JUST GONE OUT, GONE OUT. (Such verbal repetition, with the first verb vocalized as an infinitive absolute, is common in biblical Hebrew and generally indicates emphasis.) Two departures are recorded here: GONE OUT, GONE OUT. {Isaac said:} Isaac's gateway (The Buber text reads “window” (hallon) here, but the word makes little sense. Buber himself suggests this emendation of “gateway” (pilon, from the Gk.: pylon). So Gen. R. 66:5.) had two ends, a gate to the north and a gate to the south. Jacob left with the plate (Gk.: diskos; Lat.: discus.) in his hand. He saw Esau and hid behind the door. One who is in the light does not see {him. He forgets him.} [one who is in the darkness]. (See Tanh., Gen. 6:11.) Ergo: JUST GONE OUT, GONE OUT. < He hid > because, if Esau had seen him, he would have killed him. R. Joshua ben Levi said: At the second hour (8:00 A.M.) he learned Esau had gone in to his father, and at the sixth hour (12:00 M.) he was going out. But, while Jacob was detained [for so long] over all this business, where was Esau during this time? R. Joshua ben Levi said: He was catching game and binding it, but an angel was setting it free and driving it away. (See above, 6:10.) That is what is stated (in Prov. 12:27): A DECEPTIVE ONE SHALL NOT ROAST HIS GAME, BUT A DILIGENT ONE IS A PERSON OF PRECIOUS WEALTH. (According to Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 27:31, Esau deceived his father by serving him dog meat instead of the venison he had been unable to catch.) It was not known to Jacob what miracles were performed for him, for, while he was going out, Esau was coming in. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:30): AND < JACOB > HAD JUST GONE OUT, GONE OUT…. Therefore, David has said (in Ps. 86:10): FOR YOU ARE GREAT, AND YOU PERFORM WONDERS (rt.: PL'), YOU GOD BY YOURSELF. You know what miracles and wonders (rt.: PL') you are doing with such a person, but he does not know. This person sleeps upon his bed < and > arises to put on his clothes. Unless they make a search (rt.: PL') for whether there is a snake or a scorpion there, he will cast them off without knowing about them and < so > be delivered from them. Therefore, David has said to him: < It is > for you alone to do wonders (rt.: PL'); < it is incumbent > upon us to be blessing you, as stated (in Ps. 72:18): BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD < OF ISRAEL, WHO ALONE DOES WONDERS (rt.: PL') >. In Egypt you did miracles for us, and we on our part uttered a song by the sea for you (in Exod. 15:1-18). The Holy One said to them: In this world I have performed wonders (rt.: PL') for you and redeemed you from the bondage of Egypt. Thus I am going to redeem you in the world to come from the bondage of Edom (i.e., of Esau) and perform wonders for you. It is so stated (in Micah 7:15): AS IN THE DAYS OF YOUR EXODUS FROM [THE LAND OF EGYPT], I WILL SHOW HIM WONDERS (rt.: PL').
How did he do that? When Esau caught a deer, he would tether it and then set out to catch another deer. In the meantime Satan would release the deer that had been caught and permit it to escape. When Esau returned, he was unable to find the deer. He repeated this a second and a third time. And thus it says: A slothful man shall not catch his prey (Prov. 12:27). He was forced to roam about for hours while Jacob received the blessings. Hence, Scripture states: And Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. When the wicked Esau entered, he called out to his father impudently: Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison (Gen. 27:31). It is of him that Scripture states: When the wicked cometh, there cometh also contempt (Prov. 18:3). The words Let my father arise sound as though he were issuing a decree. Jacob did not speak like that. He spoke gently, saying: Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison (Gen. 27:19).
He too made a tasty dish and brought it to his father. He said to his father, Let my father rise and eat of his son’s trapping, that your soul may bless me.
And the Word of the Lord had impeded him from taking clean venison; but he had found a certain dog, and killed him, and made food of him, and brought to his father, and said to his father, Arise, my father, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֛וֹ יִצְחָ֥ק אָבִ֖יו מִי־אָ֑תָּה וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֲנִ֛י בִּנְךָ֥ בְכֹֽרְךָ֖ עֵשָֽׂו׃ | 32 J | His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, Esau, your first-born!” |
WHO ART THOU? When Esau said to him, Let my father arise, (Verse 31 here.) Isaac thought that it was Jacob, i.e., that because Jacob knew that he had eaten of Esau’s venison and blessed Esau, he too prepared savory meats so that he should bless him also. Therefore he asked, Who art thou?, in order to know the truth. (If Isaac did not think him to be Jacob, why should he ask, “Who art thou?” He himself had told Esau to make him savory food, and now he came and said, “Let my father arise.” However, since Ramban explains that Isaac thought him to be Jacob, the question is understandable.)
Isaac his father said to him: Who are you? Isaac was confused by this second entrance. He said: I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.
מי אתה?, “Who are you?” He thought that he was addressing Yaakov who when he had heard that his father had eaten of Esau’s venison, had also prepared a dish for him in order to secure a blessing for himself. He therefore asked: “who are you?” in order to ascertain the true facts.
“Who are you? He said, I am your son, Esau, your firstborn” [27:32]. Isaac asked: who are you? He said: I am your firstborn son, Esau.
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
Three words in this one verse are expressions of pleading, humility, and meekness. The wicked one, however, said merely: Let my father arise, and eat. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob: Inasmuch as you said Arise, I pray thee, your descendant Moses will say to Me: Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered (Num. 10:35). Inasmuch as you said sit (shevah), your descendants will say: Return (shuvah), O Lord, unto the tens of thousands (ibid., v. 36). However, because Esau said Let my father arise, I will exact retribution from him through that very expression, as it is said: Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered (Ps. 68:2). Let my father arise. At that moment Isaac recognized his voice and began to tremble. Who art thou? (Gen. 27:32), he asked. When Jacob entered the room, a fragrance from the Garden of Eden accompanied him; a fragrance so pleasant that the righteous one’s mind was set at ease, as is said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed (ibid., v. 27). However, when Esau entered, Gehenna was revealed to him. Hence, it says: Isaac trembled very exceedingly (ibid., v. 33). Isaac was astonished and cried out: I see Gehenna and Esau is causing the flames to rise.
(Deut. 33:1:) “And this is the blessing.” This text is related (to Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.” This is the blessing of Moses, (PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but there was none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence, as he blessed one and cursed another, as stated (Gen. 9:27,) “May God enlarge (ypt) Japheth (ypt) [...]; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Isaac blessed Jacob, but there was strife in it. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:4), “May He give you the blessing of Abraham, but he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35), “Your brother came with deceit”; and it is stated (in vs. 41), “Then Esau hated Jacob […, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob’].” Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he rebuked Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:4), “Unstable as water”; and similarly (in vs. 5), “Simeon and Levi [are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords].” And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned it] from the Holy One, blessed be He. When he created Adam, He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:27-28), “male and female. Then [God] blessed them.” And the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7), “And the Lord said, “I will blot out the humanity which I created.” When Noah left the ark, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1), “Then God blessed Noah and his children.” The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world, and He added blessing, as stated (in Gen. 12:2), “For I will make you into a great nation.” Once Abraham came, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “It is not honorable for Me, that I should be obliged to bless My creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who they issue a blessing, I am placing my seal upon [those blessings], as stated (in vs. 2, cont.), ‘[I will bless you and magnify your name] and so become a blessing.’” (Vs. 3:) “I will bless those who bless you….” What is the meaning of “I will bless?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Take note. I am handing over the blessings to all whom you bless, and I am sealing [them] through you.” But if from then on the blessings were [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said, “If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard, (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5.) [and] gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said, “If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.” And so also did Abraham say, “If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Rather look here. I will leave him alone until the Holy One, blessed be He, comes, when He will deal with what belongs to Him.” Jacob came and received five blessings: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) From his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “Then Isaac trembled (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why “trembled?” R. Eliezer ben Pedat said, “[He did so] because he saw Gehinnom open in front of him. He wanted to say, ‘Cursed will be [Jacob.’ Instead,] he went back [on it], and added blessing [to it], when he said (ibid., end), ‘he also shall be blessed.’” Here is one [blessing]. A second (is in Gen. 28:1), “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him.” The blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, (is in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob [… and blessed him].” The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4), “And may He grant you the blessing of Abraham.” And the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30), “and he (the angel) blessed him there.” When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessings that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28), “All these are the tribes of Israel, [twelve in number, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them, each one with his own blessing is how he blessed them].” (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” [According to another interpretation, Moses made] an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4.) since it was fitting for him to bless them with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars [he had built]; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but [Balaam] only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10), “but here you have even blessed them these three times.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair; then he will bless Israel.” And it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9), “He that has a benevolent eye shall be blessed (ybrk).” Do not read “ybrk [with vowels meaning] shall be blessed,” but [with vowels meaning] “shall bless.” This refers to Moses our master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel, such that he blessed them with [the other] four blessings: The first is (in Exod. 39:43), “When Moses saw all the work […] he blessed them.” The second is (in Lev. 9:23), “Then Moses and Aaron came unto the tent of meeting; and when they came out, they blessed the people….” The third is (in Deut. 1:11), “May the Lord God of your ancestors add [to your numbers a thousand times more than you are and bless you].” The fourth is (here in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” It is therefore stated (in Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.”(Deut. 33:1:) And this is the blessing.” It was fitting for Moses to bless Israel because he had constantly risked his life for them. (PRK 31(suppl. 1):12.) For this reason, it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing [that Moses blessed... the Children of Israel].” (Deut. 33:1:) “The man of God (the Power).” If it says, “man,” why does it say, “God,” and if it says, “God,” why does it say, “man?” It is simply that at the time he fled from in front of Pharaoh, he was a man, but at the time he trounced [the Egyptians], he was a power. Another interpretation: At the time that he went up to the firmament, he was a man; in front of the angels that were all fire, he was a man. But at the time he came down, he was a power. Before he went up to the firmament, he was a man, as he would eat and drink. But all the time that he was there, he was a power, as stated (in Exod. 34:20), “and they were afraid to approach him.”
(Ibid. 42:37): "And Reuven said to his father: 'You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him [Benjamin] back to you… (38): And he said: 'My son shall not go down with you.'" The Midrash relates that Yaakov said about him [Reuven]: "He is a foolish bechor [(first-born)]. Are they his sons and not my sons?" The words of Reuven must, indeed, be understood, but, essentially, this is the explanation: Whatever issues from a man's mouth [(aside from what relates to fear of the L-rd, which is a function of man's free will)] is brought about by Heaven. This is the thrust of Chazal's statement: "All is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven." And the Midrash tells us that this ejaculation of Reuven's [("You may kill my two sons, etc.")] was fulfilled in his sons, [i.e., descendants], Dathan and Aviram [(in the episode of Korach)]. And, in truth, he [Reuven] himself was the cause of this, by saying (Bereshith 27:32): "Cast him into this pit which is in the desert." The act was extremely evil, for which reason they [Dathan and Aviram] descended, living, to Sheol, to the midst of the pit. As to his intent, being good, as it is written (Bereshith, Ibid.): "in order to rescue him from their hands to return him to his father," he merited that one of his descendants, On ben Peleth, be saved, by returning in repentance to His Father in heaven (wherefore he was called "On," his being in aninuth ["mourning" (for his sin)] all of his life, as Chazal have stated.
SO ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT. Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby. (Proverbs 13:13. Ramban’s intent in quoting this verse is to explain why it was necessary for the verse before us to say, So Esau ‘despised,’ since, as is clearly indicated in Scripture later on, Esau regretted his action and complained that he [Jacob] took my birthright. (Further, 28:36.) Scripture therefore justifies what befell Esau later on by saying here, So Esau ‘despised’ the birthright, and he who despises the word shall suffer thereby.) But, indeed, Scripture has already explained the reason that Esau consented to the sale. This was because he was in mortal danger from his hunting animals, and it was likely that he would die while his father was alive, and the birthright carried with it no distinction except after the passing of the father. So of what benefit was the birthright to him? This then is what Scripture says: And he did eat and drink, and he rose and went, and he despised, for, after having eaten and drunk, he returned to his hunt in the field which was the cause of the despising of the birthright. For there is no desire in fools (Ecclesiastes 5:3.) except to eat and drink and to fulfill their momentary desire, not giving a care for tomorrow. Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has erred here exceedingly by saying that Esau despised the birthright because he saw his father destitute of wealth. Now, [continues Ibn Ezra,] many wonder about Isaac’s poverty since Abraham left him with great wealth. But have they never seen a person who was wealthy in his younger years and became poor in his old age? An indication that Isaac was indeed poor is the fact that Isaac loved Esau because of his venison. Furthermore, had there been abundant food in his father’s house and he [Esau] “the honorable one in his sight,” (See Isaiah 43:4.) he would not have sold his birthright for pottage. Also, if his father ate savory meat every day, what reason was there for him to say to Esau, “Bring me some venison?” (See further, 27:3-4.) Why did Jacob not have costly garments as Esau had? (See ibid., Verse 15.) Why did his mother not give Jacob some silver and gold for his journey when he fled to Haran so that he had to say, And He will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on? (Ibid., 28:20.) Why did she not send him some money — since she loved him — so that he was required to tend Laban’s flock? (All these questions indicate that Isaac was indeed poor.) The verse which states, Thus the man grew (Further, 26:13.) [in wealth], must refer to the period before he became old. Now ignorant people think that wealth is a great distinction for the righteous. Let Elijah prove the contrary. (See I Kings 17:6, where Elijah’s poverty is depicted.) These ignorant people further ask, “Why did G-d cause Isaac to lack wealth?” Perhaps they could also inform us why He caused Isaac’s vision to be diminished? And let them not dismiss me with a reply based upon a d’rash (The D’rash (Aggadic) answer is that Isaac’s eyes became dim as a result of Esau’s wives offering incense to the idols. See Rashi further, 27:1, where this is one of several reasons mentioned.) for there is indeed a secret (Interpreters of Ibn Ezra suggest that “the secret” referred to here is the fact that Isaac was a son of Abraham’s old age, and it was for this reason that his eyesight was weak.) in the matter, and we must not probe since the thoughts of G-d are deep and no man has the power to understand them. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words. Now I wonder who has blinded Abraham ibn Ezra’s reasoning in this matter, causing him to say that Abraham left Isaac great wealth, and he lost it just prior to this event, [that is, the sale of the birthright], and for this reason, Esau despised the birthright, for this matter of the sale of the birthright took place when Jacob and Esau were still young, before Esau married, as Scripture tells, (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife. (26:34).) and after the sale of the birthright, Isaac again became wealthy in the land of the Philistines until he became very great… and the Philistines were jealous of him. (Further, 26:13-14.) Following that, [according to Ibn Ezra, we must say that Isaac] again became poor, and he desired the venison of his son Esau and the savory meats. All this is laughable. Furthermore, the verse says, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed his son Isaac. (Above, 25:11.) Now the blessing refers to increase of wealth, possessions and honor, but where was His blessing if he lost the wealth of his father and became impoverished? Afterwards it says, And I will be with Thee, and I will bless thee, (Further, 26:3.) [but according to Ibn Ezra you will have to say that Isaac] became rich and then poor! And if it be true that in matters of wealth, There are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 8:14.) this does not apply to those righteous men who have been expressly blessed by the Holy One, blessed be He, since the blessing of the Eternal maketh rich, and no sorrow is added thereto. (Proverbs 10:22.) Rather, the patriarchs all were as kings before whom kings of the nations came and with whom they made covenants. Now it is written concerning Isaac and Abimelech, And they swore one to another. (Further, 26:31.) But if Isaac had suffered bad fortune and lost his father’s wealth, how did [Abimelech, King of the Philistines, and Phichol, the head of his army], say, we saw plainly that the Eternal was with thee, (Ibid., Verse 28.) when he was already in financial difficulty? Rather, Esau’s disdain of the birthright was due to his brutal nature. It is possible that the law of double portion to which the firstborn is entitled according to the statutes of the Torah (Deuteronomy 21:17.) was not in effect in ancient times. (That is, in the time of the patriarchs.) [At that time the birthright] was only a matter of inheriting the pre-eminence of the father and his authority so that he [the firstborn] would receive honor and distinction in relation to his younger brother. It is for this reason that Esau said to Isaac, I am thy son, thy firstborn, (Further, 27:32.) meaning to say that he is the firstborn who deserves to be blessed. Similarly, [Joseph said to his father, Jacob], For this is the firstborn; put thy hand upon his head, (Ibid., 48:18.) thereby meaning that Jacob should give him precedence in the blessing. Perhaps the firstborn also took slightly more of the inheritance since the law of double portion is an innovation of the statutes of the Torah. (Thus even in ancient times it was customary that the firstborn inherit more than one share. However, the Torah established his portion to be two shares. This interpretation differs from Ramban’s original thesis that the firstborn originally had no preference whatever in inheritance, and that the Torah instituted this law.) And as for the venison in his mouth which Isaac desired so strongly, this is in keeping with the custom of princes and kings. They prefer venison above all food, and out of fear, all nations bring them gifts of venison. Esau flattered his father by bringing him all the venison so that he may always eat of it to his heart’s content, (Ramban thus explains Isaac’s desire for venison without postulating Isaac’s poverty as Ibn Ezra did.) and the love of a father for his firstborn is easily understood. As for Isaac’s saying that he would bless Esau after he had prepared the savory meats for him, that was not a reward or a recompense for the food. Instead, he wanted to derive some benefit from him so that his very soul would be bound up in his at the time that he brought him the food so that he would then bless him with a complete desire and a perfect will. Perhaps Isaac discerned in himself that following the meal his soul would be delighted and joyous, and then the Ruach Hakodesh (“The holy spirit.” The expression refers to a degree of prophecy. See Moreh Nebuchim, II, 45 (2).) would come upon him, [as was the case with Elisha the prophet, who said], ‘But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Eternal came upon him. (II Kings 3:15.) And as for not giving wealth to Jacob, that was [not due to Isaac’s poverty but rather] because Jacob was fleeing for his life. He left the country alone without his brother’s knowledge, and had he been given along wealth, servants and camels, they would have increased his enemies’ jealousy and resulted in their ambushing him and killing him. Our Rabbis do indeed say that Jacob was robbed [at the outset of his journey (Bereshith Rabbah 68:2. Thus another difficulty tending to favor Ibn Ezra’s thesis that Isaac was poverty stricken is resolved.) of whatever possessions he had]. And who has told Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra that Jacob had no costly garments, fine linen and silk and embroidered robes? (Ezekiel 16:13.) Rather, Scripture states that when going to the field to hunt, Esau would change his garments for his hunting clothes, and due to the fact that [because of his dim eyesight], Isaac always touched his son and his clothes with his hands, Rebekah clothed Jacob with them lest he recognize him by his clothes. You see that this is precisely what Isaac did: And he smelled the odor of his garments (Further, 27:27.) because he had put them among calamus and cinnamon, even as it is written, Myrrh and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments. (Psalms 45:9.) The spices grew in the Land of Israel, and it is for this reason that Isaac said, The odor of my son is as the odor of a field. (Further, 27:27.) Because he was a man of the field (See above, Verse 27.) his garments had the odor of the field or that of the blossoms of the trees, just as our Rabbis explained it: As the odor of a field (Further, 27:27.) of apples. (Taanith 29b.) And as for the question raised above concerning the quality of Isaac’s lack of vision, it is a question raised by the ignorant, for if (Further in the text Ramban suggests that Isaac’s dim vision was a natural result of his old age. Hence he writes here: “If it was brought about.”) it was brought about especially by G-d, it was in order that Isaac bless Jacob, this being the purport of the verse, And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, he called Esau. (Further, 27:1.) And in line with the natural meaning of Scripture, this was but a manifestation of old age, the explanation of the verse being as follows: And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim in his old age, he called Esau. Now of Jacob himself it is said later on, Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. (Ibid., 48:10.) Of Achiyah the Shilonite it is also written, Now Achiyah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age, (I Kings 14:4.) and concerning Moses our teacher it is related with wonder that his eye was not dim. (Deuteronomy 34:7.)
Yitzchok, his father, said to him, Who are you? He said, I am your son, your firstborn, Eisov.
And Izhak his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy firstborn, Esau.
| וַיֶּחֱרַ֨ד יִצְחָ֣ק חֲרָדָה֮ גְּדֹלָ֣ה עַד־מְאֹד֒ וַיֹּ֡אמֶר מִֽי־אֵפ֡וֹא ה֣וּא הַצָּֽד־צַ֩יִד֩ וַיָּ֨בֵא לִ֜י וָאֹכַ֥ל מִכֹּ֛ל בְּטֶ֥רֶם תָּב֖וֹא וָאֲבָרְכֵ֑הוּ גַּם־בָּר֖וּךְ יִהְיֶֽה׃ | 33 J | Isaac was seized with very violent trembling. “Who was it then,” he demanded, “that hunted game and brought it to me? Moreover, I ate of it before you came, and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed!” |
It is known in kabbalistic circles that a righteous person, a צדיק, is also referred to as בן, “son.” When the Jewish people conduct themselves in the manner desired by G’d, the Torah quotes G’d as referring to them as בנים, “sons, children.” (Deuteronomy 14,1) What distinguishes a righteous person from normal people is that he does not suffer from an insatiable appetite for the comforts and allures that this world has to offer, but is content with what he has been granted by his Creator. This is another way of describing him as possessing כל, everything. He does not feel that he lacks anything. This is especially true of the type of righteous people who spend their days asking G’d to dispense His largesse to others whom they perceive to be in need. Their concern for others instead of their asking G’d for more for themselves, stamps them as having been blessed בכל, “with everything.” Moreover, it is to be assumed that people who concern themselves with the needs of their peers all the time, are clearly content that G’d has already given them all that they require for themselves. It is appropriate for every good Jew to emulate Avraham’s example in this respect, and this is why the same expression, i.e. מכל in the case of Yitzchok (Genesis 27,33), and כל in the case of Yaakov, (Genesis 33,11) has been used by the Torah to document that if Avraham was the “father” of this attitude, his children, i.e. descendants, have emulated him, so that the term בת as we explained several times, is a reference to the container from which the largesse of G’d is dispensed. What the sages meant when they said that G’d had blessed Avraham with a בת, is that his descendants had cultivated this virtue of his, of being concerned first and foremost with the needs of others. In psalms 21,3 David expresses his gratitude to G’d Who has granted him all of his aspirations. He too had emulated this virtue that his people’s founding father had been able to implant in his offspring.
Genesis 27,33. “he shall also remain blessed.” We need to examine what exactly prompted Yitzchok to say this, seeing that he did give Yaakov another blessing in 28,1-4. Yaakov received the first blessing when he brought his father the meal, and the second one when he set out to flee from his brother Esau, (though his father thought he was sending him only to marry one of Lavan’s daughters.) On the surface, the first blessing was the major blessing, whereas the precise meaning of the second blessing was not even spelled out. If the second blessing was the “minor” blessing, it must have been meant to apply to Yaakov while he was alive on this earth, concerning himself with success in his undertakings on earth. The effect of his first blessing was meant to be reserved for use in the world to come, or at least on earth, but after the arrival of the messiah. In his comments on Zecharyah 14,9 ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד ושמו אחד, “on that day G’d will be One and His name will be One,” the Ari z’al comments that the meaning is not that G’d’s name will undergo changes, but that the meaning of G’d’s name(s) will be clear to all of mankind. G’d’s name י-ה will no longer be an allusion to exile, nor will His name ו-ה be abused by atheists using it for their own purposes. When the time comes when G’d will deal with the “left” side of the emanations judgmentally, neutralizing its influence forever, the two parts of G’d’s name will be on a par with one another as if there were no ה and no ו but two letters י. When Yitzchok told Esau, concerning Yaakov’s future, גם ברוך יהיה, “he will also remain blessed in the future”, he referred to that future.
Now “The beauty of Jacob is a reflection of the beauty of Adam,” (Bava Metzia 84a; see also Zohar I:35b, 168a, 222a, etc., and ref. in following note.) for he rectified the sin of Adam. (See Zohar III:111b; also, Zohar II:141b and Nitzutzei Orot, ad loc.; cf. further Zohar I:142b and Derech Emet, ad loc.; and Zohar II:275b-276a. R. Natan Nata Schapiro, in his Megaleh Amukot, section Toldot (on Genesis 27:33; ed. Lublin 1912, 41a), explains how the rectification of Adam’s sin is implied in this saying by relating the word shofrei (beauty) to the root shapper (to correct, to cleanse)—as in Job 26:13 (see Ibn Ezra, ad loc.), and in accordance with the Rabbinic interpretation of Exodus 1:5 (quoted by Rashi, ad loc.).) His soul, too, was composed of all the souls of Israel, in all times. And he was a vehicle for the Torah as it is above, which is referred to as Adam, as it is written: (Ezekiel 1:26.) “And on the likeness of the throne there was a likeness as the appearance of Adam…”; (See Zohar I:71b-72a; and cf. ibid., 97a.) also, it is written: (Ruth 4:7.) “And zot was within, (The conventional translation of לפנים is aforetimes, but the author emphasizes here its etymological meaning of within (cf. Zohar III:180a and the commentary of R. Moses Zacuto, ad loc.; see also Pardes Rimonim 16:4). Thus the verse now reads: “And zot (this, i.e., the Torah) was within, in Israel (i.e., Jacob),” i.e., engraved and marked in Israel.) in Israel”—and “Zot refers only to the Torah….” (Zohar III:81b; Zohar Chadash, Rut 88d; see Menachot 53b.) For the Torah was contained and vested in the soul of Israel the Patriarch (Zohar Chadash, Rut, 88c ff.; cf. Or Hatorah, Nach vol. 2, p. 1026 ff.—A literal translation should read: Israel the Old (Yisrael Sabba); a Midrashic term (cf. Bereishit Rabbah 68:11, 74:11; etc.), apparently to distinguish between the general term Israel and Israel the Patriarch (where the Scriptural reference can be interpreted either way). In Kabbalistic writings, though, a distinction is made between Yisrael Sabba and what the Zohar calls Yisrael Zutta (Israel the Young, or Small); see, e.g., Zohar II:43a, 216a; etc. See Torah Or, Shemot 50d.) —which compounded all the souls.
ויחרד יצחק, “Yitzchok became frightened;” according to Rashi, he had a vision of gehinom opening up beneath him. He had this vision as soon as he wanted to curse Yaakov for having deceived him. Some commentators understand the expression as Yitzchok now realising that if he could not even have known the difference between his two sons he could no longer be surprised why he had been struck with blindness as a punishment. Nonetheless, there was one thing he was not frightened of. Seeing that nothing is concealed from G-d, how could He have allowed the birthright to be transferred from the older son to the younger son?
גם ברוך יהיה “he shall also remain blessed.” Yitzchok reasoned that seeing that he had intended to bless his firstborn son, [and Yaakov had bought the birthright already a long time ago,] he had actually blessed the son to whom this blessing belonged legally. Another exegesis: seeing that I already said to Yaakov that anyone who would curse him shall himself become cursed, if I cursed him now I would bring a curse upon myself. If you, [the reader] were to ask me, if so at least Yitzchok should not have given Yaakov an additional blessing? The answer is that I also said that anyone who would bless him should be blessed. Therefore it is in my own interest to bestow another blessing upon him. Another interpretation for the words: “he shall also retain the blessing;” Yitzchok asked G-d to confirm the blessing that he had bestowed upon Yaakov.
ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדולה עד מאד “Yitzchok was overcome by an exceedingly strong trembling;” Yitzchok actually experienced two separate fits of trembling; the first time had been when he lay bound on the altar of Moriah, expecting to have his throat slit. The second time occurred here. (B’reshit Rabbah 67,2). He asked himself what sin he had been guilty of, so that he had blessed the younger son before he had blessed the older son. He had caused Esau to groan, complaining (if I had no blessing left for him). Our author quotes a line in our version of Rashi, that did not appear in some later editions, such as the ones relied on by Luzzato.
מי איפוא, “who and where?” Yitzchok questioned himself who was now destined to wind up in Gehinom, either he himself, or Yaakov for using deceit, or Esau for having used deceit for all these years? The words following are the ones provided from the Holy Spirit, stating clearly that he who had “hunted venison”, (metaphor for deceit, as animals must be lured to their death by deceit). Hearing this, Yitzchok continued
WHO THEN IS HE. Mi efoh hu (who then is he?) should be interpreted as follows: who is he and where is he? (The phrase should be read as follows: mi hu (who is he) and efo hu (where is he). The hu following efoh also applies to mi (Krinsky, Cherez). Mi efo hu literally means who where is he. Hence I.E.’s comment.) The word efoh (then) is made up of two words. (Efoh is made up of ayeh (where) and poh (here) (Weiser).)
The vav of va-varakhehu (and have blessed him) is vocalized with a kamatz because va-avarakhehu is a perfect. Had the vav been vocalized with a pattach, then va-avarachehu would be an imperfect. (Avarakhehu means I will bless him. The vav vocalized with a kamatz is a vav conversive and changes I will bless him to I blessed him. If the vav were vocalized with a pattach it would be a connective vav, and va-avarakhehu would mean, and I will bless him.)
ויחרד יצחק. Isaac trembled. Isaac experienced contradictory feelings; he trembled because he had been tricked. At the same time he was aware that he had blessed Jacob by saying that anyone cursing him should himself be cursed. When he understood that the person upon whom he had bestowed the blessing was his son Jacob he blessed him because he realised that the fragrance that emanated from Jacob's clothing indicated his moral superiority over Esau. This prompted Isaac to confirm his blessing. He may also have been afraid to bring a curse upon himself if he were to revoke the blessing.
גם ברוך יהיה “he shall also remain blessed.” Yitzchak meant that Yaakov should remain blessed by all the emanations. He said these words to teach us that if someone received a blessing from the patriarchs [who had been specifically endowed by G’d with the power to bestow blessings, Ed.] he is as if he had been blessed by G’d directly. The expression chosen by our author is מפי אלוקי אמן. [This is an expression borrowed from Isaiah 65,16 meaning that the blessing —even though its fulfillment may have been delayed — stems from the G’d who can be trusted to fulfill His promises Ed.] Tanchuma Toldot 13 concentrates on the word ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדולה, “Yitzchak experienced a great trembling,” explaining that the Torah repeats the word חרד to show that this was already the second time Yitzchak had trembled. The first time was on the altar on Mount Moriah. The reason why the Torah added the words עד מאד in this instance was to tell us that this trembling was of a more far reaching nature than the one he experienced when he thought he was going to be a sacrifice. Bereshit Rabbah 67,2 asks why a man whose one son left the room to make room for his other son should be seized by such violent tremors. The answer given is that when Esau entered Gehinom entered with him. Rabbi Nathan, quoting Rabbi Acha said that the walls of his house started shaking. This is alluded to by the words מי אפוא in our verse and meant: “who in the future was going to ‘be baked?’” [Yitzchak had a vision of someone being burned by the fires of Gehinom and considered that it might be himself for having misjudged the character of his children so tragically. Ed.] G’d answered him that neither he nor Yaakov was going to be burned by those fires but the one הצד ציד, who had constantly been “hunting,” i.e. misleading him, Esau.
ויחרד; he displayed his emotional upset in front of Esau in order that Esau should not think he had deliberately fooled Esau by blessing Yaakov. He said:
מי איפוא, the words mean: “who is he, and where is he now?”
ואכל מכול, of all the tasty dishes which he served me.
בטרם תבא, “before you could come. If I had not eaten of all the type of food he had prepared for me, and you would have arrived while I was in the middle of eating, I would have stopped eating from his food and have helped myself to yours and have blessed you. However, since I have eaten my fill before you came I cannot do this now since I have blessed him already.”
גם ברוך יהיה, since I have already blessed him I confirm my blessing for I knew that he was my son (not an outsider).
AND ISAAC TREMBLED VERY EXCEEDINGLY, AND SAID, WHO THEN IS HE THAT HATH TAKEN VENISON AND BROUGHT IT TO ME, AND I HAVE EATEN OF ALL BEFORE THOU COMEST AND HAVE BLESSED HIM? YEA, AND HE SHALL BE BLESSED. It is not natural for a person who just trembled violently and complained, “Who was it that subtly made me bless him?” to conclude his complaint by immediately saying, Yea, and he shall be blessed! Rather, it would have been proper that he curse him! Moreover, Esau would then complain to his father, saying, “But why do you bless him now, my father?” And how would Esau believe his father that it was originally done through subtlety (Verse 35 here.) when he saw that he was now blessing him willingly! The correct interpretation appears to me to be that it is in the present tense. (The word yihyeh, generally understood as a future tense — and he shall be blessed — is here to be understood as a present tense, as explained below in the text.) Isaac is saying, “Who then is he that hath hunted venison, who could have beguiled me so that I should bless him and that he should remain blessed under all circumstances for I knew that he is a blessed one?” Or it may be that the expression, Yea, and he shall be blessed, means “against my will, since it is impossible for me to transfer the blessing from him.” From the moment he blessed him, Isaac knew by Ruach Hakodesh (See above, Note 90.) that his blessings indeed rested upon Jacob. This then is the reason for his violent trembling for he knew that his beloved son Esau had lost his blessing forever. This also is the explanation for his saying, Thy brother came with subtlety, (Verse 35 here.) meaning that after he said, Who then is he etc. he realized that Jacob had been the one who came before him to receive the blessing for it would have been impossible for the blessing to rest on any but his offspring, [and, as mentioned above, Isaac knew by Ruach Hakodesh that the blessing had taken effect. Hence he was sure that it was Jacob who had come before him.]
ויחרד יצחק, he was upset at having found hair on the smooth part of Yaakov’s neck.
מי איפוא, this is a turn of phrase, as is the word איזו in the Talmud Baba Metzia70 אימא לי איזו, “tell me my dear friend.”
גם בראך יהיה. “Because he carried out my request so promptly.” Also, Yitzchok was aware that Yaakov had done what he did at the advice and request of Rivkah. Clearly, he reasoned, Rivkah had realised that Yaakov was entitled to this blessing.
ויחרד [AND ISAAC] TREMBLED — Explain it as the Targum renders it ותוה, which means he was perplexed. The Midrashic explanation (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 11) is that he saw Gehinnom opening beneath him (Esau).
מי אפוא WHO THEN IS HE — The word אפוא is an independent particle having no etymological connection with any other Hebrew word and is used with many different shades of meaning Another explanation of אפוא is that it is the same as איה פה where here, — so that מי אפוא means “Who is he and where is he here that hath hunted venison”?)
ואכל מכל AND I HAVE EATEN OF ALL — all tastes that I desired to find in it I indeed found therein (Genesis Rabbah 67:2).
גם ברוך יהיה YEA, AND HE SHALL BE BLESSED — In order that you may not say “If Jacob had not deceived his father he would never have received the blessing”, he, therefore, confirmed it, blessing him now of his own free will (Genesis Rabbah 67:2).
?מי איפוא הוא, if it is indeed true that you are Esau, who was the one who served me venison? When the word איפוא appears with the letter א at the end, the word is an alternative for the two words אם כן, “if so.” When the same word (phonetically speaking) is spelled with the letter ה at the end, as for instance, in Genesis 37,16 איפה הם רועים?, the word means the same as איה, “where?”
גם ברוך יהיה, the appropriate translation of the whole verse would be: “if this is so that you are indeed Esau, who is the one who brought me the venison and still achieved that he will remain blessed?!” Yitzchok had felt instinctively at the time he had bestowed the blessing that it would become fulfilled for the person whom he was blessing at the time. This confirms something told us by Rabbi Chanina in Berachot 34 that whenever he prayed for the recovery of a sick person he could feel while praying for him if his prayer would be effective.
As Onkelos translates it ותוה, meaning surprise. But its Midrashic... According to the Midrash, ויחרד means fear of the opening of Gehinom. It does not mean what it sounds like, i.e., surprise. Yet even according to the simple meaning, the word ויחרד denotes “fear” and not “surprise.” Rather, Rashi is explaining that [according to the simple meaning,] the fear came from the surprise of, “Who, then, is he?” as the verse sounds like it is saying. Whereas according to the Midrash, the fear was of Gehinom.
He saw Gehinom open beneath him. It means beneath Eisov, [not beneath Yitzchok]. Yaakov entered accompanied by the Garden of Eden, and Eisov was accompanied by Gehinom. (Gur Aryeh)
An independent word, used with many situations... I.e., it is not [always] a compound word from איה and פה. Rather, it [often] is a word on its own and has various meanings depending on its context.
Any taste that I wished to taste... Otherwise, why does it say מכל?
So you may not say: had Yaakov not tricked his father... Question: [If so, why] was “He has deceived me” (v. 36) written after “He shall be blessed”? It seems the answer is: Eisov surely wailed immediately, “What has this brother done to me? He has deceived me twice!” Upon hearing this, his father said, “He shall be blessed.” When Eisov heard his father respond, “He shall be blessed,” to the claim of, “He has deceived me twice,” paying him no heed, Eisov exclaimed (ibid): “Is he not rightly called Yaakov?” I.e., I see that you like his deceit and trickery, and that is why you named him יעקב [“He will deceive”], in the future tense, rather than עקב [“he held the heel”] — because he would deceive me twice! (Maharshal)
Therefore he affirmed it and knowingly blessed him. Otherwise, why does it say, “He shall be blessed”? He had already blessed him!
Isaac was overcome with great trembling, as he realized something terrible had occurred. And he said: Who is it then who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate from it all before you came, and I blessed him; indeed, he shall be blessed. I know that the blessing has taken effect.
גם ברוך יהיה,”he shall also retain his blessing.” Since when is the reaction to someone who complains that he has been tricked out of a blessing, that one tells him that the party who received the blessing in his place is to keep it? Surely, the normal reaction would be to curse the swindler who came by the blessing by devious means! Moreover, seeing that Yitzchok repeated the blessing he had given to Yaakov a second time, this clearly indicates that Yaakov did not obtain the blessing by deceitful means in the first place! Why else would he now bless Yaakov willingly and knowingly? This is why Nachmanides explains the entire verse commencing with the words: מי איפוא הצד ציד ויבא לי ואכל מכל as referring to Esau, i.e. “who is the person who has fed me a line which I swallowed hook line and sinker all these years so that I was befuddled enough to bestow the blessing on him?” Alternately, what Yitzchok meant was that once he had uttered the blessing it was too late for him to recall it and to invalidate it, even if it had been obtained under a false premises. Yitzchok had realized as soon as he had finished blessing Yaakov, that he had indeed blessed the son who deserved the blessing. It was this belated inspiration supplied by the Holy Spirit, which made him tremble in the sudden realization that he had lost his beloved son permanently..
“Isaac was seized with violent trembling” [27:33]. Isaac became very frightened. The Midrash writes. (Tanhuma, Toldot, 13.) Isaac was frightened when he was bound on the altar and now he was even more frightened. Therefore, it is written here, very much. This means, very much. Isaac was very frightened. He saw Gehenna coming with Esau and the walls of the house trembled. Thus, Isaac said: “who was it” [27:33]? Who was the man who will be baked and roasted in the fire, me or my children? The Holy One responded: not you nor your children, but “the one who hunted game” [27:33]. That is to say, Esau who hunted game and the people who will be caught in the fire. (Bahya, Genesis, 27:33.)
“I ate of it before you came, and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed” [27:33]. I ate it before you came and it tasted very good. I blessed him and he should be blessed. Isaac said: he should remain blessed. That is to say, people should not say that if Jacob had not acted deceitfully, he would not have been blessed. Therefore, Isaac said: he should remain blessed. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:33.) Hizkuni writes. Isaac said: I made a mistake between Jacob and Esau. This is nothing new, since I am blind. However, the Holy One knew everything very well, how is it that He would take away the blessing from the firstborn and give it to the younger one. “He will remain blessed” [27:33]. He will be blessed since I blessed him with the agreement of the Holy One. Jacob bought the blessing from you and therefore it is rightful that he should be blessed. Hizkuni gives another explanation. Isaac said: “he will remain blessed” [27:33]. He must be because I have blessed Jacob that all those who blessed him should be blessed and those who curse him should be cursed. If I will now curse Jacob, then I will be cursed. If you want to say that I should not curse, but not bless, therefore Isaac said, “he will remain blessed” [27:33]; he should be blessed. When I bless him, then I bless myself, since I have already blessed him that the one who blesses him should be blessed. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:33.)
If we reflect on the phenomenon that when sunlight is concentrated in one spot through the use of a convex lens, it intensifies to the point where enough heat is generated in a small area to start a fire, Balak's intention may become clear. He hoped that the power of Bileam's evil eye when applied to a concentrated area rather than when diffused over the entire mass of the people, would be that much more effective. When, later on, Bileam views the whole nation, and he no longer bothers with magic formulas, he is called "the one of the seeing eye." 12) This is because the spirit of G'd had come to rest on him, and he no longer attempts to oppose the will of G'd. At that moment Bileam's undistorted eyesight both physically and spiritually becomes operative. The references in 23,19, to the steadfastness of G'd in honouring promises once made are not a repetition, but rather explain the nature of broken promises. 13) There are basically two reasons for not honouring promises. These can be subdivided into four sub categories. 1) A change of mind in the heart of the person who has made the promise. 2) A lack of sincerity already at the time the promise had been made, one had never intended to keep it. Bileam says "the Lord is not like a man who deceives, i.e. G'd makes no phony promises. Concerning the other reason he says "nor is He human to have regrets." G'd does not change His mind in midstream. The other reasons for not honouring promises have to do with the inability of the one who has made the promise to honour it. This may be due to a change in the circumstances of the "donor" by the time the promise had to be made good. Alternately, outside pressure may be applied to the "donor" to prevent him from making good on his promise. Concerning the inability to make good on a promise, Bileam says of G'd "will He say something He cannot do?" Concerning the last possibility, Bileam says "would He say something that He could be prevented from making good on?" Bileam goes on to say "I have undertaken to bless, and I will not renege on the blessing." Concerning the other side of the coin, i.e. the recipient s fitness to receive the blessing, which could cause eventual non performance, Bileam says "I have not seen any injustice among Jacob i.e. there is no reason to renege on a promise made to this people, their conduct does not give rise to this. Bileam now hastens to confess that Israel's departure from Egypt had in fact been G'ds doing, not as he had previously tried to misrepresent it, Israel's own accomplishment. "The Lord took them out of Egypt," not as previously "the people who came out of Egypt." This nation does not require artificial and unreliable means such as kessamim and nechashim, various kinds of enchantments to aid them in realising their destiny, but rather, it is serene in its confidence of G'ds achievements. 11) Bileam now has to confess his third error, that of describing the Jewish nation as a disorderly herd, comparable to animals on the march. He extols the civilisation and morality of the Jewish people, exclaiming "how goodly are your tents, O Jacob!" Their progress in the world will be growing constantly, just as "little brooks turn into streams." Their dwelling places will be like gardens on river banks, but sufficiently elevated to be safe from flooding. 14) The reference to the kingdom of Israel being greater than that of the kingdom of Agag, refers to the kingdom of David. The idea is that the kingdom of David, representing as it does the concept of the Messiah, will commence immediately upon the death of the former. As soon as Saul had defeated the Amalekites, Samuel had been dispatched to anoint David as G'ds chosen king. Only after the formal defeat of the kingdom of Amalek, could the Messiah begin his career on earth. After all the wrangling between the forces of anti-G'd and Israel will have ended, Israel and its messianic king will emerge as mightier than the forces of the anti-G'd. The letters in the name David, when added to the letters in the name Agag, produce the holy number seven. If, say you have a gambling cube, you will observe that the numbers are arranged in such a fashion that opposite sides always total seven. For instance, the digit three will be opposite the digit four, the digit five opposite the digit two etc. If you were to arrange the cube with the letters in the names of David and Agag instead of using numbers, the same result would be achieved, seeing that the numerical values in the two names correspond to the digits 4-6-4, and 1-3-3. When suitably arranged, with the letters of David's name on top, the letters of the name of "Agag" will all be at the bottom. When Bileam extols the future feats of Israel in 24,8-9, he is in fact confessing that all the feats of grandeur he had once thought himself as capable of, will in fact be performed by Israel. In refusing to be ousted by Balak, he states "I will walk back to my people." 15) However, he offers Balak a free piece of advice concerning what Israel would do to Moab in the not so immediate future. (Thus he reassures Moab regarding its own future for some time to come) Concerning his own well being, Bileam says that he will be quite comfortable among his own people; however, in view of what he foresees about the future of Moab, he tries to convince Balak that to wage war against Israel would be futile. He does not, -as Rashi suggests,- advise the seduction of Israel to commit immoral acts, but expresses continuous thoughts all of which are summarised by the idea that opposing Israel would be an exercise in futility. All this, is of course, the exact opposite of what Balak had invited him for, and therefore completes Bileams' utter humiliation. When, finally, he announces the advent of the Messiah, he completes his repentance concerning his fourth sin, namely having denied the Jewish people their status as human beings. By allowing that it is Israel who will produce the redeemer of mankind in the person of the Messiah, he admits that Israel is more qualified than anyone to lead mankind to its ultimate goals. Contrasting the eventual fates of the Amalekites and the Kenites, he emphasizes that those who choose true values will survive, whereas those who choose to continue living by the values of Edom will ultimately perish. If the Torah describes Balak as "Balak went on his way this shows that he accepted Bileam's advice. If later, the punitive expedition is sent by Moses only against the Midianites, this supports the view that the Moabites had abstained from hostile action against Israel. Our commentary follows the tradition of our sages as recorded in Vayikra Rabbah 81, namely that Bileam's prophecies were aimed at benefitting Israel. This is also the meaning of the verse in Micah 6,5, "O My people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised, but what Bileam the son of Peor answered him." Forcing Israel's enemy to bless her instead of cursing her, was the ultimate honour that could have been bestowed upon this nation. Just as Esau at the time had had to acknowledge that Jacob was entitled to his father's blessing, this was he highest accolade that could have been received.
But here, too, there is a formidable problem. And that is, he who is blessed attains what is contained in the blessing — whether all or part — in the merit of Isaac and his benediction, then how can Jacob attain all this by turning aside the intent of Isaac, the agent of the prayer and the entreaty? For even if we grant that the Blessed One will not (under these circumstances) be entreated of Isaac to give the rule to Esau as he intended, how could He be entreated to give it to his rival, Jacob (if this assumption is, indeed, true, that Jacob profited from this benediction only by virtue of Isaac's praying). How could his entreaty sadden him and his prayer turn against him to the point that in anxiety for Esau Isaac cries out: "And he will be blessed, too!" That is, once it has left my mouth it cannot be retracted. In short, the matter of the blessing, regardless of which of the possibilities we assume, is extremely puzzling.
And when Isaac finished blessing Jacob and saw that the Blessed One had placed in his mouth the words "Be a lord to your brother," he assumed this to confirm beyond a doubt that the one who had been blessed was Esau, not knowing that Jacob would not accede to kingdom by virtue of his blessing but that it had already been accorded him. For this reason, when Esau entered, Isaac was seized with great trembling and said (Ibid 33): "Who was it, then…" — in spite of which he concluded: "And he will be blessed, too." For he then realized that Jacob would not attain to dominion through his blessing (for this could have been contested as having been given in error), but that "the thing had gone forth from the L-rd." And though [— thus the implication of "And he will be blessed, too" —] I could cause it to revert to you through my prayers, this would not be proper, for how could I challenge His desire! It is for us, too, to desire what the exalted L-rd has desired!
And Isaac's words to Esau (Genesis 27:33) "And I ate of all before you came, and I blessed him, and he will be blessed, too" are not to be interpreted as signifying that Isaac would go back and confirm the blessing upon Jacob. For if this were its meaning then Esau would have great cause for complaint against his father and he did not give vent to such complaint at all. To the contrary, we find Isaac saying to him "and what shall I do now for you, my son?" the implication being: If I could fulfill your request I would gladly do so. And after being "filled with great trembling," how could Isaac confirm the blessing in the very midst of his shock, saying "and he will be blessed, too"? The meaning, rather, is "and I blessed him" unknowingly, but, in spite of this, "he will be blessed"; for the blessing proceeded not from Isaac, but from the spirit which rested upon him. (The "too" in "and he will be blessed, too" emphasizes the "trembling," viz. "Who is this that caused me to bless him, and who, perforce, will remain blessed?") It is clear, then, that the blessings themselves suffer in no way from Isaac's blessing Jacob and intending Esau, but that, to the contrary, they are magnified as a result of the greater expansion of Isaac's heart attendant upon his misapprehension.
To this should be added the fact that the Blessed One, "who scans the actions of men and brings counsel from afar," wished to create animosity between the brothers, so that when the one sinned the other would be "the staff of His wrath and the rod of His anger" to chastise him. And He implanted this in the nature of these two brothers by making them opposites and generating therefrom all of their activities. The entire episode follows this theme. First it is written (Genesis 25:22): "And the children wrangled within her, and she said: 'If so, why am I thus?'" which our sages expounded (Genesis Rabbah 63:6) to the effect that when Rebeccah became conscious of the fetuses' strange movements, she asked the pregnant women if something like this had ever happened to them, and when answered in the negative said: "If so," this not being the way of nature, "why am I thus" placed in this strange situation which was never the lot of others? (Ibid): "And she went to inquire of the L-rd" — (that is, of a prophet) to be apprised why this was happening, and he answered her, viz. (Ibid 23): "And the L-rd said to her: 'There are two nations in your womb, and two peoples will separate themselves from your innards.'" He thereby informed her that these two fetuses would be the progenitors of different mighty nations and peoples, who would be entirely incompatible with each other and unable to co-exist in peace, but (Ibid): "One people will overpower the other." It was for this reason that the Blessed One implanted in these two fetuses natures of the very opposite extremes. This is evidenced both in their physical features and in their character traits. In their physical features — Esau was ruddy and hairy, attesting to his hot-blooded, passionate nature; whereas Jacob was smooth-skinned, attesting to his good, even-tempered nature. And their character traits paralleled their natures. For though character is not dictated by nature, it is undeniably predisposed by it. For this reason it is written (Ibid 27) that Esau "knew hunting" (his nature inclining to stratagems and subtleties, the like being employed in the trapping of animals) and that he was "a man of the field" (seeking movement, his feet not planted in his home). And Jacob possessed the opposite of these two tendencies. He was "a simple man," walking uprightly and "glorying in dwelling at home." Their physical features and their character traits, then, show them to be of diametrically opposed natures, the Blessed One having created them thus (but not having compelled them to be good or evil). And this is the natural reason, in my view, for the two fetuses being antagonistic to each other while yet in the womb. For I do not believe that these two fetuses were invested with a prophetic effluence which foreshadowed their destiny. In any event an explanation in terms of nature is called for, and that is that their antagonism stemmed from the Blessed One's having created them diametrically opposed in nature, so that their natures contended with each other in the womb itself (though they were not pre-determinedly good or evil). And because every natural force, when it encounters its opposite, either attempts to overpower it or flees before it, each one of those fetuses sought through its natural force to overpower the other or to escape it. This is the intent of "Vayitrotzatzu" ["and they wrangled"], which connotes both running and striking. And this was deliberately intended by the Blessed One so that each one be imbued with hatred and aversion towards the other. For similarity of natures produces similar character traits and invites love, whereas dissimilarity in natures produces a corresponding dissimilarity in character traits and arouses hatred. (In my view, the serpent in Genesis is to be understood in the same manner, but this is not the place for it [see The First Discourse]). In sum, the brothers were implanted with diametrically opposite natures to create between them a root of hatred.
It should be explained, however, why a prophet must be wealthy and tall. As far as his being strong, we can understand that one who is sent out to chastise a great multitude must be extremely courageous and turn back for nothing, as the Blessed One exhorts Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17): "Therefore, gird your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; do not be afraid of them, lest I make you afraid of them." But why must a prophet be wealthy and tall?
80. The Rabbi: It is said that it is done in order to arouse natural heat. My personal belief is that it stands in connexion with the subject under discussion. As it often happened that many persons read at the same time, it was possible that ten or more read from one volume. This is the reason why our books are so large. Each of them was obliged to bend down in his turn in order to read a passage, and to turn back again. This resulted in a continual bending and sitting up, the book lying on the ground. This was one reason. Then it became a habit through constant seeing, observing and imitating, which is in man's nature. Other people read each out of his own book, either bringing it near to his eyes, or, if he pleased, bending down to it without inconveniencing his neighbour. There was, therefore, no necessity of bending and sitting up. We will now discuss the importance of the accents, the orthographic value of the seven principal vowel signs, the grammatical accuracy resulting from them as well as from the distinction between Qāmeṣ, Pataḥ, Ṣērē and Sēgōl. They influence the meaning of grammatical forms and assist in distinguishing between past and future tenses e.g., שַׁמתִּי and ושַׁמְתִּי and וַאֲבָרְכֵהוּ and וְאַבָרְכֵהוּ. (Isaiah 51:2, and Genesis 27:33); or between a verb and an adjective, e.g. חָכַם and חָכָם; between the interrogative Hē and the article, as in הָעוֹלָה הִיא לִמָעְלָה (Ecclesiastes 3:21), and other cases. The euphony and structure of speech is increased by the sequence of two vowelless consonants, which enables a whole congregation to read Hebrew simultaneously without mistakes. Other rules apply to the musical accents. For the vowel sounds are divided in Hebrew into three classes, viz. U-sound, A-sound, and I-sound; or in another division: great U-sound, or Qāmeṣ, medium U-sound, or Ḥōlem; little U-sound, or Shūreq; great A-sound, or Pataḥ; little A-sound or Sēgōl; great I-sound or Sērē; little I-sound, or Ḥīreq. Shewā is sounded with all these [vowels] under certain conditions. It is vowel absolute, because any addition would require a vowelless consonant to follow. Qāmeṣ is followed by a long closed syllable, but not by dāgēsh in the first form Dagēsh can only follow, if demanded by the exigencies of the second or third forms, the syllable being long, by one of the vowel letters alef or hē, as in ברא and קנה. A syllable of this kind can also end in a vowelless consonant, as in קאם (Hosea 10:14). Ḥōlem also can be followed by a vowel letter which is wāw or alef as in לא and לו, or a syllable of this kind can be closed by a consonant as שׁור and שׂמׂאל. The vowel letters after Ṣērē are alef or yōd as in יוצא and יוצאי. Hē, however, only in the second form, but not in the first. Shūreq is free for all three forms. It can be followed by a vowel letter, or dāgēsh, or vowelless consonant. Its long vowel is expressed by wāw only as, לו, ללון and לֻקח. Ḥīreq follows the rule of Shūreq as in לין, לי and לבי. Pataḥ, and Sēgōl are not followed by a vowel letter in the first form, but are lengthened by the second form, either for the sake of emphasis, or on account of the accent, or in the pause at the end of a sentence. The rules of the first form are obtained by considering the formation of each word separately, without any relation to the construction of the sentence with its variety of combination and separation, and long and short words. Then are obtained the seven principal vowels in their original, unchanged form and the simple Shewā without qa’yā. The second form deals with euphony in the construction of sentences. Occasionally elements of the first form are altered to please the second. The third form concerns the accents, and sometimes reacts on both preceding ones. In the first form three consecutive vowels without an intervening consonant or dāgesh are possible, but three, or more, short vowels may follow each other as in Arabic. This, however, is impossible in the second form. As soon as three vowels follow each other in the first form, the second one lengthens one of them to the quantity of a long vowel as in משבָני, לשבֵני, רצפת (Psalms 21:12; Esther 1:6). For Hebrew does not allow three consecutive vowels, except when a consonant is either repeated as in שררך (Song of Songs 7:3), or in the case of gutturals as in נהרי and נחלי, the reader being at liberty to read [the first syllable] long or short. In the same way the first form allows the sequence of two long closed syllables. The second form, however, to prevent clumsiness of speech, shortens one long syllable as in שמתי and ושמתי. It is obvious that the pronunciation of פעל and similar forms is contrary to its vocalisation, the second syllable being lengthened in spite of the Pataḥ, whilst the first is read short in spite of the Qāmeṣ. The heightening of the second syllable is due to the tone, but not to make it slightly longer. Words as אמר-לי and עשה-לי (Genesis 20:5; Genesis 21:6) remain therefore in the first form, because the smaller word has the tone. We also find פָעָל with two Qāmeṣ though in the past tense. The cause of this is to be found in the athnaḥ or sōf pāsūq, and we say that this is possible in the second form on account of the pause. We follow this up till we find even פָעָל with two Qāmeṣ and zāqēf. The reason of this we find in a virtual pause, the word being entitled to athnaḥ or sōf pāsūq, but other cogent reasons made athnaḥ and sōf pāsūq in this case impossible. On the other hand we find these two accents with two pataḥs, however strange this may be, e.g. ויאמַר, וזקנתי, ותשברנה, וַיִּלַךָ. The reason of pataḥ in ויאמר is found in examining its meaning, as it cannot stand in pause, and is necessarily connected with the following complement of the sentence There are only a few exceptions as כאשר אָמָר, (Genesis 21:1), because the verb completes the sentence logically, and can take Qāmeṣ because of the pause. As regards, however, וילך and ותשברנה, they should originally be ויֵלֵך and ותשבֵרנה; but the transformation of the I-sound with great Pataḥ, without any intermediate element, was too awkward, and therefore Pataḥ stepped in. The form זקנתי belongs probably to the same class, because the root is זָקֵן, the Ṣērē being changed into Pataḥ at the end of a sentence. We marvel why the פֶעֶל forms have the accent on the first syllable which is read long, although it has Sēgōl. We must, however, consider that, if the first syllable remained short, Hebrew phonology would require the second syllable to be read long and with accent, and a slight quiescent would creep in between the second and third radicals. This would be inelegant, which is not the case in the first syllable, which must have this quiescent and has also room for it. This lengthening of the penultima corresponds to פֶן עֶל, but not to פָן עֱל. For when the word has athnaḥ, or sōf pāsūq, it is פָעֶל corresponding to פָאן עֶל. This shows the necessity of lengthening the vowel in שַמתי and שָמתי. We consider forms like שער and נער likewise strange, because the Pataḥ of the first syllable is read long. We soon discover, however, that they are פֶעֶל forms with Pataḥ on account of the guttural. For this reason they undergo no change in the status constructus, as do נהר and קהל (Genesis 15:18; Exodus 12:6), which are formed like דָבָר. Then we find אעשה, יעשה, אבנה and אקנה with Sēgōl and vowel letters. If we consider the first instance, we find it to be a form אפעל, יפעל, the second radical not being long, but always forming a closed syllable with Pataḥ. We are now to read אעשֶה instead of Pataḥ, because no A-sound can precede a silent hē, unless it be Qāmeṣ. Qāmeṣ is long, whilst the second radical of a verb can never have a long vowel, except when read with a vowel, or when followed by Alef as in אצֵא. It is for this reason that אעשׂה is read with Sēgōl which is the shortest vowel imaginable, but interchanges with Ṣērē when the second form requires to replace the one by the other at the ends of sentences. There is almost no necessity for the hē of אעשה except in the pause or with the accent, and is eased by dāgesh as in אעשה-לך and אבנה-לי, (Exodus 33:5), in which cases the hē has no function. This is not the case [with א] in אצא, אבא. In בא-לי, there is no dāgesh, the א being preceded by Ṣērē and being a radical. Hē, however, is considered to be so weak that it is both graphically and phonetically omitted in ויבן, ויקן and ויעש. How could it, then, close a syllable vocalized by Ṣērē? It was, therefore, left to Sēgōl, the slightest vowel, at all events, in the first form. The second form changed it into Sērē, when standing in pause. It appears likewise strange that מראה, מעשה, מקנה and similar forms have Ṣērē in the construct state, but Sēgōl in the absolute. We should think the reverse to be correct. But if we consider that the third radical, viz. a silent Hē is treated as altogether absent, and those nouns have the forms of מרא, מעש, מקן, nothing but Sēgōl will serve till some circumstances bring it out with a long vowel as in מראֵה, מעשֵה, מראיהן and מעשיהן. Sēgōl becomes Ṣērē to take the place of [small] Pataḥ in מראֵם and מעשׁםֵ. Words of the first form can be altered by the second as to the vowels, but not as to the pronunciation. The word בן has Sērē in the absolute state, Sēgōl in the construct. Occasionally the latter is lengthened by the tone as in בן-יאיר (Esther 2:5) with the Sēgōl of the first form In other cases the tone precipitates it, although it has Ṣērē according to the first form, as in בן אחר (Genesis 30:24). In segolate forms with the accent on the last syllable Sērē is no longer perplexing. The author of this profound science held secrets which are unknown to us. We may have discovered some by means of which he intended to stimulate our investigation as we have said above, with regard to העולה היא למעלה. Or we might find out the rules of distinguishing between past and future, infinitive and participle of the passive voice, e.g. נאסָף אל עמי (Genesis 44:29), with Qāmeṣ, and כאשר נאסַף (Numbers 27:13) with Pataḥ. The masoretic text vocalizes three times וישהָט (Levitcus 8:15, Levitcus 8:19, Levitcus 8:23), with Qāmeṣ, although syntactically speaking the words stand only virtually in pause. There are many instances that the Sēgōl after Zarqā has the force of Athnaḥ, or sōf pāsūq, or Zākēf, causing an alteration of the first form. If I wished to enlarge an the subject, the book would become too lengthy. I only desired to give thee a taste of this profound study, which is not built on hap-hazard, but on fixed rules.
81. Al Khazari: This is sufficient to enlighten me on the wonderful character of the Hebrew language. Now I desire the description of a servant of God according to your conception. Afterwards I will ask thee for thy arguments against the Karaites. Then I should like to hear the principal articles of faith and religious axioms. Finally I wish to know which branches of ancient study have been preserved among you.
This is the meaning of the words Isaac used when he was troubled exceedingly: “And have blessed him, yea, and he will be blessed.” The meaning is, he will be blessed whether I will or no since I blessed him. The words, “Yea, and he will be blessed,” form part of the reason for Isaac’s alarm, the meaning being, I can not put a stop to the influence which I was instrumental in drawing upon him. It is like the case of a person who orders a goldsmith to make beautiful vessels of gold with beautiful figures engraved upon them, for a friend of the goldsmith. The artist, thinking that the vessels are really for his friend, engraves them most beautifully, and works upon them with zest and joy. Then he finds out that the vessels are not intended for his friend at all. Undoubtedly the goldsmith is very much disappointed and troubled, but he can not prevent the beautiful engravings from being on those vessels, even though he knows that they are intended for his enemy. This is why Isaac said to Esau: “Behold, I have made him thy lord …” i. e. through my instrumentality and through the means of his preparation all this influence has already come to him, and I have no power to stop it, since it has already been drawn, “And what then shall I do for thee, my son?” Then Esau replied: “Hast thou but one blessing, my father?” meaning that Isaac should give him another blessing that should not conflict with the previous one. And Isaac did so, but he included in Esau’s blessing the words: “And thou shalt serve thy brother,” for he could not dispense with them. So much concerning the subject of the blessings.
As explained above, HaShem-יהו"ה, blessed is He, gave this quality called All-Kol-כל as a gift to Avraham, being that it is the foundation of the blessing-Brachah-ברכה and the pool-Breichah-בריכה. The Torah hints to this when it states, (Genesis 24:1) “And HaShem-יהו"ה blessed Avraham in all-BaKol-בכל.” From Avraham it was given over to Yitzchak, as it states, (Genesis 27:33) “And I ate from all-MiKol-מכל before you came, and I blessed him.” It was then transferred from Yitzchak to Yaakov, as it states, (Genesis 33:11) “For God has been gracious with me and I have all-Kol-כל.” That is, Yaakov said to Esav, “Lest it enter your mind that what I have given you caused a lacking for me, know that all the keys to the supernal blessing-Brachah-ברכה have been given over into my hand and that it includes all-Kol-כל.” This is the meaning of his words, “I have all-Kol-כל. Thus, I lack nothing as a result of giving to you.”
Now, all these legions between the earth and the heavens, are like a person who walks in a place of danger. So too, to ascend to the firmament, one’s prayers must pass through these camps. If one is meritorious, robbers will not attack his prayers, but if he is not meritorious, many obstacles and destructive forces will attack him on the way.
Now, our three forefathers inherited this quality called “All-Kol-כל” in a manner of “Remember” and “Keep.” About Avraham the verse states, (Genesis 22:1) “HaShem-יהו"ה blessed Avraham in all-Kol-בכל.” About Yitzchak the verse states, (Ibid 27:33) “I ate from all-Kol-מכל,” and about Yaakov the verse states, (Ibid 33:11) “For God has graced me and I have all-Kol-כל.” About this, David said, (Psalms 119:128) “Therefore I have declared the uprightness of all-Kol-כל the precepts in regard to all-Kol-כל.”
Now, wherever in Torah you come across the word All-Kol-כל keep this principle in mind and remember that it indicates one of three matters. Sometimes the word “All-Kol-כל” refers to HaShem’s-יהו"ה quality as the Living God-E”l Chai-א״ל חי, sometimes it refers to His quality of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ״י, and sometimes it indicates the sum of all creations, and as you have been shown to know, everything comes into being from the power of “All-Kol-כל.” This being so, contemplate what Torah states about our forefathers. About Avraham, it says, (Genesis 24:1) “HaShem-יהו״ה blessed Avraham in all-Kol-כל,” about Yitzchak, it says, (Genesis 27:33) “I partook of all-Kol-כל,” and about Yaakov, it says, (Genesis 33:11) “I have all-Kol-כל.” That is, all three were blessed with the quality that includes all-Kol-כל.
At that time Michael came before Jacob with the Shechinah. Isaac knew that and saw that the Garden of Eden is with Jacob, so he blessed him. When Esau entered, Gehenom entered with him. Therefore, "And Isaac trembled very much" (Beresheet 27:33), because he had previously thought that Esau was not of that side. Therefore he said "Moreover, he shall be blessed."
Come and behold, When Esau entered, Gehenom came with him, and Isaac trembled with fear, as it is written, "And Isaac trembled very much" (Beresheet 27:33). Why is "very much" used to describe "trembled."? Isaac never felt such fear and terror during his life. Even when he was strapped upon the altar and saw the knife, he did not tremble as when Esau entered and brought Gehenom with him. Then he said, "Before you came, and have blessed him? Moreover, he shall be blessed." For I saw the Shechinah approving those blessings.
"And Isaac trembled very much, and said, Who then (Heb. אֵיפֹה) is he" (Beresheet 27:33). What is the meaning of "Who then?" It should have been "Who is it?" for 'eifoh' literally means where. He answers, "Who then" is correct because the Shechinah stood there when Isaac blessed Jacob! Thus he said "Who then,", where is he who stood here and approved the blessings, whom I blessed. Assuredly "he shall be blessed," for the Holy One, blessed be He, approved these blessings.
"And when Esau heard the words of his father..." (Beresheet 27:34).
“In all things,”19 “From everything,” (Isaac said: “I have partaken from everything.” Genesis 27:33)
Ours and all that is ours— just as our forefathers were blessed— Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob— In all things, (Abraham was blessed “in all things.” Genesis 24:1) “From everything,” (Isaac said: “I have partaken from everything.” Genesis 27:33) and “With everything”; (Jacob said: “I have everything.” Genesis 33:11) so may He bless us, all of us together, with a perfect blessing and let us say Amein.
Ours and all that is ours— just as our forefathers were blessed— Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob— In all things, (Abraham was blessed “in all things.” Genesis 24:1) "From everything," (Isaac said: “I have partaken from everything.” Genesis 27:33) and "With everything"; (Jacob said: “I have everything.” Genesis 33:11) so may He bless us, all of us together, with a perfect blessing and let us say Amein.
In all things, (Abraham was blessed “in all things.” Genesis 24:1) "From everything," (Isaac said: “I have partaken from everything.” Genesis 27:33)
“He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, Balak leads me, the king of Moav from the highlands of the east; Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” (Numbers 23:7). “He took up his parable, and said: From Aram, [Balak] leads me [yanḥeni]” – he began and said: ‘I was of the exalted [haramim], but Balak took me down to the pit of perdition.’ Yanḥeni, just as it says: “Wail [neheh] for the multitude of Egypt, and cast it down…[with those who descend into the pit]” (Ezekiel 32:18). Another matter, “from Aram” – with the exalted [im ram], I was exalted, but Balak caused me to descend from my prominence. This is analogous to one who accompanies a king. He saw a robber, forsook the king, and walked with the robber. When he returned to the king, the king said to him: 'Go with the one with whom you walked, as it is not possible for you to accompany me.' So, Bilam had been attached to the Divine Spirit, and returned to be a sorcerer, as he had been initially, as it is stated: “Bilam son of Beor the sorcerer” (Joshua 13:22). That is why he screamed: ‘I was exalted and Balak took me down.’ Another matter, “from Aram, [Balak] leads me” – he said to him: 'We are both equal in our being ingrates. Had it not been for Abraham their patriarch, there would be no Balak, as it is stated: “It was when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and He sent Lot” (Genesis 19:29). Had it not been for Abraham, Lot would not have escaped Sodom, and you are from the descendants of Lot. Had it not been for Jacob their patriarch, I would not be in the world, as Lavan had sons only due to the merit of Jacob.' Initially, it is written: “Rachel came with the flock” (Genesis 29:9). If he had sons, how is his daughter herding? When Jacob went there, he was granted sons, as it is stated: “Jacob heard the statement of Laban’s sons” (Genesis 31:1). Likewise he [Laban] said to him [Jacob]: “I have divined, and the Lord has blessed me on your account” (Genesis 30:27). “Go, curse [Jacob] for me” – one who curses, curses himself, (The Hebrew phrase “ara li” which is translated "curse for me" can also be read to mean "curse me" (Matnot Kehuna).) as, so it is written: “And he who curses you, I will curse” (Genesis 12:3), and it says: “Cursed be those who curse you” (Genesis 27:29). “Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, censure Israel” – had he asked me to curse another nation, e.g., the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, I would have been able. (This is because Abraham and Isaac had descendants not only from Israel, but from Ishmael and Esau.) But Jacob, a king who selects a portion for himself and another stands and disparages it, will he live? These are His lot, His inheritance, His treasured possession, as it is stated: “For the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is stated: “You will be My treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5). “And go, censure Israel” – this is analogous to a king who took a crown and placed it on his head, and a person said ‘That, it is nothing,’ will he live? These, it is written in their regard: “Israel, in whom I glory [etpa’ar]” (Isaiah 49:3). (Pe’arim is a term meaning hats or crowns, (see Isaiah 3:20).) “How will I curse whom God has not cursed? How will I censure whom the Lord has not censured?” (Numbers 23:8). “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they were deserving of being cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob entered to take the blessings, he entered deceitfully, as it is stated: “And the hides of the kids of the goats, [she placed on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck]” (Genesis 27:16). His father said: “Who are you?” (Genesis 27:18). He said to him: “I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19). One who expresses falsehood from his mouth, is he not deserving of being cursed? Moreover, he was blessed, as it is written: “Indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). How then will I curse whom God has not cursed? Another matter, “How will I curse whom God has not cursed?” The way of the world is that a legion that rebelled against the king incurs liability for death. These denied Him and rebelled, and said: “This is your god, Israel” (Exodus 32:4). (Referring to the Golden Calf.) Should He not have eliminated them? But even at that moment, He did not move from love for them. He accompanied them with clouds of glory, and the manna and the spring did not stop for them. Likewise it says: “When they crafted themselves a cast figure of a calf…but You in Your great mercy did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not withdraw from over them by day…You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:18–20). How, then, can I curse them? “How will I curse whom God has not cursed”? When He commanded them regarding the blessings and the curses, regarding the blessings, He mentioned them, as it is stated: “These shall stand to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12). But, regarding the curses, He did not curse them directly, as He says: “These will stand for the curse on Mount Eival” (Deuteronomy 27:13). When they sin, and He says to bring a curse upon them, He does not write that He will bring it [directly], but in the blessings, He, Himself, blesses them [directly], as it is stated: “The Lord your God will place you supreme…” (Deuteronomy 28:1); “the Lord will command for you the blessing” (Deuteronomy 28:8). But regarding the curses, He would not curse them directly, as it says: “It shall be that if you do not heed [the voice of the Lord your God…] all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15); on their own. That is, “how will I curse whom God has not cursed?” “For from the top of precipices I will see it, and from hills I behold it; behold, it is a people that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9). “For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. (He intended to curse the "tops of precipices" but in the end, blessed them. The "tops of the precipices" refers to the patriarchs (as mentioned in the continuation of the midrash), who are the roots of the tribes.) To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.” Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs. “Behold, it is a people that will dwell alone” – and when He causes them joy, He causes them joy by themselves, as it is stated: “The Lord will guide them alone” (Deuteronomy 32:12). When the nations in this world rejoice, they (Israel.) eat with each and every kingdom, but it does not cost them from their portion, as it is stated: “and will not be reckoned among the nations.” “Who has counted the dust of Jacob, or tallied one quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his” (Numbers 23:10). “Who has counted the dust of Jacob” – who can enumerate the mitzvot that they perform regarding dust? “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10); “you shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9); “A pure man shall gather the ashes of the heifer” (Numbers 19:9); (See Numbers 19:17, where the word used in Hebrew for dust (afar) is also used for ashes.) “the priest shall take from the dirt that is on the floor of the Tabernacle” (Numbers 5:17); “three years shall it be as forbidden unto you” (Leviticus 19:23), and likewise regarding all of them. “Or tallied one quarter [rova] of Israel” – their procreation [reviit]. Who can count the population that emerged from those who snatch and love the mitzvot? “She said to her: Is the taking of my husband insignificant…[Rachel said: Therefore, he will lie with you tonight]” (Genesis 30:15); “Here is my maidservant Bilha, consort with her” (Genesis 30:3); “Leah saw that she had ceased bearing; [she took Zilpa her maidservant and gave her to Jacob as a wife]” (Genesis 30:9); “Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar… [and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife]” (Genesis 16:3). “Let me die the death of the upright” – this is analogous to a butcher who comes to slaughter a king’s cow. (He was doing so to harm the king, at the behest of his enemies.) The king began to look. Once he sensed that the king was looking, he began casting the knife aside, petting it, and filling the trough before it. He began to say: ‘May my soul depart, (The phrase "my soul departs" means "I sympathize with myself," that instead of doing one thing, I had to do the opposite.) as I came to slaughter it, but I left it alone.’ So, Bilam said: ‘May my soul depart, as I came to curse, but I will bless.’ “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak, and he built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar” (Numbers 23:14). “He took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of the peak” – it is a peak where there are breaches, as it is stated: “Ascend to the top of the peak” (Deuteronomy 3:27). (In that place, something negative will happen to Israel and "breach" their security.) Is there a breach greater than that that he saw through divination, and he believed that there they would be eliminated.
“And blessed is God, the Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. He gave him a tithe of everything” (Genesis 14:20). “And blessed is God, the Most High, who delivered [migen] your enemies into your hand” – Rabbi Huna said: He turned the plot [mangenin] against you upon your enemies. Rabbi Yudan said: How many stratagems [mangenaot] did I perform in order to deliver them into your hand. They (The two sets of kings.) had been fond of one another; this one would send letters to that one, and that one would send gifts to this one, but I incited discord between this one and that one so they would come and fall into your hand. “He gave him a tithe of everything [mikol]” – Rabbi Yehuda bar Rav Simon said: On the basis of that tribute, three of the pillars of the world, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, benefitted. Regarding Abraham it is written: “The Lord had blessed Avraham with everything [bakol]” (Genesis 24:1), due to the merit of: “He gave him a tithe of everything [mikol].” Regarding Isaac it is written: “And I partook of all [mikol]” (Genesis 27:33), due to the merit of: “He gave him a tithe of everything [mikol].” Regarding Jacob it is written: “For God has graced me and because I have everything [kol]” (Genesis 33:11), due to the merit of: “He gave him a tithe of everything [mikol].” From where did Israel merit the Priestly Benediction? (Numbers 6:23–26.) Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Neḥemya, and the Rabbis, Rabbi Yehuda said: From Abraham: “So [ko] shall your descendants be” (Genesis 15:5) – “so [ko] shall you bless the children of Israel” (Numbers 6:23). Rabbi Neḥemya said: From Isaac, as it is stated: “I and the lad will go to there [ko]” (Genesis 22:5). That is why the Omnipresent said: “So [ko] you shall bless the children of Israel.” The Rabbis said: From Jacob, as it is stated: “So [ko] you shall say to the house of Jacob” (Exodus 19:3). Corresponding to it is: “So [ko] shall you bless the children of Israel.” Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina, Rabbi Eliezer said: [God said:] ‘When will I increase your descendants like the stars? (This section is referring to the verse: “He took him outside, and said: Look now to the heavens, and count the stars, if you could count them, and He said to him: So [ko] will your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5).) When I reveal Myself to them through the word ko’ – “So [ko] you shall say to the house of Jacob” (Exodus 19:3). Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: When I reveal Myself to their leader (Moses.) through the word ko: “So [ko] said the Lord: My firstborn son is Israel” (Exodus 4:22).
“Isaac was overcome with great trembling, and he said: Who then is he who hunted game, and brought it me, and I ate from all before you came, and I blessed him? Indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). “Isaac was overcome with great trembling.” It is written: “A man’s trembling sets a snare, and one who trusts the Lord will be exalted” (Proverbs 29:25) – the trembling that Ruth caused Boaz, as it is stated: “He trembled and recoiled” (Ruth 3:8), “sets a snare” – by right he should have cursed her. However, “one who trusts the Lord will be exalted” – he considered it, and blessed her: “He said: May you be blessed to the Lord, my daughter” (Ruth 3:10). The trembling that Jacob caused Isaac, as it is stated: “Isaac was overcome with great trembling,” “sets a snare” – by right he should have cursed him. However, “one who trusts the Lord will be exalted” – he blessed him and said: “Indeed, he shall be blessed.”
“Isaac was overcome with great trembling” – Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina said: “Great” – more than the trembling that he trembled atop the altar. He said: “Who [then], is” the one who became an intermediary between me and the Omnipresent so that Jacob would receive the blessings? He said it regarding Rebecca. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One who has two sons, one leaving and one entering, (One receiving a blessing and one not receiving a blessing.) trembles? I wonder. It is, rather, that when Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him. Rabbi Aḥa said: The walls of the house began seething. That is what is written: “Who then [mi efo],” who is that who is destined to be baked here, is it me, or my son Jacob? The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘It is neither you nor your son, but rather, “he who hunted game.”’ (Esau.) “He who hunted game” – Rabbi Elazar bar Shimon said: Hunter, how did they trap you? Conqueror of gates, how are your gates conquered and ruined? That is what is written: “The deceitful will not scorch [yaḥarokh] his prey” (Proverbs 12:27). The Rabbis say: The Holy One blessed be He does not delay [yeaḥer] and does not extend [yaarikh] for the deceitful one and his deceit. Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosei said: What is “will not scorch [lo yaḥarokh]”? the Holy One Blessed be He does not extend [yaarikh] for the deceitful one and his deceit, as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: That entire day, Esau was trapping gazelles and binding them, and an angel came and untied them, [trapping] birds, and tied their wings, and an angel would come and free them. Why to that extent? “But the wealth of a worthy [yakar] man is precious” (Proverbs 12:27) – so that Jacob, who was the glory of [yekaro] the world, would come and take the blessings, as from the outset of the world they were designated [ḥarutzot] for him. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa asked Rabbi Aḥa, he said to him: ‘What is what is written: “But the wealth of a worthy [yakar] man is precious [ḥarutz]”?’ He said: ‘It is designated [ḥarutza] in the hands of the righteous, who do not receive in this world any of the glory they have coming to them in the World to Come.’ “And I ate from all [mikol]” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: Of everything [mikol] that was created during the six days of Creation. Rabbi Neḥemya says: Of all [mikol] the goodness that is reserved for the World to Come. He [Esau] said to him [Isaac]: ‘What was the main course that he fed you?’ He said to him: ‘I do not know, but I tasted the taste of bread, the taste of meat, the taste of fish, the taste of grasshoppers, the taste of all the delicacies of the world.’ Rabbi Berekhya said: When he [Isaac] mentioned meat, he [Esau] immediately cried. He said: ‘He fed me one bowl of lentils and took my birthright. You, to whom he fed meat, all the more so.’ Rabbi Levi said: Because our patriarch Isaac was afraid and saying: ‘Did I, perhaps, not act properly, in that I rendered one who was not firstborn, firstborn?’ When he said: “He took my birthright” (Genesis 27:36), he said: ‘I gave the blessing properly.’ Rabbi Elazar said: Ratification of a document is only by its signatories, so that you will not say that had Jacob not deceived Isaac, he would not have received the blessings. The verse states: “Indeed, he shall be blessed.”
Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He [Isaac] sought to curse him [Jacob]. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Be careful, if you curse him, you are cursing yourself, as you said: “Cursed be one who curses you”’ (Genesis 27:29). Rabbi Levi said: Six items serve a person; three are in his control, and three are not in his control. The eye, the ear, and the nose are not in his control – he sees what he does not wish, he hears what he does not wish, and he smells what he does not wish. The mouth, the hand, and the foot are in his control – [the mouth,] if he wishes he toils in Torah; if he wishes, [he speaks] evil speech; if he wishes, he curses and blasphemes. The hand, if he wishes, he performs a mitzva; if he wishes, he steals; if he wishes, he kills. His foot, if he wishes, he goes to theaters and circuses; and if he wishes, he goes to synagogues and study halls. When he merits, the Holy One blessed be He renders the ones in his control to be not in his control. The hand – “his hand that he had extended toward him shriveled” (I Kings 13:4); the mouth, “indeed, he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33); the foot, “My son, do not walk on the way with them…for their feet run to evil” (Proverbs 1:15–16).
“Since, had we not tarried, we would now have returned twice” (Genesis 43:10). “Their father, Israel, said to them: If so then, do this: Take of the choice produce of the land in your vessels, and take a gift down to the man, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and ladanum, pistachio nuts and almonds” (Genesis 43:11). “Since, had we not tarried… Their father, Israel, said to them: If so then [efo]” – Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Tanḥum ben Ḥanilai: Can it be that the same trembling that I caused my father to tremble – “[Isaac was overcome with great trembling, and he said:] Who then [efo] is he [who hunted game and brought it to me? And I ate from all before you came, and I blessed him]” (Genesis 27:33) – is causing my trembling here? I wonder. “Take of the choice produce [mizimrat] of the land in your vessels” – Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: Items that bring song [mizmarin] to the world: Snail [ḥilazon], (The snail from which the expensive tekhelet dye was produced. ) wine with balsam, (Wine enhanced with the scent of balsam (Midrash HaMevoar; see Matnot Kehuna, Etz Yosef). ) myrrh with the oil accumulated within it. “A little balm” – balsam oil, “a little honey” – Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi said: Honey that is hard as a rock; (This was a special honey that was very valuable because it would last a long time, could be easily transported, and provided a high quality flavor. ) “spices” – beeswax; “ladanum” – gum Arabic; “pistachio nuts and almonds” – nut oil and almond oil. “And take double the silver in your hand, and the silver that was returned in the opening of your sacks return in your hand; perhaps it was an oversight” (Genesis 43:12). “And take your brother, and arise and return to the man” (Genesis 43:13). “And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and he will send with you your other brother, and Benjamin; and me, as I am bereaved, I am bereaved” (Genesis 43:14). “And take double the silver in your hand” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Perhaps the price has risen. “And the silver that was returned…And…your…brother” – he said to them: ‘Here is the silver, here is the gift, and here is your brother, do you need anything else?’ They said to him: ‘We need your prayer.’ He said to them: ‘If you need my prayer, “and may God Almighty grant you mercy…”.’
“Jacob called to his sons, and he said: Gather, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days. Assemble and hear, sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father” (Genesis 49:1–2). Why did he call them? He sought to reveal to them the End. It is written: “He removes speech from the trusted, and takes the sense of elders” (Job 12:20). Who are the “trusted” and the “elders”? They are Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, and Moses. In Moses’s regard it is written: “In all My house he is trusted” (Numbers 12:7). Likewise, in Aaron’s regard: “The Torah of truth was in his mouth” (Malachi 2:6). But because they said: “Hear now, defiant ones” (Numbers 20:10), they were sentenced because of their speech – “therefore, you will not bring this assembly [into the land that I have given them]” (Numbers 20:12). That is, “He removes speech from the trusted.” (Here the midrash interprets the verse to mean: “He removes the trusted due to speech,” meaning that God removed Moses and Aaron from their projected positions of leading Israel into the land due to their sin involving speech. ) “And takes the sense of elders” – this is Isaac and Jacob. Isaac was fond of Esau, whom the Holy One blessed be He hated, and he said to him: “Prepare delicacies for me” (Genesis 27:4), and sought to bless him and reveal the End to him. What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He stripped him of his sense, and he did not know, (God removed the divine spirit from Isaac. ) but he began trembling, as it is stated: “Isaac was overcome [with very great trembling]” (Genesis 27:33). When he was unable to find what to say, he said: “Indeed he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). Jacob, too, sought to reveal the End to his sons, as it is stated: “Gather, and I will tell you what will befall [you at the end of days]”; and the Holy One blessed be He concealed it from him, and he began saying: “Reuben, you are my firstborn” (Genesis 49:3). That is, “and takes the sense of elders.”
(Numb. 23:8:) HOW SHALL I CURSE WHOM GOD HAS NOT CURSED? When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed. When Jacob went in to receive the blessings, as written (in Gen. 27:16): THEN WITH THE SKINS OF GOAT KIDS. His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18): WHO ARE YOU? He said to him (in vs. 19): I AM ESAU, YOUR FIRST-BORN. Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only , but he was blessed, as stated (in Gen. 27:33): HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED. So how do I curse (in the words of Numb. 23:8) WHOM GOD HAS NOT CURSED?
Another interpretation: What is the meaning of IN EVERYTHING? By virtue of the tithes. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 14:20): AND HE GAVE HIM A TITHE FROM EVERYTHING. Isaac also [was blessed] by virtue of the tithes. [Thus it is stated (in Gen. 26:12): SO ISAAC SOWED ON THAT LAND AND REAPED IN THAT YEAR A HUNDREDFOLD, FOR THE LORD HAD BLESSED HIM. He also says (in Gen. 27:33): AND I HAVE EATEN OF EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU CAME AND HAVE BLESSED HIM. Jacob also was blessed by virtue of the tithes.] Thus it is stated (in Gen. 28:22): AND OF ALL THAT YOU GIVE ME, I WILL SURELY SET ASIDE A TITHE FOR YOU. Ergo (in Gen. 21:1): AND THE LORD HAD BLESSED ABRAHAM IN EVERYTHING.
(Gen. 27:33:) THEN ISAAC TREMBLED < EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY >…. This text is related (to Prov. 16:1): ONE MAY POSSESS THE CONSIDERATIONS OF THE HEART, BUT THE ANSWER OF THE TONGUE COMES FROM THE LORD. What are the considerations of the heart? [If] one [has] an account or any business with his associate, he may think in his heart and say: If we should stand [with him] (in court), he would say thus and so to me; and I would say thus and so to him. < When > he does stand against me, it turns out that after all the things that he was considering, he does not speak < them >, but forgets. Ergo: Solomon said it well (in Prov. 16:1): ONE MAY POSSESS THE CONSIDERATIONS OF THE HEART, BUT THE ANSWER OF THE TONGUE COMES FROM THE LORD.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina: (See Tanh., Gen. 6:13.) One does not say: EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY unless there was another < event > before it (for it to exceed). So what were the two tremblings that Isaac had? One was on Mount Moriah when his father bound him and took up the knife to slaughter him. The Holy One appeared above the angels and opened up the firmament. When Isaac raised his eyes and saw the chambers of the chariot, he trembled and shook. But here he trembled, and his trembling was greater than the first time! There he trembled when he saw the Holy One, the chambers of the chariot, and the angels. But here, because Jacob had entered and taken the blessings, his trembling was greater than that < former > trembling. But why did he tremble? Nathan the Haver said in the name of R. Aha and R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite < who said > in the name of R. Johanan: When Jacob entered, the Garden of Eden entered with him, as stated (in Gen. 27:27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS…. (See above, 6:16; Gen. R. 65:22; Cant. R. 4:11:2.) And note that he did not put on anything but clothes of goat's hair, as stated (in vs. 16): THEN SHE CLOTHED HIS ARMS < AND THE HAIRLESS PART OF HIS NECK > WITH THE SKINS OF GOAT KIDS. And you do not have a worse odor in the < whole > world than goatskins washed smooth. But what is the meaning (of vs. 27): THEN HE SMELLED THE ODOR OF HIS GARMENTS? Some interpret it to say: The Holy One blew on the clothes of Isaac the odor of the incense which was going to be used in the Temple. When Esau the Wicked entered, however, < the result was as > R. Aha and R. Johanan have said: Gehinnom entered with him. Thus it is stated (in Prov. 18:3): WHEN A WICKED ONE COMES, THERE IS ALSO DESPISING; AND WITH DISGRACE, SHAME. When Esau arrived, Isaac perceived the house becoming hot and < so > perceived Gehinnom. (See above, 6:1, 4.) He began to scream and tremble, as stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED < EXCEEDINGLY GREATLY >.
[(Gen. 27:33, cont.:) AND SAID: WHO THEN (mi 'efo')?] What is the meaning of MY 'EFO' (rt.: 'P')? Mi 'efoh (rt.: 'PH)? (Gen. R. 67:2; Cant. R. 4:11:2.) Isaac said: Sovereign of the Universe: Who is being baked (mi ne'efah, rt.: 'PH) in this oven (i.e., of Gehinnom), I or my son Jacob? The Holy One said to him: Neither you nor your son Jacob. But who? (Ibid., cont.:) HE THAT HAS HUNTED GAME. This is Esau, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): ESAU BECAME A CUNNING HUNTER.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:33): Why did he tremble? Because he had blessed the younger before the elder; for he had intended to bless both of them. So he called Esau in order to bless him first, since he was the elder. Then afterwards, < he would call > Jacob. So he intended. Why? Because before the Holy One it is difficult to supplant a genealogical chain, to replace primogeniture. So note that he only called Esau. On what basis do you say that he wished to bless Jacob? On the basis of what Jacob said, {and he said} [to his mother] (in Gen. 27:12): THEN I WILL BRING UPON MYSELF A CURSE INSTEAD OF A BLESSING. He said to her: Even the blessing which he was going to give me, in the end he will not give me. Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is on my hands that the genealogical chain should be ruined at my hands, for me to bless the younger < first > and the elder afterwards? And so you find: In every place Moses comes before Aaron; (Cf. Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Pisha, 1.) but when it comes to genealogy, Aaron is before Moses. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 3:1): NOW THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF AARON AND MOSES. R. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan of the Bet Guvrin: In the case of Reuben also, when that event (the selling of Joseph) happened at his hands, his father gave his birthright to Joseph. Thus it is stated (in I Chron. 5:1): AND THE SONS OF REUBEN, THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. NOW HE IS FIRST-BORN; BUT, WHEN HE HAD DEFILED HIS FATHER'S BED, HIS BIRTHRIGHT WAS GIVEN TO (JOSEPH) [THE SONS JOSEPH BEN ISRAEL]. Hence the birthright belonged to Joseph. In the genealogy, however, he was not able to keep his birthright away from him, as stated (in Exod. 6:14): THE SONS OF REUBEN THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. "Now he was the first-born" is not written here (in I Chron. 5:1), but: NOW HE IS THE FIRST-BORN. So also in the case of the sons of Noah, Japheth was the oldest: but because Shem was more righteous, < Scripture > counts him first in every place. (See above, 2:19.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 9:18): AND THE CHILDREN OF NOAH WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK WERE SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH. In regard to genealogy, however, < Scripture > mentions Japheth as being the eldest. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 10:21): AND UNTO SHEM THERE WERE CHILDREN BORN. HE WAS ALSO FATHER TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER < AND > THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH, WHO WAS THE OLDEST. (The last eight words can be, and commonly are, translated: THE ELDER BROTHER OF JAPHETH. See Gen. R. 37:7.) R. Tanhuma said: But you also have to learn < through > greater insight, that Shem was second to Japheth. Therefore, you find that Noah sired a son at < an age of > five hundred years. It is written (in Gen. 5:32): AND NOAH WAS FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD; < AND NOAH BEGOT SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH >. Now the flood took place (according to Gen. 7:11): IN THE SIX HUNDREDTH YEAR OF NOAH'S LIFE…. {Since} it is also written of Shem that he sired a son at < the age of > a hundred years, {he was lacking two} [two years after the flood). It is so stated (in Gen. 11:10): THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM: SHEM WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. If he had been the eldest, it would have been necessary to say only: HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. You also learn from here that Japheth was two years older than Shem according to the reckoning of my calculation. Here also (in Gen. 27:33), Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is there on my hands that I have blessed the younger before the elder and have changed the order? Jacob went out and Esau came in, as stated (in Gen. 27:30): AND JACOB HAD JUST GONE OUT…. He (Esau) said to his father (in vs. 32): I AM [YOUR SON], YOUR FIRST-BORN, ESAU. His father began saying: Who is this one who entered and received the blessings? The Holy Spirit said to him: It was Jacob. He said to him (in vs. 33): AND I HAVE EATEN OF EVERYTHING. R. Isaac said: In that dish Isaac had a taste OF EVERYTHING that the Holy One had created during the six days of creation. (Tanh., Gen. 6:11; Gen. R. 67:2.) Also R. Judah b. R. Shallum said in the name of R. Ayyevu: In that dish Isaac had a taste of whatever is stored up for the righteous in the days to come. [Isaac said to him: In that dish I tasted everything that the Holy One has created]. Esau said to him: Daddy, [tell me:] What is that dish? Isaac said to him: < Whatever I ask for >. I asked for pheasant; (Gk.: phasianos.) I tasted it. Esau said to him: Daddy, tell me the basic < ingredient >. He said to him: It was meat. R. Hananyah b. R. Isaac said: When Esau heard this, he began striking his face. He said: Woe to that man, as stated (in Gen. 27:34): AND HE LET OUT A GREAT AND BITTER CRY…. Esau said: He fed me pottage of lentils, and I gave him my birthright. Now he has fed Daddy meat. You must know with what blessings he blessed him! HE BEGAN TO CRY AND SAY: IS HE NOT RIGHTLY NAMED JACOB (rt.: 'QB)? [FOR HE HAS CHEATED (rt.: 'QB) ME THESE TWO TIMES. HE TOOK MY BIRTHRIGHT; AND, SEE, NOW HE HAS TAKEN MY BLESSING.] His father said to him: So what should I do for you? He said to him: He has already taken my birthright. Isaac said to him: Over this matter I was sorry. He also said: Perhaps I transgressed a commandment of the Law in blessing the younger before the elder. Now that I have already blessed him, (according to Gen. 27:33:) HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED.
(Deut. 33:1:) AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. This text is related (to Prov. 31:29): MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VALIANTLY, BUT YOU SURPASS THEM ALL. This is the blessing of Moses, (Tanh., Deut. 11:1; PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but compared to all of them none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence. He blessed one and cursed another. (Gen. 9:27:) MAY GOD ENLARGE (YPT) JAPHETH (YPT); but he said (vs. 25:) CURSED BE CANAAN. Isaac blessed Jacob. There was strife in it, in that he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT; and it is stated (in vs. 41): THEN ESAU HATED JACOB <…, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MORNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB>. Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he said to Reuben (in Gen. 49:4): UNSTABLE AS WATER; and similarly (in vs. 5): SIMEON AND LEVI . And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned] from the Holy One. When he created Adam, he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): THEN GOD BLESSED THEM; [and (The other part of this bracket is several lines below.) the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7): AND THE LORD SAID: I WILL BLOT OUT THE HUMANITY WHICH I CREATED. When Noah left the ark, the Holy One saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world. Then the Holy One added one blessing for him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): FOR I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION…. When Abraham came, the Holy One said: It is not a practice worthy of me, that I should be obliged to bless my creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who issue a blessing through him, I am placing my seal upon , as stated (in vs. 2, cont.): AND SO BECOME A BLESSING. (vs. 3:) I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU…. What is the meaning of I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU. The Holy One said: Take note. I am handing over the blessings to ALL WHOM YOU BLESS, and I am sealing through you. But if from then on the blessings were {spoken} [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said: If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard. (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5; also Matthew 13:24–30.) : He gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said: If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard. (Cf. Matthew 13:24–30.) And so also did Abraham say: If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Look here. It is simply that he is leaving him alone until the Holy One comes, when he will deal with what belongs to him.] Jacob came and received five blessing: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) : Two from his father, according to what is stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why TREMBLED? R. Eleazar ben Padat said: because he saw Gehinnom open for Esau. He wanted to say: Cursed. He repented and added a blessing when he said (ibid., end): HE ALSO SHALL BE BLESSED. Here is one blessing. A second (is in Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. [The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4): AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…; the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE (the angel) BLESSED HIM THERE; and the blessings of the Holy One (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…, AND BLESSED HIM.] When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessing that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28): ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, WHEN HE BLESSED THEM, EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM. (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. < According to another interpretation, Moses made> an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4) since it was fitting for him to bless with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars ; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10): BUT HERE YOU HAVE EVEN BLESSED THEM THESE THREE [TIMES]. The Holy One said to him: You are wicked. Your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair. Then he will bless Israel, and it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9): HE THAT HAS A BENEVOLENT EYE SHALL BE BLESSED (YBRK). Do not read YBRK SHALL BE BLESSED, but SHALL BLESS. This refers to Moses our Master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel. He also blessed them with four blessings:
(Numb. 23:4:) “Then God encountered Balaam.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing?” (Ibid., cont.:) “And [Balaam] said unto him, ‘I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].’” [The matter] is comparable to a money-changer who lies about the weights. When the head of the marketplace came, he noticed him. He said to him, “What are you doing inflating and lying about the weights?” [The money changer then] said to him, “I have already sent a gift (Gk.: doron.) to your house.” So also it was in the case of Balaam. The holy spirit cried out to him. It said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing.” He said to it (in Numb. 23:4), “I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].” It said to him (in Prov. 15:17), “’Better a meal of vegetable greens [where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred in it].’ Better the dinner of unleavened bread and bitter herbs which Israel ate in Egypt, than bulls which you offer with hands of [hatred].” (Numb. 23:5:) “So the Lord put a word (davar) in Balaam's mouth,” which twisted his mouth and pierced it, (Both “twisted” and “pierced” connote the use of a bit on a horse.) as one would drive a nail into a board. R. Eliezer (understanding davar as word) says, “An angel was speaking.” But R. Joshua says, “[It was] the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated, (in Numb. 23:5), “Return unto Balak and speak thus.” (Numb. 23:6:) “So he returned unto him, and there he was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the ministers of Moab,” who stood anxiously awaiting [the time] when he would come and speak. (Numb. 23:7:) “So he took up his theme and said, ‘From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.’” I was one of the exalted ones, (Ramim. The midrash links this word with ARAM in Numb. 23:7.) but Balak has brought me down to the pit of corruption. (Numb. R. 20:19; also above, Lev. 5:1 and the notes there.) (Ibid.:) “Brought me (yanheni, rt.: nhh),” [is to be understood] just as you say (in Ezek. 32:18), “bring (rt.: nhh) the masses of Egypt [and cast them down… unto the lowest part of the netherworld along with those who go down to the pit].” (Thus Numb. 23:7 comes to mean that Balak BROUGHT (rt.: NHH) Balaam down to the grave. The unusual Biblical translation is necessary to fit the sense of the midrash.) Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram.” I was with the highest (ram) of the high, and Balak has brought me down from my glory. [The matter] is comparable to one who was walking with the king. When he saw [some] robbers, (Gk.: lestai.) he left the king and toured along with the robbers. When he returned to be with the king, the king said to him, “Go with whomever you have toured with, because it not possible for you to walk with me again.” Similarly Balaam had been bound to the holy spirit. When he paired himself with Balak, the holy spirit departed from him. So he returned to being a diviner as in the beginning. Thus it is stated (at his execution in Josh. 13:22), “Balaam ben Beor the diviner….” Therefore did he say, “I was high up (ram), and Balak brought me down.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.” [Balaam] said to [Balak], “We are alike, even both of us, for being ungrateful, because were it not for our father Abraham, there would have been no Balak. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 19:29), ‘And it came to pass that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away.’ Except for Abraham, he would not have delivered Lot from Sodom; and you are one of the children of the children of Lot. (As a Moabite, Balak was descended from Moab, the son of Lot. See Gen. 19:37.) Moreover, if it were not for their father Jacob, I should not have been present in the world, because Laban had sons only through the merit of Jacob, since it is written at the beginning (in Gen. 29:9), ‘Rachel came with the sheep.’ Now if he had sons, how was his daughter a shepherdess? As soon as Jacob came there, sons were given to him, as stated (in Gen. 31:1), ‘Now he heard the things that Laban's sons [were saying].’ (Jewish tradition gives three views on Balaam’s relation to Laban: That he was Laban himself, that he was Laban’s nephew, and that he was Laban’s grandson. See Ginzberg, vol. III, p. 354; vol.. V, p. 303, n. 229; vol. VI, pp. 123f., nn. 722f.; p. 130, n. 764.) And it also says [that Laban said] (in Gen. 30:27), ‘I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.’ So if it were not for their ancestors, you and I would not have been present in the world”. (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “Come, curse Jacob for me.” Whoever curses the Children of Jacob is cursing himself, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:3), “and the one who curses you, I will curse.” It also says (in Gen. 27:29), “cursed be those who curse you, (See above, Gen. 6:16.) and blessed be those who bless you.” (Numb. 23:7:) “Come, curse [Jacob] for me.” If you had told me to curse another people, for example, the Children of Abraham from the concubines, I would have been able [to do so]. But Jacob? When a king selects a portion for himself, and someone else gets up and speaks disparagingly about it, will he keep his life? Now these people are the Holy One, blessed be He’s, heritage, His portion, and His treasure. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:9), “For the Lord's share is His people; Jacob the portion of His heritage.” And it is written (in Exod. 19:5), “and you shall be My treasure.” (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “And come, denounce Israel.” When a king takes a crown and puts it on his head, and someone says of it that it is nothing, will he keep his life? Now in regard to these people it is written about them (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” (Numb. 23:8:) “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed, when Jacob went in to receive the blessings. It is written (in Gen. 27:16), “Then [she clothed his arms and the hairless part of his neck] with the skins of goat kids.” His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18), “Who are you?” He said to him (in vs. 19), “I am Esau, your first-born.” Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only [was he not cursed], but he was blessed; as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “he shall also be blessed.” So how do I curse them? (In the words of Numb. 23:8) “God has not cursed.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” According to universal custom, when a legion (Lat.: legio.) rebels against the king, it incurs the penalty of death. Now since these denied and revolted against Him, when they said to the calf (in Exod. 32:4), “This is your God, O Israel,” did they not, therefore, deserve to have Him destroy them at that time? [Still] He did not cease to cherish them. Instead He had clouds of glory accompany them. Nor did He withhold the manna and the well from them. And so it says (in Neh. 9:18-20), “Even though they had made themselves a molten calf […], You in Your great mercies did not abandon them in the desert […]; and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth […].” How can I curse them? This [question] is related (to Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When He commanded them concerning the blessings and the curses, He mentioned them (as the people) in connection with the blessings where it is stated (in Deut. 27:12), “These shall stand [on Mount Gerizim] for blessing the people;” but He did not mention them in connection with the curses. Thus it is stated (in vs. 13), “And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse.” Moreover, when they sin and He plans to bring a curse upon them, it is not written that He Himself is bringing them (i.e., the curses); but with respect to the blessings, He Himself is blessing them; for so it says (in Deut. 28:1, 8), “And it shall come to pass that, if you diligently obey […], the Lord your God will set you high [over all the nations of the earth]. The Lord will command the blessing to be with you.” But with respect to the curses, it is written (according to Deut. 28:15), “And it shall come to pass that, if you do not obey […], then [all these curses] shall come upon you,” [i.e.,] of their own accord. Ergo (in Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” (Numb. 23:9:) “For from the top of the rocks I see him,” in order to make the hatred of that evil man (i.e., Balaam) known to you. As from his blessing you may know his thoughts. To what is he comparable? To someone who came to chop down a tree. One who is not an expert chops off the branches one at a time and becomes tired, but the clever one exposes the roots and [then] chops it down. Similarly that wicked man said, “How shall I curse each and every tribe? Rather I will go to their roots.” When he came to touch them, he found them hard [to cut]. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks I see him.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks,” these are the patriarchs; (ibid., cont.) “and from the hills I behold him,” these are the matriarchs. (Numb. 23:9, cont.:) “Here is a people dwelling alone.” When He makes them rejoice, no nation rejoices along with them. Rather they are all afflicted, [as stated (in Deut. 32:12),] “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign god with him.” (Numb. 23:9, cont.:), “And they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” But when the nations are rejoicing in this world, they (i.e., the Children of Israel) eat with each and every kingdom, and no one is charging [such pleasures] against their account (rt: hshb). (In other words the pleasures that Israel enjoys in this world are not to be deducted from their pleasures in the world to come.) It is so stated (in Numb. 23:9, cont.), “and they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” (Numb. 23:10:) “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” Who is able to count the commandments which they carry out upon the dust: (In Deut. 22:10,) “You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together”; (in Deut. 22:9,) “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed”; (in Numb. 19:9,) “Then someone clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer”; (in Numb. 5:17,) “[Then the high priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel] and some of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle”; (in Lev. 19:23,) “[Moreover, when you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall count its fruit as forbidden,] three years it shall be forbidden to you, [it shall not be eaten]”; and so on with all of them. (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Or numbered the sand (rb') of Israel,” [i.e.,] their copulations (rt.: rb'). (For this interpretation, cf. Nid. 31a.) Who can number the masses (Gk.: ochloi.) that have emerged from them, from those women who seize on and cherish the commandments (of procreation), as stated (in Gen. 30:15), “But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?’” [And so too (in Gen. 30:3, 9),] “Here is my maid Bilhah; go into her.” “When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, [she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife].” [And so too (in Gen. 16:3),] “So Abraham's wife Sarai took her maidservant Hagar the Egyptian… [and gave her to her husband Abraham as a wife].” (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Let me die the death of the upright.” The matter is comparable to a butcher who came to slaughter a cow that belonged to a king. The king began to take notice. When [the butcher] realized [what was happening], he began by discarding the knife, then giving [the cow] a rubdown [and] filling the feeding trough for it. He began to say, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to slaughter it; but observe that I have [now given it sustenance].” Similarly Balaam said, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to curse, but I will bless [them].” Ergo (in Numb. 23:10), “let me die the death of the upright!”
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). May it please our master to teach us the blessing one pronounces upon tasting oil. Thus do our masters teach us: One who tastes oil should say: “Blessed be He who hath created the fruit of the tree.” R. Yosé the son of Zevid said (that) the Mishnah states: This blessing is pronounced over the fruit of every tree but one. Over wine one offers the blessing: “Blessed be He who hath created the fruit of the vine.” (Mishnah Berakhot 6:1.) Why is wine blessed differently than other beverages? Because wine was used as a libation on the altar, (Wine was used as part of the ritual of the offering (Num. 28:14).) and Jacob received his blessing on account of it.
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). What is written before this? Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father (ibid., v. 30). This indicates that as one withdrew, the other entered. How could this happen? A person standing in a lighted area is unable to see a person standing in a dark place, while a person standing in a dark place can see one standing in a lighted area. Thus Esau, who came from the marketplace, was unable to see Jacob, who was inside the house, but Jacob could see him as he hid behind the door. As soon as Esau entered the room, Jacob slipped out, as it is said: And Jacob was yet scarce gone out … that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting (ibid.).
Three words in this one verse are expressions of pleading, humility, and meekness. The wicked one, however, said merely: Let my father arise, and eat. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob: Inasmuch as you said Arise, I pray thee, your descendant Moses will say to Me: Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered (Num. 10:35). Inasmuch as you said sit (shevah), your descendants will say: Return (shuvah), O Lord, unto the tens of thousands (ibid., v. 36). However, because Esau said Let my father arise, I will exact retribution from him through that very expression, as it is said: Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered (Ps. 68:2). Let my father arise. At that moment Isaac recognized his voice and began to tremble. Who art thou? (Gen. 27:32), he asked. When Jacob entered the room, a fragrance from the Garden of Eden accompanied him; a fragrance so pleasant that the righteous one’s mind was set at ease, as is said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed (ibid., v. 27). However, when Esau entered, Gehenna was revealed to him. Hence, it says: Isaac trembled very exceedingly (ibid., v. 33). Isaac was astonished and cried out: I see Gehenna and Esau is causing the flames to rise.
And Isaac trembled exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them (Prov. 20:12). Did the Holy One, blessed be He, fashion only the eye and the ear? Did He not form all of man’s organs? What is the meaning of the words The hearing ear and the seeing eye? You find that three of man’s organs fashioned by the Holy One, blessed be He, are under the control of man, and three are not under his control. Man controls the functioning of his hands, his mouth, and his feet. How is that? In the case of his hands, if he desires to, he may devote them to sacred purposes, such as building a sukkah, fashioning a lulav, a shofar, (or) fringes, or writing the (scriptural) portions which are deposited in phylacteries and mezuzahs. Conversely, if he so desires, he may steal, shed innocent blood, or attack travelers with his hands. Indeed, he can commit many transgressions with his hands. As to his mouth, if he desires, he can study the Torah, speak kindly, extol, praise, and pray unto the Holy One, blessed be He, and he can also sing psalms. Conversely, if he so desires, he can speak slanderously, blaspheme and revile the Lord, and swear falsely with his mouth. With regard to his feet, a man may choose to use them to go about in the performance of good deeds—to visit the sick, comfort the mourner, bury the dead, and to do other charitable deeds; but conversely, if he so desires, he can use them to transgress—to commit adultery, to murder, or to steal.
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be set up on high (Prov. 29:25). Because of the fear that Jacob brought upon Isaac, it would have been fitting for him to have cursed him. Who compelled him to bless Jacob? Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be set up on high. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama the son of Hanina: Isaac was terrified twice, once when he was bound upon the altar, and again when Esau entered. There is no way of knowing which event frightened him more, but since the word exceedingly is mentioned in this verse, you may presume that this was the more terrifying experience. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Because of the evil inclination, you do not pursue My ways in this world, but in the future I will place within you a new heart; And I will put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh (Ezek. 11:19).
(Deut. 33:1:) “And this is the blessing.” This text is related (to Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.” This is the blessing of Moses, (PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but there was none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence, as he blessed one and cursed another, as stated (Gen. 9:27,) “May God enlarge (ypt) Japheth (ypt) [...]; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Isaac blessed Jacob, but there was strife in it. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:4), “May He give you the blessing of Abraham, but he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35), “Your brother came with deceit”; and it is stated (in vs. 41), “Then Esau hated Jacob […, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob’].” Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he rebuked Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:4), “Unstable as water”; and similarly (in vs. 5), “Simeon and Levi [are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords].” And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned it] from the Holy One, blessed be He. When he created Adam, He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:27-28), “male and female. Then [God] blessed them.” And the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7), “And the Lord said, “I will blot out the humanity which I created.” When Noah left the ark, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1), “Then God blessed Noah and his children.” The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world, and He added blessing, as stated (in Gen. 12:2), “For I will make you into a great nation.” Once Abraham came, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “It is not honorable for Me, that I should be obliged to bless My creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who they issue a blessing, I am placing my seal upon [those blessings], as stated (in vs. 2, cont.), ‘[I will bless you and magnify your name] and so become a blessing.’” (Vs. 3:) “I will bless those who bless you….” What is the meaning of “I will bless?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Take note. I am handing over the blessings to all whom you bless, and I am sealing [them] through you.” But if from then on the blessings were [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said, “If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard, (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5.) [and] gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said, “If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.” And so also did Abraham say, “If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Rather look here. I will leave him alone until the Holy One, blessed be He, comes, when He will deal with what belongs to Him.” Jacob came and received five blessings: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) From his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “Then Isaac trembled (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why “trembled?” R. Eliezer ben Pedat said, “[He did so] because he saw Gehinnom open in front of him. He wanted to say, ‘Cursed will be [Jacob.’ Instead,] he went back [on it], and added blessing [to it], when he said (ibid., end), ‘he also shall be blessed.’” Here is one [blessing]. A second (is in Gen. 28:1), “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him.” The blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, (is in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob [… and blessed him].” The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4), “And may He grant you the blessing of Abraham.” And the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30), “and he (the angel) blessed him there.” When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessings that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28), “All these are the tribes of Israel, [twelve in number, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them, each one with his own blessing is how he blessed them].” (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” [According to another interpretation, Moses made] an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4.) since it was fitting for him to bless them with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars [he had built]; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but [Balaam] only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10), “but here you have even blessed them these three times.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair; then he will bless Israel.” And it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9), “He that has a benevolent eye shall be blessed (ybrk).” Do not read “ybrk [with vowels meaning] shall be blessed,” but [with vowels meaning] “shall bless.” This refers to Moses our master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel, such that he blessed them with [the other] four blessings: The first is (in Exod. 39:43), “When Moses saw all the work […] he blessed them.” The second is (in Lev. 9:23), “Then Moses and Aaron came unto the tent of meeting; and when they came out, they blessed the people….” The third is (in Deut. 1:11), “May the Lord God of your ancestors add [to your numbers a thousand times more than you are and bless you].” The fourth is (here in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” It is therefore stated (in Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.”(Deut. 33:1:) And this is the blessing.” It was fitting for Moses to bless Israel because he had constantly risked his life for them. (PRK 31(suppl. 1):12.) For this reason, it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing [that Moses blessed... the Children of Israel].” (Deut. 33:1:) “The man of God (the Power).” If it says, “man,” why does it say, “God,” and if it says, “God,” why does it say, “man?” It is simply that at the time he fled from in front of Pharaoh, he was a man, but at the time he trounced [the Egyptians], he was a power. Another interpretation: At the time that he went up to the firmament, he was a man; in front of the angels that were all fire, he was a man. But at the time he came down, he was a power. Before he went up to the firmament, he was a man, as he would eat and drink. But all the time that he was there, he was a power, as stated (in Exod. 34:20), “and they were afraid to approach him.”
“He said: Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter; you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, not to follow the youths, whether poor or wealthy” (Ruth 3:10). “At midnight I will rise to thank You because of Your righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:62). Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov: A harp and a lyre were placed alongside David’s head and when midnight would arrive he would rise and play them. Rabbi Levi said: A harp was suspended… (A north wind would blow and play the harp at midnight, awakening David, who would then arise and study Torah until morning (Eikha Rabba 2; Berakhot 3b).) “Because of Your righteous ordinances [mishpetei tzidkekha]” – the punishments [shefatim] that you brought upon Pharaoh, as it is stated: “The Lord afflicted Pharaoh with great afflictions” (Genesis 12:17), and the kindnesses [tzedakot] that You performed for Abraham and Sarah. Alternatively, “because of Your righteous ordinances” – the punishments that You brought upon the Egyptians, and the kindnesses that You performed with our ancestors in Egypt. They had no mitzvot in whose performance they could engage so they could be redeemed, and You gave them two mitzvot in which they could engage and be redeemed, and they are: The blood of the paschal offering and the blood of circumcision. Rabbi Levi said: On that night the blood of the paschal offering was mixed with the blood of circumcision, [and this allowed the Israelites to be redeemed,] as it is stated: “I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you: In your blood, live; I said to you: In your blood, live” (Ezekiel 16:6). Alternatively, “because of Your righteous ordinances” – the punishments that You brought upon the Ammonites and Moavites, and the kindnesses that You performed with my grandfather and grandmother, (The verse in Psalms was stated by David, a descendant of Boaz and Ruth.) as had he [Boaz] quickly uttered one curse to her, from where would I have descended? But You inspired him to bless her, as it is stated: “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter.” “The trembling of man brings a snare; but one who trusts in the Lord will be exalted” (Proverbs 29:25). Rabbi Akiva was departing to Rome, [and] he said to a member of his household: ‘Go purchase for me an item that is equally appreciated by all.’ He went and brought him birds. [Rabbi Akiva] said to him: ‘Why did you take so long? [Did it take a long time] to trap them?’ He said: ‘It is because they cause people to tremble.’ [Rabbi Akiva] read this verse in his regard: “The trembling of [ḥerdat] man brings a snare.” The trembling that Jacob induced in Isaac, as it is written: “Isaac trembled [vayeḥerad] a great trembling…” (Genesis 27:33), and by right, he should have cursed him. “But one who trusts in the Lord will be exalted” – You inspired him to bless him, as it is stated: “And he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33). The trembling that Ruth induced in Boaz, as it is stated: “The man trembled and flinched” (Ruth 3:8), and by right, he should have cursed her. “But, one who trusts in the Lord will be exalted” – You inspired him to bless her, as it is stated: “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter.” “And flinched,” she embraced him like lichen. (She did so to calm him.) He began touching her hair; he said: ‘Spirits do not have hair.’ He said to her: ‘Who are you, a spirit or a woman?’ She said: ‘A woman.’ [He said:] ‘Are you single or married?’ She said to him: ‘Single.’ [He said:] ‘Are you ritually impure, or pure?’ She said to him: ‘Pure.’ Here was a ritually pure woman lying at his feet, as it is stated: “He said: Who are you? She said: I am Ruth your maidservant…” (Ruth 3:9). Rabbi Berekhya said: The wicked are accursed. There it is written: “She grabbed him by his garment, saying: Lie with me” (Genesis 39:12), but here: “Spread your garment over your maidservant” (Ruth 3:9). (The wife of Potiphar brazenly demanded that Joseph lie with her, although she was married. Ruth, in contrast, who was permitted to Boaz, spoke to him in a humble and modest fashion. )
This is why Isaac said: "I ate from everything,” meaning all that had been created during the six days of Creation, including all that is envisioned in the distant future, as we explained earlier. Now that Isaac was aware that it was Jacob who had stood before him and been blessed, he confirmed that blessing. The word גם refers to the blessings of עולם הזה. Since such a blessing was not something that Jacob could normally count on, seeing it was not appropriate to his fundamental orientation in life, it is described as something merely additional, i.e. גם. Esau did not understand what his father had meant by the word גם. He thought that Isaac meant that "Jacob shall also be blessed," i.e. shall also receive a blessing in addition to the blessing which he, Esau, would of course receive by his father, now that his father realized that he had made a mistake. He felt that Isaac was going to divide the blessings into one which would apply in this life, the recipient of which would be Esau, and one applicable to life in the future, granted to Jacob. When he realized that he would not receive a blessing that would apply to עולם הבא, Esau cried out bitterly, for he would also be denied the blessing pertaining to עולם הזה. He did not realize that both blessings had already been dispensed to Jacob.
In order to answer all these problems allow me two introductory remarks: 1) The blessings are capable of two interpretations. One interpretation, i.e. the פשט, views all the blessings in terms of material benefits in this world. G–d will grant sufficient dew in the summer to enable the fruit to grow in the fields. He will allow Jacob to feed on the fat part of the earth etc. 2) The other interpretation of the blessings sees in their wording allusions to the real blessings of the Torah which pertain to a "higher" world, i.e. the world in which blessings are of enduring value. The Midrash describes טל השמים as an allusion to the written Torah, משמני הארץ as a reference to Mishnah; דגן alludes to Talmud, whereas תירוש alludes to the Aggadic material in the Talmud. According to this interpretation both the words השמים and הארץ refer to their respective counterparts in the Celestial Regions. It appears that Bereshit Rabbah 67,2 refers to this when quoting Isaac as telling Esau ואוכל מכל, "I ate from it all" (Genesis 27,33). We find there that Rabbi Yehudah understands the word as meaning "all that has been created during the six days of creation," whereas Rabbi Nechemiah understands the expression as meaning "all that is stored up for future consumption in the World to Come." Both these Rabbis have correctly interpreted the blessings, each one emphasizing a different aspect. Even though the delicacies served Isaac were certainly made of foods available here on earth, of items created during the six days of Creation, they exuded a taste of something super-natural, something of the World to Come.
And it mentioned three levels: “Has goodness bestowed upon him, his life is lengthened, and he inherits the land.” And these three things, which are levels of the world to come, are known to the sages and to the understanding. As that which it said, “has goodness bestowed upon him,” is the full goodness; “his life is lengthened,” is life that is completely eternal; “and he inherits the land,” is meaning to say that he will have in the world to come, that which includes everything. And hence it said, “and he inherits the land” - as it is written (Deuteronomy 8:9), “A land [...] in which you will lack nothing.” Such that he will have the complete good, which is mentioned in that which it said, “has goodness bestowed upon him”; and he will have eternal life which is hinted to in that which it said, “his life is lengthened”; and [he will have] the good that encompasses everything that is hinted to in that which it said, “and he inherits the land” - about which it is stated, “A land [...] in which you will lack nothing.” And it is as it is written with Avraham (Genesis 24:1), “and the Lord blessed Avraham with everything”; and with Yitzchak (Genesis 27:33), “and I ate of everything”; and with Yaakov (Genesis 33:11), “I have everything.” And in the first chapter of Bava Kamma (16b), they said about this, “Three were given a taste of the world to come,” as it is found there. Such that from this you learn that the world to come is everything, and there is nothing to add upon these three things - if there is complete good, if there is eternal life and if there is good that encompasses everything. And behold length of days is clinging to the supernal level, from which there is length of days. And the bestowing of good is the clinging to the level of good, as is known. “And he inherits the land,” is the holy Land of Israel that encompasses everything. And just like they hint to the world to come, so too do they hint to the levels of this world. So from this, the whole discussion [in the Gemara] is like its plain sense.
Now let us count the consequences. Isaac, old and blind, feels betrayed by Jacob. He “trembled violently” (Gen. 27:33) when he realised what had happened, saying to Esau, “Your brother came deceitfully” (27:35). Esau likewise feels betrayed and feels such violent hatred towards Jacob that he vows to kill him. Rebecca is forced to send Jacob into exile, thus depriving herself for more than two decades of the company of the son she loves. As for Jacob, the consequences of the deceit last a lifetime, resulting in strife between his wives and between his children. “Few and evil have been the days of my life” (47:9), he says to Pharaoh as an old man. Four lives are scarred by one act which was not even necessary in the first place – Isaac did in fact give Jacob “the blessing of Abraham” without any deception, knowing him to be Jacob and not Esau.
Why did G’d phrase the command not to leave Eretz Yisrael as גור “dwell as a stranger,” when He had already told him in the previous verse שכון בארץ, “live permanently in the land!?” He wanted to give Yitzchak a hint of the גור אריה, the vision Yitzchak had seen while lying bound, something which transformed him into the epitome of פחד יצחק, the heading under which our tradition sums up Yitzchak’s relationship with G’d. It was because of this vision that when Yitzchak found out that he had been deceived by both his sons when he gave the blessing to Yaakov, that the Torah reports: ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדולה, ”Yitzchak experienced a very great trembling (27,33).” [Being wrong in one’s assessment of such an important matter as almost giving the power to bless and to curse to an unworthy person was a traumatic experience for someone whose life was based on the attribute of Justice. Ed.]
There are commentators who believe that he referred to the merit Yitzchak had acquired when he lay bound on the altar on Mount Moriah, a merit which had now benefited his son Yaakov. He was lying bound on the altar on Mount Moriah expecting to be sacrificed as a burnt-offering for G’d. Alternatively, it was a reference to the dread Yitzchak experienced when he saw the portals of Gehinom open before his eyes (Bereshit Rabbah 67,2), or it was the dread which resulted in Yaakov receiving confirmation of the blessing his father had given him (27,33). When Yaakov said to Lavan: “you would now have sent me away empty-handed,” he meant: “if the dread which my father experienced on those occasions had not benefited me, this is what would have happened.”
A Kabbalistic approach: The words במשוך היובל, “at the long blast of the horn,” are actually an allusion to פחד יצחק, the attribute which distinguished Yitzchak, especially when he was bound on the altar ready to give his life for G’d. This attribute also known as גבורה was attained by the entire Jewish nation at the time of the revelation at Mount Sinai. They did not reach the level of verbalizing anything. They heard a (sound) voice [at that point], that was all. This is what ויחרד כל העם, “all the people trembled in awe (without verbalizing any response)” is all about, just as we read in connection with Yitzchak ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדולה that “Yitzchak was seized by great trembling,” when he found out that the person he had given the blessing to was Yaakov (Genesis 27,33). I have already dealt with this subject in Genesis 22,13 on the words והנה איל אחר נאחז בסך בקרניו. [page 341-342 in my translation. Ed.]
WHEN ‘HAYOVEIL’ (THE RAM’S HORN) SOUNDETH LONG, THEY SHALL COME UP TO THE MOUNT. “The Hebrew word hayoveil denotes a ram’s horn, and the horn used here was that of Isaac’s ram.” (Genesis 22:13.) Thus Rashi’s language. But I have not understood this, for Isaac’s ram was burnt as a whole-offering, (Genesis 22:13.) and horns and hoofs were completely burnt in whole-offerings. (Leviticus 1:9 and 13.) Perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, shaped the ashes of the horn [of Isaac’s ram] and restored it to what it was originally. But in my opinion, this Agadah (homily) contains a secret. Thus they (Evidently, a reference to the masters of Cabala. The source of this statement, i.e., that the Voice heard on Mount Sinai was that of Pachad Yitzchak, is unknown to me.) have said that this Voice [heard on Mount Sinai, as stated in Verse 16], was that of Pachad Yitzchak (the Fear of Isaac). (Genesis 31:42.. See Ramban, ibid. (Vol. I pp. 388-389). And in Bachya’s commentary here (Vol. II, p. 172 of my edition): “This is the Pachad Yitzchak which they perceived at Mount Sinai.”) It is for this reason that Scripture says, and all the people that were in the camp trembled. (Verse 16. “Just as it says [in Genesis 27:33], in the case of Isaac: And Isaac trembled” (Bachya, ibid.)) At this manifestation of G’vurah (Literally: “strength.” But here it denotes one of the Ten Emanations, the one which is synonymous with Pachad Yitzchak.) they did not grasp the commandment itself but only a voice. (Deuteronomy 4:12. See also Ramban further on Verse 19.)
צדה is a term denoting “lying in wait”; similarly it says, (I Samuel 24:12) “yet thou liest in wait (צדה) for my soul to take it”. It is, however, not correct to say that צדה is of the same derivation as, (Genesis 27:34) הצד ציד “he that hath hunted (הצד) venison”, for a ה has no place in the verbal forms of the term denoting “hunting beasts”. Then again, the noun form of the latter is צַיִד and that of the former צְדִיָה, whilst the participle of the verb “lying in wait” is צוֹדֶה and that of the other is צָד. I therefore say that its meaning is as the Targum gives it: “and if he did not lie in ambush for him”. Menachem ben Seruk placed it in the same section as הצד ציד (i. e. he held that the root is צד and that it has the meaning of “hunting”), but I do not agree with him. If it is to be placed in one of the sections of צד we had better place it in the same section as, (Isaiah 66:12) על צד תנשאו “ye shall be borne upon her side (צד)” and (I Samuel 20:20) “and I will shoot [three arrows] on the side thereof (צדה)”, and (Daniel 7:25) “and he shall speak towards the side of (against) the Most High”. Thus, here, the words אשד לא צדה could be taken to mean, “he did not turn aside (צִדֵּד)” to seek some side (occasion) for killing him. But there are objections even to this explanation. At any rate, even if it be connected with צד in this sense, it would still have the meaning “lying in wait”.
מה אקב ולא קבה אל HOW SHALL I CURSE WHOM GOD HATH NOT CURSED — Even when they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed. When their ancestor, Jacob, made mention of their sin — (Genesis 49:6) “For in their anger they slew a man” — he cursed their anger only, as it is said, (Genesis 49:7) “Cursed be their anger”. When their ancestor, Jacob, went to his father with deceit he deserved to be cursed, but what is stated there (Genesis 27:33)? “Yea, he shall be blessed”. In the case of those tribes who had to recite the blessings it is said, (Deuteronomy 27:12) “These shall stand to bless the people”, but in the case of those who had to pronounce the curses it does not state, “And these shall stand to curse the people”, but, “And these shall stand for the curse”, — it does not wish to mention the term “cursing” in direct reference to them (the people) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 1; Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12).
They answered:"Reason is not with the aged, and counsel is not with the young." (Shabbat 89b:4) "For Abraham knows us not, Israel does not recognise us" (Isaiah 63:16), rather "my covenant will be made with Isaac." (Genesis 17:21), "I have singled him out," (Isaiah 51:2) "and will give him the birthright," (Psalms 89:28) "and he shall be blessed." (Genesis 27:33) (These verses seem to support Isaac, i.e, R. Isaac Alfasi, over the Abraham and Jacob, perhaps referring to Rabbeinu Tam.)
[251] The second we have in several places. Isaac was astonished with a great ecstasy and said, “who is it then who has made a hunting and brought to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest and I blessed him, and let him be blessed” (Gen. 27:33). And again when Jacob disbelieved those who told him that “Joseph lives and is ruler over all Egypt,” he was in an “ecstasy,” we are told, “in his mind, for he did not believe them” (Gen. 45:26). Also in Exodus, in the account of the congregation, it says, “for Mount Sinai was all covered with smoke, because God came down to it in fire and the smoke rose up like vapour of a furnace, and all the people were in a great ‘ecstasy’ ” (Ex. 19:18). Also in Leviticus at the completion of the sacrifices on the eighth day, when “fire came out from heaven and devoured what was on the altar, both the whole burnt offerings and the fats”; for the next words are, “and all the people saw it and were in an ‘ecstasy,’ and fell upon their faces” (Lev. 9:24): a natural consequence, for an “ecstasy” in this sense produces great agitation and terrible consternation.
The Gemara comments: But if that is the proof, say that Job lived in the time of Isaac, as it is written in connection with Isaac: “Who then [eifo] is he that has taken venison” (Genesis 27:33). Or say that he lived in the time of Jacob, as it is written with respect to Jacob: “If it must be so now [eifo], do this” (Genesis 43:11). Or say that he lived in the time of Joseph, as it is written with respect to Joseph: “Tell me, I pray you, where [eifo] are they feeding their flocks?” (Genesis 37:16).
a taste of the World-to-Come. They are: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham, as it is written with regard to him: “And the Lord blessed Abraham with everything” (Genesis 24:1). Isaac, as it is written with regard to him: “And I have eaten from everything” (Genesis 27:33). Jacob, as it is written with regard to him: “Because I have everything” (Genesis 33:11). This teaches that already in their lifetimes they merited everything, i.e., perfection.
He continues the interpretation: But if he repents from his arrogance, he is gathered in death at his proper time like Abraham our forefather, as it is stated: “Yes, they are brought low, they are gathered in as all [kakkol] others” (Job 24:24), indicating that when he repents from his arrogance he will die like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as it is written about them that they were blessed with the term “all,” as in the verse above. With regard to Abraham, the verse states: “And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things [bakkol]” (Genesis 24:1). With regard to Isaac, the verse states: “And I have eaten of all [mikkol]” (Genesis 27:33). With regard to Jacob, the verse states: “And because I have all [khol]” (Genesis 33:11). And if one does not repent, then, the verse in Job continues: “And wither like the tops of the husks.”
Yitzchok was seized with a powerful trembling [Yitzchok was astonished with great astonishment]; and said, Who, then, is he who trapped [deer] and brought it to me. I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. He shall be blessed.
And Izhak was moved with great agitation when he heard the voice of Esau, and the smell of his food rose in his nostrils as the smell of the burning of Gehennam; and he said, Who is he who hath got venison, and come to me, and I have eaten of all which he brought me before thou camest, and I have blessed him, and he shall, too, be blessed?
| כִּשְׁמֹ֤עַ עֵשָׂו֙ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֣י אָבִ֔יו וַיִּצְעַ֣ק צְעָקָ֔ה גְּדֹלָ֥ה וּמָרָ֖ה עַד־מְאֹ֑ד וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְאָבִ֔יו בָּרְכֵ֥נִי גַם־אָ֖נִי אָבִֽי׃ | 34 J | When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst into wild and bitter sobbing, and said to his father, “Bless me too, Father!” |
Have you not saved a blessing for me. Eisov understood that he could not receive the same blessing that his brother had received, but he was hoping for a similar one.
כשמוע...גם אני, “I am also your son, no less than he is.” The letter א in the word אני has the vowel kametz, although it does not signify a comma or something similar, as it is intended to stress the word “I.” We find a similar construction in 31,52 אם אני לא אעבור אליך, where we also would not have expected the kametz instead of the vowel patach. There too, the kametz is used to provide emphasis on the word “I.” Another example of the use of the kametz in the word אני as a means of emphasizing the speaker is Psalms 89,28 אף-אני בכור אתנהו, “I will appoint him firstborn.”
When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried a very great and bitter cry, in disappointment, anger, and frustration. And he said to his father: Bless me too, my father.
“He burst into wild and bitter sobbing” [27:34]. He cried out a great and bitter cry. “He said to his father, bless me too, father” [27:34]. Esau said to his father, bless me also. Isaac said: your brother came with wisdom and took away your blessing. Esau said: he is called Jacob because he has deceived me twice. He also took away my birthright. Esau said: have you not put aside a blessing for me also? Isaac said to Esau: I have made Jacob a lord over you and all of his brothers should be servants to him. I have also given him grain and wine. What should I do further? Esau said: do you have only one blessing? He cried greatly and Isaac blessed him. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:35–36.)
(1) There is no firm evidence that the city of Shechem mentioned in the books of the prophets is identical with the town near which Dinah was raped. There are pointers that suggest that this was not the same city. If the brothers were tending sheep at Shechem while their homes were at Chevron, Shechem must be presumed to have been less than a day's walk away. It is unreasonable to assume that Jacob sent Joseph all by himself on a journey of several days, as would have been the case if Shechem mentioned there were identical with the Nablus of today. In particular, seeing that so much bloodshed had taken place there, it would have been irresponsible to send a seventeen-year old into such hostile country all by himself. Even the brothers themselves were hardly likely to provoke the local population by grazing their flocks in their vicinity. We must assume therefore that Ir Shechem means the city of Shechem in the same sense as Ir David means "the capital of David's kingdom." The author explains how to dispose of apparently contradictory comments by the Talmud in Sanhedrin 102. (2) The reference to Dinah being a daughter of Leah is undoubtedly complimentary. The Torah, by referring to her ancestry, emphasizes that she had nothing but the best of intentions, that her excursion did not indicate a departure from traditional Jewish conduct. The repetition of the three expressions "He took her, he lay with her, he forced her" indicate that she remained uncooperative during all three phases of what is being described; she did not weaken in her resistance in any way. The reason three actions are mentioned is because Jacob's family suffered three indignities: A) The shame suffered by the whole family; B) The damage done to the girl's innocence and the loss of her virginity; C) The physical pain caused Dinah when she had to submit to violence. The punishment for the first of these indignities prescribed by the Torah is boshet, compensation in financial terms. The second indignity which reduced Dinah's value as a prospective bride in the compensation for the victim. It is noteworthy that Dinah did not lose her appeal for Shechem on account of any of the indignities he had heaped upon her. "He cleaved to the daughter of Jacob" (34,3). The family of Jacob had not become sullied in his eyes; he loved her just as before (not like Amnon who lost all his desire for Tamar once he had raped her). Shechem tried to talk softly to Dinah's heart to help her recover from her pain. (3) The order in which the Torah describes the arrival of the sons, after Chamor had already arrived at Jacob's house, is to exonerate Jacob from any implication in his sons' subsequent actions, since there had not been an opportunity for them to consult. That is why Jacob on his deathbed refers to "in their secret counsel let my soul not be involved" (Genesis 49,6). It is to underscore that he had not been a party to their plan. Obviously, the sons could not have heard about the event while being in the field. Therefore, we must understand the sequence of events thus: (34,7) "When the sons came home and heard what a shameful act had been perpetrated against Israel, namely that a daughter of Jacob had been slept with, something that could not be tolerated." (4) Chamor uses the future course of events in order to compensate for an injustice that could no longer be undone. He emphasizes that he does not only want to legitimize his relations with Dinah, but goes far beyond this, and this constitutes a great honor for Jacob. The king offers the freedom of the country to Jacob's family. The sons' reason for deceiving Chamor has already been discussed in the first part of this chapter. (5) When the brothers use the term tame, defiled, when referring to the rape and subsequently suggesting a compromise, they are already using deceit, since they conveyed the impression to Chamor and Shechem that they had calmed down already and that their suggestions therefore could be taken at face value, could be believed. An exact examination of the text reveals that in fact the brothers did not breach any contract, nor did they retract from their original position. This is the reason Onkelos translates the word mirmah, slyness, deceit, simply as chochmah, cleverness, wisdom. They said, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man with a foreskin because it is a shame for us to forgive such an act." Chamor understood them to mean that the words "we cannot" refer only to the foreskin, not to the shame they had suffered. Similarly, Chamor understood their statement "if you will become like us," as referring only to the rite of circumcision, whereas the brothers used it in a wider sense meaning that they would have to embrace all aspects of the brothers' lifestyle and religion. Thereby they served notice that they were not going to forgive anything. We note that nowhere did the brothers promise that Dinah would become Shechem's wife. They only spoke in general terms, "our daughters," "your daughters," etc., and threatened to leave the neighborhood with their sister if their demands were not complied with. When Chamor reported in his city on these discussions, he represented the rape episode as having been resolved, and emphasized the future advantages to be gained by intermarrying with Jacob's family. The unexpected acceptance by the townspeople of the terms offered may have convinced the sons of Jacob that heaven had indicated its approval for their plan of revenge. (6) Possibly the "third day" referred to was the third day of the week, i.e. Tuesday, but in reality the first day after the circumcision. This day is under the constellation of Mars, and signals bloodshed. (7) The brothers had to prevent the wives and children from raising an alarm in the neighboring towns after they had killed the males. Therefore, the females and children had to be taken captive. Since abandoning the herds made no sense, and since their undertaking had evidently enjoyed the help of heaven, they felt entitled to acquire the livestock etc. The repeated outcry "May our sister be treated like a harlot?" underscores that to revenge such a misdeed, considerations of personal safety that are normally valid criteria, and which were part of the objections raised by Jacob, were not valid now. (8) Until now Jacob had not been certain that his dream about the ladder had been of a prophetic nature; he only became sure now that G-d spoke to him and identified Himself as having been the One to whom Jacob had made the vow at that time. (9) He was intent to remove any trace of idols that had been part of the loot his sons had taken from the city of Shechem and Chamor, and to remove any impurity acquired through contact with such idols. To this end, he instructed all his people to change their garments. Of course, the exhortation included the order to desist from any idolatrous practices that might have been picked up by his sons due to their contact with the idol worshippers. (12) The death of Deborah, a fine woman, may have been the final chapter in the sons' repentance of the whole Dinah episode, since we have a tradition that the death of righteous people provides atonement for the survivors. Inasmuch as all of Jacob's sons could qualify for the heritage promised to their forefathers, G-d repeats "to your descendants I will give the land," meaning to all of them, not like Esau or Ishmael who did not qualify though they too had been descendants of Isaac and Abraham respectively. (10) Contrary to the normal custom of a pupil departing from his master, in this case G-d departed from Jacob, the latter still remaining in his place. This suggests that Jacob's task had not yet been completed, prompting him to erect the monument and fulfil payment of his vow. It was here that the betrothal of Israel and G-d took place, later to be consummated by chuppah, a wedding ceremony at Mount Sinai. Details of this whole process will be discussed in Chapter forty-eight. (11) At the beginning of Rachel's labor, the midwife encouraged her saying, "Do not worry, this too will be a son for you." This gave rise to Rachel naming the child before she had even seen it. (13) It seems that Jacob had not been home at the time Reuben had rearranged the furnishings in Bilhah's bedroom. Reuben would not have dared to do this otherwise. The statement that the sons of Jacob were twelve may indicate that at that juncture Reuben lost his status as the firstborn, no longer counting as two (since the firstborn normally receives a double portion of the father's estate). More likely however, the Torah may stress that Reuben remained a full member of the Jewish people.
And it was when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob came forward and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother (Genesis 29:10). And rolled [vayagel] the stone — and what is vayagel? That Rachel was revealed [nigletah] before him; and her face was like the face of his mother, Rebecca, who lit the candle in the tent of Sarah and brought back the [protective] cloud and the blessing in the dough. So the stone of the cry of Esau was rolled off of his heart, and he understood. And watered [vayashk] the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother. And afterward, it is stated: Then Jacob kissed [vayishak] Rachel, and he raised his voice and cried (Genesis 29:11). who lit the candle... blessing in the dough — based on Bereshit Rabbah 60:16. the cry of Esau — based on Genesis 27:34.
who lit the candle... blessing in the dough — based on Bereshit Rabbah 60:16. the cry of Esau — based on Genesis 27:34.
Rabbi Chiya said, These tears brought so much evil (upon Israel), that Esau cried to be blessed before his father, whose words were very important to him. "Is not he rightly named Jacob" (Ibid. 36) means, So He named him, He who did so". He uttered this as if spitting, to degrade (Hashem). It is not written, "Is not he rightly named," but literally "Did not He rightly named him.
“When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out, a very great and bitter cry, and he said to his father: Bless me too, my father” (Genesis 27:34). “When Esau heard the words of his father” – Rabbi Ḥanina said: Anyone who says that the Holy One blessed be He is lax, may his intestines become lax. Rather, He shows patience and collects His due. Jacob caused Esau to cry out one cry, as it is written: “When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out.” Where did He punish him [Jacob]? It was in the Shushan citadel, as it is stated: “[When Mordekhai learned what had happened…] and cried out an exceedingly loud and bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). “He said: Your brother came in cunning, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). “Your brother came in cunning [bemirma]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He came with the wisdom of his Torah. (This is expounded from the fact that the Torah used the word mirma, not sheker, rama’ut, or honaa. Cunning [mirma] is not necessarily negative.) “He said: It is for this that his name was called Jacob [Yaakov], as he deceived me these two times; he took my birthright and, behold, now he took my blessing. And he said: Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36). “He said: It is for this [hakhi] that his name was called Jacob [Yaakov], as he deceived me [vayakveni]” – Reish Lakish said: He began clearing his throat, like one who clears his throat [meḥakekh] and expectorates from his mouth. “He said: Hakhi.” (Hakhi which literally means "is it for this" is expounded as though it should be read ḥiki – as in the word meḥakekh.) “He deceived me…he took my birthright” – and I said nothing to him. “Behold, now he took my blessing” – shall I say nothing to him? “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” – from the inferior ones. (A less important blessing.)
“Mordekhai knew everything that had been done, and Mordekhai rent his garments and donned sackcloth and ashes. He went out in the midst of the city and cried a loud and bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). “Mordekhai knew everything that had been done, and Mordekhai rent his garments.” Benjamin caused the tribes [his brothers] to rend; that is what is written: “They rent their garments” (Genesis 44:13). Where was he caused to rend? It was in Shushan the citadel; that is what is written: “Mordekhai rent his garments,” and he was from the tribe of Benjamin. (The midrash is stating that the fact that Mordekhai had to rend his garments is in some respects a punishment for Binyamin having caused his brothers to have to rend their garments. This is because he was not careful enough and did not notice that the silver goblet had been placed in his sack (Etz Yosef).) “He donned sackcloth and ashes.” Rabbi Aivu said: Once Jacob our patriarch adopted sackcloth, as it is written: “He placed sackcloth on his loins” (Genesis 37:34), it never again left his descendants. It is written about Ahab: “He placed sackcloth on his flesh” (I Kings 21:27); his son Yoram: “The people saw, and behold, the sackcloth was on his flesh” (II Kings 6:30); Mordekhai, “He donned sackcloth and ashes.” “He [Esau] cried a loud and bitter cry” (Genesis 27:34). Where was he repaid? In Shushan, as it is stated: “[Mordekhai] cried a loud and bitter cry.” Rabbi Ḥanin said: Anyone who says that the All-Merciful is One who forgoes, his innards will be forgone. He is forbearing, but then collects His due. Know that Jacob caused Esau to cry one cry, as it is written: “He cried a loud and bitter cry” [and as a result, Jacob’s descendant, Mordekhai, cried a loud and bitter cry].
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:33): Why did he tremble? Because he had blessed the younger before the elder; for he had intended to bless both of them. So he called Esau in order to bless him first, since he was the elder. Then afterwards, < he would call > Jacob. So he intended. Why? Because before the Holy One it is difficult to supplant a genealogical chain, to replace primogeniture. So note that he only called Esau. On what basis do you say that he wished to bless Jacob? On the basis of what Jacob said, {and he said} [to his mother] (in Gen. 27:12): THEN I WILL BRING UPON MYSELF A CURSE INSTEAD OF A BLESSING. He said to her: Even the blessing which he was going to give me, in the end he will not give me. Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is on my hands that the genealogical chain should be ruined at my hands, for me to bless the younger < first > and the elder afterwards? And so you find: In every place Moses comes before Aaron; (Cf. Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Pisha, 1.) but when it comes to genealogy, Aaron is before Moses. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 3:1): NOW THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF AARON AND MOSES. R. Abba said in the name of R. Johanan of the Bet Guvrin: In the case of Reuben also, when that event (the selling of Joseph) happened at his hands, his father gave his birthright to Joseph. Thus it is stated (in I Chron. 5:1): AND THE SONS OF REUBEN, THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. NOW HE IS FIRST-BORN; BUT, WHEN HE HAD DEFILED HIS FATHER'S BED, HIS BIRTHRIGHT WAS GIVEN TO (JOSEPH) [THE SONS JOSEPH BEN ISRAEL]. Hence the birthright belonged to Joseph. In the genealogy, however, he was not able to keep his birthright away from him, as stated (in Exod. 6:14): THE SONS OF REUBEN THE FIRST-BORN OF ISRAEL. "Now he was the first-born" is not written here (in I Chron. 5:1), but: NOW HE IS THE FIRST-BORN. So also in the case of the sons of Noah, Japheth was the oldest: but because Shem was more righteous, < Scripture > counts him first in every place. (See above, 2:19.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 9:18): AND THE CHILDREN OF NOAH WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK WERE SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH. In regard to genealogy, however, < Scripture > mentions Japheth as being the eldest. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 10:21): AND UNTO SHEM THERE WERE CHILDREN BORN. HE WAS ALSO FATHER TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER < AND > THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH, WHO WAS THE OLDEST. (The last eight words can be, and commonly are, translated: THE ELDER BROTHER OF JAPHETH. See Gen. R. 37:7.) R. Tanhuma said: But you also have to learn < through > greater insight, that Shem was second to Japheth. Therefore, you find that Noah sired a son at < an age of > five hundred years. It is written (in Gen. 5:32): AND NOAH WAS FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD; < AND NOAH BEGOT SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH >. Now the flood took place (according to Gen. 7:11): IN THE SIX HUNDREDTH YEAR OF NOAH'S LIFE…. {Since} it is also written of Shem that he sired a son at < the age of > a hundred years, {he was lacking two} [two years after the flood). It is so stated (in Gen. 11:10): THESE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM: SHEM WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. If he had been the eldest, it would have been necessary to say only: HE BEGOT ARPACHSHAD, TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD. You also learn from here that Japheth was two years older than Shem according to the reckoning of my calculation. Here also (in Gen. 27:33), Isaac only trembled when he said: What sin is there on my hands that I have blessed the younger before the elder and have changed the order? Jacob went out and Esau came in, as stated (in Gen. 27:30): AND JACOB HAD JUST GONE OUT…. He (Esau) said to his father (in vs. 32): I AM [YOUR SON], YOUR FIRST-BORN, ESAU. His father began saying: Who is this one who entered and received the blessings? The Holy Spirit said to him: It was Jacob. He said to him (in vs. 33): AND I HAVE EATEN OF EVERYTHING. R. Isaac said: In that dish Isaac had a taste OF EVERYTHING that the Holy One had created during the six days of creation. (Tanh., Gen. 6:11; Gen. R. 67:2.) Also R. Judah b. R. Shallum said in the name of R. Ayyevu: In that dish Isaac had a taste of whatever is stored up for the righteous in the days to come. [Isaac said to him: In that dish I tasted everything that the Holy One has created]. Esau said to him: Daddy, [tell me:] What is that dish? Isaac said to him: < Whatever I ask for >. I asked for pheasant; (Gk.: phasianos.) I tasted it. Esau said to him: Daddy, tell me the basic < ingredient >. He said to him: It was meat. R. Hananyah b. R. Isaac said: When Esau heard this, he began striking his face. He said: Woe to that man, as stated (in Gen. 27:34): AND HE LET OUT A GREAT AND BITTER CRY…. Esau said: He fed me pottage of lentils, and I gave him my birthright. Now he has fed Daddy meat. You must know with what blessings he blessed him! HE BEGAN TO CRY AND SAY: IS HE NOT RIGHTLY NAMED JACOB (rt.: 'QB)? [FOR HE HAS CHEATED (rt.: 'QB) ME THESE TWO TIMES. HE TOOK MY BIRTHRIGHT; AND, SEE, NOW HE HAS TAKEN MY BLESSING.] His father said to him: So what should I do for you? He said to him: He has already taken my birthright. Isaac said to him: Over this matter I was sorry. He also said: Perhaps I transgressed a commandment of the Law in blessing the younger before the elder. Now that I have already blessed him, (according to Gen. 27:33:) HE SHALL ALSO BE BLESSED.
Nabal also said about Esau, the wicked one who speaks one thing with his mouth and another in his heart, that in his heart he said (Genesis 27:41), "Behold, now I am old, I know not the day of my death." But with his mouth, he said (Genesis 27:1), "Behold, I am here." The Lord said to him, "You are a wicked man, you flatter your father with your words," as it is said (Genesis 27:34), "Bless me, even me also, O my father." This is what the scripture means when it says (Proverbs 26:25), "When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart." Everything that I hate, he loves, as it is said (Proverbs 6:16-19), "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him." Another thing that Nabal said in his heart was that the Lord said to the wicked, "You think in your heart, so I will not punish you, but the sword shall enter into your heart," as it is said (Psalm 37:15), "Their sword shall enter into their own heart."
If one wrote to his wife in the marriage contract: I do not have the right to administer a vow or an oath upon you, he cannot administer an oath to her.However, he can administer an oath to her heirs, and to those who come on her authority, either as her representatives or because they purchased her marriage contract. If the husband wrote: I do not have the right to administer a vow or an oath upon you, or upon your heirs, or upon those who come on your authority, he cannot administer an oath to her; not to her, nor her heirs, nor those who come on her authority. But the husband’s heirs can administer an oath to her, and to her heirs, and to those who come on her authority. If he wrote: Neither I, nor my heirs, nor those who come on my authority have the right to administer a vow or an oath upon you, or upon your heirs, or upon those who come on your authority, he cannot administer an oath to her or to them; not he, nor his heirs, nor those who come on his authority may administer an oath, not to her, nor to her heirs, nor to those who come on her authority.
Sometimes satisfaction and cheerfulness follow upon hearing: thus it is said (Lev. x. 20), "When Moses heard that he was content," just as anger ensues in the absence of assent and hearkening, as (Ex. xvi. 20), "Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses." ..."And Moses was wroth with them." Hatred also results from hearing, as thou must know from the case of Esau, of whom it is said (Gen. xxvii. 34), "When Esau heard," and then follows (id. xxvii. 41), "Esau hated Jacob." Mercy is known to result from "hearing"; thus God said (Ex. xxii. 26), "I will hear, for I am merciful." It is said of the righteous dead (Prov. i. 33), "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely." In contrast to this, it is said of the unrighteous (Job xv. 21), "A sound of fright is in his ears: in peace the despoiler shall come upon him," and so forth. Hard-heartedness results from the want of assent; thus it is said of Pharaoh in many places (Ex. ix. 12), "The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkened not." A hard-hearted people is called (Deut. xxviii. 49), "A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, neither shalt thou hearken unto what it speaketh," and so forth.
so kann er weder von ihr. Das היא dient als pronomen separatum zur stärkern Hervorhebung des unmittelbar vorhergehenden Verbalsuffixes, wie Gen. 27, 34; Sech. 7, 5. Im letzten Satze dieser Mischna jedoch steht אותה, weil dieses Pronomen von dem zugehörigen Verbum durch mehrere Worte getrennt ist.
Accordingly, he cries out bitterly (Genesis 27:34) that since he is compelled to act as he does, he receives no reward for his righteousness; that he has been handed over to the occurrences and evils which the signs of his horoscope have prescribed for him; that God should desist and allow him freedom over his acts so that he might receive his reward, like an employee who does his work faithfully, and not labor in vain...and in terror (Isaiah 65:23). (Ch.14:5) Furthermore, since a human being's days are few and evil (Genesis 47:9) and by the nature of his birth he is prone to uncleanliness and corruption, and must battle with his instincts, he should at least be free to act as he chooses until, like a hired laborer, he completes his day (Job 14:6). (Ch.14:1-5)
And so he returns to his original argument that God does not govern individuals and everything depends on the stars. He cries out bitterly against this (Genesis 27:34): Why was he not cut off by darkness (Job 23:17), his non-existence being preferable to his existence (Ch.26:16-17)? (Since he considers himself to be blameless, Job does not see why he has to repent as suggested by Eliphaz. He wishes to approach God as he is. Eliphaz is convinced that the answer to Job's affliction is to be found in an understanding of the workings of Governance. In his opinion, Job is not a special case but just another person who is not quite as righteous as his own estimate of himself. But Job insists that he is a special case. He really is righteous and wants God to explain why he has been picked out for such harsh and undeserved treatment. )
אני, the word is spelled with the vowel kametz although it does not signify a comma or other interruption of the subject matter under discussion. It is to be understood as in Psalms 89,28 in אף אני-בכור אתנהו, “I will even consider him as a firstborn.” The long vowel kametz lends emphasis to the word. So it does in our verse, and so it does in Genesis 27,34 ברכני גן אני אבי, “bless me also father!” Esau pleaded: “I too need a blessing.”
צדה is a term denoting “lying in wait”; similarly it says, (I Samuel 24:12) “yet thou liest in wait (צדה) for my soul to take it”. It is, however, not correct to say that צדה is of the same derivation as, (Genesis 27:34) הצד ציד “he that hath hunted (הצד) venison”, for a ה has no place in the verbal forms of the term denoting “hunting beasts”. Then again, the noun form of the latter is צַיִד and that of the former צְדִיָה, whilst the participle of the verb “lying in wait” is צוֹדֶה and that of the other is צָד. I therefore say that its meaning is as the Targum gives it: “and if he did not lie in ambush for him”. Menachem ben Seruk placed it in the same section as הצד ציד (i. e. he held that the root is צד and that it has the meaning of “hunting”), but I do not agree with him. If it is to be placed in one of the sections of צד we had better place it in the same section as, (Isaiah 66:12) על צד תנשאו “ye shall be borne upon her side (צד)” and (I Samuel 20:20) “and I will shoot [three arrows] on the side thereof (צדה)”, and (Daniel 7:25) “and he shall speak towards the side of (against) the Most High”. Thus, here, the words אשד לא צדה could be taken to mean, “he did not turn aside (צִדֵּד)” to seek some side (occasion) for killing him. But there are objections even to this explanation. At any rate, even if it be connected with צד in this sense, it would still have the meaning “lying in wait”.
and You have given them to drink tears in large measure Heb. שליש. In Babylon, where they were for seventy years, a third (שליש) of the two hundred and ten of Egypt. I learned this from the work of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan. It may also be interpreted as regards the kingdom of Greece, which represents the third trouble. If you ask, is that [not] the fourth, because Persia and Media came before, all the seventy years of the Babylonian exile are only one exile. Menachem (p. 175) interprets שליש as the name of a drinking vessel. So he explained (Isa. 40:12): “and He measured with a ‘shalish’ the dust of the earth.” Our Sages explained it (Mid. Ps. 80: 4) as referring to the three tears that Esau shed, concerning whom it is said (Gen. 27:34): “and he cried a cry.” That is one. “A great one.” That is two. “And a bitter one.” That is three. Because of them, he merited to live by his sword, as it is said (Gen. 27:40): “and it will come to pass when you complain, etc.”
When Eisov heard his father’s words, he wailed a most loud and bitter cry, and he said to his father, Bless me too, my father.
When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a cry exceeding great and bitter, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father! And he said,
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בָּ֥א אָחִ֖יךָ בְּמִרְמָ֑ה וַיִּקַּ֖ח בִּרְכָתֶֽךָ׃ | 35 J | But he answered, “Your brother came with guile and took away your blessing.” |
ויקח ברכתך, “he has taken the blessing that I meant to bestow upon you.” [Yitzchok meant that the reason that he had wanted to bestow this blessing on Esau originally, was only because biologically speaking,] for he had been the firstborn.
WITH GUILE. He did not speak the truth.
ויאמר...במרמה, by making his hands appear hairy.
במרמה WITH SUBTLETY — with cleverness (cf. Onkelos).
ויקח ברכתך, the blessing that would have been appropriate as suitable and effective for you. The blessing which Yaakov had been given (mistakenly), concerned matters of importance in our material life on this earthy both while in our own land or in the Diaspora. The reason Yitzchok had phrased it thus was because the blessing G’d had given Avraham and which was to be given to one of Yitzchok’s children was not appropriate for Esau. [the latter blessing was given to Yaakov in 28,4 so that Yaakov indeed had secured both blessings. Ed.]
With cleverness. Otherwise, [if it meant deceit], why should he be blessed?
He, Isaac, said to him: Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing. The blessing has already taken effect and I cannot retract it. What’s done is done.
בא אחיך במרמה, “your brother came using trickery.” Even though initially, Yitzchok had asked: ”who then is the one who came, etc.”, having had the revelation from the Holy Spirit, now he knew for certain that it had been Yaakov who had come and snatched the blessing from his father.
It is a mitzvah to comfort mourners during their time of sorrow. This mitzvah is included in “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). During biblical times, this mitzvah was considered an act of kindness toward the living, meaning the deceased’s family (II Samuel 10:1–2; I Chronicles 19:2). From Talmudic times onward, this mitzvah was considered kindness toward the dead as well as the living. In biblical days, visits were made mainly by close family (Genesis 27:35; Isaiah 66:13). In the late Second Temple period, the circle was widened to include the entire community, and there were groups of people who took it upon themselves to comfort mourners. The Sages emphasized the importance of this mitzvah, saying that by doing so, the individual followed God’s example, as He visited Abraham after the death of his wife Sarah (Genesis 21:11), and that the reward for this was cancellation of punishment in Gehinnom.
Our physical universe is arranged in such a way that the sun shines somewhere all the time, due to the earth revolving on its own axis once in twenty-four hours. Our spiritual universe has been arranged similarly by G-d, so that spiritual light is always available somewhere. Abraham thought that due to the fact that he appealed in public and used such language as "give me," the bystanders would ask for clarification of the conditions he had in mind. Abraham would then have been able to explain that though he was prepared to pay handsomely, he would still consider the townspeople's approval as a gesture of kindness and friendship. (1,2,5) Since from a halachic point of view, i.e. Jewish law, a mourner preoccupied with arranging the funeral of his next of kin must preoccupy himself exclusively with the needs of the dead about to be buried, Abraham is reported as having only that purpose in mind when negotiating the purchase of the cave of Machpelah. His emphasis on his status as a resident implies his preparedness and ability to pay, whereas his reference to his status as a stranger implies that he depends on the goodwill of his immediate neighbors. Abraham understood the nuance of "no one will deny you his grave since you are a prince," as meaning that though your request will be granted, it will be granted only grudgingly. (3) "No one will deny," is not equivalent to "we will each one of us volunteer." Their emphasis on "to bury your dead," further emphasizes that only due to the immediate need would they concur in this transfer of land to Abraham. Abraham understood very well what was in their minds, though he addressed himself only to their spoken thoughts. He explained that he did not want any burial ground, but that the reason he was asking in public was to enlist everyone's support to persuade Ephron to sell the cave of Machpelah. He did not want to appropriate the cave in the hope that he would not be denied after the event, but he wanted to pay full value, and still consider the acquisition as if it had been a present to him. (4) Ephron, as one of the Hittites present, had said previously, "No Sir, I did offer my grave willingly, and if you want the cave, I will not retract. Neither did I expect money, since you had not mentioned that previously. Concerning your wish that my fellow citizens entreat me, there is no call for this. I have given it to you in their presence, go ahead and bury your dead in the meantime." By this he hinted, that at a later stage one could negotiate compensation. Abraham acknowledged his words, bowing, however insisting that he too had originally planned payment, and could not in good conscience profit now by accepting Ephron's generous gift. Only under such terms, i.e. full payment, could he proceed to bury his dead. After all these subtleties, Ephron finally spelled out the price, emphasizing that considering Abraham's immediate need, the price was ridiculously low, purely nominal. Since he had found a willing listener in Abraham, the latter had the amount weighed at the most respected money merchant, whereupon the land became Abraham's for all time. The public character of the sale was intended by Abraham from the outset, to forestall any subsequent complaints either by groups or individuals. This was to become his permanent home, here he and Sarah were to have their last resting places. Just as a man's body was not divided up to be buried in several places, so man and wife who had shared a happy marriage were never to be parted in death either. Abraham had delayed the purchase to await an opportunity such as the need for a burial ground, which would make it impossible for his request to be denied. (6) "After he buried his wife." He was not willing to proceed until the transaction had been completed. When a tzaddik is careful in all the minutiae of a transaction, this is called mishpat, justice. When a rasha, wicked person plans deviously, it is called mirmah, deceit (Proverbs 12,5). Thus we find by the end of the transaction, that the spelling of Ephron's name shows a letter missing, to show us that he had been too greedy. Abraham, however, had a letter added to his name indicating that his approach to life was the opposite of Ephron's. He appeared to offer little, but in fact gave a great deal. Compare Proverbs 28,22, "In the haste of the greedy to acquire more wealth, he overlooks the fact that he stands to lose that which he already owns."
IN Hebrew, the verb bo signifies “to come” as applied to a living being, i.e., its arrival at a certain place, or approach to a certain person, as “Thy brother came (ba) with subtilty” (Gen. 27:35). It next denotes (with regard to a living being) “to enter” a certain place, e.g., “And when Joseph came (va-yabo) into the house” (Gen. 43:26); “When ye come (ta-boü) into the land” (Exod. 12:25). The term was also employed metaphorically in the sense of “to come” applied to a certain event, that is, to something incorporeal, as “When thy sayings come to pass (yabo)” (Judg. 13:17); “Of that which will come (yaboü) over thee” (Isa. 47:13). Nay, it is even applied to privatives, e.g., “Yet evil came (va-yabo)” (Job 3:26); “And darkness came (va-yabo)” Now, since the word has been applied to incorporeal things, it has also been used in reference to God-to the fulfilment of His word, or to the manifestation of His Presence (the Shechinah). In this figurative sense it is said, “Lo, I come (ba) unto thee in a thick cloud” (Exod. 19:9); “For the Lord the God of Israel cometh (ba) through it” (Ezek. 44:2). In these and all similar passages, the coming of the Shechinah is meant, but the words, “And the Lord my God shall come (u-ba)” (Zech. 14:5) are identical with “His word will come,” that is to say, the promises which He made through the Prophets will be fulfilled; therefore Scripture adds “all the holy ones that are with thee,” that is to say, “The word of the Lord my God will be performed, which has been spoken by all the holy ones who are with thee, who address the Israelites.”
[5] Another interpretation: And God saw who was hated, in the presence of her husband, when he rebuked her. When was this? As it is said, "And Jacob served Rachel for seven years" (Genesis 29:18). This is what his mother Rebekah told him, "And you shall dwell with him for a few days" (Genesis 27:44). And Jacob loved Rachel (Genesis 29:18). And Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife" (Genesis 29:21), and it was in the evening, and all night he lay with her, thinking that she was Rachel. When he woke up in the morning, he saw that it was Leah. He said to her, "Why have you deceived me?" She replied, "Didn't you deceive your father when he asked you, 'Are you my son Esau?' and you said, 'I am' (Genesis 27:19)? And when he blessed you, you said, 'Why have you deceived me?' But your father didn't say, 'Your brother Esau came with deceit and took your blessing' (Genesis 27:35)." Because of these things, which rebuked him, he began to hate her. God said, "Her only cure is to have children. I will give her children, and her husband will be humbled before her." Therefore, God saw that Leah was hated (Genesis 29:31). "He opens the womb" (Genesis 29:31). David mocks and says, "He executes justice for the oppressed; He gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free" (Psalms 146:7).
“When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out, a very great and bitter cry, and he said to his father: Bless me too, my father” (Genesis 27:34). “When Esau heard the words of his father” – Rabbi Ḥanina said: Anyone who says that the Holy One blessed be He is lax, may his intestines become lax. Rather, He shows patience and collects His due. Jacob caused Esau to cry out one cry, as it is written: “When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out.” Where did He punish him [Jacob]? It was in the Shushan citadel, as it is stated: “[When Mordekhai learned what had happened…] and cried out an exceedingly loud and bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). “He said: Your brother came in cunning, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). “Your brother came in cunning [bemirma]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He came with the wisdom of his Torah. (This is expounded from the fact that the Torah used the word mirma, not sheker, rama’ut, or honaa. Cunning [mirma] is not necessarily negative.) “He said: It is for this that his name was called Jacob [Yaakov], as he deceived me these two times; he took my birthright and, behold, now he took my blessing. And he said: Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36). “He said: It is for this [hakhi] that his name was called Jacob [Yaakov], as he deceived me [vayakveni]” – Reish Lakish said: He began clearing his throat, like one who clears his throat [meḥakekh] and expectorates from his mouth. “He said: Hakhi.” (Hakhi which literally means "is it for this" is expounded as though it should be read ḥiki – as in the word meḥakekh.) “He deceived me…he took my birthright” – and I said nothing to him. “Behold, now he took my blessing” – shall I say nothing to him? “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” – from the inferior ones. (A less important blessing.)
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
(Gen. 27:35:) BUT HE SAID: YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT < AND TOOK YOUR BLESSING >. Was he talking about a righteous one being WITH DECEIT? Heaven forbid! Rather < the verse means >: "He came with cunning because of you." (According to Gen. R. 67:4, WITH DECEIT means “with the wisdom of his Torah.” Similarly Rashi, s.v., notes that WITH DECEIT means “with wisdom.”)
(Deut. 33:1:) AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. This text is related (to Prov. 31:29): MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VALIANTLY, BUT YOU SURPASS THEM ALL. This is the blessing of Moses, (Tanh., Deut. 11:1; PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but compared to all of them none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence. He blessed one and cursed another. (Gen. 9:27:) MAY GOD ENLARGE (YPT) JAPHETH (YPT); but he said (vs. 25:) CURSED BE CANAAN. Isaac blessed Jacob. There was strife in it, in that he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT; and it is stated (in vs. 41): THEN ESAU HATED JACOB <…, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MORNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB>. Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he said to Reuben (in Gen. 49:4): UNSTABLE AS WATER; and similarly (in vs. 5): SIMEON AND LEVI . And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned] from the Holy One. When he created Adam, he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): THEN GOD BLESSED THEM; [and (The other part of this bracket is several lines below.) the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7): AND THE LORD SAID: I WILL BLOT OUT THE HUMANITY WHICH I CREATED. When Noah left the ark, the Holy One saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world. Then the Holy One added one blessing for him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): FOR I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION…. When Abraham came, the Holy One said: It is not a practice worthy of me, that I should be obliged to bless my creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who issue a blessing through him, I am placing my seal upon , as stated (in vs. 2, cont.): AND SO BECOME A BLESSING. (vs. 3:) I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU…. What is the meaning of I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU. The Holy One said: Take note. I am handing over the blessings to ALL WHOM YOU BLESS, and I am sealing through you. But if from then on the blessings were {spoken} [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said: If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard. (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5; also Matthew 13:24–30.) : He gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said: If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard. (Cf. Matthew 13:24–30.) And so also did Abraham say: If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Look here. It is simply that he is leaving him alone until the Holy One comes, when he will deal with what belongs to him.] Jacob came and received five blessing: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) : Two from his father, according to what is stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why TREMBLED? R. Eleazar ben Padat said: because he saw Gehinnom open for Esau. He wanted to say: Cursed. He repented and added a blessing when he said (ibid., end): HE ALSO SHALL BE BLESSED. Here is one blessing. A second (is in Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. [The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4): AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…; the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE (the angel) BLESSED HIM THERE; and the blessings of the Holy One (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…, AND BLESSED HIM.] When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessing that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28): ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, WHEN HE BLESSED THEM, EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM. (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. < According to another interpretation, Moses made> an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4) since it was fitting for him to bless with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars ; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10): BUT HERE YOU HAVE EVEN BLESSED THEM THESE THREE [TIMES]. The Holy One said to him: You are wicked. Your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair. Then he will bless Israel, and it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9): HE THAT HAS A BENEVOLENT EYE SHALL BE BLESSED (YBRK). Do not read YBRK SHALL BE BLESSED, but SHALL BLESS. This refers to Moses our Master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel. He also blessed them with four blessings:
Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. < She was hated >, not because she was abhorrent to her husband, but because she had scolded him when Jacob had worked seven years for Rachel. Now his mother had said to him (in Gen. 27:44): AND YOU ARE TO STAY WITH HIM (Laban) FOR A WHILE, and he had stayed seven years. (Gen. 29:21, 23:) THEN JACOB SAID UNTO LABAN: GIVE ME MY WIFE…. AND, WHEN IT WAS EVENING, HE TOOK HIS DAUGHTER LEAH < AND BROUGHT HER TO HIM >. ALL NIGHT SHE PRETENDED TO BE RACHEL. When he arose in the morning (according to Gen. 29:25), THERE WAS LEAH. He said to her: Daughter of a swindler, why did you trick me? She said to him: < What about > you! Why did you trick your father? When he said to you: Is this my son Esau, you said to him (in Gen. 27:19): I AM ESAU YOUR FIRST-BORN. Now you are saying: Why have you tricked me? And did your father not say < to Esau > (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT? So because of these things with which she scolded him, he began to hate her. The Holy One said: There is no cure for this but sons. Then her husband will desire her. Thus (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED, HE OPENED HER WOMB. David also gives praise (in Ps. 146:7): THE ONE WHO EXECUTES JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED. (Gen. R. 71:2.)
(Deut. 33:1:) “And this is the blessing.” This text is related (to Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.” This is the blessing of Moses, (PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but there was none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence, as he blessed one and cursed another, as stated (Gen. 9:27,) “May God enlarge (ypt) Japheth (ypt) [...]; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Isaac blessed Jacob, but there was strife in it. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:4), “May He give you the blessing of Abraham, but he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35), “Your brother came with deceit”; and it is stated (in vs. 41), “Then Esau hated Jacob […, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob’].” Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he rebuked Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:4), “Unstable as water”; and similarly (in vs. 5), “Simeon and Levi [are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords].” And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned it] from the Holy One, blessed be He. When he created Adam, He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:27-28), “male and female. Then [God] blessed them.” And the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7), “And the Lord said, “I will blot out the humanity which I created.” When Noah left the ark, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1), “Then God blessed Noah and his children.” The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world, and He added blessing, as stated (in Gen. 12:2), “For I will make you into a great nation.” Once Abraham came, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “It is not honorable for Me, that I should be obliged to bless My creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who they issue a blessing, I am placing my seal upon [those blessings], as stated (in vs. 2, cont.), ‘[I will bless you and magnify your name] and so become a blessing.’” (Vs. 3:) “I will bless those who bless you….” What is the meaning of “I will bless?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Take note. I am handing over the blessings to all whom you bless, and I am sealing [them] through you.” But if from then on the blessings were [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said, “If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard, (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5.) [and] gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said, “If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.” And so also did Abraham say, “If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Rather look here. I will leave him alone until the Holy One, blessed be He, comes, when He will deal with what belongs to Him.” Jacob came and received five blessings: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) From his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “Then Isaac trembled (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why “trembled?” R. Eliezer ben Pedat said, “[He did so] because he saw Gehinnom open in front of him. He wanted to say, ‘Cursed will be [Jacob.’ Instead,] he went back [on it], and added blessing [to it], when he said (ibid., end), ‘he also shall be blessed.’” Here is one [blessing]. A second (is in Gen. 28:1), “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him.” The blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, (is in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob [… and blessed him].” The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4), “And may He grant you the blessing of Abraham.” And the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30), “and he (the angel) blessed him there.” When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessings that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28), “All these are the tribes of Israel, [twelve in number, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them, each one with his own blessing is how he blessed them].” (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” [According to another interpretation, Moses made] an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4.) since it was fitting for him to bless them with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars [he had built]; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but [Balaam] only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10), “but here you have even blessed them these three times.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair; then he will bless Israel.” And it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9), “He that has a benevolent eye shall be blessed (ybrk).” Do not read “ybrk [with vowels meaning] shall be blessed,” but [with vowels meaning] “shall bless.” This refers to Moses our master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel, such that he blessed them with [the other] four blessings: The first is (in Exod. 39:43), “When Moses saw all the work […] he blessed them.” The second is (in Lev. 9:23), “Then Moses and Aaron came unto the tent of meeting; and when they came out, they blessed the people….” The third is (in Deut. 1:11), “May the Lord God of your ancestors add [to your numbers a thousand times more than you are and bless you].” The fourth is (here in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” It is therefore stated (in Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.”(Deut. 33:1:) And this is the blessing.” It was fitting for Moses to bless Israel because he had constantly risked his life for them. (PRK 31(suppl. 1):12.) For this reason, it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing [that Moses blessed... the Children of Israel].” (Deut. 33:1:) “The man of God (the Power).” If it says, “man,” why does it say, “God,” and if it says, “God,” why does it say, “man?” It is simply that at the time he fled from in front of Pharaoh, he was a man, but at the time he trounced [the Egyptians], he was a power. Another interpretation: At the time that he went up to the firmament, he was a man; in front of the angels that were all fire, he was a man. But at the time he came down, he was a power. Before he went up to the firmament, he was a man, as he would eat and drink. But all the time that he was there, he was a power, as stated (in Exod. 34:20), “and they were afraid to approach him.”
Let us now explore the mystical dimension of the name יעקב. In Genesis 27,35 Isaac says to Esau: בא אחיך במרמה, "Your brother came with wisdom to take the blessings." This means that Jacob came to outwit Esau. Isaac referred to Jacob having outwitted what Esau stands for, i.e. Satan, the pollutant of the original serpent, seeing Esau is also Edom, the classic symbol of all that is polluted and cursed. This original serpent had been described in the Torah as ערום, sly (Genesis 3,1). This being so, Jacob had to resort to a wily strategy to outwit such an opponent. He had to counter with ערמה, slyness, in order to defeat the serpent or its representative at its own game. We find something similar when Rashi explains (Numbers 31,8) that the reason the Torah stresses that Bileam was killed by the sword was because the sword was his stock-in-trade. He should have stuck to his trade. Isaac had told Esau that he would live by his sword (27,40), whereas the traditional weapon of Israel is the mouth, i.e. prayer. Since Bileam perverted his function by using Israel's weapon, the mouth, Israel used his own traditional weapon against him. In order to best him absolutely, he had to be killed by the weapon that he had once considered himself a champion of. The Zohar goes as far as to say that the only way it was possible to kill Bileam was by the sword. Onkelos explains the meaning of יודע ציד in 25,27 as being "Esau was shrewd." The Tziyoni derives from that word נחשירכן (the word Onkelos uses to explain יודע ציד), that the mystical dimension of the serpent is contained in the ירך, reproductive organ, thigh, and that Esau had the likeness of a serpent tatooed on his thigh. This was the reason that Samael, or the spiritual representative of Esau, tried to injure that organ of Jacob's during the nocturnal confrontation. The reason he did not succeed was that Jacob did not contain any residual pollution of the serpent. Bileam alluded to this when he said in Numbers 23,23: כי לא נחש ביעקב, that Jacob was not infected by the serpent. Esau is rooted in the cursed serpent. Jacob and his descendants ירך יעקב, are of blessed origin. Jacob had to come with עקבה, trickery, the craft of the serpent, and he wrested the blessing from the clutches of the unworthy. We know from Proverbs 8,12 that חכמה and ערמה are used interchangeably, i.e. אני חכמה, שכנתי ערמה, "I, wisdom, am neighbor to ערמה.” Later on, when he had established a hold in the Celestial Regions, the source of all blessings, he is referred to as ישראל, since he had ascended to these "higher" regions. The level of ישראל in those regions is very high, seeing that Israel surpassed the level of the angels during his ascent. He occupies a position there that is not even accessible to the angels. He proceeds to rise higher and higher until he even surpasses the region of the ministering angels, the most highly placed angels. It is this that Onkelos referred to when he described Israel as "you are a great lion before G–d and men."
Jacob had indeed wronged his brother, as we saw earlier. Isaac says to Esau, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing” (Gen. 27:35). Centuries later, the prophet Hosea says, “The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God” (Hos. 12:3–4). Jeremiah uses the name Jacob to mean someone who practises deception: “Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan; for every one of them is a deceiver [akov Yaakov], and every friend a slanderer” (Jer. 9:3).
AND ABRAHAM WAS OLD, WELL STRICKEN IN AGE. Scripture reiterates [Abraham’s old age although it has already mentioned it] (Above, 18:11.) in order to inform us of the reason that he adjured his servant. Thus Scripture says that because Abraham saw himself to be very old and he thought that if he will send the servant to the land of his origin, perhaps before the messenger would return, he will have gone to his long home, (Ecclesiastes 12:5.) he therefore adjured his servant — whose counsel Isaac would follow since he ruled over all that he had (Verse 2 here.) — that he should not take for him a wife from the daughters of Canaan. In Bereshith Rabbah, (48:19.) the Rabbis said: “Here (That is, above, 18:11, where Scripture says, Now Abraham and Sarah were old.) it was old age combined with vitality; further on (That is, in the verse before us.) it was old age without vitality.” By this the Rabbis wanted to explain that ba’im [literally: “coming” in days — mentioned above] (Above, 18:11.) — means the beginning of the days of old age, as the word ba’im indicates the present, just as, ‘Haba’im’ (those that come) in at these gates. (Jeremiah 7:2.) But here it says that he was very old for already he was ba bayamim [literally: “he had come in days” — past tense], just as: Thy brother ‘ba’ (came) with subtlety. (Further, 27:35.)
Clandestinely. As in "cunningly," (Bereishis, 27:35.) "in deceit," (Yirmiyahu, 8:5.) meaning secretively, stealthily.
Twenty years before this, when he was young, Jacob heard Esau's cry when he found out about the act of trickery to steal the blessing earmarked for him. Trembling and in shock about what happened, Isaac said to his son, Esau: Your brother came with trickery and took your blessing (Genesis 27:35). So we see clearly that Jacob was blamed for the trickery.
ואברהם זקן בא בימים, “Avraham had become old, advanced in years.” The Torah writes this comment at this point in order to inform us that as a result of the death of Sarah, symptoms of old age suddenly became manifest in Avraham’s whole demeanour. This is also what the sages had in mind when they said” “a wife’s death primarily affects her husband.” True, the Torah had already described both Avraham and Sarah as זקנים באים בימים, “old, advanced in years” (18,11), the matter has been repeated because as a result of Sarah having become pregnant and given birth to Yitzchok both she and her husband had become rejuvenated. Avraham now reverted to being an old man. It is also possible to justify the mention of Avraham having become an old man at this point in view of what follows, i.e. his empowering Eliezer to choose a wife for his son Yitzchok, seeing G’d’s promise that he would die at an old age בשלום, i.e. having seen his major hopes fulfilled, this could not occur until Yitzchok had been married and had produced an heir. We know from Psalms 128,6 וראה בנים לבניך שלום על ישראל, “and live to see children of your children, peace be unto Israel,” that until one has been blessed with grandchildren one does not consider oneself as having died בשלום. He therefore had concluded that the time was overdue to see to it that Yitzchok would marry. The Torah testifies that Avraham considered himself as blessed in all areas of life, i.e. וה' ברך את אברהם בכול, although he was too old now to undertake a strenuous journey to Aram Naharayim. The word בא in our verse is to be understood as being in the past tense as in Genesis 27,35 בא אחיך במרמה, “your brother has already come, deviously, etc.”
[Yitzchok] said, Your brother came with cunning [wisdom] and he took [received] your blessing.
Thy brother hath come with subtilty, and hath received from me thy blessing.
| וַיֹּ֡אמֶר הֲכִי֩ קָרָ֨א שְׁמ֜וֹ יַעֲקֹ֗ב וַֽיַּעְקְבֵ֙נִי֙ זֶ֣ה פַעֲמַ֔יִם אֶת־בְּכֹרָתִ֣י לָקָ֔ח וְהִנֵּ֥ה עַתָּ֖ה לָקַ֣ח בִּרְכָתִ֑י וַיֹּאמַ֕ר הֲלֹא־אָצַ֥לְתָּ לִּ֖י בְּרָכָֽה׃ | 36 J | [Esau] said, “Was he, then, named Jacob that he might supplant (supplant Heb. ‘aqab, connected with “Jacob.”) me these two times? First he took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing!” And he added, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” |
This is the explanation of, “Avihem (Their father) Yaakov said to them, ‘Otee shekaltem (You’re making me lose my children). Yosef is gone….’” This is an allusion to the intellect’s rebuke, because the intellect reproves the haughty individuals who seek prominence. For YaAKoV corresponds to intellect, as Onkelos renders YaAKVeiny (“he went behind my back”): “he outsmarted me” (Genesis 27:36).
This is the concept of Yaakov. For YaAKoV merited the rights of the firstborn, which is reishit (beginning), the concept of wisdom, as in (Psalms 111:10), “The reishit is wisdom.” This corresponds to “and YaAKVeiny (he obstructed me) these two times” (Genesis 27:36), which Onkelos renders: “he outwitted me.”
Thus the judgment associated with Yitzchak is mitigated through Yaakov, the aspect of speech-with-wisdom. For YaAKoV corresponds to wisdom, as it is written (Genesis 27:36), “YaAKVeiny,” which Onkelos renders as “he outwitted me.”
This judgment, which is the soul, has two aspects: Yaakov, who is speech; and Esav, who corresponds to the impurities, which is “a soul that transgresses.” This is as Rashi comments on “These are the descendants of Yitzchak, Avraham’s son”: Yaakov and Esav. And when it [i.e., the soul] attains the aspect of YaAKoV—namely wisdom, as it is written, “YaAKVeiny these two times,” which Onkelos renders as “he outwitted me”—it is healed, as it is written, “a benevolent sun with healing in its wings.” This is as it is written, “The Torah of God is perfect, restoring the soul.”
את בכורתי לקח, “he had purchased my birthright;” with these words he tripped himself up by revealing that Yaakov was legally entitled to this blessing.
IS NOT HE RIGHTLY. Ha-khi is to be rendered as truly. Ha-khi in Thou art truly (ha-chi) my brother (Gen. 29:15) is similar.
NAMED. Someone named him Jacob. (The subject of kara (named) is omitted. Hence kara should be rendered, someone named him. According to I.E. ha-khi kara shemo ya’akov (is he not rightly named Jacob) means, someone truly named him Jacob. Cf. Kimchi.)
FOR HE HATH SUPPLANTED ME. Va-yakeveni (for he hath supplanted me) is to be rendered: for he hath deceived me. Ve-okbah (in subtlety) in But Jehu did it in subtlety (ve-okbah) (II Kings 10:19) is similar. (According to I.E. it should be translated: But Jehu acted with deceit.) It is possible that it comes from the same root as akov (deceitful) in The heart is deceitful (akov) (Jer. 17:9). Akov is the opposite of mishor (straight). (Cf. Is. 40:4, ve-hayah he-akov le-mishor (and the rugged shall be made level). We thus see that akov is the opposite of mishor.)
RESERVED A BLESSING FOR ME. Kept with yourself (etzlekha) a blessing for me. Atzalta (reserved) comes from the same root as ve-atzalti (and I will take) in And I will take (ve-atzalti) of the spirit which is upon thee (Num. 11:17). (Etzel means near. Ve-atzalti literally means: I will take from that which is near thee. Atzalta (reserved) means kept near you. Cf. I.E. on Num. 11:17.)
Heb. ‘aqab, connected with “Jacob.”
ויאמר הכי קרא שמו יעקב, He said: "Was he not named Jacob (the crooked one)?" Esau was amazed having believed that Jacob's name referred to only a single act of subterfuge whereas he now found himself fooled by Jacob for a second time. Had Jacob's name been עקבות or something similar, Esau would not have been so surprised.
Esau may also have meant that the name יעקב alluded to frequent use of subterfuge. So far he considered himself as having become Jacob's victim twice.
ויאמר, when Esau heard that his brother had used subterfuge to obtain the blessing by making his hands appear as if they were hairy, he said: הכי קרא שמו יעקב, “he was called the crooked one for good reason!” The letter ה at the beginning of the word הכי serves as confirmation of something, as if to say: “truly!” We find it used in a similar sense in Kings I 21,19 הרצחת וגם ירשת!, “ You not only murdered but meant to inherit!” Or, Numbers 20,10: המן הסלע הזה! “from this very rock!” Esau said that Yaakov had truly deserved the name they had given him at birth. Actually, the word יעקב has two connotations; one is connected to deviousness, deceit, as in Jeremiah 17,10 עקוב הלב , “the heart is full of deceit;” or, also from Jeremiah 9,3 כי כל אח עקוב יעקב, “every brother takes advantage.” On the other hand, the word also is derived from עקב, heel, not a negative connotation at all, but possibly a positive one, suggesting humility, modesty, the opposite of pushiness. Yaakov combined both qualities.
ויעקבני, he tricked me twice.
את בכורתי לקח, there is no greater type of craftiness than to exploit one’s brother’s hunger and fatigue and to buy his birthright for a dish of lentils. Now he has also taken my blessing by deceit.
הלא אצלת לי ברכה, “you have not even reserved a minor blessing for me!” You have given everything to him. How could that be?
?הכי קרא שמו יעקב, the line is a rhetorical question. Esau says: “although Yaakov had been named thus because at birth he had held on to my heel so that I became the firstborn and entitled to a double inheritance and he was without such distinction, is he now going to turn the tables on me and get the share of the firstborn, i.e. both blessings?” The word הכי as a question also occurs in connection with Lavan and Yaakov when the latter works for his uncle. When the question of wages came up, Lavan exclaimed הכי אחי אתה ועבדתני חינם, “would there be any justice in your working for me without wages merely because you are my brother (and one does not have to pay one’s family)?” (29,15) Lavan implied: “on the contrary, you should be paid more generously because you are my family.” We have learned in Baba Batra 139 that when someone dies leaving behind many children (sons) and the estate is substantial, the sons share the inheritance whereas the daughters receive a stipend from the estate pending their getting married. When the estate the father left behind is meager, the daughters get the stipend whereas the sons will have to fend for themselves even if it involves begging. Admon says וכי בשביל שאני זכר ויפה כח בנכסים מרובים הורע כוחי בנכסים מועטין? “Am I supposed to suffer because I am male, able-bodied and my parents were wealthy?” [his argument was accepted by Rabban Gamliel, as was every other argument quoted in the name of Admon in the Talmud. Ed.]
הכי קרא שמו IS IT BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN CALLED [JACOB]—This is a question, like (29:15) “Is it because (הכי) thou art my brother?” Perhaps that is why they have given him the name Jacob — in reference to what was to happen in the future — that he would some time or other supplant me (יעקבני)? (Tanchuma). Why did Isaac tremble? He thought: Perhaps I have sinned in blessing the younger before the elder, thus changing the order of relationship between them. But when Esau began to cry out, “for he hath supplanted me these two times”, his father asked him, “What did he do to you?” He replied, “He took away my birth-right”. Isaac thereupon said, “It was on account of this that I was grieved and trembled: perhaps I had overstepped the line of strict justice. Now, however, I have really blessed the first-born — ‘And he shall indeed be blessed’”.
ויעקבני THAT HE HATH SUPPLANTED ME — Explain it as the Targum renders it, וחכמני, which means “and he lay in wait for me.” The word (Deuteronomy 19:11) וארב “and he lies in wait” is rendered by the Targum וכמי. There are some who read in the Targum not וכמני but וחכמני which means “he showed himself clever against me” (outwitted me).
אצלת HAST THOU NOT RESERVED — the word means “separating״, “setting aside״, like (Numbers 11:25) “And he separated.
הכי קרא שמו יעקב ויעקבני, did all this happen to me because at the time Yaakov was born he was named Yaakov so that he could now trick me? He was wondering if whoever had named Yaakov had predetermined some of his future character traits.
הלא אצלת לי ברכה, seeing that you thought at the time you dispensed the blessing that it was I who stood before you, and you surely did not have in mind to bestow upon me the spiritual blessing, the supreme blessing, you must have reserved this blessing for my brother. You surely had not intended that I, Esau, would be the sole beneficiary of all your blessings?
As in “Is it because you are my relative?” From what was said after “You shall work for me without pay,” it is clear [that it was an incredulous question,] and Lavan was not actually requesting this. For Lavan said right after: “Tell me, what should your wages be?”
He, Esau, said in anger: Is it for this that his name was called Jacob [ Ya’akov ]? Although Jacob was originally named for the manner in which he held on to Esau’s heel [ akev ] at birth (see 25:26), and thus was born on his brother’s heels, here Esau uses the same root in its meaning of deceit and cheating. As he deceived me [ vayakveni ] these two times: He took my birthright, as he purchased it from me with deception, and behold, now he also took my blessing. Having been told that Isaac cannot undo what he had done, he said: Have you not reserved a blessing for me? There must be some kind of blessing left for me. You could not have granted Jacob all possible blessings.
We must therefore accept two premises: 1) Jacob did not really aim at the birthright. 2) Neither of the two brothers was concerned with inheriting Isaac's material wealth. Even the honor connected with the birthright was of no real concern to either Esau or Jacob. Both were deeply desirous of acquiring things of genuine value, goodness, things which can only be secured by means of heavenly blessing. In this respect we must view the birthright as profoundly related to the Divine blessings and Isaac's power to direct such blessings. Isaac was not reconciled to the fact that Jacob had obtained the blessing by deceit until Esau cried out, "He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing" (Genesis 27,36). Only then did Isaac say to Esau, "I have made him an overlord over you." When Esau questioned his father saying, "Have you only one blessing, Father?" Isaac quite calmly allowed the blessing to remain with Jacob, and bestowed upon him in addition the blessing of Abraham to make him the principal heir of the Abrahamitic tradition (Genesis 28, 1-5). What had been in Isaac's mind originally, and what transpired to make him change his mind? The greatest difficulty in all this is the fact that heaven obviously went along with all the changes made by the human participants in these events. Evidence of this is the fact that G-d calls Israel "My firstborn son" (Exodus 4,22-23) when Moses first confronts Pharaoh. Since one cannot deny then that heaven stamped Jacob's performance with its seal of approval, we must find answers to the questions raised. The following parable may help explain. In one of the islands, there lived a nation whose king had traditionally always been chosen by the people for his qualities of leadership. Though the nation always chose a descendant of the former king, the people managed through this device to invariably secure a suitable ruler. This was because there was no automatic succession to the throne. It happened that one particular king was so outstanding, and his accomplishments on behalf of his nation so great, that the council of state voted that henceforth the firstborn son of that king and the firstborn son of the son after him should automatically succeed their respective fathers. This law was not made subject to periodic review and therefore became unchallengeable. In due course, one of the later kings had two sons, the elder being boorish, selfcentred, i.e. totally unfit to rule. His younger brother however, possessed all the qualities needed to make him a suitable ruler. The law makers' hands were tied, however, since they were bound by the act of gratitude to an earlier king which had been enshrined in law. After much debate, the elders decided that their only course of action lay in persuading the older of the two brothers to renounce his claim to the succession voluntarily. For that purpose, they prepared a great banquet of the type the older son enjoyed; they used the occasion to point out to the king's older son that the burdens of office would interfere greatly with his present lifestyle etc. In this fashion, they succeeded in getting the older son to renounce his claim to the throne. The application of this parable to our story is self evident. Compare five points of similarity between the parable and our story: 1) The original law to establish leadership position based on merit. 2) The change in the law, establishing precedence based on birth. 3) The incidence of some prospective rulers being obviously unfit. 4) Advice on how to neutralize the harmful effects of the law to base the succession on claims supported by birthright. 5) Return to the original manner of selecting a ruler.
It is then related that Jacob gave the bread and the pottage to Esau, who reveled in the filling of his belly and shamed the birthright. Even after he had gone he did not regret his folly and his wickedness and say: "What have I done!" This is the intent of (Genesis 25:34): "And he ate, and he drank, and he arose, and he went away, and he shamed…" That is, even after he went away. Indeed, we never find him regretting the act at all, except in conjunction with his complaint over losing the blessing, as it is written (Ibid 27:36): "He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing." It is only when he has a mundane complaint that he spills out everything along with it. In addition to this, he realized then that the tie between Isaac and his children was an extremely valuable commodity, "for His blessed ones shall inherit the land" (Psalms 37:22). It is for this reason that he worried about the birthright. Add to this the fact that at the time he was more than sixty years old, whereas his shaming of the birthright had taken place when he was a callow youth of fifteen, for which reason he made light of it and sold it for a mess of lentils (or received full payment for it, though this is not stated explicitly, according to those who subscribe to this view).
For this reason, the fifth interlocutor Elihu is introduced, who, closing the matter, became irritated and condemned Job, since he justified [15]his sense of justice to be superior to God’s, and condemned the three companions because they did not find a sufficient answer. By condemning Job, he excuses himself [16]and then continues his sentence to give proof of Divine Providence through prophetic dreams. Thus, in Chapter 33, he says: בחלום חזיון לילה בנפל תרדמה על־אנשים בתנומות עלי משכב אז יגלה אזן אנשים In dreams, in a vision at night, when drowsiness falls on men, in naps on the bed, then it uncovers men's ears, etc. (Job 33:15) Then to the true opinion of Eliphaz, he adds the mystery of the transmigration, and thus he says, הן־כל־אלה יפעל־אל פעמים שלוש עם־גבר All these occurrences three times does God with man (Job 33:15) whereupon admirably the doubt is resolved by him, showing that Job, and other righteous men, can grieve for the sins committed in another body; or it means the three judgments of man that we mentioned earlier, in which the scales are balanced. (First, פעמים can allude to the body and the soul, with the meaning of these Two, q.v. Gen. 27:36, Num. 20:11; or in the latter the meaning of Occurrences[17], q.v. Lev. 25:8.)
"For he has supplanted these (Heb. zeh; lit. 'this') two times." Why Zeh to modify "supplanted two times?" It means two matters are contained in one. The word bechorati (my birthright) became at another time birchati (my blessing). In the same manner, the verse "surely now we had returned this (Heb. zeh) second time" (Beresheet 43:10), that two matters are in one: 1) we would have returned (Heb. shavnu) by now and not be put to shame (Heb. boshnu) by that man, and 2) we would have been back already. [The Hebrew letters of shavnu are the same as of boshnu].
"And he called his name Jacob," the Holy One, blessed be He, assuredly called him 'Jacob'. Come and behold, it is written, "and he called his name 'Jacob'" (Gen. 27:36), and not, 'and his name was called Jacob'. But "Did he not rightly call him "Jacob?' for he has supplanted me (Heb. יַּעַקְבֵנִי)?" (Ibid.). Surely the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the primordial serpent was wise in an evil way. When Jacob came, (Hashem) said that he must be wiser than the serpent. Therefore He called him 'Jacob',
“Isaac was overcome with great trembling” – Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina said: “Great” – more than the trembling that he trembled atop the altar. He said: “Who [then], is” the one who became an intermediary between me and the Omnipresent so that Jacob would receive the blessings? He said it regarding Rebecca. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One who has two sons, one leaving and one entering, (One receiving a blessing and one not receiving a blessing.) trembles? I wonder. It is, rather, that when Esau entered to his father, Gehenna entered with him. Rabbi Aḥa said: The walls of the house began seething. That is what is written: “Who then [mi efo],” who is that who is destined to be baked here, is it me, or my son Jacob? The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘It is neither you nor your son, but rather, “he who hunted game.”’ (Esau.) “He who hunted game” – Rabbi Elazar bar Shimon said: Hunter, how did they trap you? Conqueror of gates, how are your gates conquered and ruined? That is what is written: “The deceitful will not scorch [yaḥarokh] his prey” (Proverbs 12:27). The Rabbis say: The Holy One blessed be He does not delay [yeaḥer] and does not extend [yaarikh] for the deceitful one and his deceit. Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosei said: What is “will not scorch [lo yaḥarokh]”? the Holy One Blessed be He does not extend [yaarikh] for the deceitful one and his deceit, as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: That entire day, Esau was trapping gazelles and binding them, and an angel came and untied them, [trapping] birds, and tied their wings, and an angel would come and free them. Why to that extent? “But the wealth of a worthy [yakar] man is precious” (Proverbs 12:27) – so that Jacob, who was the glory of [yekaro] the world, would come and take the blessings, as from the outset of the world they were designated [ḥarutzot] for him. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa asked Rabbi Aḥa, he said to him: ‘What is what is written: “But the wealth of a worthy [yakar] man is precious [ḥarutz]”?’ He said: ‘It is designated [ḥarutza] in the hands of the righteous, who do not receive in this world any of the glory they have coming to them in the World to Come.’ “And I ate from all [mikol]” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: Of everything [mikol] that was created during the six days of Creation. Rabbi Neḥemya says: Of all [mikol] the goodness that is reserved for the World to Come. He [Esau] said to him [Isaac]: ‘What was the main course that he fed you?’ He said to him: ‘I do not know, but I tasted the taste of bread, the taste of meat, the taste of fish, the taste of grasshoppers, the taste of all the delicacies of the world.’ Rabbi Berekhya said: When he [Isaac] mentioned meat, he [Esau] immediately cried. He said: ‘He fed me one bowl of lentils and took my birthright. You, to whom he fed meat, all the more so.’ Rabbi Levi said: Because our patriarch Isaac was afraid and saying: ‘Did I, perhaps, not act properly, in that I rendered one who was not firstborn, firstborn?’ When he said: “He took my birthright” (Genesis 27:36), he said: ‘I gave the blessing properly.’ Rabbi Elazar said: Ratification of a document is only by its signatories, so that you will not say that had Jacob not deceived Isaac, he would not have received the blessings. The verse states: “Indeed, he shall be blessed.”
“When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out, a very great and bitter cry, and he said to his father: Bless me too, my father” (Genesis 27:34). “When Esau heard the words of his father” – Rabbi Ḥanina said: Anyone who says that the Holy One blessed be He is lax, may his intestines become lax. Rather, He shows patience and collects His due. Jacob caused Esau to cry out one cry, as it is written: “When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out.” Where did He punish him [Jacob]? It was in the Shushan citadel, as it is stated: “[When Mordekhai learned what had happened…] and cried out an exceedingly loud and bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). “He said: Your brother came in cunning, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). “Your brother came in cunning [bemirma]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He came with the wisdom of his Torah. (This is expounded from the fact that the Torah used the word mirma, not sheker, rama’ut, or honaa. Cunning [mirma] is not necessarily negative.) “He said: It is for this that his name was called Jacob [Yaakov], as he deceived me these two times; he took my birthright and, behold, now he took my blessing. And he said: Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36). “He said: It is for this [hakhi] that his name was called Jacob [Yaakov], as he deceived me [vayakveni]” – Reish Lakish said: He began clearing his throat, like one who clears his throat [meḥakekh] and expectorates from his mouth. “He said: Hakhi.” (Hakhi which literally means "is it for this" is expounded as though it should be read ḥiki – as in the word meḥakekh.) “He deceived me…he took my birthright” – and I said nothing to him. “Behold, now he took my blessing” – shall I say nothing to him? “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” – from the inferior ones. (A less important blessing.)
“You have circled this mountain enough; turn yourselves to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). “You have circled this mountain enough” – halakha: If a person of Israel is scrupulous in honoring his father and mother, what is his reward? This is what our Rabbis taught: These are the matters whose profits a person enjoys in this world, while the principal remains for him for the World to Come. They are: Honoring one’s father and mother…. Rabbi Abbahu said: The students of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol asked him: ‘What is [true] honoring of one’s father and mother?’ He said to them: ‘Go out and see what Dama ben Netina did in Ashkelon.’ His mother was mentally disturbed and she would slap him [when he was] with his counterparts, but all he would say to her was: ‘That is enough, mother.’ Our Rabbis said: One time, the Sages came to him to purchase from him a gem that had been lost from the priestly vestments. He resided in Ashkelon and they settled with him for one thousand gold pieces. He entered and found his father’s leg extended on the chest in which the gem was found, and he was asleep. He did not seek to disturb him, and he went out empty-handed. When he did not take it out, they were under the impression that he was asking them for more, and they raised the price [they were offering] to ten thousand gold pieces. When his father awakened from his sleep, he entered and took it out to them. They sought to give him ten thousand gold pieces. He said: ‘God forbid. I will not benefit from the reward for honoring my parents. Rather, the money that I settled with you, one thousand gold pieces, that is what I will take from you.’ What reward did the Holy One blessed be He give him? Our Rabbis said: During that year, his cow gave birth to a red heifer, and he sold it for more than ten thousand gold pieces. See how great honoring of one’s father and mother is. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: No person respected his parents like I did my parents, and I found that Esau honored his father more than I did. How so? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: I would serve my father with soiled garments, but when I would go to the marketplace, I could cast off those garments and don fine garments, and go out in them. But Esau did not do so; rather, the garments that he would wear to serve his father were finer. (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel served his father in soiled garments in order to indicate his willingness to act even as a servant in serving his father. But Esau would put on his finest clothes, as though he were going to meet a government officer. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel reconsidered and decided that Esau’s method afforded greater honor to his parents (Maharzu). ) Know that it is so, for when [Esau] went out to hunt and bring [food] to his father, so he would bless him, what did Rebecca, who loved her son Jacob, do? She gave him delicacies, and said to him: ‘Go to your father and take the blessings before your brother takes them.’ At that moment, Jacob said to her: ‘Mother, do you not know that my brother Esau “is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man”? (Genesis 27:11). Let my father not sense that I am not Esau, or I will be shamed before him.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Perhaps my father will feel me, [and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing]” (Genesis 27:12). She said to him: ‘My son, your father’s eyes are dim and I will dress you in the fine garments that your brother wears when he serves your father. When you come to him, he will hold your hand, and will think that you are Esau, and bless you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Rebecca took the fine garments of Esau…” (Genesis 27:15) with which he was accustomed to serve his father, as it is stated: “She dressed Jacob” (Genesis 27:15). That is why, when Jacob entered to him, what did Isaac say to him? “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22). [Isaac] blessed him and [Jacob] went out, and Esau came and went in to his father. [Isaac] said to him: ‘Who are you, who is speaking to me with a big heart ?’ He said to him: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Genesis 27:32). When he heard his voice, he knew that he was Esau. He said to him: “Your brother came with deceit, and he took your blessing” (Genesis 27:35). At that moment, Esau began screaming and saying: ‘Come and see what this simple man did to me, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Is it not enough that he mocked me for selling him my birthright, “and, behold, now he has taken my blessing”?’ (Genesis 27:36). You learn that Esau was scrupulous in honoring his parents. Rabbi Yudan said: When Israel came to wage war against him, (The Israelites intended to wage war against Edom, the descendants of Esau, as they travelled from the wilderness into the Land of Israel. ) the Holy One blessed be He showed Moses the mountain in which the patriarchs were buried. He said to him: ‘Say to Israel: You cannot confront him. Even now, the reward for honoring those buried on this mountain is owed him.’ From where is it derived? It is from what we read regarding the matter: “You have circled this mountain enough.” (The following verses record God’s instruction to Israel not to militarily confront Edom (see Deuteronomy 2:4–5). )
Rabbi Berekhya said: When Esau came in to his father and saw that Jacob had taken the blessings, he said to [Isaac]: ‘Did you not leave even one blessing for me?’ As it is stated: “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36). Isaac said to him: ‘Even if I bless you, I will be blessing him. Did I not say so to him: “Be a lord to your brethren”? (Genesis 27:29). The slave and everything that he has, do they not belong to his master?’ What is “turn yourselves to the north [tzafona]”? Rabbi Ḥiyya said: [God] said to them: ‘If you see that he (The reference is to Esau, meaning, his descendants. ) is seeking to provoke you, do not confront him. Instead, conceal [hatzpinu] yourselves from him until his world will pass.’ (Until his success and power pass.) That is, “turn yourselves to the north.” Rabbi Yehuda bar Shalom said: Israel said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, his father gave him the blessing: “By your sword you will live” (Genesis 27:40), and You confirmed it for him, and You say to us: Conceal yourselves from him? To where will we flee?’ He said to them: ‘If you see that they are confronting you, flee to the Torah.’ Tzafona is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “He reserves [yitzpon] the Torah for the upright” (Proverbs 2:7). Another matter, what is “tzafona”? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Wait until the time when the messianic king will come and fulfill: “How great is the goodness [You have in store [tzafanta] for those who fear You]”’ (Psalms 31:20).
(Deut. 25:18, cont.:) AND HE CUT OFF (rt.: ZNB) ALL WHO WERE LAGGING BEHIND YOU. He smote them with a blow to the tail (rt.: ZNB), (The word can also denote the penis. See PR 7:3; 12:10, 13; 13:1.) for that is what R. Hanina bar Shilqa said. (Tanh., Deut. 6:10; PRK 3:11; PR 7:3; 12:10, 13; 13:1; Numb. R. 13:3.) What did the house of Amalek do? (Above, section 10.) They cut off the penes [of Israel] and flung them heavenward, as they said: This is what you have chosen for yourself. Because Israel did not know what the function of the phallus was, (with reference to Ezek. 8:17) HERE THEY WERE PUTTING THE PHALLUS (Zemorah. Biblical translations generally render the word as “branch”; but the fact that Mekhilta deRabbi of Ishmael, Shirata, 6, lists Ezek. 8:17 as one of the verses the scribes had emended, the passage suggests that they found the passage an embarrassment.) UP THEIR NOSES, until Amalek came and taught them. From whom did he learn it? From his grandfather Esau, as stated (in Gen. 27:36): AND HE SAID: IS HE NOT (HKY) RIGHTLY NAMED JACOB? (Gen. R. 67:4.) He spat (rt.: HKK) from his throat and brought out the phallus. (As an act of contempt for Jacob, since he had been born circumcised. See above, Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 2:6, and the note there.)
(Gen. 27:36:) THEN HE SAID: HAVE YOU NOT RESERVED ME] (See above, 5:6, n. 25; 6:1, n. 1.) A BLESSING? (With the word BLESSING, Buber is able to follow his Oxford MS again.) Resh Laqish said: This is one of three children of Adam who came with a legal circumvention against the Holy One. (Sanh. 101a (bar.) names Cain, Esau, and Manasseh as the three.) Esau said to him: If both of us are righteous, does not your God have < enough > blessings to bless both of us? The Holy One said to him: May your mouth be stopped up! Look, Jacob is blessing twelve tribes, and it is not a case of him blessing one as he blesses another. Even so he was filled with compassion for him. He came to bless him, but the Divine Presence departed from him. He began to pray and say (in the words of Is. 26:10): LET THE WICKED BE SHOWN FAVOR. (Gen. R. 67:5.) He said to him (ibid., cont.): HE WILL NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. He said to him: Do you desire to bless this one? He is going to destroy my house and confuse lands (‘Aratsot. Perhaps the text should read ‘otsarot (“treasures”) here. See MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) and riches. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): IN A LAND OF INTEGRITY HE WILL ACT UNJUSTLY. Isaac said to him: Give to him in this world, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SHALL NOT SEE THE MAJESTY OF THE LORD in the world to come because he would compel (Gk.: anangke.) me to repay him the glory with which he honored me. Esau immediately raised his eyes upward and wept, as stated (in Gen. 27:38): AND ESAU LIFTED UP HIS VOICE AND WEPT. The Holy One said: Although he is wicked, flatter him. R. Eleazar said: Esau shed three tears, one from his right < eye >, one from his left, and one disappeared in the midst of his eye. (M.Pss. 80:4.) The Holy One said: Look, the wicked one is weeping over his life! How am I to turn him away empty! He immediately told his father to bless him. This text is related (to Ps. 80:6 [5]): YOU HAVE FED THEM THE BREAD OF TEARS AND HAVE HAD THEM DRINK A SHALISH (The word SHALISH has the same spelling as shelish, which means “one-third,” and has the same root as the word for “three.” In the context of the psalm shalish denotes a dry measure, which is a third of an ephah.) OF TEARS. R. Abbin said in the name of R. Aha: Israel said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, now if in the case of Esau the Wicked, because he had shed two tears, < you were > filled with compassion for him immediately; how much the more so in our case, when our tears < flow > constantly day and night like bread, as stated (in Ps. 42:4 [3]): MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY BREAD DAY AND NIGHT. Up to now the proper time has not arrived for him to be filled with compassion over you. David has said (in Ps. 39:13 [12]): HEAR MY PRAYER, O LORD, AND GIVE EAR TO MY CRY. DO NOT KEEP SILENCE AT MY TEARS. The Holy One said to them: I will repay Esau the Wicked for the glory of his ancestors, and I will exalt him. Afterwards, I am coming to exalt you and repay {them} [you] for what you have achieved and for what your ancestors achieved. It is so stated (in Ps. 46:11 [ 10]): I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE GENTILES; I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH. It is simply that the Holy One said to Jacob (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH. It is also written (in Mal. 3:12): FOR YOU WILL BE A DELIGHTFUL LAND. Esau said to him (in Gen. 27:37): BLESS ME ALSO, O MY FATHER. Isaac said to him: With what shall I bless you? R. Berekhyah said: He said to him: I made him a lord over you. In anything whatever that I should bless you, I should be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the slave acquires, he acquires for his master. (Gen. 27:29:) BE A MASTER TO YOUR BROTHER is what Isaac said to Jacob. That was the seventh blessing (in Gen. 27:29). Now Isaac had set down ten blessings with which he had blessed him, but he said to him only (in vs. 27:37): "BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE HIM A MASTER OVER YOU." He did, however, say to him: With everything that you are thinking I should bless you, I should only be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the servant has belongs to the master. Thus in Egypt, even though they had been enslaved to them, when they left them they took all their property. So also in the case of thirty-one kings (in Josh. 12:7-24), Israel drove them from their land and took their wealth. So also now in respect to what the peoples of the world are plundering from Israel, Israel belongs to the LORD. Thus it is stated (in Is. 23:18): HER (in reference to Tyre as a harlot) PROFITS AND HER HIRE SHALL BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD {OF HOSTS}. THEY SHALL NOT BE TREASURED OR STORED, FOR HER PROFITS SHALL BELONG TO THOSE WHO DWELL BEFORE THE LORD FOR EATING THEIR FILL AND FOR SPLENDID CLOTHING.
(Deut. 25:18, cont.:) And he cut off (rt.: znb) all who were lagging behind you. He smote them with a blow to the tail (rt.: znb). (The word can also denote the penis. See PR 7:3; 12:10, 13; 13:1.) And this agrees with what R. Hanina bar Shilqa, said, “What did the House of Amalek do to Israel? (Below, section 14.) They cut off their penes and flung them heavenward, as they said, ‘This is what You have chosen, take for Yourself what You have chosen.” As Israel did not know what the nature of spit was, until Amalek came and taught them, as stated (with reference to Ezek. 8:17), “here they were sending the spit in their faces.” From whom did he learn it? From his grandfather Esau, as stated (in Gen. 27:36), “And he said, ‘Is he not (hky) rightly named Jacob?’” (Gen. R. 67:4.) He rubbed (rt.: hkk) his throat and brought out the spit. (Deut. 25:18), “All who were lagging behind you.” R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and the masters [differed]. R. Judah said, “They said, ‘If He is master over all of out deeds, we will serve Him; but if not, we will revolt against Him.’” R. Nehemiah said, “They said, ‘If He furnishes us with our food like a king who is living in the province, such that the province lacks nothing at all, we will serve Him; but if not, we will revolt against Him.’” And the masters said, “They said, “’If we have a thought in our hearts and He knows what we are thinking, we will serve Him; but if not, we will revolt against Him.’” R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Levi, “In their heart they had a thought, and the Holy One, blessed be He, granted them their request.” And what is the evidence? (Ps. 78:18:) “They tested God in their heart by asking food for themselves.” See what [else] is written there (in vs. 29), “So they ate and were very full.” Another interpretation (of Deut. 25:18), “all who were lagging behind you”: R. Judah, R. Nehemiah and the masters [differ]. (PRK 3:12; PR 12:13, cont.; PRE 44; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Exod. 17:8 and Deut. 25:18.) R. Judah says, “Whoever was overcome was discarded.” R. Nehemiah says, “Whomever the cloud vomited up was discarded.” And the rabbis say, “It was the tribe of Dan that the cloud vomited up, [as] they all served idols, as stated (The reference is to the idol which the Danites took from Micah. See Jud. 17–18.) (Deut. 25:18, cont.), ‘when you were tired and weary, and did not fear God.’” [You were] tired from thirst and weary from the road, and you did not fear God. (Above, Gen. 7:15; 8:5; 12:13; Tanh., Gen. 12:14; Deut. 6:10, cont.; PRK 3:13; PR 13:4; Gen. R. 73:7; cf. BB 123b.) R. Pinhas said in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahman, “It is a transmitted aggada [that] Esau will fall at the hand of the children of Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin), as stated (in Jer. 49:20), ‘Surely the youngest of the flock shall drag them away.’ Why does it call them the youngest of the flock? Because they were the youngest of the tribes.” Hence, Moses said to Joshua (Exod. 17:9), “Choose men for us.” As he was [descended from] Joseph, about whom it is written (Gen. 42:18), “I fear God.” And about Esau, it is written (Deut. 25:18), “and did not fear God.” Youth is written with reference to the one and small is written with reference to the other (i.e., with reference to Esau). Youth is written with reference to the one (in Gen. 37:2), “since he (Joseph) was a youth with the children of Bilhah [and with the children of Zilpah].” And small is written with reference to the other (in Obad. 1:2), “I will surely make you (Edom) smallest among the nations.” The one (Esau) grew up with two who were righteous (i.e., with Isaac and Rebekah) and did not learn from their deeds, while the other grew up with two who were wicked (i.e., Potiphar and Pharaoh) and did not learn from their deeds. The one received the birthright as a result of his good deeds, while the other lost his birthright from his evil deeds. The one supported his brothers, while the other sought to kill his brother. The one fenced himself away from sexual immorality and from the spilling of blood, while the other sullied himself with sexual immorality and the spilling of blood. The one conceded to the revival of the dead, as stated (Gen. 50:24), “God will surely remember you”; while the other denied the revival of the dead, as stated (Gen. 25:32), “Behold, I am going to die.” The one offered his life for his mother’s honor, as stated (Gen. 33:7), “and after, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed”; while the other sought to kill his mother, as stated (Amos 1:11), “and he destroyed his uterus.” (This is a homiletical translation of the verse, which would otherwise be translated as, AND HE REPRESSED HIS PITY.) Therefore, the one (Esau) will fall by the hand of the other (Jospeh). And R. Johanan said, “All of the ministering angels sought to battle with the ministering angel of Esau, but he would not fall by their hand, as he would remove each and every one with a response: To Reuben, he says, ‘You were suspected about your father’s concubine.’ To Simeon and Levi, ‘You also killed [the inhabitants of] Shekhem.’ To the other tribes, ‘You sold your brother and sought to kill him.’ To Judah, ‘You were also suspected about your daughter-in-law, Tamar.’ To Benjamin he said, ‘You were suspected about the concubine in Giveah.’ When the ministering angel of [Joseph] came and battled with him, he immediately fell in front of him, as he had no response to answer him. This is what is written (Obad 1:18), “And the House of Jacob shall be fire, and the House of Joseph flame, and the House of Esau shall be straw.”
At this point (27,36), Esau burst out complaining that this was already the second time Jacob had tricked him, that his very name means that he is a trickster, and he asked whether his father had not reserved a blessing for him exclusively. Esau's first statement is an expression of amazement that Jacob should be allowed to benefit by his trickery! He claimed that his brother's undetected trickery could only have been due to their being twins; this enabled Jacob to misrepresent himself as his twin brother Esau. Esau complained (when he used the word פעמים, twice) that surely Jacob would not be allowed to get away with such a subterfuge a second time. The first time, when Jacob took the birthright, was something that he Esau could not now reverse, and as a result Jacob had established his claim to the blessings in the Hereafter. But surely, Esau said, Jacob should not be allowed to preempt Esau's claim to his share also in this world! Esau had another argument, alluded to by his words: הלא אצלת לי ברכה? He sensed that Isaac had hedged his bets by phrasing the blessing in such a way that whether the son before him was Esau or Jacob, he should receive his specific blessing. Now, that it had become clear that Jacob received the blessing due him for עולם הבא, the blessing for this world should be available for him! How could Isaac not at least give Esau the blessing pertaining to עולם הזה!
This is the key to the meaning of 32, 29: "Your name will not be said to be Jacob any longer but Israel." We must remember that at birth Jacob was named Jacob because his hand gripped the heel of Esau. Esau interpreted this as referring to עקבה, deception. He exclaimed in Genesis 27, 36: "Is he not rightly called Jacob since he has deceived me already twice?" There is a conceptual relation between what happened at the birth of these twins, what happened when Jacob bought the birthright, and again at the time he secured the blessing. At birth, Jacob did not want Esau to leave the womb first, for he, Jacob, considered himself the בכור, the firstborn. He claimed that distinction because Isaac's first drop of semen resulted in fertilization of the ovum that would produce him (cf. Rashi on 25, 26). Jacob was thus within his rights then when he tried to retrieve what he had been deprived of by resorting to עקבה וערמה, devious ways and trickery. It was Esau who used deviousness already at birth, by forcing his way out of his mother's womb first. What he experienced later at the hands of Jacob was no more than מדה כנגד מדה, tit for tat. Jacob took a leaf out of Esau's book and "donned" Esau's kind of garments. After Jacob died and was resurrected his name "Jacob" assumed a different meaning. Jacob, i.e. "heel," or result, consequence, is an allusion to the eventual permanent world which follows on the heels of the transient world in which the Esaus and their kind feel at home.
,לא יקרא שמך עוד יעקב'שמך יעקב, “your name has been Yaakov; it will no longer be Yaakov;” The Torah means that henceforth his name would no longer only be “Yaakov,” but the name “Yisrael” would be added to it. If the name “Yaakov” were to be eliminated completely, this would be interpreted as having been a name describing a person with negative character traits up to now. (Compare Esau’s comment in Genesis 27,36) Henceforth the Torah will refer to YaakovYisrael sometimes by his original name and sometimes only by his additional name. When G-d changed Avram’s name to Avraham, He had never said that שמך אבדם, “your name is or was Avram.” This is why the sages have said that anyone referring to Avraham as Avram, is equivalent to violating a positive commandment of the Torah. (Talmud B’rachot 13).
Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him – and indeed he will be blessed!” When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me – me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully [bemirma] and took your blessing.” Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: he took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not reserved any blessing for me?” (Gen. 27:33–36)
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS ‘EIKEV’ YE HEARKEN. Eikev means “because.” So also, ‘eikev’ (because) that Abraham hearkened to My voice. (Genesis 26:5.) And Rashi wrote: “If you will hearken even to the lighter commandments which a person usually treads upon with his ‘heels’ [i.e., those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly] then G-d will keep His promise to you.” (Rashi thus explains eikev as meaning “heel, footprint.” — The term “lighter commandments” thus means “lighter” in the sense that people regard them lightly because they think that the reward for their observance is of minor significance, and therefore, “they tread upon them with their heels,” so to say. But, as Scripture continues, these people are mistaken, since the reward for even these commandments is boundless.) Now Scripture mentions the ordinances [And it shall come to pass ‘eikev’ ye hearken to these ‘ordinances’] (In other words, according to Rashi, that the verse is speaking of the “lighter commandments,” the question arises why are the ordinances mentioned here? It must be that the sense of the verse is as follows: “If you will hearken to those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly, such as the ordinances about monetary matters — then etc.” Thus, the reason ordinances are singled out more than statutes and testimonies is that Scripture wants to teach us that we should not hold them in disdain despite the fact that they deal merely with monetary matters.) perhaps because he admonishes them not to be disdainful of the lightly-esteemed ordinances such as the laws pertaining to monetary matters. And the commentators (Ibn Ezra and R’dak.) have said that the meaning of the word eikev is that “in the end” there will be reward. Similarly, in keeping them [the ordinances of G-d] ‘eikev rav’ (there is [in the end] great reward). (Psalms 19:12.) The verse here is thus stating: “and the end [the ultimate consequence] of your hearkening to the ordinances and your observing them is that G-d shall keep the covenant and the mercy, and He will love thee. ” (Verse 13.) This is correct, for in the Sacred Language the beginning of anything is called rosh [literally: “head”], as it is said, ‘rosh’ (the beginning of) Thy word is truth. (Psalms 119:160.) So also is the leader of the generation called “the head of the people,” and the best of spices is called rosh. (Exodus 30:23. Take also unto thee ‘b’samim rosh’ (‘the chief’ spices).) Similarly, the conclusion of any matter is called akeiv (heel) as the Sacred Language adopts these figurative expressions from the human body; and thus “the head” is the beginning while “the heel” is the conclusion and end of the body. Scripture also speaks of the head and the tail (Further, 28:13: And the Eternal shall make thee the head and not the tail.) [with reference to people], figuratively using the body of the animal. And Onkelos rendered the word eikev as chalaf (“in exchange for”), like ‘cheilef’ (in return for) your service. (Numbers 18:31.) Onkelos thus made it an expression of “roundabout” [the end result of a series of events], derived from the verse, and ‘he’akov (the crooked) shall be made straight (Isaiah 40:4. — I.e., the return of the exiles to Jerusalem will be unimpeded.) — that is, the circuitous road which goes roundabout [will become a straight, level path]. So also ‘akubah’ of blood (Hosea 6:8.) means “it is surrounded and encircled” [with blood]. The verse here is thus stating [according to Onkelos]: “and it shall come to pass that the effect caused by your hearkening to the ordinances and your performing them will be that G-d will keep His covenant with you.” He has explained it well. A similar expression is ‘biglal’ (for the sake of) this thing (Further, 15:10.) which means “on account of,” from the word ‘v’gal’lu’ (and they roll) the stone. (Genesis 29:8.) Similarly it is my opinion that every expression of akeivah is a term denoting “circle” or “circuit.” Thus: ‘akov haleiv’ (the heart is deceitful); (Jeremiah 17:9.) ‘vaya’akveini’ (and he hath gotten the better of me) these two times; (Genesis 27:36.) but Jehu did it ‘b’akbah’ (in subtlety) (II Kings 10:19.) — all these being expressions of “rolling” and “circling.” Therefore they called Jacob “Jeshurun” (Further, 33:5. See also above, 2:10 (towards the end).) [from the root yashar (straight and upright)] because the opposite of “the deceitful one” is he who is “upright” [as indicated by the name “Jeshurun”]. Similarly, the end-part of the foot, called akeiv — as it is said, and his hand seizing ‘ba’akeiv (the heel) of Esau (Genesis 25:26.) — is so called because of its roundness, just as the [Sacred] Language calls the middle part [palm and sole] of the hand and foot kapoth, (Ibid., 4:11: And I gave the cup into ‘kaph’ (the hand of) Pharaoh. Ezekiel 1:7: ‘v’kaph’ (and the sole) of their feet.) because of their being shaped like golden kapoth (spoons). This usage [of the term akeiv] is common in the [Sacred] Language, just as the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: (Sifre, V’zoth Habrachah 343.) “At His right hand was a fiery law unto them. (Further, 33:2.) When the word came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it would go by way of the right hand of the Holy One to the left of Israel, v’okeiv (and it encircled) the camp of Israel twelve miles by twelve miles.” So also is the expression: (Baba Kamma 113a.) “they come upon him ba’akifin,” meaning “with circuitous and subtle arguments,” like the word akeivin as these two letters [the veth and the fei] were considered by the Sages to be interchangeable, as I have already explained. (Leviticus 19:20. See also Exodus 15:10 — Vol. II, p. 198.) He mentioned these ordinances (According to Rashi who explained that the word eikev suggests “the lighter commandments” [as explained above] we understand why the verse singles out only these ordinances [and not the statutes etc.] because the ordinances, applying as they do to monetary matters, are often treated lightly by people; hence the need by Scripture to warn against it. But according to the interpretation of Onkelos and Ramban that eikev means “in return for,” and the verse refers to the reward for observing the commandments, the question arises why did Scripture single out only the ordinances? Ramban proceeds to answer this question: “He mentioned these ordinances in order etc.”) in order to warn exceedingly concerning the ordinances [i.e., judgments], for it is impossible that of a large nation, everyone be heedful of all commandments so as not to transgress any of them, and it is only through the judgments [of the court] that they establish [the firm authority of] the Torah, just as it says of them, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Further, 21:21.) Moreover, many people will have pity [and refrain from] stoning a man or burning him after the transgression had been committed, as it is said, Thine eye shall not pity him. (Ibid., 19:13.) Then also they might fear the mighty ones as well as those who lead astray, as it is said, ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man, for the judgment is G-d’s, (Above, 1:17.) and in the case of the false prophet it says, thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Further, 18:22.) He mentioned all these in the case of an inciter [to worship idols] saying, thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shalt thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, (Ibid., 13:9.) warning nor hearken unto him (Ibid., 13:9.) because of his misleading [you], neither shalt thine eye pity him (Ibid., 13:9.) because of the pity that compassionate people show towards the condemned, and neither shalt thou conceal him (Ibid., 13:9.) by remaining silent [and not presenting testimony against him] because of his might and fear of members of his family.
AND I WILL COME DOWN AND SPEAK WITH THEE THERE, ‘V’ATZALTI’ (AND I WILL TAKE OF THE SPIRIT) WHICH IS UPON THEE, AND WILL PUT IT UPON THEM. The intention of the verse is to say that the transmission [of the spirit resting on Moses to the seventy elders] will take place at the time when G-d will speak to Moses; and it will be from that [Divine communication that the prophetic power will be transmitted to them], (So clearly explained in the Tur. See my Hebrew commentary p. 234.) as is stated at the actual occurrance [of the events], And the Eternal came down in the cloud, and spoke unto him, [and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders]. (Further, Verse 25.) Now Scripture did not explain here what this communication was about, as is [usually] written in the whole Torah, where after [stating that G-d spoke to Moses] it explains what the Eternal said and what He spoke. [The reason for this is] that what happened here was that the elders, of whom Scripture states that they prophesied, (Further, Verse 25.) did not hear any communication from the mouth of G-d, nor did He appear to them in a vision or in a dream, (See further, 12:6.) but G-d spoke to Moses, and from the atziluth [as is explained further on] of the spirit upon Moses, they understood that Divine communication. This is the sense of the expression, and they prophesied, but they did so no more, (Further, Verse 25.) meaning that they did not continue receiving Divine communication on their own, for it was only the communication that G-d said to Moses in which they shared. This is also the meaning of v’atzalti [of the root eitzel — “near”], that “I will hold back with Me of the spirit which I put upon you, and I will put it upon them.” This is not the same idea as in the verse, and thou [Moses] shalt put of thy honor upon him [Joshua], (Ibid., 27:20.) for the term atziluth always means “holding something back,” as in the expressions: And whatsoever mine eyes desired ‘lo atzalti’ (I did not keep) from them; (Ecclesiastes 2:10.) ‘Halo atzalta’ (Hast thou not reserved) a blessing for me? (Genesis 27:36.) Similarly, [Now the upper chambers were shorter, for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middlemost, in the building. For they were in three stories, and they had not pillars as the pillars of the courts;] therefore ‘ne’etzal’ (room was taken away) from the lowest and the middlemost, in comparison with the ground, (Ezekiel 42:5-6.) meaning that more [room] was left by them [i.e., the upper chambers] relative to the ground, than by the chambers on the bottom and middle [stories], since their galleries did not take away from these upper chambers. (The meaning is as follows: It is clear from the verses that there were three stories, and that they were not supported on pillars. Thus each floor had to be set in somewhat in relation to the floor below it, leaving “galleries” around it. The top floor was the shortest, since the lower ones protruded and covered more of the ground-area than the highest story; thus more room was left relative to the ground by the top floor than by the other two. This shows that the root ‘atzal’ used in the verse signifies “holding back.”) Likewise, and to the ‘atzilei’ of the children of Israel (Exodus 24:11.) means “those who were left and were separated from them, who were withdrawn to themselves from the rest of the ordinary people.” Or it may be that great men are so called [atzilim — from the root eitzel (near)] because everybody comes to them [for counsel and instruction]. And translators of languages (Ramban is obviously referring to translators from Arabic into Hebrew. See e.g., in Yehudah Halevi’s philosophic work Al Khazari, written in Arabic, which Ibn Tibbon rendered into Hebrew, where he writes of atziluth ne’etzeleth mimenah sibah shenith (an Emanation from which emanated a second) etc. (Hirschfeld’s translation, I, 1, p. 36).) use the term atziluth with reference to an emanation of any powers [coming forth] from the Creator and spreading to a created object. Thus they speak of the soul as atzulah (emanating) from Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit), since they understand atziluth as an expression of “drawing forth.” But it does not appear to me to be correct that atziluth should mean “drawing forth” or (“Or placing upon etc.” — In Kur Zahav it is suggested that the reading in Ramban should be [instead of: o hanachah — “or placing upon”]: ela hanachah — “but placing upon.” That is to say, Ramban differs with the translators who understood atziluth as an act of both, coming forth from one subject and spreading to another, while Ramban holds it is primarily a concept of “placing upon” a subject, part of something which the bestower has set aside for it. — See further my Hebrew commentary p. 235.) “placing upon” [the receiver], something which the bestower has set aside [for him]. Onkelos, however, explained that the term atziluth has two meanings. Thus he translated here [v’atzalti] — “and I shall make great” [thus indicating that the term atziluth is to be understood as a “drawing forth” by the giver for the benefit of the receiver, that he will be made great], and similarly and to the ‘atzilei’ (Exodus 24:11.) [he translated], “and to the great men;” but he rendered ‘Halo atzalta’ a blessing for me (Genesis 27:36.) — “Have you not ‘left’ for me a blessing?” Thus it appears that his opinion about the meaning of atziluth is that it [sometimes] refers to a drawing forth or bestowing by a giver on a receiver; thus [according to this interpretation] the verse here is saying: “I will draw forth from that which is upon you [Moses] of the spirit of prophecy, and I will put it upon them.” But we may [also use the term atziluth in speaking of] a “drawing forth” which a giver does to himself from that which is given, so that it remains with him, this being the meaning of the verse, ‘Halo atzalta’ a blessing for me (Genesis 27:36.) — “Have you not kept to yourself for me one of the blessings with which to bless me?” The general principle about the elders is that their Divine communication came only from [G-d’s] spirit which spoke to Moses, and from him it came to them. Therefore the Rabbis have said in Bamidbar Sinai Rabbah: (Bamidbar Rabbah, at the end of Seder Beha’alothcha.) “This can be compared to a master who gave an orchard to a guardian, and paid him a wage for his service. After a while the guardian said to him: ‘I cannot guard the whole orchard alone; bring in some more people to guard it with me.’ Thereupon the master said to him: ‘I gave you my orchard to guard, and all the fruits for guarding it I gave you [i.e., I gave you a reward for it], and now you tell me to bring in others to guard it with you! I will bring in others to help you guard it, but you should know that I will not give them wages for watching it out of my resources; rather it is from the wages that I have given you that they will take their payment.’ So did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Moses: ‘I have given you spirit and knowledge to lead My children, and I did not want anyone else [to help you], in order that you alone should be singled out for this guardianship, and now you want someone else! Know then that from Me they will not take anything, but I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them.’ Yet nonetheless Moses did not lose anything [of his spirit].” Thus far is in the Midrash. It appears likely to me that this [bestowing of the Divine spirit that was upon Moses] happened to the elders throughout their lives, so that they knew whatever G-d commanded Israel by the hand of Moses in connection with the temporary needs of the people and the events which happened to them in the wilderness. This is the meaning of the expression [in the verse before us] and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that whatever Moses told the people they knew, and each one would pass the Divine communication about it to the people of his tribe, and thus Moses no longer had to bear their complaints alone.
who lurk to shed blood Heb. עֲקֻבָּה. Full of people who lurk to murder. Comp. (Jos. 8:13) “and their lyers in wait (עֲקֵבוֹ)”; (Gen. 27:36) “and he deceived me (וַיַּעְקְבֵנִי).”
With cunning. With guile, an expression of “וַיַּעְקְבֵנִי [=he beguiled me].” (Bereishis 27:36.)
And their ambush party their ambushers this word עַקֵבוֹ is similar to וַיעֲקְבֵנִי. (Bereishis 27:36. Eisov said regarding Yaakov, וַיַעְקְבֵנִי זֶה פַּעֲמַיִם “He has deceived me twice.” An ambush implies cunning and trickery.)
A closer look at the relevant midrashic literature shows that Yosef actually had a lot in common with Esav. This is so much the case that we could even construe Esav to be his alter ego. For example, the rabbis note that just as Esav did not learn from the two righteous men who surrounded him (Yitzchak and Ya’akov), Yosef did not learn from the two evildoers who surrounded him (Potiphar and Pharaoh). (Pesikta Rabbati 12:5–6) One could say that this too emphasizes their dissimilarity, but in fact we see that they were both too strong-willed to be affected by their surroundings. Moreover, returning to the previous example, although one gained the leadership associated with the firstborn and the other one lost it, (Even if Esav appears to have given his birthright away to Ya’akov without much resistance, the incident remained a sore spot for him, as we see when the blessing is taken away later on (Bereshit 27:36). Moreover, Esav’s concern with the blessing and its legacy may also have gone above and beyond those aspects of the birthright he gave away, as per Bereshit Rabba 63:13, which is subsequently cited by Rashi on Bereshit 25:31.) it was clearly of great importance to both of them. And the importance they both attached to it may have had a great deal to do with their aspirations of inheriting their respective fathers’ legacies. In this regard, something the Midrash doesn’t mention is that both were their respective fathers’ favorites. (The Pesikta Rabbati cited above does not examine Yosef’s and Esav’s relationship with their fathers as much as the unusual relationship each had with his mother. Yosef protected his mother from Esav’s potential sexual advance and Esav, according to this Midrash, wanted to kill his mother. In both cases one need not subscribe to Freudian psychology to note the complicated involvement each had with their mothers. In any event, perhaps their very strength of character is what makes them go beyond the parameters of the more typical mother-child relationship.) They both also understood that their fathers’ favor would be a major weapon in inheriting both the legacy and the leadership. All of this, then, fits into a general personality type – one that is characterized by strong will and a natural attraction to leadership.
[While] you maneuver against him. [עוקף is] similar toאל תבא עליו בעקיפין , “you must not approach him deviously” in parshas Behar (Rashi later, 25:50), and it is an expression of deviousness as Rashi explains in Bava Kama (113a), “With devious schemes.” It is similar to עוקב, as in the expression ויעקבני זה פעמים, “He has deceived me twice” (Bereishis 27:36), because פ"א interchanges with ב'as Rashi himself explains this below (verse 16).
[190] But in spite of her expecting to throw and cheat the good mind, she shall herself be thrown by Jacob who is practised in wrestling, not the bodily wrestling but that in which the soul engages against dispositions that are her antagonists, fighting as she does with passions and wickednesses. And Jacob shall not let go the heel of his adversary, passion, till it has given in, and acknowledged that it has been twice thrown and vanquished, both in the matter of the birthright and in the blessing. For says Esau, “Rightly was his name called Jacob, for he hath supplanted me twice already; then he took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing” (Gen. 27:36).
[195] But so long as thou hast not run away, but art still governed by the bit and bridle of thine old masters, thou art unworthy to be slave to a wise man. Thou affordest most sure proof of a servile character unworthy of a free man by saying “my birthright and my blessings” (Gen. 27:36); for these utterances are those of men who are sunk in boundless ignorance, seeing that to speak of “Mine” befits God only, for all things are in reality the property of Him alone.
Esau was not only angry over Isaac’s blessing, but he was angry about another matter as well, as it is written: “And he said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me twice? He took my birthright, and behold, now he has taken my blessing’” (Genesis 27:36). Despite having sold his birthright, he refused to relinquish it.
Ought mortals to defraud (defraud Heb. qabaʻ, a play on the name of Jacob (v. 6); cf. Gen. 27.36.) God? Yet you are defrauding Me. And you ask, “How have we been defrauding You?” In tithe and contribution. (In tithe and contribution I.e., the contributions to the priests from the new grain, oil, and wine; see Num. 18.12.)
[Eisov] said, Is he not rightly called Yaakov? [He is rightly called Yaakov] He has deceived me twice; he took my birthright, and now he has taken [received] my blessing. He said, Have you not saved a blessing for me?
And he said, His name is truly called Jakob; for he hath dealt treacherously with me these two times: my birthright he took, and, behold, now he hath received my blessing! And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
| וַיַּ֨עַן יִצְחָ֜ק וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְעֵשָׂ֗ו הֵ֣ן גְּבִ֞יר שַׂמְתִּ֥יו לָךְ֙ וְאֶת־כׇּל־אֶחָ֗יו נָתַ֤תִּי לוֹ֙ לַעֲבָדִ֔ים וְדָגָ֥ן וְתִירֹ֖שׁ סְמַכְתִּ֑יו וּלְכָ֣ה אֵפ֔וֹא מָ֥ה אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֖ה בְּנִֽי׃ | 37 J | Isaac answered, saying to Esau, “But I have made him master over you: I have given him all his brothers for servants, and sustained him with grain and wine. What, then, can I still do for you, my son?” |
ואת כל אחיו, “and all his brothers, etc.;” Yitzchok refers to Yishmael and his extended family and the children of Keturah.
ולכה, “and as far as you personally are concerned;” the unusual spelling with the letters כה at the end is not a scribe’s error, but is deliberate.
איפה מה אעשה בני, “what can I do then my son?” Yitzchok explains that seeing that his descendants had been promised by G-d only the land of Canaan, and he had already “given” the whole of it to Yaakov’s descendants, there was no other inheritance he could pass on.
ולכה איפוא, what then can I do for you? the word ולכה here is spelled with the letter ה at the end, (numerical value of 5) something most unusual; Yitzchok hinted to Esau that after 5000 years of human history will have passed his descendants will achieve superiority on earth, but that seeing that he, Esau, will wind up in Gehinom, he, his father, cannot do anything in the meantime to interfere with G–d’s decree.
BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE HIM THY LORD. Via my blessing. Similarly have I given to him (v. 33) also means I have verbally given. Some say that efo (then) spelled with an alef at the end is one word meaning now. (This comment is in contradiction to I.E.’s note on verse 33.)
ויען יצחק, Isaac replied. Actually Isaac still had the chance to bless Esau. Having realised in the meantime that Esau deserved a curse rather than a blessing, that he was in fact an enemy of his brother Jacob, Isaac was afraid to bless Esau because he would thereby neutralise the blessing to Jacob that those who curse him would themselves be cursed. The Torah therefore mentions the expression ויען יצחק twice to tell us that he did not tell Esau the true reason why he could not bless him outright.
ולכה אפוא מה אעשה בני, “and as to you, where, what can I do my son? This verse teaches that Yaakov had been blessed with the blessing ויתן לך אלוקים, an all encompassing blessing, a blessing which extended both to his body and to his soul. Although, from a strictly textural point of view, such things as “corn, wine, dew, and fatness of the earth appear to be something totally physical, material, these words also contained allusions to the soul. The words ולכה אפוא מה אעשה, cannot mean that Yitzchak did not bless Esau that he should enjoy the dew of the heaven, etc. Surely he had no reason to deny him such a blessing. By assigning the dew of heaven to one person surely that does not exclude another person from enjoying a similar blessing! We must look for some exclusive factor in the blessing Yitzchak had bestowed on Yaakov while he thought that Esau stood before him! The answer therefore must be that Yitzchak bestowed a double blessing aimed at both body and soul. This being so, it left no room for Esau to receive a blessing also. The letter ה at the end of the word ולכה, which really should have been ולך, was an allusion to the five sons Esau would father, i.e. Eliphaz, Reuel, Yeush, Yaalem and Korach. Yitzchak referred to these when he said: “what can I do for you?” He meant that they had already been made servants to Yaakov. This part of the blessing did not allow him to second-guess himself.
ויען, concerning the exclamation that Yitzchok had not even reserved a small blessing for Esau, he answered: הן גביר שמתיו לך, ואת כל אחיו נתתי לו, seeing that I have appointed him as senior to you and to all his brothers, (compare verse 29) i.e. to Esau’s brothers (kin)
סמכתיו, I have appointed him as central, i.e. have decreed that all his family be close to him for all times (compare the word תסמכני in Psalms 51,14 ורוח נדיבה תסמכני, “let a vigorous spirit sustain me.” This can only be effective if all the relatives are close by. It is also possible that the meaning of the word סמכתיו is סעד, משען support of a financial and psychological type. If so, the prefix ב in the word סמכתיו would be missing, as if Yitzchok had said: ובדגן ותירוש, “and with corn and wine,” instead of ודגן ותירוש.
ולכה איפוא, as for you, now מה אעשה, what can I do? What kind of a blessing remains for you after all this? The formulation is similar to Isaiah 22,16 מה לך איפוא, “what have you here?”
AND ALL HIS BRETHREN HAVE I GIVEN HIM AS SERVANTS. This is not the blessing, Be lord over thy brethren, (Verse 29 here.) for Isaac had already said, Behold, I have made him thy lord. (In the beginning of the present verse.) However, it is possible that Jacob be the lord and they not be his servants, just as the verse says, For Judah ‘gavar’ above his brethren. (I Chronicles 5:2. There the word gavar does not indicate a master and servant relationship. Similarly, the word gvir (lord) does not indicate such a relationship.) But the source for his saying, I have given to him as servants, comes from his expression, And let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee, (Verse 29 here.) for this refers to the bowing of the servant to his masters, just as he says, Let people serve thee, (Verse 29 here.) and then repeats, And nations bow down to thee. (Verse 29 here.) The meaning of the expression, And all his brothers, (Jacob had only one brother. Why then does Isaac use the plural form, “his brothers?”) is the same as that of thy brothers and thy mother’s sons. (Verse 29 here.) These he mentions in the plural in order to allude to all of Esau’s offspring. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that it refers to the children of Abraham’s concubines. (See above, 25:6.)
נתתי לו לעבדים, whatever a slave purchases automatically becomes the property of his master.
הן גביר AND BEHOLD I HAVE MADE HIM THY MASTER — This blessing is the seventh in the series of blessings which Isaac gave to Jacob (cf. w. 28. 29) and yet he (Isaac) singles it out as though it were the chief blessing? But the explanation is, he said to him (Esau): “What benefit will a blessing be to you? If you acquire property, it will belong to him, for “Behold, I have made him thy master״, and whatever a servant acquires becomes the property of his master (Genesis Rabbah 67:5).
ולכה אפוא מה אעשה בני AND WHAT SHALL I DO NOW UNTO THEE [MY SON?] — Where here (איפה) shall I look for something that I can do for you?
Was Jizchak, als er Esau vor sich zu haben glaubte, nur als Aufforderung auszusprechen wagte: הוה גביר לאחיך, das ist ihm jetzt von Jakob eine Gewissheit. Daß er die geistige Führerschaft haben werde, versteht sich von selbst, und — nachdem ihm die Binde von den Augen gefallen — hatte er mit dem גם ברוך יהיה ihm auch mit vollem Bewusstsein die materielle Grundlage zuerkannt. Es war ihm ja nun klar geworden, wie im abrahamitischen Kreise alles, auch Soldat und Kaufmann etc. vom abrahamitischen Geiste erfüllt sein müsse. Im Abrahamshause sah er daher keine Stellung mehr für Esau.
ואת כל אחיו נתתי לו לעבדים, a reference to the sons of Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah, as well as the kings of other nations. As he had said in verse 29. יעבדוך עמים, “nations will serve you.”
ולך איפוא מה אעשה?, in view of this what can I do now for you? What kind of blessing is left which will be of use to you?
Isaac answered and he said to Esau: Behold, I have made him a lord to you; I have given to him all his brethren as servants; and I have supported him with grain and wine; I have blessed him that produce and wine should be easily available to him. For you then, what shall I do, my son? Since I am unable to negate his blessing, what blessing can I bestow upon you that will correspond to that which Jacob received?
ואת כל אחיו נתתי לו לעבדים, “and I have designated that all his bothers be his servants.” These words are not a reference to the line הוי גביר לאחיך in verse 29. It is possible that someone is senior to his brothers without the brothers therefore considering themselves as subservient to that brother. The best example in Scripture is that of Yehudah, who was the leader of his brothers without his brothers ever considering themselves as servants of Yehudah.
ואת כל אחיו, “and all his brothers, etc.” Even though he had only one brother, Yitzchok speaks of him in the plural, as he meant to include all of Esau’s future descendants in his remarks. Other commentators feel that the plural extends to Ishmael, as well as Ishmael’s descendants as well as the sons of Keturah.
Since material possessions are a handicap to one's efforts to determine true values, the Torah lays down guidelines how such material values are to be used. When followed, these guidelines ensure that such material possessions have beneficial impact on our lives, instead of vice versa. To the extent that material possessions free man from being totally preoccupied with his physical survival in this world, they afford him the opportunity to try and acquire spiritual values. To this extent, material wealth can almost be considered a necessity. Whereas osher (with the letter alef,) i.e. happiness by definition is a state of mind that is not necessary in order for man to achieve his purpose in life, osher with the letter ayin, i.e. material wealth, is. The Mishnah in Avot 3,21, says "when there is no flour, there cannot be any Torah either." Torah and all it stands for cannot flourish unless there is a sound economic foundation. On the other hand, the same Mishnah says "where there is no Torah, there cannot be any flour, i.e. economic well being." This means that unless material wealth is used correctly, as a means towards the spiritual elevation of man, such spiritual elevation will not be achieved.
"Behold, I have made him your lord...and what shall I do now for you, my son" (Beresheet 27:37). This means that there is no one present who gives consent, "What shall I do now for you, my son." He then blessed him in this world. He looked at his grade and said to him "and by your sword shall you live," for it is fitting of you to shed blood and wage wars. Therefore he said, "What shall I do now for you, my son".
“Isaac answered and said to Esau: Behold, I have placed him a lord to you, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants, and I have supported him with grain and wine, and for you then, what shall I do, my son?” (Genesis 27:37). “Isaac answered and said to Esau: Behold, I have [placed him] a lord” – Rabbi Berekhya said: “Behold, I have placed him a lord to you” – that was the seventh blessing, (The blessing "be master over your brothers" is the seventh blessing.) why does he say it to him first? He said to him: ‘I rendered him king over you, and your blessings are his.’ The slave belongs to whom, his belongings belong to whom? A slave, everything that is his belongs to his master. “All his brethren I have given to him as servants…and for you, then [lekha efo]” – however, for you, your bread is baked [afuya]. (You will always have enough to eat, at the expense of your master.) Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: [“Lekha efo”] Let me be, (The word lekha is being interpreted as meaning lekh – leave.) as an oven is baking for you everywhere. (You will be burned by him.) Reish Lakish said: Let me be, as fury and wrath [af veḥema] (Efo is an acronym for af veḥema.) are within his purview. Rabbi Simlai and some say in the name of Rabbi Abahu: The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Did you say to him: “For you, then”?’ (God asked Isaac: Did you intend to bless Esau?) He said to Him: “Grant him grace” (Let me bless him.) (Isaiah 26:10). He said to him: ‘He is “wicked”’ (Isaiah 26:10). He said to Him: ‘“Did he not learn righteousness?” (Isaiah 26:10) – did he not honor his parents?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘“In the land of the upright he will perform evil” (Isaiah 26:10) – he is destined to extend his hand against the Temple.’ He said to Him: ‘If so, grant him tranquility in this world, “and let him not see the majesty of the Lord” (Isaiah 26:10) – in the future.’
“Isaac his father answered and said to him: Behold, from the fat of the earth will be your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens from above” (Genesis 27:39). “Isaac [his father] answered and said [to him: Behold, from the fat of the earth will be your dwelling” – this is Italy. (Rome is viewed as being the descendant of Esau.) “And from the dew of the heavens from above” – this is Beit Guvrin. Another matter, “Behold, from the fat of the earth” – from the fat cats of the earth. What renders the earth fat? It becomes fat from the dew. Antoninos sent [an emissary] to Rabbeinu [Yehuda HaNasi], he said to him: ‘Because my royal treasuries are depleted, what can we do to fill them?’ He took the emissary and brought him into a garden. He began uprooting large radishes and planted small ones. He said to him: ‘Give me an answer.’ He said: ‘You do not need one.’ He ascended to him. (The emissary returned to Antoninos.) He said to him: ‘Where is the response?’ He said to him: ‘He did not give me anything.’ He said to him: ‘What did he say to you?’ He said to him: ‘He did not say anything.’ He said to him: ‘Did he not do anything in your presence?’ He said to him: ‘He took me and had me enter into a garden. He uprooted large radishes and planted small ones; large beets and planted small ones; large lettuce, and planted small ones.’ He understood immediately. He began dismissing officers and appointing officers, until the coffers were filled. (Both the dismissed officers and the appointed officers paid higher taxes because they feared him, and the coffers were filled.)
(Gen. 27:36:) THEN HE SAID: HAVE YOU NOT RESERVED ME] (See above, 5:6, n. 25; 6:1, n. 1.) A BLESSING? (With the word BLESSING, Buber is able to follow his Oxford MS again.) Resh Laqish said: This is one of three children of Adam who came with a legal circumvention against the Holy One. (Sanh. 101a (bar.) names Cain, Esau, and Manasseh as the three.) Esau said to him: If both of us are righteous, does not your God have < enough > blessings to bless both of us? The Holy One said to him: May your mouth be stopped up! Look, Jacob is blessing twelve tribes, and it is not a case of him blessing one as he blesses another. Even so he was filled with compassion for him. He came to bless him, but the Divine Presence departed from him. He began to pray and say (in the words of Is. 26:10): LET THE WICKED BE SHOWN FAVOR. (Gen. R. 67:5.) He said to him (ibid., cont.): HE WILL NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. He said to him: Do you desire to bless this one? He is going to destroy my house and confuse lands (‘Aratsot. Perhaps the text should read ‘otsarot (“treasures”) here. See MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) and riches. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): IN A LAND OF INTEGRITY HE WILL ACT UNJUSTLY. Isaac said to him: Give to him in this world, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SHALL NOT SEE THE MAJESTY OF THE LORD in the world to come because he would compel (Gk.: anangke.) me to repay him the glory with which he honored me. Esau immediately raised his eyes upward and wept, as stated (in Gen. 27:38): AND ESAU LIFTED UP HIS VOICE AND WEPT. The Holy One said: Although he is wicked, flatter him. R. Eleazar said: Esau shed three tears, one from his right < eye >, one from his left, and one disappeared in the midst of his eye. (M.Pss. 80:4.) The Holy One said: Look, the wicked one is weeping over his life! How am I to turn him away empty! He immediately told his father to bless him. This text is related (to Ps. 80:6 [5]): YOU HAVE FED THEM THE BREAD OF TEARS AND HAVE HAD THEM DRINK A SHALISH (The word SHALISH has the same spelling as shelish, which means “one-third,” and has the same root as the word for “three.” In the context of the psalm shalish denotes a dry measure, which is a third of an ephah.) OF TEARS. R. Abbin said in the name of R. Aha: Israel said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, now if in the case of Esau the Wicked, because he had shed two tears, < you were > filled with compassion for him immediately; how much the more so in our case, when our tears < flow > constantly day and night like bread, as stated (in Ps. 42:4 [3]): MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY BREAD DAY AND NIGHT. Up to now the proper time has not arrived for him to be filled with compassion over you. David has said (in Ps. 39:13 [12]): HEAR MY PRAYER, O LORD, AND GIVE EAR TO MY CRY. DO NOT KEEP SILENCE AT MY TEARS. The Holy One said to them: I will repay Esau the Wicked for the glory of his ancestors, and I will exalt him. Afterwards, I am coming to exalt you and repay {them} [you] for what you have achieved and for what your ancestors achieved. It is so stated (in Ps. 46:11 [ 10]): I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE GENTILES; I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH. It is simply that the Holy One said to Jacob (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH. It is also written (in Mal. 3:12): FOR YOU WILL BE A DELIGHTFUL LAND. Esau said to him (in Gen. 27:37): BLESS ME ALSO, O MY FATHER. Isaac said to him: With what shall I bless you? R. Berekhyah said: He said to him: I made him a lord over you. In anything whatever that I should bless you, I should be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the slave acquires, he acquires for his master. (Gen. 27:29:) BE A MASTER TO YOUR BROTHER is what Isaac said to Jacob. That was the seventh blessing (in Gen. 27:29). Now Isaac had set down ten blessings with which he had blessed him, but he said to him only (in vs. 27:37): "BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE HIM A MASTER OVER YOU." He did, however, say to him: With everything that you are thinking I should bless you, I should only be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the servant has belongs to the master. Thus in Egypt, even though they had been enslaved to them, when they left them they took all their property. So also in the case of thirty-one kings (in Josh. 12:7-24), Israel drove them from their land and took their wealth. So also now in respect to what the peoples of the world are plundering from Israel, Israel belongs to the LORD. Thus it is stated (in Is. 23:18): HER (in reference to Tyre as a harlot) PROFITS AND HER HIRE SHALL BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD {OF HOSTS}. THEY SHALL NOT BE TREASURED OR STORED, FOR HER PROFITS SHALL BELONG TO THOSE WHO DWELL BEFORE THE LORD FOR EATING THEIR FILL AND FOR SPLENDID CLOTHING.
And the penitent should also pray to God to erase his transgressions like a fog, and his sins like a cloud; and that He desire him, accept him and listen to him as if he had not sinned - like the matter that is written in the words of Elihu about a penitent after [he has suffered] afflictions (Job 33:26), "He prays to God and is accepted by Him." For it is likely for the iniquity to be forgiven and he be redeemed from all afflictions and from all decrees, but God [still] not desire him and not want to accept an offering from him. And it is the desire of the righteous from [their] successes, to incline God's will towards them and that He should desire them. And his will is [for] real everlasting life and for the great light that includes all of the pleasant things - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 30:6), "when He is pleased there is life." And it [also] stated (Psalms 80:20), "O Lord, God of hosts, restore us; shine Your countenance that we may be delivered" - and our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed said "(Midrash Tehillim 80), "We have nothing besides the shining of Your countenance." And that is the matter of [His] desire - and we have already mentioned this and explained it. Therefore you will see in the prayer of David at the time of [his] repentance after he said (Psalms 51:4), "Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin," [that] he prayed further about the desire - that God's desire, may He be blessed - for him to be like before the sin. So he said (Psalms 51:13), "Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit away from me." Afterwards he prayed and said (Psalms 51:14), "Let me again rejoice in Your salvation" - that the miracles of God and His salvation be found with him, and that the spirit of God would come upon him as at first. And afterwards he [continued], "and a generous spirit sustain me." Its explanation is - behold I have been lessened because of my transgressions and am not fitting to be a prince, and for Your holy arm to be revealed upon Me. And even if you have lifted (forgiven) the iniquity of my sin, I am not worthy to be beloved and acceptable as in earlier times. Yet sustain me with a generous spirit; for there is no end to Your generosity and Your goodness. And [the word,] spirit, comes lacking a [letter,] bet (in front of it, which would mean, with the spirit), like [in] (Genesis 27:37), "sustained him grain and wine" (which is to be understood as if grain was preceded by a letter bet, meaning "with grain, etc."). And Hosea, peace be upon him, said about this matter (Hosea 14:5), "I will heal their affliction, I will take them back in generous love." The matter of generous love is like the matter that David said, ["and a generous spirit] sustain me."
All of these ideas are alluded to in the blessing that Jacob took from Esau. Since Isaac personified the מדת הדין here on earth, he loved Esau who צד ציד, i.e. hunted people, acted as Satan does. Esau's other name אדום alludes to something red, i.e. blood. Isaac, on the other hand, represented the redness of the wine which is still preserved inside the grapes. There was an affinity between Isaac and Esau which is symbolized by wine and blood respectively. Jacob prepared delicacies for his father in Heaven at the advice of his mother who symbolized כנסת ישראל, the concept of the Jewish people. Jacob realized that all of his father's desire was concentrated on the delicacies he had prepared. He therefore prepared them with a mixture of sweet water and rooted himself in holiness in the mystical dimension of the birthright [having acquired this from Esau]. By doing this, he forced the wicked Esau out of occupying a higher spiritual plateau than that of himself, and he caused Esau to separate himself from Jacob and to go to his own country and his own people. He would forthwith not be able to act as accuser, but would be turned into a perennial slave, just as the slave in Exodus 21,6 who has his ear pierced as evidence that he belongs to his master permanently. Isaac explained all this to Esau when he said to him: הן גביר שמתיו לך, "Here I have made him senior to you." At that point, Isaac's former name קצחי was changed to יצחק.
Manasseh in the days of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, as it is said (II Kings 13:4, 7): “for He saw Israel’s oppression, etc., for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like dust to trample.” And he beat him in war three times, as it is said (II Kings 13: 25): “Joash overcame him three times and recovered the cities of Israel.”
and it is for You to save us Heb. ולכה. This is not an expression of going, but is like לְךָ, and so it is in the Masorah of (Gen. 27:37): “and for you (ולכה) then,” of Jacob; (II Sam. 18:22) “since for you (ולכה) there is no [reward] given for news”; (Isa. 3:6), “You have (לכה) a garment; be an officer to us, etc.”
"Let the earth bring forth (tadshe) grass (deshe):" The correct [understanding] is that deshe is small, soft grass, in which the seed is not recognizable (and therefore it does not say "grass that gives off seed") and the esev (herbs) is bigger than it. And Rabbi Ovadia Sforno says, that deshe is animal food and esev is food for people. But what the commentator on Netivot Shalom wrote - that deshe also includes trees - is not possible, since behold, we find [this word] in many places adjacent to herbs and vegetables (for example II Kings 19:26; Isaiah 15:6; 37:27) and not even once adjacent to trees. And nonetheless, [when used as a verb here in the phrase], "Let the earth bring forth (tadshe)," [it] includes the trees also, since the trees also are small and soft at the beginning of their sprouting (My student, our teacher, Rabbi Avraham Chai Meinster). And behold, "tadshe" is like, "let sprout" and afterwards [the verse] explains [what should sprout]: the deshe which is the smallest, and afterwards, it adds esev that gives off seed - which is bigger than deshe, and afterwards, it adds fruit trees. And therefore the cantillation sign, ravia, which is on top of the word, grass, is correct, since it creates less of a pause than the sign, zakef, which is on top of the word, seed; as grass and herbs [that bear seed] are one matter and fruit trees are another matter. And the sign, pashta over the [word,] earth, creates more of a pause than the ravia after it, as is the way of any ravia that comes after a pashta since it is [only there] so as not to repeat the pashta three times, as [is also the case in] "Behold, I have made him a lord over you, and all of his brothers have I given to him as slaves" (Genesis 27:37). And it is known that the sign, yetiv under the [word,] herb, is only to take the place of a pashta, since the word is [too] short [for it]. However, there is no doubt that the versions that have the word, grass, with a zakef are mistaken. And the 'trustworthy witness' [to this] is in the verse after it, "and the land brought forth grass;" wherein 'grass' is not with a zakef but with a tilsha gedola sign; and the words, "and the land brought forth" are with the signs, kadma and azla, which would not be possible if grass had been with a zakef. And the error in the first [of these two verses] came about because it is easy to mix up a ravia with a zakef, besides [the fact] that there is a pashta in front of it, and it is its way to come in front of a zakef; while no error in the second verse came about because it is unlikely to mix up a tilsha with a zakef, besides [the fact] that there is no pashta in front of it there.
Yitzchok replied and said to Eisov. Behold, I have made him your master, and all his brothers I have given him as slaves. I have sustained him with grain and wine. Where? [Here.] What can I do for you, my son?
And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have appointed him a ruler over thee, and all his brethren have I made to be his servants, and with provision and wine have I sustained him: and now go, leave me; for what can I do for thee, my son?
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר עֵשָׂ֜ו אֶל־אָבִ֗יו הַֽבְרָכָ֨ה אַחַ֤ת הִֽוא־לְךָ֙ אָבִ֔י בָּרְכֵ֥נִי גַם־אָ֖נִי אָבִ֑י וַיִּשָּׂ֥א עֵשָׂ֛ו קֹל֖וֹ וַיֵּֽבְךְּ׃ | 38 J | And Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!” And Esau wept aloud. |
Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations.Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?”;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations. When Esau, at this point questions his father if he has only ברכה אתת, he asks whether his father cannot dispense a blessing for people whose origin is not in the holy section of the emanations, the section known as אחת. He feels, that surely seeing that he is his father’s son, his father must also be able to have reserved a blessing for him! By asking this question he contradicted the words of his father who had told him that the blessing he had already bestowed on Yaakov that made him senior to his older brother, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך, made this impossible. If he were to give Esau a similar blessing he would in effect deprive Yaakov of the blessing he had just given him. When Yitzchok heard what Esau demanded of him, seeing that he had told him that in his blessing he had made Yaakov the senior of the two, he realized the full extent of Esau’s wickedness, and that is why he added, now, without reservation, גם ברוך יהיה, “he shall also remain blessed!” Up until that moment Yitzchok had not realized that Esau was a product of the סטרא אחרא, the “left side” of the scheme of emanations. Having found that out, he now gave Esau a blessing that was in keeping with the “blessings” perceived as such by souls that originate in that realm, i.e. על חרבך תחיה, “seeing that you are loyal to the principle that might is right,” the principle espoused by people whose souls originate in the left side of the emanations, people who believe in the survival of the fittest, Yitzchok could only bless his son Esau by wishing him “success” (death) when he would be involved in such lethal encounters. He meant it in the sense that “until you pay the price with your physical life you will not be able to secure for yourself any life in the hereafter”. When such people lose their lives when engaged in what they perceive as a “holy” war, they may redeem themselves and secure life in the hereafter. [This editor has often wondered it the concept of our sages of a Mashiach ben Yoseph, a messiah who will die in battle before the advent of the Mashiach ben David, the ultimate redeemer, may not originate among the gentiles and earn his right to his hereafter in the manner just described. Ed.] Genesis 27,40. Let us turn now to the next part of Yitzchok’s “blessing” to Easu, the words והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “but when you humble yourself you will be able to remove the his yoke from around your neck.” According to Or Hachayim on our verse the word והיה in the above verse is to be interpreted as a form of joy, שמחה. Contrary to the accepted translation of this line, Rashi understands the word תריד, as “when you will suffer pain.” According to Proverbs 11,10 באבוד רשעים רנה “when the wicked perish there is jubilation.” Isaiah 1,3 speaks about the ox recognizing his owner. The fact is that when the ox wears a yoke he does not recognize (in the sense of welcoming) his master voluntarily, but only because he is forced to wear a yoke. When the yoke is removed he will honour his master by still respecting and welcoming him. Something parallel occurs in history about the Israel/Esau relationship. As long as the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the gentile nations paid reluctant respect to the Jewish people. Nowadays, when there is no longer a Temple in Jerusalem, the yoke which had restrained the Gentiles has been lifted from them, although their obligation, as a free willed creature created in the image of G’d to respect G’d’s people has not been lessened. G’d, after all, created this universe only for the sake of His people, the Jewish people. According to Isaiah 40,17 כל האומות כעין נגדו מאפס ותוהו נחשבו לו, “All nations are as naught in His sight; He accounts them as less than nothing.” This is in essence what Yitzchok told Esau when he said ופרקתו עולו מעל צווארך, “even when you will divest yourself of the yoke of Yaakov, in times when the Jewish people are in exile, as Rashi explains, you will only remove this yoke from your neck, i.e. temporarily during the time Israel is in exile, but inherently, your duty toward G’d, whose representative on earth the Jewish people are, will continue, just as an ox knows his master regardless if he is restrained by a physical yoke or not.” Upon hearing this, Esau raised his voice and wept, feeling frustrated that his father would not give him a blessing that would neutralize the one he had given to Yaakov. He had fully understood all the implications of the few words Yitzchok had said to him.
{“The voice is the voice of Yaakov” (Genesis 27:22) ☛ a declaration ☛ Esav, “And he raised his voice” (Genesis 27:38) ☛ Yitzchak, time, kuf tzaddi, sleepers, etc. ☛ “you shall return to God your Lord and heed His voice” (Deuteronomy 4:30) ☛ “Yitzchak the son of Avraham” (Genesis 25:19) , time unites ☛ “Avraham who loved Me” (Isaiah 41:8) ☛ “in his eyes but a few days because of his love” (Genesis 29:20) ☛ “the remnant who returns is your son” (Isaiah 7:3) ☛ “If you return, I will take you back and you will stand before Me” (Jeremiah 15:19).} “The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” a declaration. Esav, “And he raised his voice”—That is, one must raise “The voice is the voice of Yaakov” over the voice of the Other Side, which is the concept of Esav, of whom it is stated, “And he raised his voice.” He strengthens himself in order to drown out Yaakov’s voice, God forbid. And so it is necessary for us to overpower and subdue Esav’s voice in order that we merit hearing the voice of Yaakov. One merits this through repentance, which is nullification of the times, as mentioned above.
Recall this and gaze upon it, and have compassion on Your nation, the Jewish people, whom You love, so that these holy tears of the Tzaddikim will oppose the power of the evil tears of the wicked Esau, for the Jewish people have already borne much suffering as a result of his three tears. ( According to the Midrash, Esau shed three tears when he begged his father Isaac to bless him as well as Jacob (see Genesis 27:38). Rabbi Abin taught: The Community of Israel says before HaShem, “Because of the three tears that the evil one [Esau] shed, You made him ruler over the whole world and gave him prosperity in this world. How much more, then, will You do for us when You come to see that we are humiliated and that we pour out our very souls in weeping?!” (Midrash Tehillim 80:4).)
ויאמר...אחת, can you not even grant me a blessing concerning any aspect of life which you have not given him?
הברכה אחת HAST THOU BUT ONE BLESSING? The ה in הברכה is the interrogative prefix, as in (Num. XIII. 19, 20) “whether in camps (הבמחנים)”, “whether it is fat (השמנה)", and (2 Sam. III. 33) “Should Abner die (הכמות) as a churl dieth”?
Gibt es denn außer dem Abrahamshause gar keinen Segen?
Esau said to his father: Have you but one blessing, my father? There must be a blessing that does not conflict with the one you have already bestowed upon Jacob. Bless me too, my father, with some sort of blessing. And in his despair, Esau raised his voice and wept.
Now if you will ask: Why should the blessing avail for Jacob, and why did Isaac say (Ibid 37): "But I have made him your lord, and I have given him all of his brothers as servants … and what shall I do now for you, my son!" How could he have made Jacob a lord if he had intended to give all to Esau! Did we not learn in respect to vows (Nedarim 11:5): "If his wife made a vow and he thought his daughter made it, or if his daughter made a vow and he thought his wife made it … he must annul it again," for what is said to one person on the assumption that he is a different person does not avail him at all. This being so, why should Isaac have said "and what shall I do now for you my son?" Furthermore, why did Esau not challenge the blessing itself instead of merely protesting (Ibid 38): "Do you have just one blessing, my father?" He should have said: "That blessing was given in error and will not avail him; give it to me!"
It should be explained, however, why a prophet must be wealthy and tall. As far as his being strong, we can understand that one who is sent out to chastise a great multitude must be extremely courageous and turn back for nothing, as the Blessed One exhorts Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17): "Therefore, gird your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; do not be afraid of them, lest I make you afraid of them." But why must a prophet be wealthy and tall?
(Lev. 20:9:) FOR ANYONE WHATEVER WHO CURSES HIS FATHER OR HIS MOTHER SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH. Solomon said (in Prov. 20:20): < IF SOMEONE > CURSES HIS FATHER OR MOTHER, HIS LIGHT WILL GO OUT AT THE APPROACH OF DARKNESS. Our Masters have said: Because Ham saw his father's nakedness, yet did not utter a curse at him, he and his descendants have < only > been alienated until the end of the whole world. (Tanh., Lev. 7:15.) How much worse it is for one who does curse his father! The Scripture says (in Prov. 24:20): FOR THERE WILL BE NO FUTURE FOR THE EVIL ONE, < THE LAMP OF THE WICKED GOES OUT >. Come and see the honoring of father and mother, how dear it is before the Holy One; for the Holy One does not withhold his reward, either from the righteous or from the wicked. Where is it shown? From Esau the Wicked. Because he honored his father, the Holy One gave him all this honor. R. Eleazar says: Esau the Wicked shed three tears, [one] from his right eye, one from his left eye, and the third was attached in his eye and did not run down. When? When Isaac blessed Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 27:38): AND ESAU LIFTED UP HIS VOICE AND WEPT. (Cf. Tanh., Lev. 7:15, which adds here: “Come and see how much prosperity the Holy One gave him. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 80:6 [5]): YOU HAVE FED THEM THE BREAD OF TEARS AND HAVE HAD THEM DRINK A SHALISH OF TEARS. Shalosh is not written but shalish, because there were not three (shalosh) whole ones.”) So if the Holy One recompensed this wicked one, because he honored his father, how much the more < will he do so > in the case of one who honors his fathers. < The Holy One > said (in Job 41:3 [11]): WHO HAS WELCOMED (hiqdim) ME THAT I SHOULD REPAY HIM? [EVERYTHING UNDER THE HEAVENS IS MINE.] The Holy One said: Who is this one who has advanced (hiqdim) honor to his father, and I have not given him children? And so it says in Job (11:5–7): O THAT GOD WOULD SPEAK…; AND THAT HE WOULD TELL YOU THE SECRETS OF WISDOM… ! WOULD YOU DISCOVER THE MYSTERY OF GOD…? To what is Job comparable? To whoever is put in a collare, (The Latin word denotes a band or chain, in particular one put around the neck of a prisoner.) and said: I know what is within the palace (Lat.: palatium.) of the king. They said to him: Free your self from the collare, and we shall know that you are speaking the truth. (Cf. Mark 15:30 = Matthew 27:40.) So also Job was clothed in seven kinds of boils, and in need of alms, as stated (in Job 19:21): HAVE PITY ON ME, HAVE PITY ON ME, O YOU MY FRIENDS, FOR THE HAND OF GOD HAS AFFLICTED ME. He also says: I have reached the end of the works of the Holy One. Thus it is stated (in Job 23:5): I WOULD KNOW {WHAT} WORDS HE WOULD ANSWER ME [AND UNDERSTAND WHAT HE WOULD SAY TO ME]. His companions said to him (in Job 11:7): WOULD YOU DISCOVER THE MYSTERY OF GOD…? (Job 12:14:) BEHOLD, WHATEVER HE {CONDEMNS TO DESTRUCTION} [DESTROYS] WILL NOT BE REBUILT…. Who, after he had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and had overthrown them, who has rebuilt them? No creature can stand on his own works, as stated (in Eccl. 7:13): SEE THE WORK OF GOD; FOR WHO CAN MAKE STRAIGHT WHAT HE HAS MADE CROOKED? The Holy One said: In this world the children of Adam are afflicted because of the evil drive, but in the world to come I will remove the evil drive from them. (Above, 7:14.) It is so stated (in Ezek. 36:26–27): THEN I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE FROM YOUR FLESH AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH, AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU….
(Gen. 27:36:) THEN HE SAID: HAVE YOU NOT RESERVED ME] (See above, 5:6, n. 25; 6:1, n. 1.) A BLESSING? (With the word BLESSING, Buber is able to follow his Oxford MS again.) Resh Laqish said: This is one of three children of Adam who came with a legal circumvention against the Holy One. (Sanh. 101a (bar.) names Cain, Esau, and Manasseh as the three.) Esau said to him: If both of us are righteous, does not your God have < enough > blessings to bless both of us? The Holy One said to him: May your mouth be stopped up! Look, Jacob is blessing twelve tribes, and it is not a case of him blessing one as he blesses another. Even so he was filled with compassion for him. He came to bless him, but the Divine Presence departed from him. He began to pray and say (in the words of Is. 26:10): LET THE WICKED BE SHOWN FAVOR. (Gen. R. 67:5.) He said to him (ibid., cont.): HE WILL NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. He said to him: Do you desire to bless this one? He is going to destroy my house and confuse lands (‘Aratsot. Perhaps the text should read ‘otsarot (“treasures”) here. See MS 1240 of the De Rossi library in Parma.) and riches. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): IN A LAND OF INTEGRITY HE WILL ACT UNJUSTLY. Isaac said to him: Give to him in this world, AND (ibid., cont.) HE SHALL NOT SEE THE MAJESTY OF THE LORD in the world to come because he would compel (Gk.: anangke.) me to repay him the glory with which he honored me. Esau immediately raised his eyes upward and wept, as stated (in Gen. 27:38): AND ESAU LIFTED UP HIS VOICE AND WEPT. The Holy One said: Although he is wicked, flatter him. R. Eleazar said: Esau shed three tears, one from his right < eye >, one from his left, and one disappeared in the midst of his eye. (M.Pss. 80:4.) The Holy One said: Look, the wicked one is weeping over his life! How am I to turn him away empty! He immediately told his father to bless him. This text is related (to Ps. 80:6 [5]): YOU HAVE FED THEM THE BREAD OF TEARS AND HAVE HAD THEM DRINK A SHALISH (The word SHALISH has the same spelling as shelish, which means “one-third,” and has the same root as the word for “three.” In the context of the psalm shalish denotes a dry measure, which is a third of an ephah.) OF TEARS. R. Abbin said in the name of R. Aha: Israel said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, now if in the case of Esau the Wicked, because he had shed two tears, < you were > filled with compassion for him immediately; how much the more so in our case, when our tears < flow > constantly day and night like bread, as stated (in Ps. 42:4 [3]): MY TEARS HAVE BEEN MY BREAD DAY AND NIGHT. Up to now the proper time has not arrived for him to be filled with compassion over you. David has said (in Ps. 39:13 [12]): HEAR MY PRAYER, O LORD, AND GIVE EAR TO MY CRY. DO NOT KEEP SILENCE AT MY TEARS. The Holy One said to them: I will repay Esau the Wicked for the glory of his ancestors, and I will exalt him. Afterwards, I am coming to exalt you and repay {them} [you] for what you have achieved and for what your ancestors achieved. It is so stated (in Ps. 46:11 [ 10]): I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE GENTILES; I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH. It is simply that the Holy One said to Jacob (in Gen. 28:14): AND YOUR SEED SHALL BE LIKE THE DUST OF THE EARTH. It is also written (in Mal. 3:12): FOR YOU WILL BE A DELIGHTFUL LAND. Esau said to him (in Gen. 27:37): BLESS ME ALSO, O MY FATHER. Isaac said to him: With what shall I bless you? R. Berekhyah said: He said to him: I made him a lord over you. In anything whatever that I should bless you, I should be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the slave acquires, he acquires for his master. (Gen. 27:29:) BE A MASTER TO YOUR BROTHER is what Isaac said to Jacob. That was the seventh blessing (in Gen. 27:29). Now Isaac had set down ten blessings with which he had blessed him, but he said to him only (in vs. 27:37): "BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE HIM A MASTER OVER YOU." He did, however, say to him: With everything that you are thinking I should bless you, I should only be blessing him. Why? Because whatever the servant has belongs to the master. Thus in Egypt, even though they had been enslaved to them, when they left them they took all their property. So also in the case of thirty-one kings (in Josh. 12:7-24), Israel drove them from their land and took their wealth. So also now in respect to what the peoples of the world are plundering from Israel, Israel belongs to the LORD. Thus it is stated (in Is. 23:18): HER (in reference to Tyre as a harlot) PROFITS AND HER HIRE SHALL BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD {OF HOSTS}. THEY SHALL NOT BE TREASURED OR STORED, FOR HER PROFITS SHALL BELONG TO THOSE WHO DWELL BEFORE THE LORD FOR EATING THEIR FILL AND FOR SPLENDID CLOTHING.
(Lev. 20:9:) “For anyone whatever who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” So too is it stated (Exod. 21:17), “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” Solomon said (in Prov. 20:20), “[If someone] curses his father or mother, his light will go out [at the approach of darkness].” Our masters said, “Because Ham saw his father's nakedness, even though he did not utter a curse at him, he and his descendants have been alienated until the end of the whole world. How much the more so for one who does curse his father!” Scripture says (in Prov. 24:20), “For there will be no future for the evil one, the lamp of the wicked goes out.” Come and see the honoring of father and mother, how dear it is before the Holy One, blessed be He; for the Holy One, blessed be He, does not withhold the reward, either from the righteous or from the wicked. Where is it shown? From Esau the wicked. Because he honored his father, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him all this honor. R. Eleazar says, “Esau the wicked shed three tears, [one] from his right eye, one from his left eye, and the third was attached in his eye and did not run down. When? When Isaac blessed Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 27:38), ‘and Esau lifted up his voice and wept.’” Come and see how much prosperity the Holy One gave him. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 80:6), “You have fed them the bread of tears and have had them drink a shalish of tears.” Shalosh (three) is not written but shalish (a third), because there were not three (shalosh) whole ones. So if the Holy One, blessed be He, recompensed this wicked one, because he honored his father, how much the more [will He do so] in the case of one who honors his fathers and fulfills other commandments. The Holy One, blessed be He, said (in Job 41:3), “’Who has welcomed (hiqdim) Me that I should repay him; everything under the heavens is Mine’; who is this one who has advanced (hiqdim) honor to his father, and I have not given him children?” And so it says in Job (11:5-7), “O that God would speak […]; And that He would tell you the secrets of wisdom…! Would you discover the mystery of God…?” To what is Job comparable? To whoever is put in a collare, (The Latin word denotes a band or chain, in particular one put around the neck of a prisoner.) and said, “I know what is within the palace (Lat.: palatium.) of the king.” They said to him, “Free yourself from the collare, and we shall know that you are speaking the truth.” So also Job was clothed in seven kinds of boils and in need of alms, as stated (in Job 19:21), “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has afflicted me.” And [yet] he says, “I have gotten to the bottom of the works of the Holy One, blessed be He.” Thus it is stated (in Job 23:5), “I would know words He would answer me and understand what He would say to me.” His companions said to him (in Job 11:7), “Would you discover the mystery of God…?” (Job 12:14:) “Behold, whatever He destroys will not be rebuilt, whoever He shuts in cannot be set free.” Who, after he had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and had overthrown them, who has rebuilt them? Who, after he is shut the ground in front of Korah and his assembly, can reopen it? No creature can fathom His works, as stated (in Eccl. 7:13), “See the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “In this world the people are afflicted because of the evil drive; but in the world to come I will remove the evil drive from them.” (Above, 7:14.) It is so stated (in Ezek. 36:26–27), “then I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh [and give you a heart of flesh]. And I will put My spirit within you….”
Come and see how beloved the commandment of honoring father and mother is in front of the Holy One, blessed be He! As the Holy One, blessed be He, does not distinguish between the righteous and the evil [in this regard]. From where do we [know this]? From the evil Esau. Since he honored his father, the Holy One, blessed by He, gave him 'all this honor' [as] his reward. Rabbi Eliezer says, "Esau wept three tears, one from his right eye, one from his left eye and the third solidified and did not descend. When? At the time that Yitzchak blessed Yaakov, as it is stated (Genesis 27:38), 'and Esav raised his voice and wept.'" Come and see how much tranquility the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him [as a result]! As it is stated (Psalms 80:6), "You fed them tears for bread; You gave them a third of the tears to drink." It is not written, "three," but rather "a third," since the three tears were not complete. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, repaid this evil one because he honored his father, all the more is it with a righteous person who honors his elders. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Is there anyone who gave his father honor and I did not give him children?" The commandment of honor is the fifth of the Ten Commandments, and it seals the first tablet. As behold, the tablet began with, "I am," which is honoring the ultimate Farther, and ends with, "Honor," which is about the reproductive father. And the commandment of honoring [parents] only came for the honor of the ultimate Father. And in the same way as the reproductive father, who engenders the child, is called father; so too is the ultimate Father, who engendered the soul and blew it from His holy spirit, called father. And greater are the kindnesses of the ultimate Father towards His creatures than the kindnesses of the reproductive father towards his child. For so did David say (Psalms 29:10), "Though my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will take me in." And likewise did Isaiah mention (Isaiah 63:16), "Surely You are our Father; though Abraham regard us not, and Israel recognize us not, You, O Lord, are our Father; from of old, Your name is 'Our Redeemer.'" It is saying, we did not know Avraham in the exile of Egypt, nor Yaakov in the desert. For the forefathers had already gone. And if so, You are the supernal ultimate Father. From of old, Your name is "Our Redeemer," since You redeemed us from Egypt. And likewise did Moshe, peace be upon him, mention (Deuteronomy 32:6), "is He not your Father, who made you His; He who made you and established you?"
Upon hearing all this, Esau said: now that you have told me that this is all part of one single blessing, i.e. ה-ברכה אחת, that the secondary element follows the major element, and I shall be an adjunct to Jacob anyways, why can you not bless me also, i.e. make me part of Jacob's blessing!
ויחד, a word derived from the category חדה, similar to the word חדוה in Chronicles I 16,27 עוז וחדוה, “strength and joy.” The construction follows the rule applicable to all roots of the ב,ג,ד,כ,פ,ת group of consonants (letters which sometimes take a dagesh chazak). They also lose their last root letter as a result of this. (in our verse the letter ה) More examples are the root בכה and the construction ויבך, vayevk, “he cried.” Another well known example is the root שבה, and the construction וישב, vayashav, “he returned.”
[230] Esau’s words to his father seem to have a like meaning: “Hast thou one blessing, my father? bless me also, O my father” (Gen. 27:38). For different blessings should be set apart for different persons: perfect blessings for the perfect, half-way for the imperfect, just as we find with men’s bodies: for the healthy and the sick require different exercises and different diet, and in all other matters which affect their way of living the same treatment is impossible. The healthy need what agrees with them to prevent their falling sick at all, and the sick need what fits their condition to bring them round to better health.
Apropos Manasseh’s repentance, the Gemara cites that the Sages taught in a baraita: Three came with a demand, and these are they: Cain, Esau, and Manasseh. Cain came with a demand, as it is written: “My sin is too great to bear” (Genesis 4:13). Cain said before God: Master of the Universe, is my transgression greater than the transgression of the 600,000 who are destined to sin before You with the Golden Calf, and You will nevertheless forgive them? There should be atonement for my transgression as well. Esau came with a demand, as it is stated: “Have you but one blessing, my father?” (Genesis 27:38). With regard to Manasseh, initially he called to multiple gods, and his prayers were not answered, and ultimately he called to the God of his forefathers with the demand: If God does not answer my prayer, then apparently all the gods are equal to the God of my forefathers.
Eisov said to his father, Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father, and Eisov raised his voice and wept.
And Esau answered his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
| וַיַּ֛עַן יִצְחָ֥ק אָבִ֖יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֑יו הִנֵּ֞ה מִשְׁמַנֵּ֤י הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה מֽוֹשָׁבֶ֔ךָ וּמִטַּ֥ל הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם מֵעָֽל׃ | 39 J | And his father Isaac answered, saying to him, “See, your abode shall enjoy the fat of the earth And (enjoy the fat of the earth / And Others “be away from the fat of the earth and from.”) the dew of heaven above. |
Eisov raised his voice and wept. He realized that the blessings were in Hashem’s hands, not his father’s, so he cried out to Him and was answered, illustrating that the Gates of Tears are never locked.
הנה משמני הארץ, “from the best parts of the land of Canaan will be your personal home;” a reign of the Holy Land is as the best parts and sweets of the Land [Yitzchok referred to the region known as har seir, which adjoins the ancestral region settled by the tribe of Yehudah, a very fruitful region and irrigated from the heavenly dews no less than the Holy Land itself. How did Yitzchok know that G-d approved of the blessing he just pronounced? The reader is referred to Joshua 24,4].
ואתן לעשו את הר שעיר, “I gave to Esau the region of Mount Seir.” which is close to Eretz Yisrael near the territory of the tribe of Judah. This is a fertile land which is watered by dew just like Erez Yisrael. And how do we know that G-d permitted Yitzchok to give to Esau Mount seir? By the formulation of יהיה מושבך, “is going to be your legal residence,” This is supposed to mean that regardless of whether you or your descendants merit it, it is assured to you. If the matter were to depend on individual or collective merit, the promise would never be fulfilled. The problem with the promise to the Jewish people is that it was made by the Attribute of Justice, hence it is subject to the Israelites deserving it.
Others “be away from the fat of the earth and from.”
ויען יצחק אביו. Isaac his father replied. The words "his father" explain why Isaac decided to give Esau a blessing after all. In the final analysis his fatherly feelings were stirred by Esau's outburst.
הנה משמני הארץ, “here from the fat part of the earth, etc.” You do not find mention of the name of G’d in the blessing Esau received, whereas the name of G’d has been mentioned in the blessings given to Yaakov when Yitzchak had said: “and may the Lord give you from the dew of the heaven, etc.” This teaches that Yitzchak did not invoke a direct bounty from G’d when he promised Esau that he would enjoy the bounty of nature, i.e.משמני הארץ יהיה מושבך , “you will reside in a part of the earth which is of the best, the most fertile.” Yitzchak left Esau’s fortunes to the vagaries of the stars, to astrological influences only. This is what he meant by מטל השמים מעל, “from the dew originating in the sky above.” The words ומשמני הארץ יהיה מושבך, are a thinly veiled hint that Yitzchak was concerned only with Esau’s life on earth; he did not foresee an afterlife for him. We have a parallel expression in Numbers 24,21 when Bileam prophesied about the future of the various nations surrounding the people of Moav and Israel and said of the Kenite איתן מושבך, “your dwelling is strong.” There too the implication is that all this will come to an end with the physical death of the person who receives the blessing. The mention of the word הנה is equivalent to an invitation, i.e. Yitzchak inviting these blessings of nature to be available to his son Esau. We find G’d Himself using the same expression when He answered Avraham’s prayer concerning the well-being of his son Ishmael in Genesis 17,2 when he said הנה ברכתי אותו, “I have prepared a blessing for a him.” Blessings introduced with the word הנה are applicable only in this terrestrial world, and in the case of Esau only at times when the Jewish people fail to carry out G’d’s will. These blessings were all subject to certain conditions. When a blessing commenced with the letter ו, i.e. ו-יתן לך האלוקים, “and the Lord may give you, etc.,” this implied “if you have met the prerequisites for this blessing to become effective.” It is clear from verse 40 in our chapter that when the prerequisites of Yitzchak’s blessing have not been met the blessing was not to materialise. This is the meaning of the words והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “and whenever you are aggrieved you will cast off his yoke from your neck.” In other words, the blessings for Esau even in this world are applicable only when Israel is not deserving of its own blessings.
ויען...הנה משמני הארץ, the earth which you will inherit and on which you will dwell will belong to the most productive areas of the earth, i.e. the Mountain of Seir.
ומטל השמים, your land will be rich and from above it will enjoy the dew from heaven so that this will be a blessing adequate to sustain you and will be also a blessing for him, seeing that his land will also be fruitful, productive.
BEHOLD (‘HINEI’), OF THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE THY DWELLING. The intent of the word hinei (behold) is: “Now I could give you of the fat places of the earth and of the dew of heaven, for of these there is sufficient [abundance] for both of you to have of the fat places of the earth and of the dew of heaven, but in the matter of lordship, that will be his, and you shall serve him.” Isaac also did not give him plenty of corn and wine as he gave to his brother since he wanted to honor the one who had been blessed first above him. Later he said to Jacob, And G-d Almighty give thee the blessing of Abraham… that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, (Further, 28:4.) meaning that he should have the plentifulness of the corn and wine in the land of Canaan, which was Abraham’s gift, while Esau would have the dew and the fat places of the earth in another land.
משמני הארץ וגו THE FATNESS OF THE EARTH etc. — This refers to the Greek portions of Italy (Graeca Magna) (Genesis Rabbah 67:6).
(39-40) Nicht ויתן לך האלקי, nicht unter besonderer Gottes-Waltung und Führung; soweit es in "Himmel und Erde" in der natürlichen Ordnung der Dinge liegt, wirst du irdische Fülle erreichen. Dein Schwert wird der Schöpfer deines Geschickes sein. Du wirst der Stärkere werden, wirst die Welt erobern, um — die eroberte Welt Jakob zu Füßen zu legen. "Rom" erobert die Welt, um sie schließlich nach allen Verirrungen dem siegreichen Genius Jakob-Jisraels zu Füßen zu legen. So lange du herrschen wirst, jede materielle Eroberung nur als Staffel zu immer weiteren Eroberungen betrachten und benutzen willst, so lange arbeitest du nur für den Bruder, so lange du רב bist, so lange רב יעבד צעיר; nur erst כאשר תריך wenn du freiwillig herabsteigst. freiwillig dich dem Brudergenius huldigend unterordnest, wirst du dich emanzipieren und ihm ebenbürtig als Bruder zur Seite treten. — ריד und רור verwandt mit ירד (vergl. היום רד מאוד Richter 19, 11): erniedrigt werden, sich erniedrigen. אריד בשיחי (Psalm 55, 3): ich fühle mich nicht erhoben, ich sinke in Wehmut hinab im Gebete. ויהודה עוד רד עם א׳ (Hoschea 12, 1): Juda ist selbst in der Erniedrigung noch mit Gott, oder, da es V. 3 heißt וריב לדי עם יהודה: fühlt sich noch erniedrigt in seinem Wandel mit Gott. Zu אריד בשיהי bietet יורד בבכי (Jes. 15, 3) eine Parallele.
הנה משמני הארץ יהיה מושבך, I am able to bless you, assuring you that you and your descendants will reside in fruitful areas of the earth, even if they will be marginally subservient to your brother.
ומטל השמים מעל, ועל חאבך תחיה, you will be able to live on the blessings provided by the dew without needing rainfall or having to toil the earth; you will live by your sword in times of war. even though at the same time you may be in a state of subservience to your brother and even engage in war as a mercenary on behalf of your brother or someone else. From this it follows that if you were to complain about unreasonable harshness of your brother’s yoke, כאשר תריד, and would want to ופרקת עלו מעל צוארך, “shake off his yoke from around your neck.,” i.e. revert to a different lifestyle, such as engaging in agriculture, know that then you will never become free from subservience to your brother or to someone else.
This refers to the part of Italy belonging to Greece. It was previously stated (v. 28), “Of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the land,” referring to the fruit of the land. I.e., the grain and produce of your land should be rich and good. But here it refers to the place. I.e., that it should be located in the richness of the earth. Thus, here it says, “Your dwelling,” meaning the place he dwells in. Otherwise, [if it meant rich produce,] the question arises: Yitzchok had already given to Yaakov the blessing of the fatness of the land. [How then could Yitzchok now give it to Eisov?]
Ultimately, Isaac finds a way to bless his elder son as well. And Isaac his father answered and said to him: Behold, from the fat of the earth shall be your dwelling, you too shall inherit a fertile portion, and from the dew of the heavens above.
הנה משמני הארץ יהיה מושבך, “here you are assured that the region in which you will dwell will belong to the most productive ones on earth.” According to Nachmanides, the expression הנה here introduces the limitation of any blessing Yitzchok can bestow now. He says, that although I can assure you of a materially brilliant future, riches based on what the earth you dwell on will produce, but the political power, ממשלה, will belong to your brother. Yitzchok did not bless Esau with the parallel blessing of רוב דגן ותירוש, “an overabundance of grain and wine, either, as he had done when he blessed Yaakov thinking that he was Esau. (verse 28) Both of them, Esau and Ishmael, are sufficiently blessed with the wish that they will dwell on the fertile parts of the earth. Yitzchok was concerned that the one whom he had blessed first would enjoy a clear advantage even in the wording of the blessing he had obtained. This is also why, before sending Yaakov to look for a wife, he added specifically; ויתן לך את ברכת אברהם וגו', “and may G’d grant you the blessing conferred upon Avraham, etc.” The fulfillment of the blessing of “overabundance of grain and wine,” was thus deferred to the period after the land of the Canaanites had been conquered by Yaakov’s descendants. (28,4) The dew of the heaven and the fatness of the land promised to Esau applied to some country other than the land of Israel. There was a distinct difference in the qualities of the blessings extended before Yaakov was dispatched to look for a wife, and the blessings resulting from Yitzchok’s eating the venison. In the first and last blessing the name of G’d as the source of the blessing does appear, whereas in the blessing to Esau, the “consolation prize,” Yitzchok does not even mention the name of G’d. The reason was that Esau had not mentioned the name of G’d either. It is of significance that when blessing Esau as Esau, Yitzchok mentions the fatness of the earth before mentioning the dew of the heavens, whereas when speaking of the same phenomena to Yaakov, Yitzchok reversed the order by mentioning the heavenly part, the dew before mentioning the earth’s contribution to man’s success as a farmer. The reason is that when blessing Yaakov, Yitzchok had already blessed him specifically by invoking the name of G’d.
“Your abode shall enjoy the fat of the earth” [27:39]. Your abode will be from the fatness. Toldot Yizhak asks a question. Why was Isaac so frightened that he could not bless Esau? Also, are there no more blessings in the world? He asks another question. Isaac first said: he has taken away your blessing. That is to say, there is nothing left. Afterwards, he said: “from the fatness of the land” should be your abode. Isaac did indeed find a blessing. The explanation is that Isaac was frightened because he had blessed Jacob that he should be a master over his brother. With that, Esau and his children would be servants to Jacob. Therefore, Isaac was frightened. I will not be able to give Esau a blessing like Jacob’s Therefore, Esau said: “bless me too, father” [27:38]. That is to say, bless me like Jacob was blessed. However, Isaac said: I blessed Jacob that he should be a lord over you. Therefore. I cannot give you a blessing like the one I gave him. Esau responded: I know well that I cannot have the blessing that you blessed Jacob with, because he is a lord over me. However, you blessed Jacob with another blessing, that he should have grain and wine. Give me some of the same blessing. Isaac blessed Esau, “your abode shall enjoy the fat of the earth” [27:39]. That is to say, I will also bless you with the blessing that I blessed Jacob. You should also have much grain and wine. Esau said: what does it help me if I will have much grain and wine, since I am a servant to Jacob and everything that the servant has belongs to his lord. Therefore, Esau asked that he should be a lord at times. Isaac responded: “by your sword shall you live” [27:40]. You have some rule with your sword that hangs by your side. Also “when you grow restive, you shall break his yoke” [27:40]. You shall rule over Jacob when they will not keep the Torah, then Esau has power over Jacob. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 27:33–40.) Rabbi Isserlein writes. Esau said that he should be blessed with much grain and wine, in the expectation that he should be able to properly serve his lord, Jacob. That is to say, it is customary that the servant brings presents to his lord. Therefore, let me alone have the blessing of grain and wine and not Jacob. That is to say, Esau said: let me have a separate blessing that Jacob would not have. Isaac responded: I have given him the blessing previously with grain and wine. He does not need yours, so what shall I do? (Be’ure Maharai, Genesis, 27:37.) Imre Noam writes. “By your sword shall you live” [27:40]. Abraham had a sword on which the Ineffable Name was written. Abraham gave this sword to Isaac. Isaac gave the sword to Jacob. When Esau was supposed to fight with Nimrod, he came to Jacob that he should sell him that sword and he gave him the birthright in return. They ate the bread and lentils, since it was the custom that when someone sells some merchandise, the merchants drink wine on the sale. When Esau said that Jacob had taken away his birthright, Isaac said to Esau, “by your sword shall you live” [27:40]. That is, keep your sword that you took for your birthright. (Imre Noam, Genesis, 25:34.)
[3] "And God gave it to you" (Genesis 27:28). According to the law, if you have merits, God gives to you, but if not, He does not give to you. However, when it came to Esau, the verse did not say, "And God gave it to you," but rather, "Behold, of the fat of the earth," etc. (Genesis 27:39), and the name of God was not mentioned, only "of the fat of the earth." But to Jacob, God gave him "the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28). This can be compared to a merchant who sold two sets of dishes to one buyer, one set for ten gold coins, and the other for a hundred gold coins. They went with him to collect the money, and immediately he gave the ten gold coins and left. But the second seller hesitated and said to the buyer, "You give me the hundred gold coins and I'll wait." The buyer replied, "I only have ten gold coins to give you now, and I'll stand at the table waiting for you to take the rest." This is what God did with Esau, giving him what was only of this world. But for Jacob, God gave him the abundant blessings, as it is written, "How great is Your goodness that You have hidden away for those who fear You" (Psalm 31:20).
Rabbi Tanḥum said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: In the future, the Holy One blessed be He will give the nations to drink from the cup of terror, (Drinking from the cup of terror is a metaphor for divine punishment (Isaiah 51:17, 51:22).) from the place from which justice [hadin] emerges. What is the source? “A river emerged from Eden [eden] to water the garden; and from there it parted” – “and became four rivers” is not written here, but rather, “and became four headwaters [rashim]” (Rashim can also mean rulers.) – these are the four kingdoms, (That would ultimately subjugate Israel (see Daniel chapters 2 and 7). They are: Babylon, Persia-Media, Greece, and Rome-Edom.) which correspond to the four headwaters. “The name of the one is Pishon” – this refers to Babylon, after: “Its horsemen come from afar [pashu]” (Habakkuk 1:8). “It is that which encircles the entire land of Ḥavila” – as it [Babylon] rose and encircled the entire Land of Israel, in whose regard it is written: “Have hope [hoḥili] in God, for I will yet thank Him” (Psalms 42:6). “Where the gold is” – this refers to the words of Torah, which “are more desirable than gold, than quantities of fine gold” (Psalms 19:11). “And the gold of that land is good” – this teaches that there is no Torah like the Torah of the Land of Israel, and no wisdom like the wisdom of the Land of Israel. “Bdellium is there, and onyx stone…” – [referring to] Bible, Mishna, Talmud, Tosefta, and agadda. (All these branches of Torah wisdom are to be found in the Land of Israel.) “And the name of the second river is Giḥon” – this refers to Media, as Haman would decimate its people like a serpent, after: “Upon your belly [geḥonekha] you shall go” (Genesis 3:14). “Tigris [Ḥidekel] [it is that which goes east of Ashur]” – this refers to Greece, which was quick [kala] and harsh [ḥada] in its edicts, as it would say to Israel: ‘Write for yourselves on the horn of an ox that you have no share in the God of Israel.’ Rav Huna said: In three areas, the kingdom of Greece takes precedence over [they surpass] the Evil Empire: (Rome. This is expounding on “it is that which goes east [kidmat] of Ashur,” which can also mean “it is that which takes precedence over Ashur.” Ashur here refers to Rome, as the Midrash goes on to explain.) In its legal system, in its script, and in its language. Rav Huna said in the name of Rav Aḥa: All the kingdoms may be called after Ashur (See Isaiah 27:13, Zechariah 10:10.) because they enrich themselves [mitasherot] through Israel. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: All the kingdoms may be called after Nineveh (See Nahum 1:1. The prophecy in that chapter is relevant to all the nations, not just Nineveh.) because they adorn themselves [mitnaot] through Israel. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta said: All the nations are called after Egypt [Mitzrayim] (See Isaiah 27:13.) because they distress [metzirot] Israel. “The fourth river is Euphrates [Perat]” – this refers to Edom. Perat – because it voided [hefera] (It voided the treaty between the brothers, Jacob and Esau. The Romans are considered the descendants of Esau-Edom.) and distressed his [Jacob’s] descendants. Perat – because it brings fertility [para] and abundance, due to the blessing of the elder [Isaac]. (Isaac gave Esau (Edom) a blessing of fertility for the land (Genesis 27:39).) Perat – because in the future I will exact retribution [lehipara] against it. Perat – after its demise: “I alone have trodden the winepress [pura]…” (Isaiah 63:3). (This passage (Isaiah 63:1–6) refers to Edom.)
“Isaac his father answered and said to him: Behold, from the fat of the earth will be your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens from above” (Genesis 27:39). “Isaac [his father] answered and said [to him: Behold, from the fat of the earth will be your dwelling” – this is Italy. (Rome is viewed as being the descendant of Esau.) “And from the dew of the heavens from above” – this is Beit Guvrin. Another matter, “Behold, from the fat of the earth” – from the fat cats of the earth. What renders the earth fat? It becomes fat from the dew. Antoninos sent [an emissary] to Rabbeinu [Yehuda HaNasi], he said to him: ‘Because my royal treasuries are depleted, what can we do to fill them?’ He took the emissary and brought him into a garden. He began uprooting large radishes and planted small ones. He said to him: ‘Give me an answer.’ He said: ‘You do not need one.’ He ascended to him. (The emissary returned to Antoninos.) He said to him: ‘Where is the response?’ He said to him: ‘He did not give me anything.’ He said to him: ‘What did he say to you?’ He said to him: ‘He did not say anything.’ He said to him: ‘Did he not do anything in your presence?’ He said to him: ‘He took me and had me enter into a garden. He uprooted large radishes and planted small ones; large beets and planted small ones; large lettuce, and planted small ones.’ He understood immediately. He began dismissing officers and appointing officers, until the coffers were filled. (Both the dismissed officers and the appointed officers paid higher taxes because they feared him, and the coffers were filled.)
It is written: “You have seen, for You behold mischief and spite; to requite is in Your hand: the helpless man commits himself to You; You are the helper of the orphans” (Psalms 10:14). The congregation of Israel said before The Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the Universe, You saw that Esau the wicked came, and is destined to destroy the Temple, exile Israel from its land, and shackle them in collars – “You behold…to requite is in Your hand” – yet you rested Your Divine Presence upon Isaac, who said to him [Esau]: “Behold, the fat of the earth shall be your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens from above” (Genesis 27:39). “The helpless man commits himself to You” – the next day he [Esau/Rome] comes and takes orphans and widows and incarcerates them in prison, and says to them: Will He about whom it is written: “The father of orphans and the judge of widows” (Psalms 68:6), come and rescue you from me? Rather, You helped his [Esau’s] orphan. Two orphans who remained from him, that is Remus and Romulus, you allowed the wolf to nurse them, and ultimately, they arose and constructed two great towers in Rome.’ Another matter: “You have seen, for You behold mischief and spite…” the congregation of Israel said before The Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the Universe, You saw Nebuchadnezzar the wicked, who came and destroyed the Temple, and exiled Israel, and shackled them in collars. “To requite is in Your hand” – yet You rested Your Divine Presence on Jeremiah, who said to us: “All the nations will serve him [Nebuchadnezzar] and his son and his son's son...” (Jeremiah 27:7). “The helpless man commits himself to You” – the next day he comes and takes Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya and puts them in the fiery furnace, and says to them: “Who is the God who will save you from my hands?” (Daniel 3:15). Rather, it is not, “You are the helper of the orphans,” but one orphan girl remained from him [Nebuchadnezzar] and you made her an empress in a kingdom that was not hers, and who was that? Vashti.’
“If you see exploitation of the poor, and the perversion of justice and integrity in the state, do not marvel at the purpose; for one higher than high is watching, and there are high ones over them” (Ecclesiastes 5:7). “If you see exploitation of the poor” – if you see one exploiting the poor and the indigent, and the Righteous One, who lives forever, bestows tranquility and good upon him, “see…in the state [bamedina],” see in him the sentence (Bamedina is expounded as a portmanteau of bam dina, they will be sentenced.) of Gehenna. “For one higher” – these are the angels; “and there are high ones over them” – this is the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina interpreted the verse regarding Esau. If you saw Esau in the great city of Rome (The Sages considered the Romans to be descendants of Esau.) exploiting the poor and robbing the indigent, and the Holy One blessed be He bestows tranquility upon him, you will [yet] see in him the attribute of justice. (Rome will eventually be punished.) “Do not marvel” regarding what the old man (Isaac) said and his wish was fulfilled, as it is stated: “Behold, of the fat of the earth will be your dwelling” (Genesis 27:39). “For one higher” – these are the ministers, governors, and commanders. “And there are high ones over them” – this is the King who lives forever. Rabbi Aḥa said: From the “behold” of flesh and blood you learn of the “behold” of the Holy One blessed be He. Just as the “behold” of flesh and blood provided life for an entire people in this world, as it is stated: “Behold, I have given Haman’s house to Esther” (Esther 8:7), when the “behold” of the Holy One blessed be He comes, as it is stated: “Behold, a day of the Lord is coming, [and your spoil shall be divided in your midst]” (Zechariah 14:1), all the more so. (If the “behold” of Aḥashverosh granted the Jews great wealth from Haman, who was a descendant of Esau, all the more so that the Jews will benefit when God upholds His prophecy beginning with “behold.”)
(Gen. 27:28:) SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU. What is the meaning of GOD? < That he acted > in justice. If you were worthy, he will give to you; but if not, he will not give to you. To Esau, however, he did not say this; but (according to Gen. 27:39): OF THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH < SHALL BE YOUR DWELLING >…. Whether you are righteous or wicked, he will give to you. Why? Isaac simply said this: Esau is wicked, and Jacob is righteous. Even though he performs a commandment and is afflicted, he does not voice a complaint [against divine justice. However, if the wicked one performs one commandment or prays, and is not answered, he begins to say]: Just as I have prayed to idols and found nothing tangible, [so I have prayed to God and found nothing tangible]. Solomon also said so. When he built the Temple, he prayed to the Holy One, as stated (in I Kings 8, beginning with vs. 12): THEN SOLOMON SAID: THE LORD SAID THAT HE WOULD DWELL IN THICK DARKNESS. He began reciting his prayers and said: Sovereign of the World, when someone from Israel comes to pray in the future and asks for sons or for something else, if he is worthy, give to him; but if not, do not give to him. Thus it is stated (in vs. 39): AND GIVE TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO ALL HIS WAYS, SINCE YOU KNOW HIS HEART. But if a foreigner should come to pray there, give to him whatever he asks. Thus it is stated (in vss. 41 & 43): AND ALSO UNTO THE FOREIGNER … YOU SHALL {ALSO} HEARKEN IN HEAVEN…. For perhaps, if you do not do for him all that he asks, he will talk and say to himself: So it is with this house of Solomon. I have gone from one end of the world to the other and have been worn out from so many journeyings. Then I came and prayed in here and have found nothing tangible in here, just as I did not find it in idolatry. Ergo (in Gen. 27:39): SEE, OF THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH < SHALL BE YOUR DWELLING >…. Why? Because he is lacking faith. But to Jacob, since he possessed faith and was righteous, he said (in Gen. 27:28): SO MAY GOD GIVE TO YOU, < i.e., > injustice.
What causes the wicked to despise God? The Lord has left the world and gone His way, and you have seen how the wicked labor and anger You with their deeds. You have seen how the wicked come and destroy Your Temple, drive Israel from their land, and put them into captivity. You have the power to take revenge, and yet You showed mercy to Isaac by saying, "From the fat of the land your dwelling shall be." The kingdom of the heathen tells Israel to bring their yoke, and he responds, "I am an orphan and a stranger." She says, "Have you heard of me? I am a widow." Go to the God of Jacob and plead with Him, for it is written, "A father to the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God in His holy habitation." When Romulus and Remus died, their mother met a wolf and nursed them. They grew up and built two great empires in Rome. You helped the orphan. Furthermore, you saw with your own eyes how Nebuchadnezzar, the wicked one, came and destroyed Your Temple, drove Israel from their land, and put them into captivity. You have the power to take revenge, and yet You showed mercy to Jeremiah by saying, "They will serve him and his sons and his grandsons." The kingdom of the heathen will take Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah tomorrow and throw them into the fiery furnace, saying, "Who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?" You helped the orphan. Only one orphan girl remained, and two nations fought over her, a kingdom that was not hers. As it is written, "And also Queen Vashti." What is written afterward? "The broken arm of the wicked shall be found no more." They will have no more justification....
God of Hosts, please turn your gaze from heaven and see, and tend to this vine and protect the one you have planted with your right hand. Rabbi Nachman said in the name of Rabbi Yaakov Dexarin: the same phrase that was said to Abraham (Genesis 18:10), "I will surely return to you." May your hand be upon the man you have chosen (Psalm 80:18), "Look down from heaven and see." And tend to (Genesis 21:1), "The Lord visited Sarah." Burned by fire like thorns. Rabbi Shila and the rabbis disputed it; one said that "burned like thorns," and the others said, "it doesn't say 'thorns,' but rather 'like a thornbush,' and anything that is compressed is interchangeable." And protect the one you have chosen with your right hand. May your hand be a shield for the man at your right hand (Psalm 80:18). Rabbi Yitzchak said, "May your hand be available to punish the wicked deed, the oath that you swore to him with your right hand (Genesis 26:39), 'Your dwelling shall be away from the fatness of the earth.' May the son of Amittai not be forsaken by you, as it says (1 Samuel 12:22), 'The Lord will not cast off his people.' God of Hosts, restore us; let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. Rabbi Yochanan said, "We have nothing but the radiance of your face to save us."
הנה ברך לקחתי, “here I have received instructions to bless.” This is an introductory comment similar to Genesis 27,39: “here from the fat parts of the earth, etc.” Bileam meant to say that he received the blessings from above, seeing G’d had put the words in his mouth. וברך לא אשיבנה, “whom He has blessed I will not contradict. it.” Seeing that the power of speech is G’d’s monopoly (as we know from Exodus 3,11).
האלהים GOD [GIVE THEE]—What denotes the use here of the Divine Name אלהים which signifies God in His attribute of Justice? May He act in justice! If you are worthy of it may He give it to you, and if not, let Him not give it to you. But to Esau he said, (Genesis 27:39) “The fat places of the earth shall be thy dwelling” —whether you be righteous or wicked He will give you this. From him (Isaac) did Solomon learn when he built the Temple how to compose his prayer (having in mind a similar idea): An Israelite who is a man of faith and acknowledges that God’s judgment is just will not reproach You;—therefore (1 Kings 8:39) “Render unto every man (Israelite; 1 Kings 8:38) according to his ways whose heart thou knowest”. A stranger, however, is lacking in faith; therefore Solomon said, (1 Kings 8:43) “Hear thou in heaven … and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for — whether he be worthy or unworthy grant him his request in order that he may not reproach You. This explanation of האלהים is found in an old and correct text of Rashi.
ויתן לך האלוקים, “and may G’d grant you, etc.” Rashi emphasizes that Yitzchok deliberately chose the attribute of Justice to be the origin of Esau’s blessing, i.e. אלוקים, instead of Hashem, as this implied that the blessing would be fulfilled only if Esau remained worthy of it in the eyes of the attribute of Justice. [note that when Yaakov made his vow after the dream of the ladder, he too conditioned fulfillment on the promise that he would be worthy of what he asked for in the eyes of the attribute of Justice. (Genesis 28,21) Ed.] Later on, when Yitzchok knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was Esau who had stood before him, he promised him material blessings without conditioning this on his worthiness. (Genesis 27,39-40) This is remarkable, as by then Yitzchok had been made aware of Esau’s true character and he had confirmed the blessing he had given to Yaakov.
Yitzchok, his father replied and said to him, Behold the fatness [richness] [goodness] of the earth shall be your dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above.
And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, among the good fruits of the earth shall be thy habitation, and with the dews of the heavens from above.
| וְעַל־חַרְבְּךָ֣ תִֽחְיֶ֔ה וְאֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ תַּעֲבֹ֑ד וְהָיָה֙ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר תָּרִ֔יד וּפָרַקְתָּ֥ עֻלּ֖וֹ מֵעַ֥ל צַוָּארֶֽךָ׃ | 40 J | Yet by your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; But when you grow restive, You shall break his yoke from your neck.” |
Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations.Genesis 27,38. “do you really have only one blessing that you can dispense, my father?”;While there is a rule that life as well as blessings originate from one holy source, this rule brings in its wake the possibility that the “left” side of the emanations can also be the seat of life, as when G’d created the universe He arranged that the forces of evil and those of good be at par with one another least on the surface. [Otherwise freedom of choice granted to man would be meaningless. Ed.] Both the Ari z’al and others preceding him, including Rashi, stated that holiness is also known as אחת, “a state of unity.” Rashi points out that when the descendants of Yaakov set out on their journey to Egypt and their names had been listed individually, the Torah (Genesis 46,27) concluded the list with כל הנפש, “the sum total of the soul,” (singular) when referring to this family. On the other hand, when the Torah reports Esau and his family leaving the Holy Land in order to settle in the region of Seir, (Genesis 36,6) Esau’s descendants are referred to as נפשות, “souls” (pl.). Such nuances in the Torah reveal to us that not all souls originate in the same region of the diagram portraying the emanations. When Esau, at this point questions his father if he has only ברכה אתת, he asks whether his father cannot dispense a blessing for people whose origin is not in the holy section of the emanations, the section known as אחת. He feels, that surely seeing that he is his father’s son, his father must also be able to have reserved a blessing for him! By asking this question he contradicted the words of his father who had told him that the blessing he had already bestowed on Yaakov that made him senior to his older brother, i.e. הוה גביר לאחיך, made this impossible. If he were to give Esau a similar blessing he would in effect deprive Yaakov of the blessing he had just given him. When Yitzchok heard what Esau demanded of him, seeing that he had told him that in his blessing he had made Yaakov the senior of the two, he realized the full extent of Esau’s wickedness, and that is why he added, now, without reservation, גם ברוך יהיה, “he shall also remain blessed!” Up until that moment Yitzchok had not realized that Esau was a product of the סטרא אחרא, the “left side” of the scheme of emanations. Having found that out, he now gave Esau a blessing that was in keeping with the “blessings” perceived as such by souls that originate in that realm, i.e. על חרבך תחיה, “seeing that you are loyal to the principle that might is right,” the principle espoused by people whose souls originate in the left side of the emanations, people who believe in the survival of the fittest, Yitzchok could only bless his son Esau by wishing him “success” (death) when he would be involved in such lethal encounters. He meant it in the sense that “until you pay the price with your physical life you will not be able to secure for yourself any life in the hereafter”. When such people lose their lives when engaged in what they perceive as a “holy” war, they may redeem themselves and secure life in the hereafter. [This editor has often wondered it the concept of our sages of a Mashiach ben Yoseph, a messiah who will die in battle before the advent of the Mashiach ben David, the ultimate redeemer, may not originate among the gentiles and earn his right to his hereafter in the manner just described. Ed.] Genesis 27,40. Let us turn now to the next part of Yitzchok’s “blessing” to Easu, the words והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “but when you humble yourself you will be able to remove the his yoke from around your neck.” According to Or Hachayim on our verse the word והיה in the above verse is to be interpreted as a form of joy, שמחה. Contrary to the accepted translation of this line, Rashi understands the word תריד, as “when you will suffer pain.” According to Proverbs 11,10 באבוד רשעים רנה “when the wicked perish there is jubilation.” Isaiah 1,3 speaks about the ox recognizing his owner. The fact is that when the ox wears a yoke he does not recognize (in the sense of welcoming) his master voluntarily, but only because he is forced to wear a yoke. When the yoke is removed he will honour his master by still respecting and welcoming him. Something parallel occurs in history about the Israel/Esau relationship. As long as the Temple in Jerusalem was standing, the gentile nations paid reluctant respect to the Jewish people. Nowadays, when there is no longer a Temple in Jerusalem, the yoke which had restrained the Gentiles has been lifted from them, although their obligation, as a free willed creature created in the image of G’d to respect G’d’s people has not been lessened. G’d, after all, created this universe only for the sake of His people, the Jewish people. According to Isaiah 40,17 כל האומות כעין נגדו מאפס ותוהו נחשבו לו, “All nations are as naught in His sight; He accounts them as less than nothing.” This is in essence what Yitzchok told Esau when he said ופרקתו עולו מעל צווארך, “even when you will divest yourself of the yoke of Yaakov, in times when the Jewish people are in exile, as Rashi explains, you will only remove this yoke from your neck, i.e. temporarily during the time Israel is in exile, but inherently, your duty toward G’d, whose representative on earth the Jewish people are, will continue, just as an ox knows his master regardless if he is restrained by a physical yoke or not.” Upon hearing this, Esau raised his voice and wept, feeling frustrated that his father would not give him a blessing that would neutralize the one he had given to Yaakov. He had fully understood all the implications of the few words Yitzchok had said to him.
Genesis 32,4. “I have remained a stranger at Lavan’s” (all the time); my late father of blessed memory, commented on Rashi’s interpretation of Yaakov having chosen the word גרתי, that he referred to the numerical value of the letters in this word being 613, a symbol of the 613 commandments of the Torah that Yaakov observed even while in Padan Aram. He supposedly emphasized to Esau that in spite of his having acquired considerable wealth, none of it had been at the expense of Esau, as his father’s blessing which was: “may the Lord give you from the dew of heaven and the fat parts of the earth” (Genesis 27,28) had not been fulfilled. Should Esau counter that the reason Yitzchok’s blessing had not been fulfilled was that he, Yaakov, had not observed the commandments, this was not so. Esau knew that his father’s blessings were conditional on a certain mode of conduct by Yaakov, and that is why he had told him (Genesis 27,40) והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עול מעל צוארך, (according to Rashi) “if the Israelites will fail to observe the commandment, you will be able to shake off his yoke from your neck.” Yaakov hints to his brother that in spite of having observed the commandments he does not own any land, so that his father’s blessings could not have been fulfilled. Yaakov reassures Esau that he has no reason to revenge himself for Yaakov having obtained this blessing.
The first thing that has to be done is to subdue these wicked people, and to punish them with the sword and with death. By doing this, it is afterwards possible to go to the Land of Israel. Yet, it is impossible [to acquire] the power to punish the wicked except when this power is received from EDoM. For this is his power, as in (Genesis 27:40), “But you shall live by your sword.” He draws from the planet Ma’EDiM (Mars).
"And when you lower yourself, then you shall break his yoke from your neck" (Bereishit 27:40). Yitzchak's blessing to Eisav implied that Eisav should not be upset about the blessings given to Yaakov. If Eisav could truly humble himself, he could remove the yoke. This humility is a trait of Yaakov and Bnei Yisrael, as indicated in Devarim 7:7, "for you are few," meaning they elevate themselves through humility. However, Eisav cannot achieve this level of humility and is thus told, "you shall serve your brother." Conversely, Yaakov is told, "You shall be a power over your brother," because Yitzchak did not need to teach him humility. True humility involves recognizing the truth and being inherently humble, understanding that everything comes from Hashem. Yaakov needed to be encouraged to strengthen himself, to be a leader, and not be subjected to others. Eisav was instructed to embrace humility to improve himself. This highlights the different paths: Yaakov to assert his strength and Eisav to learn humility.
ועל חרבך תחיה, “you will live by grace of your sword.” Yitzchok promises Esau that as a reward for having hunted deer in order to bring him delectable food, he will also henceforth be able to survive by his sword in his dangerous vocation. [The word “sword” here is used by Yitzchok as a general term for instruments used to kill, seeing that Esau had hunted for him with bow and arrow. Ed.]
ואת אחיך תעבוד, “but you will be subservient to your brother.” Esau had first complained that this is a put down for him. Yitzchok explains to him that prevailing in military confrontations is never a “put down,” but on the contrary, the victors are held in high esteem and are feared. Esau complained that having to live by constant confrontation with others is a very demanding task; Yitzchok answers that he has the option to be peaceful and subservient to his brother. If so, his brother will surely display mercy and tolerance for him.
כאשר תריד, an unusual expression, similar to Psalms 55,3: אריד בשמחי, “I am complaining;” Yitzchok assures him that if in the future the descendants of his brother will oppress those of Esau so that they will complain to Him, they will be able to shake off the yoke of the Israelites, i.e. ופרקת עולו. It is best for him to find himself another land in which to live so that he will never be exposed to subjugation by Yaakov’s descendants. [Esau chose to do so from his own free will, as we know from Genesis 36,68. Ed.] An alternative exegesis for the words: כאשר תריד. The root is ירד to descend, (compare Numbers 24,19, Bileam’s blessings) וירד מיעקב, “when you rule then you will shake off his yoke.” We find that history proved Bileam correct when we read in Kings II 8,20, that during the rule of Yoram, son of Achav, the Edomites rebelled against his rule. They proceeded to set up a state of their own by crowning a king.
והיה כאשר תריד, “it will come to pass when you will break loose; (the most common translation, rejected by our author);” (the root רדה, meaning “to subdue) occurs again in Numbers 24,19, in Bileam’s blessings, when that prophet predicts that eventually a time will come when the descendants of Israel will subdue the descendants of Esau, and that at that time Esau’s descendants will accept Yaakov’s yoke willingly.
By doing so, Esau will, in effect, shake off the yoke of Yaakov as he will not feel it as subjugation.
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS WHEN THOU SHALT BREAK LOOSE. Tarid (thou shalt break loose) has the same meaning as tirdeh (thou shalt rule) (Lev. 25:43). However, tarid and tirdeh have different roots. (The root of tarid is resh, vav, dalet. The root of tirdeh is resh, dalet, heh. According to this interpretation tarid means thou shalt rule, and the meaning of And it shall come to pass when thou shalt rule is, when the time that thou shalt rule shall come (Weiser).) Others say that tarid is similar to arid (I cry out) in I cry out (arid) in my complaint (Ps. 55:3). According to this interpretation the meaning of our clause is: and it shall come to pass when thou shalt cry out, then God will pity you. (According to this interpretation tarid means thou shalt cry out.)
THAT THOU SHALT SHAKE HIS YOKE. U-farakto (that thou shalt shake) comes from the same root as mefarek (rent) in rent (mefarek) the mountains (Its root is peh, resh, kof. It means to break apart, to rend. Hence u-farakta (that thou shake) means that thou shalt break.) (I Kings 19:11). The word mafrakto (his neck) (I Sam. 4:18) is derived from the same stem. (Mafrakto is derived from the verb meaning to break, i.e., for it is easily broken (Rabbi Solomon Ha-Kohen).) These blessings present a number of great difficulties. If the blessings were prophecies how is it possible for Isaac not to know whom he was blessing? The wise men of our generation respond to this problem by explaining that when Jacob entered the room, God told him, “Bless this one.” (The revelation did not include any name.) However, if this was the case Isaac would have told Esau, “God commanded me to bless Jacob.” (Rather than telling him, Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing (v. 35).) Furthermore, if God told Isaac to bless Jacob, why did Isaac bless Esau because he cried? (The Bible implies that Isaac blessed Esau because he pitied him for having his blessing stolen by his brother.) Others say that Isaac was no prophet and his blessings did not come to pass. (Isaac prophesied that Esau would be subservient to Jacob. We do not find it to be so.) However, they are also mistaken. Scripture explicitly tells us, And the Lord appeared unto him (Isaac) (Gen. 26:2, 24). (The verse refers to the patriarchs. See I Chron. 16:13-22.) Moreover, King David in referring to the patriarchs says, And do My prophets no harm (I Chron. 16:22). Others ask, what efficacy could there be in Isaac’s blessings since he thought that he was blessing Esau? The truth of the matter is that Isaac was in doubt as to who was really before him. Indeed, he said, The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau (v. 22). What Isaac did was bless the one in his presence without regard to whether it was Esau or Jacob, the reason being that both were his sons. Some ask, how could God say (Gen. 25:23) And the elder shall serve the younger? Similarly how could Isaac say, and thou shalt serve thy brother (v. 40)? (When in fact we do not find that Esau was subservient to Jacob.) Saadiah Gaon superficially answers this question by pointing to Scripture’s statement, And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts…and went unto a land away from his brother Jacob (Gen. 36:6). (This shows that Esau was subservient to Jacob.) However, the Gaon seems to have forgotten that the Bible relates, and (Jacob) bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother (Esau) (Gen. 33:3). (Which clearly shows that Esau was not subservient to Jacob.) It appears to me that the prophet’s (Isaac.) blessing was akin to a prayer, and God accepted his prayer, (A blessing does not take effect immediately. See Rashbam’s commentary on Deut 7:12 (Krinsky). Thus Isaac’s blessing was a blessing and not a prophecy. If it had been a prophecy he would have been directed by God whom to bless.) for Isaac’s prayer was mainly concerned with the offspring of Jacob and Esau. (And the latter were subject to the former.) Those who have as yet not awakened from their foolish sleep think that we are in the exile of the Edomites (Esau). (This opinion identifies the Romans (hence Christianity) with the Edomites. If this is so, then how could Scripture say that Jacob would rule over Esau when in fact Esau destroyed the Temple, exiled the Jews and ruled over them?) However, this is not so. Edom (Esau) was subject to Judah. (From the time of King David until the reign of King Jehoram.) Scripture thus states, In his (Jehoram’s) days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah (II Kings 8:20). (Which indicates that till that time Edom (Esau) was subject to Judah.) We are also told that Joab (King David’s general.) cut off every male in Edom (I Kings 11:16). It is because of their subjugation to Judah that they rejoiced on the day of Judah’s calamity (The day that Jerusalem was taken.) and told the Babylonians, Raze it, raze it even to the foundations thereof (Ps. 137:7). The taunts of the Edomites on the day of Jerusalem’s fall was harder for the Judeans to bear than the afflictions visited upon them by the Babylonians. This is also the meaning of Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom (Lam. 4:21), (A sarcastic statement Rejoice while you still are able to, for your happiness will not long endure. Indeed, the verse concludes, The cup shall pass over unto thee also; Thou shalt be drunken and shalt make thyself naked.) and Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction (Obad. 1:12). Also, Hyrcanus the elder (John Hyrcanus the Hasmonean. He ruled Judea from 135 to 104 B.C.E. He conquered the Edomites and forced them to embrace Judaism.) made the Edomites (Esau’s descendants) guard Jerusalem and had them circumcised. Also, in the days of Agrippa (Agrippa II, last king of the House of Herod. When the Jews revolted against Rome in 66 C.E. he went to Jerusalem and tried to restore calm.) when Jerusalem was taken, (That is, during the Roman-Jewish War.) troops of Edomites (During the Roman-Jewish War the Edomites came to the aid of the Jews.) came to Judah’s aid. (Thus it is clear that the Romans are not to be identified with the Edomites.) The Romans (Some printed editions read, the nation.) who exiled us are from the seed of Kittim. Onkelos similarly explains Kittim to mean Rome in But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim (Num. 24:24). (Onkelos renders Kittim as Rome.) The Kittim are the very kingdom of the Greeks as I have explained in my commentary on the Book of Daniel. (See I.E.’s comments on Dan. 2:38 and 37:14.) [At first (I.E. goes on to explain why the Romans are referred to as Edomites.) there were only a few people who believed in the man that was made into a god. The Romans accepted the belief in this man in the days of Constantine who introduced this new religion to the Romans upon the advice of an Edomite priest and placed upon his flag an image of this man. At that time there was no one in the world aside from a small group of Edomites who followed the new religion. (This is the reading of Vat. Ebr. 38. It was removed by the censor and does not appear in the Mikra’ot Gedolot edition. Some of the printed editions read; “At first there were only a few people who believed in the new religion. When the Romans accepted the new religion in the days of Constantine who adopted it as the state religion there was no one in the world who kept the new religion except for the Edomites.”) ] Similarly the contemporary inhabitants of Egypt, Sheba (An allusion to the Moslems living in the vicinity of the Red Sea (Weiser).) and the land of Elam (An allusion to the Moslems in Mesopotamia (Weiser).) are called Ishmaelites even though only a tiny minority of the people living there are true decendants of the Ishmaelites. (The people of these places are called Ishmaelites because they accepted the religion of the Ishmaelites (Islam).)
ואת אחיך…והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עלו. "And your brother…but when you will grieve, you will be able to shake off his yoke." There are many explanations on this verse. It is possible to say that all the blessings of Esau are applicable only as long as Esau is content to serve his brother but not when Esau would try and shake off the yoke of serving his brother. The word תריד may also be derived from the root רדה. It would then mean that once Esau was persecuted and subjugated by Jacob he would begin to shake off Jacob's yoke; at a still later stage the prophecy of "the house of Jacob becoming fire and the house of Esau turning to straw" would be fulfilled (compare Ovadiah 1,18). The reason that the word והיה which signifies a happy occurrence is used may lend support to this interpretation. Esau's destruction would cause joy both in heaven and on earth.
Alternately, the meaning could be that even when Esau dominates the rest of the world, his dominion will not extend over Jacob (the Jewish people) except inasmuch as he will not be dominated by Jacob. He himself will not dominate Jacob. There would be a stand-off between Israel and Edom.
ועל חרבך תחיה, “and you will live (survive) by means of your sword.” This blessing was an acceptance by Yitzchak of Esau’s vocation as a hunter, a person who spends most of his time in wildernesses, uncivilised countries where danger always lurks. It was appropriate then that Yitzchak assured his son of protection against these dangers, blessing his sword as an instrument of his survival, so to speak. Esau’s patron was the planet Mars, the planet associated with warfare, bloodshed, with the sword. This is why the descendants of Esau also excelled in military conquest. Basically, Esau’s patron in the celestial spheres indulges in killing and represents the power of the sword in this world. In order to contrast Yaakov’s (Jewish) philosophy with that of Esau, the Torah legislated that the altar or Sanctuary of the Jewish people must be built without any metal instruments being used as these instruments symbolise war and bloodshed. In connection with the construction of the Tabernacle, the Torah writes in Exodus 25,3 where the materials to be donated for that structure are listed, that gold, silver and copper are to be contributed. Iron was not solicited as a contribution at all. In Kings I 6,7 we are told ומקבות והגרזן כל כלי ברזל לא נשמע בבית בהבנותו, “and hammers and axes and any other iron instruments were not heard in connection with the Temple’s being built.” The reason was that iron symbolised war and the sword which brings destruction to the world. The function of the Temple, on the other hand, is to ensure hat the world endures.
ואת אחיך תעבוד, “and you will serve your brother.” Provided Yaakov deserves his blessing. והיה כאשר תריד, “and when you are aggrieved, etc.,” when Yaakov is not in a state when he deserves his blessing. ופרקת עולו מעל צוארך, “you will cast off his yoke from your neck.” This is in line with the opinion of Onkelos who translates this verse as: “when they violate the commandments of the Torah.”
ועל חרבך תחיה. This is the one blessing which will be exclusively yours, your ability to survive by means of your sword and the fear you will inspire in your enemies. They will fear your prowess in war.
ואת אחיך תעבוד, this too is a blessing as it is of benefit to you to serve your brother rather than to have to serve others.
והיה כאשר תריד, when the time comes when it is your turn to rule over him,
ופרקת עלו, and then you will not serve him as this (your shaking off his yoke) is his punishment for his sin
AND ON THY SWORD (‘VE’AL CHARBECHA’) YOU SHALL LIVE. The meaning of ve’al charbecha is as if it were written, becharbecha (by thy sword). A similar case is the verse, For man does not live ‘al halechem’ (on bread) alone, (Deuteronomy 8:3.) which means belechem (by bread). Now the blessing is not that he live on the booty he takes from his enemies by the sword, for he has already given him of the fat places of the earth and of the dew of heaven by which he shall live. Instead, the purport of the blessing is that he survive his battles and be victorious, and not fall by the sword of an enemy. It is for this reason that immediately following this he said, And thou shall serve thy brother, meaning, “but you will not prevail over him. Instead, he will prevail over you.”
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS WHEN THOU SHALL BREAK LOOSE in thy suffering on account of Jacob’s transgression, (Specifically, the transgression of the command, Contend not with them, as is explained further on.) THEN THOU SHALT SHAKE HIS YOKE FROM OFF THY NECK. This is an indication to Israel that they should not contend with the children of Esau too much in order to do them evil. This is what Scripture commanded: Take ye good heed, contend not with them, etc. (Deuteronomy 2:4-5. referring to the children of Esau in the land of Se’ir.) And so did our Rabbis (Yerushalmi Rosh Hashanah, I, 1.) say: “For Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom. (I Kings 11:16.) The Holy One, blessed be He, said to David, ‘I said, Contend not with them, and you did contend. By your life, these six months will not accrue to you and your reign.’ We know this was fulfilled since it is written, And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years, (Ibid., 2:11.) but in truth he reigned six more months, as it is written, In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months.” (II Samuel 5:5. And in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years for a total of forty years and six months. Yet he is credited with only forty years.) The Rabbis also said, (Devarim Rabbah 1:15.) “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to David, ‘Thy hands are sharp and pointed, and I seek to rule my world with them, etc’” (The Midrash concludes: “Moses your teacher has already desired to confront them, and I told him, ‘It is sufficient for you.’” (Deuteronomy 2:3).)
ועל חרבחך תחיה, a reference to Esau’s vocation as a hunter, promising him success with his hunting tools.
וכאשר תריד, the word is used in the same sense as in Psalms 55,3 אריד בשיחי, “my conversation is full of agitation,” (as a result of feeling oppressed) i.e. “if your brother will subjugate you too harshly so that you cannot endure it, “ ופרקת עלו, “you will shake off his yoke.”
ועל חרבך—The phrase is equivalent to בחרבך BY THY SWORD. The word על is sometimes used instead of the prefix ב, as (Ezekiel 33:26) “Ye stand by your sword (על חרבכם)”, which is the same as בחרבכם; (Exodus 6:26) “by their hosts (על צבאותם), which is the same as בצבאותם.
AND והיה כאשר תריד AND IT SHALL CAME TO PASS THAT WHEN THOU ROVEST ABOUT — The word תריד signifies grief, pain, as (Psalms 40:3) “I am distraught (אריד) in my complaint”. It means: when Israel will transgress the Torah and you will have reason to feel aggrieved with regard to the Blessings, ופרקת עלו וגו THEN THOU SHALT PULL HIS YOKE FROM OFF THY NECK (Genesis Rabbah 67:7).
And you will have reason to grieve over the blessings... You might object: It does not say anywhere that Yitzchok placed conditions on his blessings to Yaakov. The answer is: It is written, “And may האלהים give you” (v. 28). The word האלהים implies justice: “If you deserve it, ‘He will give to you.’” (R. Noson)
By your sword you shall live. Since you are not the firstborn, you do not enjoy full rights to your place of dwelling, and therefore you will constantly have to fight for it. And you shall serve your brother. But it will be when you revolt that you will free yourself from him, and you will remove his yoke from your neck. However, in the basic state of affairs, he will be the lord and you will be his slave.
ועל חרבך תחיה. “and by means of your sword you will survive.” The expression על חרבך is equivalent to בחרבך,”through your sword.” Yitzchok meant that the hands of the one who had pleased him by feeding him venison will be saved through the successful use of the sword that these hands make. Yitzchok most certainly did not wish Esau to become a conqueror and to survive by consuming the loot he had acquired from the enemies he had slain. Having blessed Esau with success in agriculture in the previous verse, there certainly was no call for wishing him success as warrior. He did, however, assure him that in his war against adversaries he would not become the victim of the swords of his enemies. Some commentators hold that the words ועל חרבך תחיה are a consolation to Esau, seeing his father had blessed his brother by appointing him Esau’s superior. Yitzchok now hedged his blessing by assuring Esau that he would not become the victim of any abuse of his stronger brother’s power. Esau’s service to his brother would consist of being employed as his brother’s mercenary, using his sword to what are essentially Yaakov’s battles. Rabbeinu Saadyah Gaon, questions why Yitzchok chose such an unusual wording for his blessing to Esau, instead of saying: “may the Lord give you from the fatness of the earth and the dew of the heaven.” The reason is, according to Rabbeinu Saadyah, that in fact Yitzchok did not bless Esau at all; he merely stated that seeing he had already said to Yaakov that those that curse him would be cursed, if he were to accord something to Esau at the expense of Yaakov, He would make Himself liable to a curse by having diminished what had been promised to Yaakov. However, he consoled Esau by assuring him that his fate already included the fact that bounty of nature would always be at his disposal in the shape of the fatness of the land and the dew of the heaven that would ensure bountiful harvests.
והיה כאשר תריד, “it will come to pass when you have reason to grieve, etc.” when Yaakov will abuse this power of superiority by giving you justifiable reason to complain especially since at a time when Yaakov’s descendants do not live up to the terms of their covenant with G’d, you will be able to shake off his yoke. Yaakov then will not regain his superiority, as Bileam already stated in Numbers 24,19 וירד מיעקב והאביד שריד מעיר, [the root of the word תריד is not ירד “to descend,” but רדה, “to rule, exercise authority.”] “The one who ruled obtaining his power from Yaakov, will lose it, retaining only a city.” This is a reference to the time when the Romans would rule over the entire region of Mesopotamia. Bileam describes the period in the distant future at the time of the redemption when Yaakov/Israel will regain its position of dominance. After that Esau will never again experience a rise in stature.
והיה כאשר תריד, the word תריד is used in a sense similar to Psalms 55,3 “if the Israelites oppress you more than is justified, turn to G’d in prayerful complaint and He will throw off his yoke from you.” Yitzchok hints to Esau that Yaakov will not be at liberty to use his power over him injudiciously. Another explanation sees in the word תריד a variant of רדוי, being vanquished, captive, as if Yitzchok were saying to Esau: “when you do not wish to endure Yaakov’s dominance, conquer his land and shake off his yoke.”
Rav Hisda said, “if someone has eaten meat, he is forbidden to eat cheese, but if he ate cheese first, he is permitted to eat meat, (Ibid., 105a.) and Rav Hisda’s view is the accepted view. (So the Tur and Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 89.) But surely he said, “He is forbidden to eat cheese until another meal.” Indeed, for a whole day is a more stringent practice, and thus it was when Mar Ukba’s practice was to wait only until the next meal. For Mar Ukba said, “I am in this matter like ‘Hametz the son of Wine,’ for if my father would eat meat he was fastidious and wouldn’t eat cheese till the same time the next day. But while I won’t eat it at the same meal, I’ll eat it at the next meal. (B. Hullin 105a.) And the custom of Mar Ukba’s father to wait for a whole day is extra stringent, so accordingly we follow Mar Ukba’s practice, even though he said, “I am in this matter like Hametz the son of Wine.” And so it is our practice to wait just until the next meal. Hence, it is not sufficient just to wipe one’s mouth or to wash one’s hands, since meat is not digested after the first meal for at least six hours, and meat caught in between the teeth is still meat, as it is said, “The meat was still between their teeth.” (Nu 11:33, a reference to the quail meat God over-fed the Israelites in response to their complaining in the desert.) But if one eats cheese, he is permitted to eat meat without any delay at all. He only has to wipe his mouth whether it’s day or night, and wash his hands if it’s at night, but not if it’s during the day, nor does it make a difference whether it’s game or meat from a domesticated animal. (An so also the Tur and Shulhan Arukh Y.D. 89:1.) Poultry and cheese are eaten “like an epicurean,” (B. Hullin 104b, which Rashi explains to mean “without any qualms,” as libertines eat.) which I found in the explanation of the Arukh to mean without wiping one’s mouth or washing their hands whether in the day or in the night. (Sefer Ha-Arukh, the Dictionary of R. Natan ben Yehiel of Rome (11th century).) The reason given was that mayim ahronim are an obligation, because a person eats salt after his meal, which contains Sodomite salt that blinds the eyes, even one grain in a kor of regular salt, (Sodomite salt – salt from the Dead Sea. Potent stuff. Even in a mixture of one grain to a kor (about 530 liters) of regular salt would blind you ! It was customary to eat a little salt for “dessert,” presumably to “kill” anything potentially harmful in the food one has just eaten. See Rabbi Levi Cooper, “World of Our Sages: Salty Hands,” .) though no blessing is required, except for someone who is saying a blessing over washing dirty hands. For just as a polluted priest was unfit for the Temple service, someone whose hands are polluted is unfit to say a blessing. What does it mean to be “polluted”? Anything that is not fit to be brought near the altar, such as an animal or birds, but whatever is fit does not require washing, since it isn’t something that’s polluted. However, there are some among the great teachers who are of the opinion that anything can be polluted.
One also has to careful when about to say birkat ha-mazon to remove the knife from the table. The reason for this practice is because the table is called an “altar,” and just as on an altar we have been warned not to brandish something made of iron over it, as it is said, “do not build it [an altar] of hewn stones, etc.” (Ex 20:22.) The rule of Torah is that if one makes it into an altar of hewn stones with a tool of silver or flint, it is permitted. For the point of the prohibition is not against it being hewn, but rather because it is hewn with something made of iron, i.e., a sword, and Torah kept it far from the tabernacle, when it is written: “gold, silver, and copper,” (Ex 25:3.) but does not mention iron there. And likewise with the sanctuary it is written, “No hammers or axe or any iron tool was heard in the House when it was being built.” (I Kings 6:7.) The reason is because that is the power of Esau with what he was blessed from his father’s mouth; this is what is meant by “By the sword you shall live,” (Gen 27:40.) and it is written, “but Esau I hated.” (Mal 1:3.) Therefore it is kept far from the sanctuary. And likewise at the table we have been warned to remove the sword from it, because the sword is something destructive (The pun ha-herev hu ha-mahriv is lost in the translation.) and the source of destruction, the opposite of peace, and it does not belong in a place of blessing, i.e., peace. For indeed the altar and the table prolongs a person’s days, while a sword shortens them, and it makes no sense to brandish something that shortens over something that prolongs life. (Mekhilta Yitro (end).)
After having blessed the tribes that represented the priesthood and the monarchy, the tribe that is privileged to host the holy Temple in the future, is blessed next. The fact that Benjamin is G'ds beloved is testified to by that very fact, (verse 12) A major factor is that it was the only tribe wholly uninvolved in the struggle between Joseph and his brothers. Joseph who is the mainstay of the kingdom of the ten tribes, comes next. Since Ephrayim will be the leader of that kingdom, the abundance of blessings heaped on Joseph are partly to be viewed as applying to all the ten tribes, but they are identified with Joseph who had displayed moral fortitude in his encounter with the wife of Potiphar. The reference to Joseph as an ox, has been discussed in chapter thirty. Issachar and Zevulun are named next, being the remaining sons of Jacob's major wives Rachel and Leah. Also, they complete the camp of Yehudah. Zevulun is here mentioned ahead of Issachar though he was younger, in recognition of the fact that he assumed the burden of earning a livelihood for his brother Issachar so that the latter could devote himself to Torah study, (verse 18) The "tents” referred to, are the seclusion of the yeshivah, the Torah academy. Zevulun's maritime activities will be amply rewarded so that he can afford to entertain "nations." Gad's turn is next, since he too was considered a reward from G'd by his mother for having turned her handmaid over to Jacob as a wife. Also, he completes the camp of Reuben and the unnamed Shimon. The blessing marchiv Gad, who expands Gad, refers to the fact that it was this tribe that was the first to settle on the East Bank of the Jordan. It was also he who formed the vanguard when it came to fighting for possession of the West Bank. He considered the fact that Moses, Aaron and Miriam were all buried in his tribal territory, as a good omen for his choice of location, and an insurance of the tribe's future loyalty to G'd and Torah. Dan is head of the army group forming the rearguard. His being described as a hit and run expert, fits Samson the best known of his heroes. Naftali being senior to Asher, is mentioned next. Since the chronological order has not been observed in these blessings, Moses is anxious to conclude the blessings for the individual tribes with Asher, who is not only assured of an abundance of material wealth, but is assured that this will not cause jealousy among his brothers, i.e. "he will remain popular with his brothers." (verse 24) In this way the blessings applicable to the nation as a whole in verse twenty five, are an extension of the bounty promised to Asher. Just as at the beginning of the blessings, the line "may Reuben live and not die," refers to the wish that no sudden death should cut short his normal lifespan, so also at the end of the blessings Moses expresses the wish (verse 25) "and as your young days so shall be your old age," meaning that eventual death should come about only as the result of the natural process of aging. "Riding the heavens" (verse 26), is a symbol of the speed with which G'd may come to Israel's aid when needed. The prophecies of Moses, unlike those of Bileam, are not intended for the distant future. Bileam had spoken about "I can see it, but not now" etc.; not so Moses who describes G'd as "riding the clouds" to Israel's assistance as something in the immediate future. In order to be meaningful, victory must comprise four elements. 1) The victor should emerge unharmed. 2) The enemy must have been harmed. 3) The enemy must be seen to have been hurt. 4) Such hurt must be real, not merely superficial. Moses deals with these four aspects of victory in verse twenty nine. 1) "The shield of Your help." 2) "The sword of Your excellence." 3) "Your enemies will dwindle before you," and 4) "You will tread upon their heights." You will be seen to be enjoying the fruits of victory.
The Midrash quoted by Rashi on the verse is well known. (3) When the Torah admonishes in Ki Teytze "remember what Amalek did to you," that warning is a reminder of the conditions under which an Amalek feels encouraged to pounce upon Israel. Israel's own conduct is a provocation . When Joshua is told to choose anashim, i.e. tzaddikim, this is to serve as evidence that there are people amongst Israel who by dint of their lifestyle can face an Amalek without fear, secure in the knowledge that they can count on G-d’s support. Moses assured Joshua that on the morrow he would add the power of prayer to that of the courage of the tzaddikim (5) The visible evidence of Moses’s hands raised in prayer was a psychological prop to the warriors engaged in battle. When Moses’s hands were resting, due to fatigue, this prop was absent inducing fear amongst the Israelites, thus giving Amalek the advantage. Moses’s own physical strength was affected by the knowledge of the weakness of Israel's moral case, as demonstrated by their most recent behaviour. (4+6) Therefore Moses was in need of a physical prop to convey the illusion of superhuman strength and endurance. Viewing Moses’s posture, the Israelites realised that only Moses’s prayer ensured their ascendancy at that particular moment in history. The Talmud Rosh Hashanah 29, compares this happening to the incident with the copper snake, which had the power to heal when the Israelites looked at it. (Numbers 21,6-10) That look also symbolised one's faith in G-d and did not mean that the snake had any power at all. (7+8) For the reasons cited, Israel could not achieve more at that time than to weaken Amalek, not destroy it. This campaign could not be compared to the conquest of the Canaanite nations, since here the warriors had to rely on their own strength, though G-d assisted indirectly in order not to ignore Moses’s prayer. On the one hand G-d wanted to prove to Israel that they had been wrong in questioning His Presence; on the other hand, G-d wanted Israel to know that He was still angry at them. For that reason He commanded Moses to "write this in a book and tell Joshua." Only the latter was deemed worthy at that juncture to be told that the ongoing fight against Amalek was indeed G-d’s fight, and that He would not forsake Israel when the latter would come under attack by Amalek. (9) The revelation that Hashem Himself would in future destroy Amalek, warranted that Moses would build an altar which he named "G-d is My banner." This served as proof that G-d had approved the manner in which Moses had acted on his own when Amalek attacked. The very thing that G-d approved of was Moses’s taking the initiative. G-d was aware that if Israel would be left to its own devices, they would not complete the destruction of Amalek, just as they did not complete the destruction of the seven Canaanite nations despite G-d’s warning that leaving any of them alive or in the country, would prove a destabilising influence to Israel's society. (Numbers 33,55) It was Moses who proclaimed "for as long as there is a hand raised against the throne of G-d, He will be at war with Amalek." (Exodus 17,16) It was Moses’s conviction that the importance of wiping out Amalek warranted that G-d personally would continue to take an active part in such endeavours until they would be crowned with total success. This is the reason we read in Samuel I 15,30, after Saul's failure that "Israel's eternity will not be denied." The ultimate success does not depend on any particular leader of Israel who may or may not carry out G-d’s wishes wholeheartedly. (10) Although G-d commands Israel to wage this war of extermination against Amalek, He Himself will complete whatever has not been accomplished by Israel. This is also the meaning of Bileam's statement "Amalek is the first of the nations, therefore its end must be utter destruction." (Numbers 24,20.) When referring to "nations," Bileam means the first nation to rebel against G-d as a nation. Another reason may be that Amalek committed two wrongs 1) They disregarded the agreement made between their respective ancestors Jacob and Esau. 2) They attacked G-d’s chosen people at a particularly sensitive moment. In the words of the Midrash, Amalek put his hands on a scaldingly hot bathtub, meaning right after a clear demonstration of G-d’s power on behalf of Israel. Therefore, both G-d and Israel would share in the task of punishing Amalek. In Parshat Ki Teytze we read about Israel's part, whereas in Parshat Beshalach we read about G-d’s part. These two portions are complementary to one another. This brings us back to our opening Midrash. Once the Messiah will come, Israel will no longer display the usual human inadequacies, i.e. fulfilling G-d’s will only in part. At that time we will be granted G-d’s direct guidance, and will not have to be led by men, who, though G-d’s instruments, are chosen for their relative merit only. In those latter days the salvation will endure eternally, because intermediaries no longer need to be employed by G-d.
(1) The first message from G'd to Moses was to tell him, that although on occasion, death can be due to the concept of bi-krovay ekadesh, that death need not occur due to a mortal sin, there had been mortal sin in the case of the death of the sons of Aaron. The cause had been the sin as spelled out in the Torah at this point. The second communication by G'd to Moses, though related to him at a later stage, is coupled here with the former, in order to make the point that access to the holy of holies is restricted even to the High Priest, and that G'ds Presence does not appear in public, only wrapped in a cloud. (2) Even amongst the good people, the physical usually outweighs the spiritual. The High Priest who personifies the most favourable mix of the physical and the spiritual, is nonetheless mostly matter. His sin offering is described already in Leviticus 4,4, and consisted of a bull. Most of this bull was burned outside Jerusalem, only a small part being offered on the altar, (verse 12 there) The ram, symbolising man's spiritual part, which becomes olah, a total offering, i.e. fit for consumption by the altar in its entirety, is the other half of the High Priest's offering. Since the majority of the people are guilty of very fundamental errors, due to their yetzer hara, evil urge, the he-goat for the azzazel does not qualify for being offered on the altar itself. The fact that even the he-goat was presented in front of the tabernacle first, alive, is to show that even the kind of person represented by this he-goat will be granted forgiveness on the Day of Atonement. This is a tribute to the fact that a good part of their erroneous conduct had been due to the nature of the human condition, i.e. their being physical beings, something over which they had not had any control initially. The lots to be drawn symbolise the very fact that no choice existed prior to one's having being born into this world. (3) Use of the device of drawing lots to determine anything at all, appears to be an outright denial of G'ds Providence, since the result that emerges after the drawing of lots will be viewed as coincidence. The fact is however, that the cumulative effect of the lot falling again and again on the same person, lends it significance. If until the time of Shimon the Just, the lot "for the Lord" was always drawn by the he-goat placed on the right, that surely tells us something about the meaning of the word "right." (the time frame under discussion is about fifteen hundred years!) Indeed, once that pattern had been broken, due to the fact that the Jewish people could not produce a High Priest who was a tzaddik, and whose merits would counterbalance the sins of the masses, the lot would have become meaningless even if it had fallen on the he-goat that had been placed on the right. When Pharaoh had dreamed the same dream twice, that fact told Joseph something about whether the dream had any significance, or whether it was merely a matter of coincidence. The very repetition enabled Joseph to draw some conclusions. This is even more so, when the repetition occurs more than once. This is the reason the sailors "threw lots" (plural) and not just one "lot" before they were satisfied that the storm that threatened to sink their ship was really on account of Jonah. (Jonah 1,7) Since the lot fell on Jonah each time they repeated the procedure, they were certain that they were not condemning an innocent person on the basis of a "chance" lot. There is an element of chance concerning which person turns into a sinner, since natural endowments have a great deal to do with the likelihood of someone being able to overcome such strikes against him as he has been born with. Hence, if the he-goat for the azzazel becomes the scapegoat by means of the lottery, we might all breathe a sigh of relief and say "here but for the grace of G'd, go I." For that reason, the halachah, Jewish law, requires that the two he-goats must look so totally alike, that they are indistinguishable from one another. When the Tanna Ben Heh Heh says that reward is in accordance with the pain and effort incurred in securing an objective, (Avot 5,23), that he who has to overcome strong natural impediments rates a special reward, he does not mean that lack of this special effort totally forfeits one's chance of rehabilitation. The "scapegoat," though unfit to be presented on the altar, does accomplish this rehabilitation even for persons who have not made a special effort to surmount handicaps they were born with. (4) The procedure of offering incense, required a special skill, and therefore the full concentration of the High Priest during its performance. The reason for this could have been the need to counter the natural tendency to get "a glimpse" of the shechinah, Divine Presence. After all, the Torah did say "for in the cloud, I will become visible on the lid of the holy ark." (Leviticus 16,2) The Talmud tells of a High Priest, who was a member of the sect of the Sadducees, who when performing the rites of incense, put same on the pan prior to entering into the holy of holies, (contrary to hatachah ) and who boasted about having seen the shechinah. He died shortly after coming out of the sanctuary .The Pharisees saw in this a punishment for his disobedience. The Saducees felt that it was bad manners to enter the holy of holies without having everything ready, whereas the interpretation of the Pharisees of the verse "for through having made the cloud, My Presence over the lid can become revealed" was that they considered the exact composition of the correct quantities and ingredients of the incense as being vital. Placing of the incense on the pan, however, is to take place only "in front of G'd," as per verse 13. The sprinkling of the blood inside the holy of holies was to atone for errors concerning the laws applying to the temple itself, whereas the placing of the hands on the he-goat was to atone for other sins. The fact that the he-goat was used, also demonstrated that it was not a deity, (as some nations believed) This is the reason there had to be a special injunction "they shall no longer sacrifice to the he-goats." (Leviticus 17,7) There was no better date to proclaim the unity of G'd symbolically, and the futility of worshipping anyone or anything else, than the Day of Atonement. This symbolic statement helped to obtain forgiveness for other sins also. Whoever would observe that the scapegoat was thrown from the rock, would realise that it had not been an object of worship. Even Satan, the perennial accuser before the throne of G'd, would have to admit that the Jewish people were quite unequivocal in their service to the Lord. This is the meaning of a statement in Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer that we should present a bribe to Satan on that day. The sacrifice of the original Passover lamb in Egypt, was a similar statement of unequivocal commitment to G'd Therefore, the "great Sabbath," the Sabbath preceding the Passover holiday is conceptually related to the day of Atonement. For that reason Yom Kippur is also called Shabbaton The order of the confession, which according to the view of Rabbi Meir mentions the unintentionally committed sins first, and the intentionally committed ones last, was quoted in that order by Moses after the sin of the golden calf, when he remonstrated with G'd. Since Israel, at that time, had already done penitence, Moses made the point that due to the repentance, intentional sins had already been reduced to the status of unintentional sins. However, the normal process as found in the Bible on many occasions, is to first confess the intentional sins, including the ones that represent acts of rebellion against G'ds authority.
There are three levels of knowledge of good and evil. 1) Complete comprehension; 2) Completely erroneous conclusions; 3) A mixture of the previous two. Anyone who falls into category two is like a beast, not knowing left from right. Such people are pere, wild, unbridled, not Adam. Compare Deut. 1,39, "And your children who do not know this day either good or evil." Category One is he who knows correctly he is nolad betzelem, born in G-d’s image, as G-d Himself has testified, "Here man has become like one of Us" (Genesis 3,22). Category Three, i.e. those who have only partial understanding, confused knowledge, are the people who delve into the source of knowledge, making research an end in itself, as did the builders of the tower of Babel. This category comprises most of the human species. The tree of knowledge, though adjacent to the tree of life, was also close to all the other trees. The observer of the scene in the garden of Eden had three choices then. He could ignore the tree completely, and be termed sub-human. Or, he could notice it and all its attractive features, gain valuable insights through smelling it, touching it, and maybe even tasting it, though not eating its fruit. The result would be G-d like appreciation of good and evil. However, the exclusive preoccupation with it called "eating," consuming it while being consumed by its charm, was forbidden and would result in mortality, abandoning oneself to the material, physical. We find in halachah, Jewish law, that whenever "eating" is forbidden, tasting may be permissible, since the principle is that tasting is not something of substance (Berachot 14). The deep involvement in eating from that tree produces as a corollary the result that such a person is no longer receptive to the purely spiritual/ intellectual such as represented by the tree of life. Thus one loses one's anchor in the "higher" world (called by our sages chut shel chessed). What happened to Adam when he abused the tree of knowledge is similar to what happened to King Saul after his failure to kill Agag king of Amalek, when hashgachah peratit, G-d’s Personal Providence, was withdrawn, and His kingdom was no longer considered G-d’s kingdom. When Isaac had said to Esau, "Whenever he (Jacob) will reject the yoke of the Torah, you (Esau) will break the bond" (Genesis 27,40), he also referred to the fact that G-d would then withdraw His hashgachah peratit from the people of Israel. Israel's descent to Egypt, a result of what the brothers had done to Joseph, or the survivors of the generation of spies in the desert, are all examples of the results of failures similar to what had occurred in the garden of Eden. “Mot-Tamut," you will surely die. The tragedy, according to Bereshit Rabbah 16, was that the mortality incurred by Adam was automatically conferred upon his entire offspring, i.e. upon the entire human species. This is the reason the word mot tamut is repeated. All the other trees, the tree of life excepted, contained life's necessities, therefore eating from those trees was permitted.
The bile (marah) is its sword, about that it is stated: (Gen. 27:40) And by your sword you will live... And from whence do we know that bile is the sword of the Angel of Death? For it is written: (Prov. 5:4) And her end is bitter (marah) as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. It is life for the liver, (See BT Ḥullin 46a) but poison of death for the heart.
"Be lord over your brethren" (Beresheet 27:29). Why Heveh (be), instead of the more accepted Heyeh or Tih'yeh? This is a supernal mystery of faith, for these letters, HEI-VAV-HEI are mysteries of faith. The upper Hei above (Binah), Vav in the middle (Tiferet), and the last Hei (Malchut). Therefore he said "Heveh (be) a lord over your brethren," rule over them, and govern them, when king David will appear. Rabbi Yosi said that all that will happen when Messiah will come. For (as long as) Yisrael transgress the words of the Torah, then, "you shall break his yoke from off your neck"
Also, Jacob (was blessed) above and below. And Esau only below. And though it is written, "and it shall come to pass when you shall have the dominion, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck" (Beresheet 27:40), here, but up above, nothing (is cancelled), as it is written, "For Hashem's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of His inheritance" (Devarim 32:9). Come and behold, When Jacob and Esau started to avail themselves of the blessings, Jacob received his share from above, and Esau took his share below.
"Behold, I have made him your lord...and what shall I do now for you, my son" (Beresheet 27:37). This means that there is no one present who gives consent, "What shall I do now for you, my son." He then blessed him in this world. He looked at his grade and said to him "and by your sword shall you live," for it is fitting of you to shed blood and wage wars. Therefore he said, "What shall I do now for you, my son".
“God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood on the way as an impediment to him, and he was riding on his donkey, and his two lads were with him” (Numbers 22:22). “God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood” – it was an angel of mercy, that was transformed for him into an impediment. “His two lads were with him” – this is the way of the world, that a person who sets out on the way needs two to serve him, and they then serve one another. “The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing on the road, and his sword was drawn in his hand, and the donkey turned from the road, and went into the field. Bilam struck the donkey, to turn it to the road” (Numbers 22:23). “The donkey saw the angel of the Lord…[and his sword was drawn in his hand]” – was the angel unable to blow on him and remove his spirit without drawing his sword? But is it not written regarding Sennacherib: “An angel of the Lord came out and smote…in the camp of Assyria” (Isaiah 37:36), and it is written: “When He blows on them [they wither]” (Isaiah 40:24), their lives. Rather, this is what he said to him: ‘The mouth is granted to Jacob, as it is stated: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22), and it is written: “You shall live by your sword” (Genesis 27:40). All the nations, their lives are by their sword, and you will exchange your craft and come upon them with theirs? I, too, will come upon you with yours: “And his sword was drawn in his hand.”’
“By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother; it will be when you will revolt, you will remove his yoke from your neck” (Genesis 27:40). “By [ve’al] your sword you will live” – Rabbi Levi said: Insert [ul] your sword and you will live. (Insert your sword into its sheath and do not draw it, because if you attack Jacob you will be defeated.) “And you will serve your brother” – Rav Huna said: If he merits, you will serve; if not, you will eradicate. “It will be when you will revolt” – you have fairs and markets and he has markets; you have laws and customs and he has laws and customs. Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta said: If you see your brother throwing the yoke of Torah from upon him, decree upon him persecutions and you will dominate him. That is what is written: “For You are our Father; although Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us” (Isaiah 63:16). Where is Isaac? One who says to him: (Isaac said to Esau.) ‘Decree upon him persecutions,’ do you (The prophet.) mention him along with the [other] patriarchs?
“Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Se’ir, the field of Edom” (Genesis 32:4). “Jacob sent messengers before him” – Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Reuven began: “Arise, Lord, confront him and subdue him. Rescue me from the wicked with Your sword” (Psalms 17:13) – Rabbi Pinḥas said: Five times in the book of Psalms, David calls for the Holy One blessed be He to arise: “Arise, Lord; save me, my God” (Psalms 3:8); “Arise, Lord, in Your anger” (Psalms 7:7); “Arise, Lord God, raise Your hand. Do not forget” (Psalms 10:12); “Arise, Lord; let man not be arrogant” (Psalms 9:20); “Arise, Lord, confront him” (Psalms 17:13). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘David, my son, even if you call for Me to rise many times, I will not rise. When will I rise? It is when the poor are robbed and the indigent are groaning.’ That is what is written: “Because of the robbery of the poor and the groans of the indigent [now I will arise]” (Psalms 12:6). Rabbi Yona said: “Now I will arise” (Psalms 12:6) – as long as it is wallowing in the ashes, as it were…. (The Holy One blessed be He is, as it were, also wallowing in the ashes.) Rather, when [comes] the day in whose regard it is written: “Shake the dust from you, arise and sit, Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:2), at that moment: “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord” (Zechariah 2:17). Why? “For He is roused from His abode of sanctity” (Zechariah 2:17). Rabbi Aḥa said: Like this rooster that moves itself from the ashes. “Confront him [kadma panav]” (Psalms 17:13) – give the wicked early, before he comes to greet You. (Give him his reward in this world, and repay him for his evil before he comes before You to repent.) “Subdue him [hakhri’ehu]” (Psalms 17:13) – tip the scales to condemn him [hakhriḥehu] and break him, just as it says: “They dropped to their knees [kare’u] and fell…” (Psalms 20:9). “Deliver me from the wicked with Your sword” (Psalms 17:13) – deliver my soul from that wicked one (Esau.) who comes by the power of that sword, as it is stated: “By your sword you shall live” (Genesis 27:40). Alternatively, deliver my soul from that wicked one, (Rome, descendants of Esau.) who is Your sword through whom You subjugate the world. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Deliver my soul from that wicked one who is destined to fall by your sword. That is what is written: “For My sword is sated in Heaven; [behold, it will descend upon Edom]” (Isaiah 34:5) – the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘He was going on his way, and then you are sending to him and saying: “So said your servant, Jacob”’ (Genesis 32:5). (Had you not sent to him, Esau would have continued on his way to Edom.)
“Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, mother and children alike” (Genesis 32:12). “Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau” – deliver my future descendants from the hand of his descendants, who come with the power of Esau. (The power of Esau is the sword – “by your sword you shall live” (Genesis 27:40).) That is what is written: “I was looking at the horns, and behold, another, small horn arose among them” (Daniel 7:8) – that is the son of Netzer. (A robber who conquered provinces on the Roman–Persian border and ruled there under the auspices of Rome.) “And three of the original horns were uprooted from before it” (Daniel 7:8) – this is that they gave them their kingdom; Macrinus, Carinus, and Kyriades. (These were the provinces.) “Behold, there were eyes like the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly” (Daniel 7:8) – this is the evil empire that imposes levies upon all the nations of the world. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is written: “And the ten horns: From this kingdom, ten kings will arise” (Daniel 7:24), all of those referred to in the verse are descendants of Esau. (All ten horns represent ten kingdoms descended from Esau, not from the son of Netzer.) Rather, “I was looking at the horns, and behold, another, small horn arose among them” – this is the evil empire. “And three of the original horns were uprooted from before it” – these are the three previous kingdoms. (Babylon, Persia–Media, and Greece.) “Behold, there were eyes like the eyes of a man in this horn” – this is the evil empire, that casts an envious eye on the possessions of others. This wealthy one, we will make him governor of his province; this wealthy one, we will make him an economic adviser. “Lest he come and smite me, mother and children alike” – and you said: “You shall not take the mother with the offspring” (Deuteronomy 22:6). Another matter, “Lest he come and smite me, mother and children alike” – and you said: “A bull or a sheep, it and its offspring you shall not slaughter on one day” (Leviticus 22:28).
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of villainy are their heritage” (Genesis 49:5). Reuben went out and his ears were slumped. [Jacob] began calling: “Simeon and Levi are brothers” – brothers for degradation. He said to them: ‘You were brothers for Dina, as it is written: “Two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dina’s brothers, each took his sword” (Genesis 34:25), but not brothers for Joseph, as you sold him.’ Rabbi Simlai said: In Reuben’s regard it is written: “In order to deliver him from their hand, to restore him to his father” (Genesis 37:22). Reuben was not involved in Joseph’s sale. Judah, too, said to them: “What profit [is there if we kill our brother]?” (Genesis 37:26). These were the eldest; consequently, the two of them sold him. (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah were the oldest sons of Jacob. If Reuben and Judah were not involved in the sale, it must have been Simeon and Levi who organized it. ) Know that it is so, for when they descended to Egypt, [Joseph] took from them none other than Simeon, as it is stated: “He took Simeon from them [and incarcerated him before their eyes]” (Genesis 42:24). That is why [Jacob] called the two of them as one. “Weapons of villainy” – what are weapons of villainy? He said to them: ‘They have been stolen by you; they are not yours. They belong to Esau, in whose regard it is written: “By your sword you shall live”’ (Genesis 27:40). Those are weapons of villainy, and villainy is none other than Esau, as it is stated: “For the villainy to your brother Jacob” (Obadiah 1:10). (Thus, Jacob was saying that the weapons of Simeon and Levi belong to Esau, who is the subject of the verse in Obadiah. ) “Their heritage [mekheroteihem]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is a Greek expression, makhirin, makhirin>. Some say: “Mekhuroteihen” – their residences [meguroteihem], just as it says: “Your origins [mekhorotayikh] and your birthplace” (Ezekiel 16:3). “Let my soul not come in their company; with their assembly let my glory not be associated; for in their anger they killed men, and with their will they hamstrung oxen” (Genesis 49:6). “Let my soul not come in their company” – when Zimri will arise and perform that act with Kozbi, let my name not be mentioned there, as it is stated: “The name of the man of Israel who was slain…[Zimri, son of Salu, a prince of a patrilineal house of the Simeonites]” (Numbers 25:14). (The name of Jacob is not mentioned. ) “With their assembly let my glory not be associated” – when Koraḥ will assemble his congregation to dispute, let my name not be associated with them, but rather, “Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar, son of Kehat, son of Levi” (Numbers 16:1), but it did not say: “Son of Jacob.” “For in their anger they killed men [ish]” – did they kill one man [ish]; is it not written: “They killed all the males” (Genesis 34:25)? It is that they were all considered before the Holy One blessed be He like one man. Likewise it says: “Behold [hen], nations may be regarded like a drop from a bucket…” (Isaiah 40:16). What is hen? In the Greek language, hen is one. Likewise it says: “You will smite Midian as one man” (Judges 6:16). Similarly, “the horse and its rider He cast into the sea” (Exodus 15:1) – like one horse and its rider. (The singular terms are used in order to indicate that God cast all the many horses and riders of the Egyptian army into the sea as though they were just one. ) “Cursed is their anger, as it is fierce, and their wrath, as it is harsh; I will divide them in Jacob, and I will disperse them in Israel” (Genesis 49:7). “Cursed is their anger” – he cursed only their anger. Likewise, the wicked Bilam says: “How will I curse, where God has not cursed” (Numbers 23:8)? If at a time of anger he cursed only their anger, can I come to curse them? (If Jacob was angry at Simeon and Levi and yet, with divine spirit, Jacob cursed only their anger and not them, can I, Bilam, curse the Israelites? ) “I will divide them in Jacob” – how so? Twenty-four thousand fell from the tribe of Simeon in [the incident of] Zimri, and its widows were twenty-four thousand. They were divided into two thousand for each and every tribe, as it is stated: “I will divide them in Jacob.” Everyone who circulates among the doorways [to beg] is from the tribe of Simeon. The Holy One blessed be He said: Levi too will circulate. What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He provided him with his sustenance cleanly, and yet Jacob’s edict was fulfilled. The Holy One blessed be He elevated [Levi] and gave him one-tenth, (The first tithe of produce. ) and he circulates and says: ‘Give me my portion.’ That is why it is stated: “I will divide them in Jacob.”
Another matter, what is “You [have circled] enough…”? Rabbi Aḥa said: If you harm him, you are really harming yourselves. How so? His father blessed him with one blessing: “By your sword you will live” (Genesis 27:40), and he blessed Jacob with ten blessings. From where is this derived? As it is written: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens” (Genesis 27:28). (Ten blessings are listed in this verse and the following one. ) If his blessing is void, your ten blessings will be void – “you have circled enough…” (The midrash is commenting on the verses that follow, in which the Israelites are warned not to confront Edom. Alternatively, it is picking up on the Hebrew words for “you…enough [rav lakhem],” which can be translated to mean that what is yours [lakhem] is greater [rav] than that which is Esau’s (Midrash HaMevoar). )
Rabbi Berekhya said: When Esau came in to his father and saw that Jacob had taken the blessings, he said to [Isaac]: ‘Did you not leave even one blessing for me?’ As it is stated: “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36). Isaac said to him: ‘Even if I bless you, I will be blessing him. Did I not say so to him: “Be a lord to your brethren”? (Genesis 27:29). The slave and everything that he has, do they not belong to his master?’ What is “turn yourselves to the north [tzafona]”? Rabbi Ḥiyya said: [God] said to them: ‘If you see that he (The reference is to Esau, meaning, his descendants. ) is seeking to provoke you, do not confront him. Instead, conceal [hatzpinu] yourselves from him until his world will pass.’ (Until his success and power pass.) That is, “turn yourselves to the north.” Rabbi Yehuda bar Shalom said: Israel said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, his father gave him the blessing: “By your sword you will live” (Genesis 27:40), and You confirmed it for him, and You say to us: Conceal yourselves from him? To where will we flee?’ He said to them: ‘If you see that they are confronting you, flee to the Torah.’ Tzafona is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “He reserves [yitzpon] the Torah for the upright” (Proverbs 2:7). Another matter, what is “tzafona”? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Wait until the time when the messianic king will come and fulfill: “How great is the goodness [You have in store [tzafanta] for those who fear You]”’ (Psalms 31:20).
He came and revealed Himself to the sons of the wicked Esav and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They: What is written in it? He: "You shall not kill." They: But this is what we have inherited from our father, as it is written (Genesis 27:40) "By your sword shall you live!"
What is written of Moses? (Numbers 20:14-16) "And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom … And our fathers went down to Egypt … and He hearkened to our voice." He (the king of Edom) said to them (the messengers): You take pride in what your father Isaac bequeathed to you — (Genesis 27:22) "The voice is the voice of Jacob", (Numbers 21:3) "And the L–rd hearkened to the voice of Israel" — and we take pride in what our father Isaac bequeathed to us — (Genesis, Ibid.) "and the hands are the hands of Esav", (Ibid. 40) "and by your sword will you live." As it is written (Numbers 20:18) "And Edom said to him: Do not pass through me, lest I go out against you with the sword," their trust being only in the sword. But Israel embraced the "trade" (prayer) of their fathers, the trade of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Another interpretation (of Ezek. 35:6): SURELY YOU HAVE HATED BLOOD. Now Esau hated blood. His father had blessed him through blood, and he had confidence in blood, as stated (in Gen. 27:40): YET BY YOUR SWORD YOU SHALL LIVE. Still it < actually > says to him (in Ezek. 35:6): SURELY YOU HAVE HATED BLOOD! It is simply that he hated a person's life while it was placed in his body. It is therefore stated (in Gen. 25:32, end): SO WHAT IS THE USE OF THIS BIRTHRIGHT TO ME?
(Numb. 22:20:) “Then God came unto Balaam at night.” This text is related (to Exod. 12:42), “That was for the Lord a night of vigil.” All miracles which were done for Israel and which involved exacting retribution for them from the wicked took place at night: (Numb. R. 20:12.) (Gen. 31:24:) “And God came unto Laban the Aramean in a dream at night.” And it is written (in Gen. 20:3:) “But God came unto Abimelech in a dream at night.” And it is written (in (Gen. 14:15), “And he deployed at night.” And it is written (in Exod. 12:29), “And it came to pass in the middle of the night.” And so [it was with] all of them. Another interpretation: Why did he reveal himself to Balaam by night? He was not worthy of [receiving] the holy spirit [except at night]. Since He speaks at night with all the prophets of the nations, as stated (in Job 4:13), “In opinions from night visions.” And so Eliphaz says (in Job 4:13), “In a dream, a vision of the night,” about [Balaam’s] speaking with him at night. (Numb. 22:20, cont.:) “If these men have come to invite you, arise and go with them.” From here you learn that in the way that a man wants to go, in it is he driven. As at first it was said to him (in Numb. 22:12), “Do not go with them.” As soon as he had become defiant, he went. As so is it written about him (in Numb. 22:22), “But God's anger was kindled because he was going.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “I do not desire the death of the wicked. [But] in as much as you want to be obliterated from the world, ‘arise and go with them.’” And it is written (in Numb. 22:20, cont.), “but only the thing [that I tell you are you to do].” [These words are] to teach you that he went with a warning. Immediately he got up early in the morning, as stated (in vs. 21), “So Balaam arose early in the morning, saddled his she-ass, [and went with the princes of Moab].” Did he not have a male or female slave [to saddle his donkey]? It was simply that his hatred for Israel was so great that he beat [his servant] to it and arose quickly all by himself. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You wicked man! Their ancestor Abraham has already anticipated you at the binding of his son Isaac,” as stated (in Gen. 22:3), “So Abraham arose early in the morning, saddled his he-ass.” (Numb. 22:21, cont.:) “And went with the princes of Moab.” [These words are] to teach you that he was as glad at the tribulation of Israel as they were. (Numb. 22:22:) “But God's anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took a stand [in the road as his adversary (satan)].” (A good example of this Hebrew word when it is not used as a proper noun.) He was an angel of mercy, but to [Balaam] he had become an adversary (satan). (Numb. R. 20:13.) And so he said [unto] Balaam, “You have caused me to practice a craft that is not my own, as stated (Numb. 22:32), “here I have come out as an adversary (satan).” (Numb. 22:22, cont.:) “And two of his servant boys were with him.” This is customary for one going out on the road. It is necessary for two to attend him. Then in turn they attend each other. (Numb. 22:23:) “Now the she-ass saw the angel of the Lord and a sword was drawn in his hand.” Was not the angel able to breathe on him and take away his spirit unless he drew his sword? And look at what is written about Sennacherib (in II Kings 19:35 = Is. 37:36 // II Chron. 32:21.), “the angel of the Lord went out and smote [one hundred and eighty-five thousand] in the camp of Assyria.” [It is also written (in Is. 40:24),] “he blows on them and they wither.” However, he said to him, “[Skill with] the mouth was given to Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 27:22), ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob.’ And [skill with] the hands to Esau, as stated (in Gen. 27:40), ‘Upon your sword shall you live.’ All the nations all live by the sword. Now you are trading off your craft and coming against them with their [craft]. I also am coming against you with your own [craft].” (Numb. 22:24:) “Then the angel of the Lord stood in a lane between the vineyards.” Could he not have gone after him into the field? (Numb. R. 20:14.) It is simply that this is the nature of the Holy One, blessed be He. When a king of flesh and blood sends an executioner (Lat.: speculator (“examiner”).) to kill a particular person, he goes after him for many days, so that this person who has incurred the penalty of death [continues] eating and drinking, while the executioner goes after him from place to place. With the Holy One, blessed be He, however, it is not like that. Rather the executioner is in his place and whoever has incurred the penalty of death comes to him of his own accord. So that the angel would not be bothered with going after Balaam, he simply went ahead of him on the road, for it is so written (ibid.), “Then the angel of the Lord stood in a lane between the vineyards.” He said to him, “Shall the vineyards (i.e., Israel) be given over to the foxes?” (Cf. the parallel text in Numb. R. 20:14, which has “like foxes.”) (Numb. 22:24, cont.:) “With a wall on one side and a wall on the other side.” You cannot prevail against them, because in their hand (according to Exod. 32:15) are tablets of stone, written [on both their sides], on the one side and on the other side they are written. (Numb. 22:25-26:) “When the she-ass saw the angel of the Lord, she was pressed [against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck it again]. Then the angel of the Lord moved forward again [and stood in a place so narrow that there was no room to turn aside to the right or to the left].” What reason did he have to go ahead of him three times? He showed him here symbols of the [three] patriarchs. When he stood before him the first time, there was space on one side and on the other, [as stated] (in Numb. 22:23), “so the she-ass turned aside from the road.” On the second occasion she could only move to one side. On the third occasion (according to Numb. 22:26) “there was no room to turn aside to the right or to the left.” So what do the symbols mean? If he ever sought to curse the Children of Abraham, he would find the Children of Ishmael and the Children of Keturah on one side and on the other. [If] he sought to curse the Children of Isaac, he would find the Children of Esau on one side, and (according to Numb. 22:25) “she was pressed against the (one) wall.” In the case of the Children of Jacob, however, he found among them no residue through which to touch them. It is therefore written about the third occasion (in vs. 26), “in a narrow (‘zar) place.” This is Jacob, as stated (in Genesis 32:8), “Jacob was very frightened and [it] distressed (ye‘zer) him.” (Numb. 22:26:) “There was no room to turn aside to the right or to the left.” As there was no residue in any of his sons. (Numb. 22:27:) “When the she-ass saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, [so Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the she-ass with a stick (mql)],” because of the shame with which she had shamed him. (Both the noun and verb, translated here as SHAME, come from the root, BZH; but the interpretation may have been suggested by a word with a similar meaning, namely MQLH, which means “putting to shame.” This word could have implied the relation between shame and MQL as used in Numb. 22:27.)
Furthermore it says: Fear not, thou worm Jacob (Isa. 41:14). Why is Israel compared to a worm? To teach us that just as a worm has only a soft and tender mouth with which to strike at a hard cedar tree, so Israel has only its prayers. Idolaters are likened to a cedar, as Scripture states: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon (Exod. 31:3). And yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars in Lebanon (Ps. 29:5). Whenever their enemies overpowered them, the Israelites would become penitent and would plead and pray. Hence it says: I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren which I took out of the hand of the Amorites, with my sword and with my bow (Gen 48:29). Did he actually seize it with his sword and his bow? Has it not already been said: For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me (Ps. 44:7)? This implies that my sword refers to prayer and my bow to beseeching. Scripture says: And this for Judah, and he said: “Hear Lord, the voice of Judah,” etc. (Deut. 33:7). Similarly, David said: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast taunted (I Sam. 17:45). It says also: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will make mention of the name of the Lord his God (Ps. 20:8), and it is said: There is none beside Thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength; help us, O Lord our God; for we rely on Thee, and in Thy name are we come against this multitude. Thou art the Lord our God; let not man prevail against thee (II Chron. 14:10). Concerning Moses it states: And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom … how our fathers went down into Egypt, and when we cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice (Num. 20:14–15). He said to them: Ye exalt yourselves because of your fathers’ legacy to you, but the voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau (Gen. 27:40). Thus the verse The children of Israel cried out unto the Lord indicates that they followed the practices of their fathers. After they cried out to Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them, as it is said: But from thence ye will seek the Lord thy God; and thou shall find him (Deut. 4:29).
Weapons of violence. He said to them: The weapons in your possession are weapons of violence stolen from Esau, of whom it is said: By the sword shalt thou live (ibid. 27:40). These are weapons of violence, and violence is associated with Esau, as it is said: For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever (Obad. 10).
Another thing, "Arise, O Lord." Remember your oath that the angel swore in your name, as it says (Daniel 12:7), "And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by Him that lives forever." And it is written (Isaiah 30:18), "Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious unto you." And all you have is an oath, as it says (1 Samuel 3:14), "Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli." Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Levi, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'I have made an oath to reveal the end and to redeem you. Even if Gog and Magog come, I will fight them,' as it says (Zechariah 14:3), 'Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations.'" Therefore, David said, "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail," meaning, decide the matter in favor of merit rather than liability. Another interpretation is that the sword destroyed them, as it says (Psalms 20:9), "They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen, and stand upright." "Save my soul from the wicked, with Your sword." This was accomplished through the power of my forefathers and the power of the Torah, which is called a sword, as it says (Isaiah 49:2), "And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword." Another interpretation is that my soul was saved from that which was destined to come upon me through the power of that sword that Isaac said to me (Genesis 27:40), "And by your sword shall you live." Another interpretation is that it is the same sword with which you will descend in the world to come, as it says (Isaiah 10:5), "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger." Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Levi, "My soul was saved from that wicked one whom you will eventually defeat with your sword," as it says (Isaiah 34:5), "For My sword is sated in heaven."...
Rabbi Ṭarphon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, rose and came from Mount Sinai and was revealed unto the sons of Esau, as it is said, "And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them" (Deut. 33:2). And "Seir" means only the sons of Esau, as it is said, "And Esau dwelt in Mount Seir" (Gen. 36:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Will ye accept for yourselves the Torah? They said to Him: What is written therein? He answered them: It is written therein, "Thou shalt do no murder" (Ex. 20:13). They replied to Him: We are unable to abandon the blessing with which Isaac blessed Esau, for he said to him, "By thy sword shalt thou live" (Gen. 27:40). Thence He turned and was revealed unto the children of Ishmael, as it is said, "He shined forth from Mount Paran" (Deut. 33:2). "Paran" means only the sons of Ishmael, as it is said, "And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran" (Gen. 21:21). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Will ye accept for yourselves the Torah? They said to Him: What is written therein? He answered them: "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15) is written therein. They said to Him: We are not able to abandon the usage which our fathers observed, for they brought Joseph down into Egypt, as it is said, "For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews" (Gen. 40:15). Thence He sent || messengers to all the nations of the world. He said unto them: Will ye receive for yourselves the Torah? They said to Him: What is written therein? He said to them: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3). They said to Him: We have no delight in the Torah, therefore let Him give His Torah to His people, as it is said, "The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace" (Ps. 29:11). Thence He returned and was revealed unto the children of Israel, as it is said, "And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones" (Deut. 33:2). The expression "ten thousands" means the children of Israel, as it is said, "And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel" (Num. 10:36). With Him were thousands twice-told of chariots, even twenty thousand of holy angels, and His right hand was holding the Torah, as it is said, "At his right hand was a fiery law unto them" (Deut. 33:2).
Apropos the waters of Tiberias, the mishna discusses the halakhot of bathing and medicine on Shabbat. One may smear oil on his body and gently rub his body with his hand; however, one may not exert himself with vigorous massage or by means of exercise in order to benefit from the therapeutic effects of sweating; and one may not scrape the oil off with a scraper. Additionally, one may not go into a swampy river [kurdima], on Shabbat. And one may not make a drug to induce vomiting, nor may one align a young infant’s bones to straighten them, nor may one reset a break in a bone. One whose hand or foot was dislocated may not move them about vigorously in cold water, which is the standard method of treatment; however, one may wash the limb in the typical manner, and if one is cured through this washing, he is cured.
The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."
A further problem is that Isaac, as a result of Esau's complaint, appended a condition to the blessing he had given Jacob. What effect can the condition והיה כאשר תריד וכ' in 27,40 have on a blessing pronounced in 27,28?
Some Kabbalists explain Exodus 18,1, in which we are told what Yitro "had heard," as a description of Moses' spiritual ascent. According to that view, the words אשר עשה אלוקים למשה, mean that G–d in His capacity as י-ה-ו-ה, made an Elo-him of Moses. Yitro had heard that G–d said about Moses: ראה נתתיך אלוהים לפרעה, "See here, I have made you a deity over Pharaoh," while at the same time He had made the people His עם, nation. It was Yitro's understanding that becoming G–d's people meant becoming His "army." This would have been the realisation of G–d's wish ever since the Creation to have a residence in the material world. The reason that G–d, i.e. His manifest Presence, שכינה, withdrew from earth was only because man had seriously damaged that part of G–d's creation by his sins. Now G–d had refined the Jewish people in the "crucible" of the Egyptian bondage experience to the point where He chose them to be His "army" in lieu of His Celestial Army. This is the meaning of the words in 6,26: הוציאו את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים על צבאותם, "Take the children of Israel out of Egypt in their armies." Rashi comments that the words: צבאותם mean "every army according to their tribes." Had not these people participated in the sin of the golden calf afterwards, they would have remained on that lofty level indefinitely, just as they will be in the Messianic future of which the Torah says in Leviticus 26,12,: והתהלכתי בתוככם, "I shall be walking amongst you."
על המשקוף, “on the lintel;” the word משקוף is a derivative of וישקף “he looked down.” The lintel faces the empty space of the door and “looks” down into it. The reason for this was seeing that not all the Egyptians had become aware of what was going on, now that they saw these markings at the entrances to the homes of the Israelites they would realise how the Israelites had desecrated their sacred symbols. An alternate explanation: the blood on the entrances of the homes of the Israelites should form the equivalent of the letter ח, in order to protect the entrance so that the destructive force which would kill the firstborn inside would not carry out that command. The letter ח is reminiscent of Yitzchok blessing Esau with the words על חרבך תחיה, “you will live by your sword.” (Genesis 27,40). On the other hand, the letter ח could be a symbol of חיים, life. [It hardly pays to speculate. Ed.]
על הבתים, not “above” the houses but בבתים “attached to the houses.” The word על appears in that sense in על צבאותם, “with their respective armies,” or as in Genesis 27,40.
לרחוץ על היאור, “to bathe in the waters of the river; other examples of the word על meaning “in,” instead of “on, or above,” are found in: Genesis 27,40 על חרבך תחיה, “you will live with the use of your sword.” Also Exodus 12,7: על הבתים אשר יאכלו אותו בהם, “in the houses that they will eat it in.
Wer sich die Hand oder den Fuss verrenkt hat. נפרקה = Man vergleiche Genesis 27, 40, מעל צוארך והיה כאשר תריד ופרקת עלו dann kannst Du abschütteln, ablösen, losmachen, abschneiden. Davon das Rabbinische = Abschnitt, sowohl in der Zeit als im Raume.
KITTIM. Kittim is the name of one of Javan’s sons. (Even though it is in the plural.) I therefore explain in my comments on the Book of Daniel that Greeks and Romans (I.E. maintains that the brass sections of the giant statue dreamed of by Nebuchadnezzar allude to the Greek and Roman empires. See Daniel, Chap. 2 and Ibn Ezra’s comment there on verse 39. I.E. identifies the Kittim with the Romans. (See his comments on Gen. 27:40). Since Kittim (the Romans) was the son of Javan (the Greeks) one symbol stands for both of them.) constitute one kingdom. (Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a statue whose head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (Dan. 2:32, 34). Each of these metals symbolizes a kingdom. I.E. identifies the brass with the Greeks and the Romans, whom he considers one kingdom because they are one race.)
ועתה אם שמוע תשמעו, And now, "if you will hearken carefully, etc." The word ועתה must be understood in accordance with what Bereshit Rabbah 21,6 teaches, in connection with Genesis 3,22 when Adam was being expelled from Gan Eden. The Midrash says there that this word always introduces the element of repentance. Inasmuch as the Israelites were still tainted by the many sins they had committed in the past as well as sins they had committed quite recently, such as when they rebelled against G'd's command in connection with the manna and the Sabbath, G'd warned them that in order to qualify for the gift of the Torah they had to undergo spiritual cleansing, a process of repentance. There is an interesting ruling in Kiddushin 49 that when a man betrothes a woman on the condition that he is righteous and it is found that he had been guilty of a number of sins this fact does not invalidate the bethrothal as it is presumed that he had confessed and repented his sins prior to the betrothal. His repentance entitled him to describe himself as righteous.
all evildoers are scattered," that man's deeds betray the state of his soul, such as the kind of state referred to in Deut. 29,17 as "a root that bears gall and wormwood." On the other hand, when the soul is wholesome it reflects sanctity. I have written more about this in connection with Jacob's criticising Reuben on his deathbed (Genesis 49,3). We explained there that if Reuben suffered from a character weakness this had to do with what Jacob thought about when he bedded Leah thinking she was Rachel. The arguments of Esau, Ammon and Moav, as well as Ishmael were of a similar nature. They accused G'd of having burdened them with hereditary character weaknesses which would make it difficult if not impossible for them to fulfil those parts of the Torah which G'd had mentioned to them. They did not brag about their faults. They only said that their lifestyle was proof that they had been burdened with such moral weakness as they exhibited already from birth, that the root of their collective soul was polluted. There was, however, a subtle difference between the arguments of Ammon and Moav on one side and those of Esau and Ishmael on the other. Ammon and Moav attributed their problems to an action by their forefather [or better by their respective matriarchs, Lot's daughters, seeing that Lot was unconscious at the time Ed.]. The Ishmaelites went further; they blamed G'd directly seeing that their matriarch Hagar had been told by the angel (Genesis 16,12) that the son she would give birth to would be unbridled and aggressive. The people of Edom blamed their patriarch Isaac who had encouraged Esau to live the life of a murderer by telling him: "you will live by your sword" (Genesis 27,40).
ואלה המלכים אשר מלכו בארץ אדום, “and these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text all of the kings listed here were descendants of Esau. There were a total of eight of them, namely: Bela ben Be-or, Yovav ben Zerach, Chusham, Haddad ben Bedad, Samlah, Saul of Rechovot, Baal Chanan ben Achbar, and Hadar. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 75,11 state that these eight kings corresponded to the eight times Yaakov called Esau אדוני, “my lord.” According to this Midrash G’d immediately told Yaakov that as a consequence of his demeaning himself in front of Esau, Esau would produce eight kings before Yaakov’s descendants would produce the first king. (compare the beginning of our portion to see the eight times Yaakov called Esau: “my lord”). An additional allusion to this is found in the eight words of the verse beginning with the word תמנע as I have already pointed out in my commentary on verse 12. The names of the places mentioned by our portion as belonging to Edom are: Bazra and Teyman; the former has been mentioned also in Isaiah 34, 6 ”for the Lord holds a sacrifice in Bazrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.” The name Teyman is mentioned in Ovadiah 9 “your warriors shall lose heart O Teyman and not a man of Esau’s mount shall survive the slaughter.” Interestingly, we find that not a single king mentioned in the list given by the Torah was the son of his predecessor. This is in sharp contrast to the kings who ruled over Israel, most of whom were succeeded by their sons. The reason the Torah reports all these seemingly irrelevant details is that it wanted to demonstrate that Yitzchak’s blessing that Esau would live by the sword came true.
Nachmanides supplies a much better sounding reason claiming that using instruments that are instruments of war to fashion the stones for an altar which symbolises peace would seem a contradiction in terms. Esau’s power derives from his father’s blessing ועל חרבך תחיה, “and you will survive by the sword” (Genesis 27,40). At the same time, G’d is on record repeatedly as saying that He hates Esau and what Esau stands for (Malachi 1,3). Esau is the very antithesis of the altar. Actually, the principal prohibition is not that the stones are hewn but the fact that in order to be hewn iron instruments, instruments used to wage war have to be used. This is made plain in the words at the end of the verse: “for your sword has been raised over it.” You have a similar verse in Deut. 27,5: לא תניף עליהם ברזל, “do not raise iron above them.” If a stone which is hewn is made by use of chemicals such as the secretion of the Shamir worm or a silver hammer, the Torah would actually not object to an altar so constructed. The main purpose of the prohibition is to ensure that iron is not used in construction of or use on the altar. The reason that in our verse the word “iron” is paraphrased as “your sword,” is that the sword is a destructive agent bringing death to the world. The altar’s purpose is to ensure that peace reigns on earth. It is therefore conceptually difficult to reconcile the use of iron in building the altar. When you peruse the gifts the people brought for construction of the Tabernacle you will not find that any iron was contributed. None was used in its construction. Kings I 6,7 makes a point of mentioning that during the seven years it took to build Solomon’s Temple “the sound of a hammer, ax, or iron tool was never heard in the House while it was being built.” There is a commentary which views the words “in the House” as meaning that only inside the Temple were iron tools not heard, but they were used outside of it without restriction. This means that items requiring iron tools were constructed outside and not brought into the Temple until they had been completed.
LET REUBEN LIVE. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “he began with Reuben because he was the firstborn. He did not mention Simeon because of the sin of [Baal] Peor, because the worshippers were Simeonites, the proof being their numbers, (In the first census the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300 (Numbers 2:13). In the second census [after the Peor affair] they numbered 22,200 (ibid., 26:14), a decrease of 37,100 people. In the opinion of Ibn Ezra the decrease would be accounted for by the 24,000 people that died in the plague because of the Peor affair (ibid., 25:9) thus indicating that the idol-worshippers were exclusive of that tribe. On this point, Ramban will comment that even assuming that all 24,000 who died in the plague were from the tribe of Simeon, there are still 13,100 people unaccounted for, a discrepancy that cannot be explained by Ibn Ezra’s theory.) and their prince, too, being killed [in the affair].” In my opinion, the numbers are no proof because over thirteen thousand are still unaccounted for, aside from those who died in the plague. (In the first census the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300 (Numbers 2:13). In the second census [after the Peor affair] they numbered 22,200 (ibid., 26:14), a decrease of 37,100 people. In the opinion of Ibn Ezra the decrease would be accounted for by the 24,000 people that died in the plague because of the Peor affair (ibid., 25:9) thus indicating that the idol-worshippers were exclusive of that tribe. On this point, Ramban will comment that even assuming that all 24,000 who died in the plague were from the tribe of Simeon, there are still 13,100 people unaccounted for, a discrepancy that cannot be explained by Ibn Ezra’s theory.) In addition, other tribes as well diminished in population, for the sons of Gad lost five thousand, (In the first census the Gadites numbered 46,500 (Numbers 2:15), and in the second census they were 40,500 (ibid., 26:18) — a decrease of 5,150. — And so perhaps we should assume that these deaths resulted from the plague because of Peor.) and the sons of Ephraim, eight thousand! (In the first census the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500 (Numbers 2:19), and in the second census they were 32,500 (ibid., 26:37) — a decrease of 8000.) Moreover, from the verse which states, And Israel attached himself unto Baal-peor, (Numbers 25:3.) and it is said again, Take all the chiefs of the people (Ibid., Verse 4.) it would appear that there were some among them from all the tribes, and that all their judges passed sentence on them. And similarly He said, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy. (Ibid., Verse 11.) Now do not rejoin against me from the affair of Achan where He said, Israel hath sinned (Joshua 7:11. In this part of the verse the specific sin is not mentioned yet. It is stated at the end of that verse: Yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing. — For the significance thereof see Ramban further.) [although it was but a single individual who sinned; similarly we can say that it was the tribe of Simeon alone that sinned in the affair of Peor yet Scripture describes it as if the entire nation sinned. This rejoinder is not valid, for] there, [the details of] the sin had not yet been revealed, so He mentioned Israel generally [but in the case of Peor the facts of the sin were clearly given and still He spoke of all Israel, which shows that people from all the tribes were among the worshippers of Peor]. Similarly, the identity of the victim [i.e., Zimri, a leader of the Simeonites] is no proof [that only his tribe sinned, as Ibn Ezra argues], for he [Zimri, the son of Salu] was only a prince of a fathers’ house (Numbers 25:14.) of that tribe, not the prince of the [entire] tribe. Those who assembled against G-d in the congregation of Korach were greater and more honorable people than he [Zimri], for they were princes of the congregation, (Ibid., 16:2.) yet all their tribes did not follow them! Additionally, the psalm [that relates the sins of the wilderness] mentions Dathan and Abiram and their affair by name, saying, The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram; (Psalms 106:17. The verse indicates that, despite the fact that princes of the congregation were in the company of Korach, the general population did not follow them, for the psalm specifies the participants in the strife.) and it [the same psalm] mentions They attached themselves also unto Baal-peor (Ibid., Verse 28.) together with Moreover, they scorned the desirable Land (Ibid., Verse 24.) which applies to the general population! (Thus it is clear that the worshippers of Baal-peor came from all the tribes, just as those who scorned the desirable Land came from among the entire people. This contradicts Ibn Ezra’s view that only the tribe of Simeon was involved in the affair of Peor.) Forbid it also that Moses should refrain from blessing the tribe of Simeon, [when it is said] that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel! (Judges 21:17.) For all those who had joined Baal-peor had already died, as it is said, for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Eternal thy G-d hath destroyed from the midst of thee, (Above, 4:3.) and it is written of those who survived, But ye that did cleave unto the Eternal your G-d are alive every one of you this day. (Ibid., Verse 4.) And why should he not bless them? They all made the [golden] calf and sinned in the affair of the spies, yet they were forgiven, and he blessed them! Now, I have seen in Midrash Rabbah the following text: (Bamidbar Rabbah 21:9.) “Six families were eliminated because of the immorality caused by Balaam’s advice [that Israel could be corrupted through seduction], and so Scripture listed one family less of Simeon (Genesis 46:10 lists six sons of Simeon, while in the second census only five are given (Numbers 26:12-13).) and five less of Benjamin.” (Genesis 46:21 lists ten sons of Benjamin, while in the second census only five are given (Numbers 26:38-39).) Thus, according to the opinion of the Rabbis [the tribe of] Benjamin had a greater part in the sin than did the tribe of Simeon — yet Benjamin is included in the blessing! (Further, Verse 12.) In my opinion, the correct interpretation is that Scripture considers the tribes of Israel as only twelve. So it stated in Jacob’s blessing, All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. (Genesis 49:28.) Now Jacob mentioned his twelve sons and considered Joseph to be one tribe (Ibid., Verses 22-26.) [instead of enumerating Ephraim and Menasheh separately as is sometimes done]. Moses saw fit to consider Joseph as two tribes, as he said, And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Menasheh. (Further, Verse 17.) This was for two reasons: one, since the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded and made them two tribes regarding the dedication of the altar, (Numbers 7:48 and 54.) the flags (Ibid., 2:18-21.) [designating the tribal encampments in the wilderness], and the inheritance of the Land, (Ibid., 34:23-24.) he [Moses] had to count them as two [separate tribes] for their blessing. Secondly, he referred to Joshua, who would make them possess the Land, and he was from Ephraim, the younger son [of Joseph], therefore Moses had to mention his brother [Menasheh] who was older than him. Now, he also wanted to bless [the tribe of] Levi, for, through his blessing, all Israel would be blessed, in that his offerings shall be acceptable before G-d on their behalf. Hence it was necessary to omit one of the tribes, for nowhere [in Scripture] are they enumerated except as twelve, corresponding to the twelve constellations in the firmament, (Bamidbar Rabbah 14:29.) the twelve months of the year, and the twelve “border diagonals” (Sefer Habahir, 95. — This is a Cabbalistic term for the twelve mystic powers emanating from various combinations of the letters of the Great Divine Name. See my Hebrew commentary p. 495.) concerning which the Rabbis have said in the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 14:29.) that they are the everlasting arms. (Further, Verse 27.) As the Sages mentioned in Tractate Berachoth: (Berachoth 32b.) “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the prophet, (I.e., Isaiah. In our text of the Gemara: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said ‘to her': My daughter …”) Go and tell the congregation of Israel: My daughter, I have created twelve constellations in the firmament to correspond to the twelve tribes.” Similarly, at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal where Scripture counts Levi, (See above, 27:12.) Joseph is not mentioned as two tribes (See above, 27:12.) [because, there Simeon (See above, 27:12.) is mentioned]. Likewise you will see in the distributions of Ezekiel that he counts Joseph as two tribes (See Ezekiel 48:4-5.) with reference to the apportioning of the Land and did not mention Levi. On the other hand, in enumerating the city exits [of Jerusalem] he mentioned, the gate of Levi, one (Ibid., Verse 31.) and did not list the tribe of Joseph as two tribes; instead he said, the gate of Joseph, one, (Ibid., Verse 32.) since the tribes are always counted as only twelve. I have already mentioned this in the section Vayikach Korach. (Numbers 17:12 (see Vol. IV, pp. 189-190).) Accordingly, Simeon was left out [of Moses’ blessings] since his tribe was not large and it was not the intention of the blessing of Jacob, their father, that they become numerous. Instead he divided them in Jacob and scattered them in Israel, (See Genesis 49:7.) and to that extent they, too, were blessed through the blessing of the rest of the tribes among whom they were. Now the order of this blessing [of Moses] was by [dictate of] Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit) according to their inheritance. He began with Reuben for he occupied his inheritance first; (Joshua 13:15.) and, also, for he was the firstborn, (I Chronicles 5:1.) and Moses prayed for him that his name not be blotted out because of his sin; therefore, in his blessing, he accorded him the right of the firstborn. (Above, 21:17.) Then he mentioned Judah for he was the first to inherit within the Land [proper] (Reuben’s possession was beyond the Jordan eastward.) and of him came he that is the prince, (I Chronicles 5:2. Reference is to David.) and he was the first to advance to war [against the Canaanites], (Judges 1:2.) concerning which Moses blessed him [saying, his hands shall contend for him, and Thou shalt be a help against his adversaries]. (Verse 7.) Thus Judah’s blessing embraces all Israel. Then Moses blessed Levi — who dwelled with the children of Judah in Jerusalem, and there their offerings should be acceptable. Afterwards he blessed Benjamin because their inheritance was with the children of Judah, and, [because] the city of Jerusalem and the Sanctuary were between the children of Judah and the children of Benjamin, and the Levites abode with both of them. Then he blessed the children of Joseph for such was their inheritance, as it is said, And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families; and the border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. (Joshua 18:11.) Afterwards he continued to bless the children of the mistresses, (I.e., Leah and Rachel, who were the heads of their households. Here, though, it refers only to Leah, since Rachel’s children — Benjamin and Joseph — were already blessed.) and mentioned Zebulun before Issachar (See further, Verse 18.) as Jacob had done. (See Genesis 49:13-14.) So, too, [in the division of the Land] the third lot fell to the children of Zebulun (See Joshua 19:10 (Zebulun). Ibid., Verse 17 (Issachar).) and the fourth lot to the children of Issachar. (See Joshua 19:10 (Zebulun). Ibid., Verse 17 (Issachar).) Then he blessed the children of the handmaids (Bilhah and Zilpah.) — Dan, Naphtali, and Asher — in order of their birth, (The order of their birth was: Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher (Genesis 30:6-13). Here, the order is: Gad (Verse 20-21), Dan, Naphtali, Asher (Verses 22-24). Ramban will proceed to explain why Gad is first.) and they were also [encamped] under the same standard. (Numbers 2:25-30.) He mentioned Gad [born after Naphtali] before all the children of the handmaids, because he occupied his inheritance earlier with Reuben, (See Joshua 13:23-24.) the first of all, and he was [encamped under] Reuben’s standard. (Numbers 2:10-14.) Let Reuben live, and not die. “The meaning thereof is that his tribe shall live and never die. (In other words, this is to be understood as a prayer rather than a blessing. — It is so clearly stated in our text of Ibn Ezra. Ramban also mentioned above, “and Moses prayed for him etc.”) And let his men be a number. This is like the verse, And I have not learned wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One I have (Proverbs 30:3.) [where the word not from the first part of the verse, applies to the second part as well – ‘and the knowledge of the Holy One I have not.’ Here, too, the word not from the expression and ‘not’ die applies to the second part, thus meaning] ‘and let his men not be a number,’ that they may not become few, for whatever can be counted, is few. So also, and I am few in number.” (Genesis 34:30.) This is the language of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra. It is more correct to explain: “Let Reuben live in Israel; and not die, that his tribe at no time should be cut off, and that his numbers always be among the count of the children of Israel.” He prayed for him that his name not be cut off from Israel because of the anger with which his father was wroth with him when he defiled his couch. (Ibid., 49:4.) This is similar to what is stated there, and Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve; (Ibid., 35:22.) Scripture made it be known that he was not excluded from that number on account of his sin. Rashi also explained it this way. And the meaning of his men [and let ‘his men’ be numbered among the men of Israel] is that all his men should deserve this [to be included in the ranks of Israel], and not even part of their tribe be cut off because of his [Reuben’s] sin. Perhaps the expression his men refers to the heads of the four families [of the tribe of Reuben — Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi], (Exodus 6:14.) and the meaning of the word mispar (number) is like b’mispar [with the prefix beth meaning “in the number,” the verse stating: “and let his men be ‘in’ the number” of the children of Israel]. Similarly, to play the harlot ‘beith’ [literally: “the house of”] her father (Above, 22:21.) [means b’veith — “in the house of” her father]; they shall wash ‘mayim’ (Exodus 30:20.) [literally: “water,” means b’mayim — “with water”]. There are many similar cases. Or it may be that the meaning thereof is that in the census of Israel his men be counted first as is the right of the firstborn, for number one is the unit from which all numbers originate. (See Ibn Ezra to Exodus 3:1.) Onkelos rendered it: “And his children will receive their inheritance among their numbers.” He meant what we have explained, saying that Reuben will live and not be cut off [from Israel] and his men will be counted among their numbers forever. His tribe will not be blotted out from Israel but they will not be counted on account of their large numbers as forming two tribes. Thus he deprived him of the birthright [that awards the firstborn with a double share], but he assured him of being forever one tribe. And some commentators (I have found this interpretation in Chizkuni: “Let Reuben live, and not die when he will pass over the Jordan armed before the children of Israel. And his men be a number — in the same number that they will pass over there [into the land of Canaan] may they return, without a single one lacking.”) explain that this blessing refers to the conquest of the Land, the verse stating that the Reubenites will live when crossing [the Jordan] armed for war before the children of Israel. And the purport thereof is that they will prevail, and not be defeated, similar in meaning to the expression, and by thy sword shalt thou live. (Genesis 27:40.) And let him not die, that none of them should die in battle, and his men be a number that they should return to their homes in their [original] number, there lacking not one man of them. (Numbers 31:49.) Similarly, in the blessing of Gad (Further, Verse 20.) his companion [under the same standard] (Numbers 2:10-14.) Moses mentioned this subject. This interpretation is likely [to be true]. But the first one appears to me to be more correct, for Moses’ blessing corresponds to the manner and thought that Jacob mentioned. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the expression Let [Reuben] live and not die is associated with visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children (Exodus 20:5 (see Vol. II, p. 300, and Notes 361-362).) and there I alluded to its secret. (Exodus 20:5 (see Vol. II, p. 300, and Notes 361-362).) Moses’ blessing helped Reuben gain atonement for the affair of Bilhah, that he not be cut off and be denied [the World to Come] for it, forever. However, He visited upon him, along with the rest of the tribes [the sin of] the sale of Joseph, according to the narrative in Pirkei Heichaloth. (“Chapters of the Palaces.” — Heichaloth Rabboth, 6. A reference to this work is also found in Ramban’s Introduction to the Commentary on the Torah (see Vol. I, p. 10, Note 22). This is a mystic Midrash describing the process of ascending to heaven and of the palaces therein leading up to the Holy Throne. The principal narrator in this account is Rabbi Yishmael, one of the martyrs who was executed during the religious persecutions of Hadrian. The Midrash mentions the executions on account of the tradition that the ten martyrs suffered their fate in order to atone for the sale of Joseph by ten of his brothers.)
AND MOSES SAID TO JOSHUA. It would appear from here that from the day he came before him, Moses called him Joshua, and so it is also written: And Joshua heard the noise of the people. (Further, 32:17.) Scripture which states in the case of the spies, And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua, (Numbers 13:16.) must then be referring to the beginning, [when Joshua first came to minister before him]. The verse informs us that this Hoshea the son of Nun, who was chosen to be among the spies, is the same one that Moses called Joshua. Our Rabbis commented (Sotah 34 b, and quoted by Rashi, ibid.) [that Moses gave him this name of Yehoshua, which is a compound of Y-ah (G-d) and hoshea (help), because] he in effect prayed for him, “May G-d help thee that thou mayest not follow the [evil] counsel of the spies.” The intent of this comment is to state that because of this event of which Moses knew in advance, i.e., that Joshua was destined to go with the spies, he called him by that name [Yehoshua — Joshua] at the outset. We may also say that at that time [when the spies were chosen], Moses designated that name in front of the assembly, i.e., that his name henceforth be not Hoshea but Joshua. The reason that Moses commanded Joshua to fight with Amalek was so that he [Moses] might pray with the raising of hands on the top of the hill. (Verse 10.) He went up there so that he might see the Israelites engage in battle and train his sight on them to bring them blessing. They too, upon seeing him with his hands spread heavenward and saying many prayers, would have trust in him, and they would thus be endowed with additional valor and strength. In Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer, (In the middle of Chapter 44.) we find additionally: “All Israel went outside of their tents, and they saw Moses kneeling on his knees, and they did likewise. He fell on his face to the earth and they did likewise. He spread his hands heavenward, and they also did so. [From here, you learn the principle that] as the public reader of prayers (Literally: “the deputy of the congregation.”) recites, so do all the people respond after him. (See Berachoth 49 b: “After the fashion of his benediction, so do the others answer him.” See my Hebrew commentary, p. 371, for further elucidation of this point.) And thus the Holy One, blessed be He, caused Amalek and his people to fall by the hand of Joshua.” But if so, [i.e., if Moses’ hands were spread heavenward], the sense of the expression, with the rod of G-d in my hand, must be that when Moses went up to the top of the hill and saw Amalek, he stretched forth his hand with the rod to bring down [upon the Amalekites] strokes of pestilence, the sword and destruction, (See Esther 9:5.) just as it is said in the case of Joshua: Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai, for I will give it into thy hand. (Joshua 8:18.) From the moment Moses began to pray and his hands were spread heavenward, he held nothing in his hand. Moses our teacher did all this because Amalek was an enduring nation (See Jeremiah 5:15.) and very powerful. The Israelites, on the other hand, were not accustomed to battle and had never seen it, just as Scripture says, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war. (Above, 13:17.) In addition they were faint and weary, as it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy. (Deuteronomy 25:18.) Therefore, he [Moses] feared them, and it became necessary for all this prayer and supplication. It is possible that Moses feared lest Amalek be victorious with the sword, for he was the nation that inherited the sword by virtue of the blessing of the patriarch [Isaac], who said [to Esau, Amalek’s ancestor], and on thy sword you shall live. (Genesis 27:40.) The first and final wars against Israel stem from this family, as Amalek is of the descendants of Esau. (Ibid., 36:12.) It is from him who stood at the head of the nations [in power] (Numbers 24:20. Amalek was the first of the nations. See Ramban, ibid., where he interprets it to mean: “Amalek is the ‘mightiest’ of the nations. This was why he dared to come to fight Israel,” it is clear that Ramban’s intent here is similar.) that the [first] war came against us. From Esau’s descendants, [namely, Rome], (See Vol. I, pp. 445, 568-569.) the [present] exile and the last (Ramban pointedly uses the word “last” and not “the second” in order to indicate that the Third Sanctuary, for the restitution of which we pray, will never suffer destruction. The second destruction by the hands of the Romans was thus the “last” destruction.) destruction of the Sanctuary came upon us, just as our Rabbis have said (Gittin 57b. See also above, Note 458.) that today we are in the exile of Edom. When he will be vanquished, and he together with the many nations that are with him will be discomfited, we shall be saved out of it [i.e., the exile] forever, just as [the prophet] said, And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Eternal’s. (Obadiah 1:21.) Now whatever Moses and Joshua did with them [the Amalekites] at first, Elijah and Mashiach ben Yoseph (Succah 52b. See Ramban’s Sefer Hag’ulah (Kithvei Haramban, Vol. I, pp. 255-295) for further elucidation of his views of the process by which the final redemption will come to pass. For the purpose of illuminating his language here, suffice it to say that Mashiach ben Yoseph — or as Ramban calls him there, “Mashiach ben Ephraim,” since Ephraim was a son of Joseph — will first accomplish the ingathering of the exiles and fight their wars. Then Mashiach ben David will come.) will do with their descendants. This was why Moses strained himself in this matter.
AN ALTAR OF EARTH THOU SHALT MAKE UNTO ME. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that He is saying: “Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, or gods of gold (Verse 20.) to receive power from heavenly creatures through them, that they be intermediaries between Me and you, for in every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned I — I in My Glory — will come unto thee and bless thee. (Verse 21.) You have no need at all for an intermediary.” And according to the opinion of the Rabbis concerning [the verses here, i.e., that they speak of] the altars that were made in the Tabernacle and in the Sanctuary, (Mechilta on the verse here.) He mentioned the commandment of the altars of earth and of stones (Verse 22.) in order to say that they also make the altars for G-d alone and that there they shall sacrifice the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, and not to the demons in the open field. (Leviticus 17:5-7.) In every place where they will mention His Name, He will come upon them in His Glory to make His Divine Presence dwell among them and to bless them.
FOR IF THOU LIFTETH UP ‘CHARB’CHA’ (Literally: “thy sword.” The significance of it is explained further on in the text.) (THY IRON TOOL) UPON IT THOU HAST PROFANED IT. This is to prohibit the touching of the stones of the altar with an iron tool, just as He said, Thou shalt build the altar of the Eternal thy G-d of unhewn stones; (Deuteronomy 27:6.) thou shalt lift up no iron tool upon them. (Ibid., Verse 5.) He mentioned iron here by the term cherev (sword), because all iron tools that have sharp edges are called cherev. Thus it is said of a sword, And Ehud made him ‘cherev’ (a sword) which had two edges; (Judges 3:16.) and of a blade it is said, Take thee a sharp ‘cherev’ (sword). (Ezekiel 5:1.) Of hatchet and hammers with which a building is demolished it is said, And he shall break down thy towers ‘b’charbothav’ (with his axes). (Ibid., 26:9.) Similarly, an iron tool with which stones are cut is called cherev. According to our Rabbis, (Mechilta on the verse here.) the reason for the commandment [against building an altar of stones which have been touched by iron] is the glorification of the altar: [It is not right] that that which shortens life [i.e., iron] is to be lifted up against that which prolongs life. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that this is in order that the chips of the stones should not remain in the dunghills, while part of them [i.e., the stones] is built into G-d’s altar, or that the chips should not be taken to make an altar for the idols, since their worshippers might do so, hoping that perhaps this will bring them success. And the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] wrote in Moreh Nebuchim (Guide of the Perplexed, III, 45.) that this prohibition is an extraordinary precaution against making stones into certain shapes, thus being hewn stones, for such was the custom of the heathens [to build their altars with hewn stones]. (Thus by prohibiting the building of an altar with stones which have been touched by iron, the Torah gave us an extraordinary precaution to guard against idolatry.) But I say that the reason for the commandment is that a sword is made out of iron and is the destroyer of the world. In fact, this is why it is called cherev (sword) [which is of the same root as churban (destruction)]. And since Esau whom G-d hated (Malachi 1:3.) is the inheritor of the sword — for to him it was said, And by thy sword shalt thou live (Genesis 27:40.) — and the sword is his power in heaven and upon the earth — for with [the power of] Mars and the stars [which influence] bloodshed, the sword succeeds, and with them Esau’s might is shown — therefore it must not be brought into the House of G-d. It is this reason which Scripture mentions expressly: “You should not build [the altar] of hewn stones, for in lifting up any iron to make them, you have lifted up your murderous sword, and increased victims; and thus you have profaned it.” It was for this reason that there was no iron in the Tabernacle, for even its pins, which would have been better if made of iron, were made of copper. (Further, 27:19.) Similarly, in the Sanctuary (Literally: “The Permanent House,” a synonym for the Sanctuary in Jerusalem, which cannot be built in any other location. It stands in contrast to the Tabernacle, which could be moved from place to place.) there were no vessels of iron except the ritual slaughtering-knives, for slaughtering [of the sacrifice] was not an act of “worship” [requiring a priest]. (Yoma 42a.) Scripture prohibited only the building of an altar with hewn stones if touched by iron, for so it is clearly stated, when thou lifteth up thy sword upon it thou has profaned it, and still more clearly, thou shalt lift up no iron tool upon it. (Ibid., Verse 5.) But if he comes to chisel them with silver tools or the shamir, (A worm that pierced stones with its touch.) which our Rabbis have mentioned, (Sotah 48b.) it is permissible, even though the stones are not whole. This law will refute the reasoning of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra. (If, as Ibn Ezra suggested, the reason for the commandment is that the chips of the stones should not be on a dunghill while the stones be in the altar of G-d, why then is it permissible if the chiselling is done with a silver tool? The same question applies to Rambam’s explanation that the commandment is a precautionary measure against idolatry.) The reason advanced by the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] is also incorrect on account of this law. Now [when building the Sanctuary], Solomon added a stricture in the commandment, i.e., that no tool of iron was heard in the House while it was in building (I Kings 6:7.) even though it was permissible, [the prohibition applying only to the altar]. Thus we were taught in the Mechilta: (Mechilta on the verse here.) “Thou shalt not build it of hewn stones. You are not allowed to build the altar of hewn stones, but you may build the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies of hewn stones. And how do I explain the verse, And there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the House, while it was in building? (I Kings 6:7.) They were not heard ‘in the House,’ but outside of the House they were heard.” What happened was thus as follows: They would remove the stones from their mountains with iron tools and chisel them there with iron, just as they also cut with iron the trees and the cypresses (Ibid., Verse 31.) which were in the House. And so it is written, And they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the House with hewn stone. (Ibid., Verse 31.) When they brought them to the House to build the walls, they did not fix them with iron, nor did they lift up any iron tool upon them as is the custom of builders. And that which Scripture says, It was built of whole stones from the quarry, (I Kings 6:7.) does not mean that they were whole and complete; they were whole only insomuch as they had no notch deep enough for the nail to halt over on passing upon the edge, (Chullin 18a.) but they were smooth and even. The meaning of the word masa (It was built of whole stones ‘masa’ (I Kings 6:7) is generally translated “at the quarry.” Ramban interprets masa to mean “great,” and the sense of the verse is: “it was built of whole large stones.”) is “great”; for when they moved them from the mountain, they did not divide the rocks into many stones as is the custom of the builders, and they did not fix them there, nor did they set them into the building with hammers or axes as any other building is built. Solomon did not want it to be built [with any iron tool], or that the sound of iron be even heard in the whole Mount of the House. All these strictures were for the purpose of removing iron from it. This is according to the opinion of Rabbi Yirmiyah in Tractate Sotah. (Sotah 48b. In our Gemara: Rabbi Nechemyah.) But according to Rabbi Yehudah, the hewn stones were for Solomon’s own house, not for the Sanctuary. According to his opinion, the verse stating, And they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stone, (Ibid., Verse 31.) means that they also quarried hewn stones which were for his own house. So also it appears from the plain meaning of Scripture, that he built the court with hewn stone, as it is written, And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone, (I Kings 6:36.) and he placed himself under restriction [to build with unhewn stone] only in the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. All this was for the sake of removing iron from the Sanctuary. And regarding the iron without weight which David prepared, (I Chronicles 22:14.) that was to make instruments of it [with which] to cut the trees and to quarry the stones.
AND THESE ARE THE KINGS THAT REIGNED IN THE LAND OF EDOM. This was written in order to relate that the blessing of Isaac was fulfilled in Esau. He had said to him, And by thy sword shalt thou live, (Above, 27:40.) and they prevailed over the sons of Se’ir the Horite and reigned over them in their land. These cities mentioned here were provinces in the land of Edom, for Bozrah (Verse 33 here.) belonged to Edom, as it is written, For the Eternal hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. (Isaiah 34:6.) Similarly, the land of the Temanites, (Verse 34 here.) is also of Edom, as it is said concerning it, And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau, (Obadiah 1:9.) as are all the cities mentioned here. Scripture, however, relates that these kings did not succeed their fathers, as was the case in Israel. The expression, Before there reigned any king, means “many years before.” But before there reigned any king does not mean that these kingdoms of Edom continued to exist until the kingdom of Israel. Instead, it means to say that at that time the Edomites will not have sovereignty, in order to fulfill Isaac’s words, and thou shalt serve thy brother. (Above, 27:40.) It is possible that all these kings had already passed away in the days of Moses (Ramban here implies that the expression before there reigned any king, refers to Moses. This coincides with the opinion of Ibn Ezra expressed in his commentary on Verse 31.) as they were old when they crowned them, and their lives were not prolonged.
AND IF HIS OFFERING BE A SACRIFICE OF PEACE-OFFERINGS: IF HE OFFER OF THE HERD, WHETHER MALE OR FEMALE. The reason why the burnt-offering may only be male, (Above, Chapter 1, Verses 3 and 10.) whereas in the case of the peace-offering it can be male or female, and the sin-offering must only be female, (Further, 4:28. This applies only to the sin-offering of an ordinary individual. See further on in the text for the sin-offering of the prince (4:23).) is very clear, since the olah (the burnt-offering) is as its name indicates, [i.e., “ascension” — being that it reaches above all Divine attributes], whilst sh’lamim (the peace-offering) is of the expressions: and all My pleasures ‘yashlim’ (he will perform — literally: he will “perfect”); (Isaiah 44:28.) ‘avanim sh’leimoth’ (whole stones). (Deuteronomy 27:6. Since the peace-offering is brought in order to bring peace into the world, it performs the function of harmonizing all attributes, such as justice and mercy. Hence it may be brought from the male or female (Ricanti). See my Hebrew commentary, p. 19; also Note 240 further.) The sin-offering is in order to appease Him with the present that goeth before (Genesis 32:21.) Him. I have already written on this matter. (Ibid., 46:1 (Vol. I, p. 542): “Jacob offered peace-offerings in order to bring all Divine attributes into accord towards him …”. See also ibid., 32:21 (pp. 402-403).) The guilt-offering must be a male, (Further, Chapter 5, Verses 15 and 25.) because the sin-offering is brought for those transgressions [for which, if committed wilfully, the sinner] incurs the penalty of excision, in order that the spirit return unto G-d who gave it, (Ecclesiastes 12:7.) but the guilt-offering is not brought for those transgressions for which [if committed wilfully] one incurs excision, and therefore it is as if it were for a pleasing odor just like the burnt-offering. (Hence just like the burnt-offering is a male [for the reason explained above], so is the guilt-offering.) The sin-offering of the prince is a he-goat, (Further, 4:23; although the sin-offering of a common person is a female, as explained above.) because the prince is the sovereign unto whom judgment [rightfully] belongs, (See Ezekiel 21:32.) and he fights the battles of G-d and lives by his sword; (See Genesis 27:40.) therefore his offering is the same as the he-goat brought in case of idol-worship [by the congregation]. (Numbers 15:24.)
על צבאתם — This is the same as בצבאותם with their hosts — all their hosts according to their tribes. Sometimes the word על is merely used in place of a single letter (ב as a prefix); e. g., (Genesis 27:40) “על חרבך shalt thou live” which is the same as בחרבך, by thy sword; (Ezekiel 33:26) “Ye stand על חרבכם” which is the same as בחרבכם, by your sword.
פן בחרב אצא לקראתך LEST I COME OUT AGAINST THEE WITH THE SWORD — You pride yourselves on the “voice” which your father bequeathed you as a blessing, saying, “And we cried unto the Lord and He heard our voice” (cf. Rashi on v. 16); I, therefore, will come out against you with that which my father bequeathed me when he said, (Genesis 27:40) “And by thy sword shalt thou live” (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 9 on בשלח)
בחרב [BALAAM ALSO … THEY SLEW] WITH THE SWORD — He came against Israel exchanging his metier (the sword) for their metier (the mouth), for they conquer only through their mouth — through prayer and petition, and he came and availed himself of their craft to curse them with his mouth. They, therefore, also came against him and exchanged their craft for the craft of the heathen peoples who come with the sword, as it is said, (Genesis 27:40) “And by thy sword shalt thou live” (cf. Rashi on Numbers 22:23).
and over the son You have strengthened for Yourself And over Esau, who was a beloved son to this father, who would call him, “my son.” You strengthened the vine of Jacob for Yourself, as it is said (Gen. 27:40): “and You will serve your brother.” Now it is...
and You have given them to drink tears in large measure Heb. שליש. In Babylon, where they were for seventy years, a third (שליש) of the two hundred and ten of Egypt. I learned this from the work of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan. It may also be interpreted as regards the kingdom of Greece, which represents the third trouble. If you ask, is that [not] the fourth, because Persia and Media came before, all the seventy years of the Babylonian exile are only one exile. Menachem (p. 175) interprets שליש as the name of a drinking vessel. So he explained (Isa. 40:12): “and He measured with a ‘shalish’ the dust of the earth.” Our Sages explained it (Mid. Ps. 80: 4) as referring to the three tears that Esau shed, concerning whom it is said (Gen. 27:34): “and he cried a cry.” That is one. “A great one.” That is two. “And a bitter one.” That is three. Because of them, he merited to live by his sword, as it is said (Gen. 27:40): “and it will come to pass when you complain, etc.”
Some commentators suggest that Amalek’s struggle against Israel is a continuation of the vendetta between the two brothers. This serves as the prime motivation for Amalek’s otherwise difficult to understand attack against Israel. (Foremost being Abarbanel on Shemot 17:8. See also Malbim ad loc. Amos Chacham, in his commentary in Da’at Mikra, tries to find a more rational explanation for the attack. In spite of his best efforts, however, there seems to be no hint to these reasons in the Torah itself.) In this context, it is important to recall that the blessing Yitzchak gives Esav and his descendants makes their success seemingly contingent on the failure of Ya’akov’s descendants (Bereshit 27:40). Hence, to the extent that the nation of Amalek was aware of this, its members would certainly have had an interest in destroying the new Jewish nation – and to do so at this point, before it became more settled and powerful.
V.20 introduces an important historical note. The Edomites, inhabiting the territory east of the Negev, now achieve independence from Judah (see Gen. 27:40 for the patriarch Yitzhak’s prophecy regarding these events). This is a serious blow to Judah’s control of southern trade.
[193] And if thou shalt consent to become a slave of the wise one, thou shalt cast from thee ignorance and boorishness, plagues of the soul, and be partaker of admonition and correction. For in his prayer thy father says to thee, “To thy brother shalt thou be a slave” (Gen. 27:40); but not now shall this be, for he will not put up with thy restiveness, but when thou shalt have loosed the yoke from thy neck” (ibid.), casting from thee vaunting and insolence which thou didst acquire by yoking thyself to a chariot of passions, of which folly was the driver.
[176] “Thou shalt live on thy sword and shalt be a slave to thy brother” (Gen. 27:40). He judges it most profitable for him who chooses war instead of peace, who by reason of his inward tumult and rebellion is armed as it were with the weapons of war, that he should become a subject and a slave and obey all the orders that the lover of self-control may impose.
And the Jewish people will say before Him: Master of the Universe, to whom shall we go? Shall we go to Abraham, to whom You said: “Know certainly that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13), and he did not ask for mercy on our behalf? Or perhaps we should go to Isaac, who blessed Esau and said: “And it shall come to pass when you shall break loose, that you shall shake his yoke from off your neck” (Genesis 27:40), and he did not ask for mercy on our behalf. Or perhaps we should go to Jacob, to whom You said: “I will go down to Egypt with you” (Genesis 46:4), and he did not ask for mercy on our behalf. And if so, to whom shall we go? Shall we go to our Patriarchs, who do not have mercy on us? Rather, now God Himself says what punishment we deserve. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: Since you made yourselves dependent on Me, “If your sins be like scarlet, they will become white like snow.”
BARAITHA. [The disciple of the wise must be] sin-fearing, estimating a man according to his deeds, and he should say, ‘As for my possessions in this world I have no desire for them because the whole world is not mine’. He sits at the feet (lit. ‘sits and soils his clothes’. In the Talmudic schools the disciple sat on the ground. He is so eager to learn and not miss any of the instruction that he will not leave even to relieve himself.) of the disciples of the wise; he never takes an oath in connection with any matter; he questions according to the subject-matter and answers to the point. (From Aboth V, 10 (Sonc. ed., V, 7, p. 65) where it is included among the characteristics of a wise man.) GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: Whence [do we know that a disciple of the wise should be] meek? From Moses our teacher, as it is stated, Now the man Moses was very meek; (Num. 12, 3.) and on that account Moses was praised, as it is stated, My servant Moses is not so. (ibid. 7. Moses is described as My servant.) [We learn that the disciple of the wise must be] lowly of spirit from Aaron, for it is written, For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts; (Mal. 2, 7.) and it is written, The law of truth was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many away from iniquity. (ibid. 6.) There is no one more lowly of spirit than he who pursues peace. Consider, how can a man pursue peace if he be not lowly of spirit? How [does he act]? If a man curse him, he says to him, ‘Peace be upon you!’; should a man quarrel with him, he keeps silent; and further, if two men have quarrelled, he humbles his spirit, approaches them and effects a reconciliation between them. Such, indeed, was the procedure of Aaron, the righteous. When he heard of two men who had quarrelled, he would go to one and say to him, ‘So-and-so, peace be upon you, my master!’ and he replied, ‘Peace be upon you, my master and teacher! What does my master seek here?’ He then said, ‘So-and-so, your friend, sent me to you to appease you, because he declares, “I have offended my friend” ’. Immediately the man reflects, ‘A righteous man like him has come to appease me!’ and exclaims, ‘Master, it was I who offended him’. [Aaron] then went to the other man and said the same to him. When the two meet on the way, one says to the other, ‘Forgive me for the offence which I did to you’ and the other speaks likewise. When [Aaron] heard of a husband and wife who had quarrelled, he would go to the husband and say to him, ‘[I have come] because I heard that you have quarrelled (Adopting the reading of H. V has ‘you have become reconciled’.) with your wife; should you divorce her it is doubtful whether you will find another like her or not; and further, should you find another and quarrel (The word in V is corrupt and corrected by H.) with her, the first thing she will say to you will be, “You must have behaved in a like manner towards your first wife” ’. In consequence of this all Israel, men and women, loved him. Know that it was so; for what does Scripture relate when Moses our teacher died? And the children of Israel wept for Moses; (Deut. 34, 8.) but of Aaron it is written, They wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel (Num. 20, 29.) —that is to say, even the women. Not only [did the women mourn], but they also covered their young children with mud and dust, thereby confirming the word all. It has been taught: Eighty thousand young men named Aaron followed Aaron’s bier. They were the issue of those who wanted to divorce but retracted and their wives became pregnant. (In gratitude to Aaron they gave their sons his name.) We have learnt there: (Aboth I, 12 (Sonc. ed., p. 8).) Hillel said: Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace, pursuing peace, loving your fellow-creatures and drawing them near to the Torah. It is quite right with ‘loving peace’ as we have already mentioned; but where [in the Torah] is ‘pursuing peace’ [enjoined]? As it has been taught: Seek peace, and pursue it. (Ps. 34, 15. Cf. j.Pe’ah I, 1, 15d, where the comment is made: Seek peace in your place, and pursue it in another place.) And wherein do all other precepts differ from it? A man is only under the obligation to perform them when they come to his hand, as it is written, If thou meet thine enemy’s ox, (Ex. 23, 4.) If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee, (ibid. 5.) If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee, (Deut. 22, 6.) When thou buildest a new house. (ibid. 8.) But as for peace [it is written], Seek peace, and pursue it—everywhere. It has been taught: [The letters of the word] shalom, ‘peace’, have the numerical value of three hundred and seventy-six and [that number] is indicated by the letters sh w ‘a which form a verb meaning ‘to cry for help’. This teaches that the prayer of one who pursues peace does not go unanswered. If so, when [the name] is written ‘Esau’, (Which also has the numerical value 376.) is it [an indication of] peace? Yes, there too we may say so. If, although ‘peace’ is associated with his name, he shakes countries because of [the blessing given to him], And by thy sword shalt thou live, (Gen. 27, 40.) had ‘peace’ not been associated with his name, how much more terror would he have caused! But what of, They made war? (ibid. XIV, 2. The Heb. for made is עשו which has the numerical value 376 and is connected with war.) It is the same there. If a word with the numerical value of shalom is associated with peoples who aimed to destroy the world and to do injury to Abraham, were the word not used how much more [disastrous would their attack have been!] But what of, Who have done this evil thing? (Deut. 17, 5. Here עשו is associated with evil thing.) It is the same there. When [the evildoers] are stoned [to death], peace ensues; and if they were not stoned they would kill one another. It has been taught: These four kings (Enumerated in Gen. 14, 1.) planned [their attack] only on account of Abraham, as it is written, And they turned back, and came to En-mishpaṭ, (ibid. 7. En here means ‘well’ but also signifies ‘eye’.) i.e. to Abraham who was the eye of the world. The same is Ḳadesh (ibid, The same in Heb. could also be read to mean ‘he’, and Ḳadesh denotes ‘holy’.) —through him the name of Heaven was sanctified. But they captured Lot mistaking him for Abraham, as it is written, And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, (ibid. 14.) and it does not state, ‘his brother’s son’. (They mistook one brother for the other.) It has been taught: These [kings] (Enumerated in Gen. 14, 2.) who were allied with Abraham were more guilty [than those opposed to them] and from their names you may learn their character: Bera [signifies that he was bent] on evil [bera‘], Birsha‘ [that he was bent] on wickedness [berisha‘], Shinab [signifies] that he hated his father [sana’ ’ab], Shemeber that he made himself wings [to fly, sam ’eber], Bela that he was a swallower [bolea‘]. The question was asked: Is it permissible to give salutation to a heathen? Come and hear: Greetings may be given to them even on their feast day in the interests of peace. (Cf. Giṭ. 62a (Sonc. ed., p. 292).) Seeing that [the answer] is evident, why was the question asked? The question asked was, Is it permissible to salute them first? It has been taught: Better is he who greets him first than he who responds to his greetings. (Cf. Ṭur Y.D., §148. By greeting him first, he avoids the need for further greetings.) The question was asked: Is it permissible to greet a murderer, adulterer or those who are liable to kareth? As for returning their greetings there is no question [that it is permissible], since they were the first to greet you their salutation must be returned. But how is it with greeting them first? Come and hear: [It is written,] The way of peace they know not, and there is no right in their goings; they have made them crooked paths, whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace. (Isa. 59, 8. L. Ginzberg suggested that the author found in the words the way of peace they know not an allusion to murderers and in they made them crooked paths to violent men who escape punishment through superior force (Higger).) Hence it can be inferred that if greetings are given by those who are about to suffer the death penalty they may be returned, but not of those who save themselves [from punishment] by force. And as for greeting them first, it is prohibited in all cases. As for an adulterer and his friends, should they greet one in public their salutation is returned out of respect for the public. Some say that he who associates with an adulterer is like an adulterer. And what of the other? (The anonymous author of the first statement; how will he refute this argument?) [He can reply,] perhaps they were compelled to associate with him. If these men (The men of ill-repute cited.) come to make peace with those with whom they quarrelled, they are not received with a full heart, even on the Day of Atonement. (When it is a duty to forgive fully any wrong which had been done.) The general rule is that it is forbidden to have any dealings with one who adheres [to his sins] and does not repent. What is meant by ‘a full heart’? If, for instance, one says, ‘I absolve and release you’, that is not with ‘a full heart’; [if one says,] ‘May the All-merciful absolve you for what you have done to me’, (So H. V has ‘to them’.) it is. The question was asked: [May one return the salutation of] an adulterer and another [man of good repute]? According to the second opinion (That an adulterer’s greeting may be returned if made publicly.) there is no question [that it is forbidden,] seeing that it prohibits the return of a salutation even when given by him in public; but how is it according to the first opinion? (lit. ‘according to some say [that he who associates with an adulterer is like an adulterer]’.) Raba replied: Is there, then, here any question at all? He addresses himself to the two of them as one. (He ignores the man of ill-repute and responds to the other, seeing that both greeted him.) The question, however, does arise where there are two, one with another behind him who says nothing. He replied: He returns their salutations. (Since he includes in his salutation the man of good repute although not greeted by him.) It has been taught: Great is peace because the world is based upon it; as we have learnt: The world is preserved by three things: by judgment, by truth and by peace. (Aboth I, 18 (Sonc. ed., p. 10).) It is written in the book of Ben Sira: (Sirach or Ecclesiasticus. The quotation is not found in the extant texts. Cf. Schechter, ‘The Quotations from Ecclesiasticus in Rabbinic Literature’, J.Q.R., III (1891), pp. 696f, 704f. Here the quotation is in rhymed Aramaic.) Love peace for on it the world is based. Love all people and be warned against pride because it is unbecoming (Reading יאיא for יבוא Schechter conjectures delibba’ and renders ‘be careful of pride [of heart] against any man’.) to any man. For [pride] kindles anger (Disturbs the harmony between people.) and uproots the threshold (Breaks friendships.) and builds up woes (Cf. Soṭah 5a (Sonc. ed., p. 19): ‘Over every man in whom is haughtiness of spirit the Divine Presence laments’.) instead of [the music of] tabrets. Learn from kings and princes and their entourage who worship idols, in the end they are devoured by fire. (There is a play on the words תורפין, ‘idols’, and טריפין, ‘devoured’.) Love humility so that you come not to poverty. (Shab. 33a (Sonc. ed., p. 154): ‘Poverty is a sign of conceit’.) For [pride] is despised and contemptible before God; ([lit. ‘the glorious One’, an epithet for God common in the Targum. Cf. Marmorstein, The Old Rabbinic Doctrine of God, I, p. 88.]) it is unbecoming before Him Who performs mighty acts which cannot be conceived [by man]. [Before Him] myriads upon myriads of angels and Seraphim beat their wings and make them to sound as though they were playing on tabrets. From the beginning He was exalted in His heights, (Reading ברומיה for ביומיה, ‘in His day’.) robed in excellency as in a cloak, (Cf. Ps. 93, 1.) and this is His garment always. But to those who whisper in His name He lowers His heights, and from the highest heavens He cares for the poor and orphans. How praiseworthy and beautiful was the prophet who was lauded by the mouth of the Creator, ‘There is none like My servant the prophet’! (i.e. Moses; cf. Num. 12, 3, 7.) Who among you has inherited the crown (So Schechter, who reads kether for bethar, ‘after’.) of royalty? The beginning of wisdom and understanding is the fear of the Lord. ([Cf. Ps. 111, 10, Prov. 9, 10 and Ben Sira I, 14.]) And let not your heart persuade you that your Master will not bring you into judgment (Following the emended text of H.) for this, and do not hearken to your enemy (Instead of רובך, ‘thy master’, read דבבך, ‘thy enemy’. ‘Enemy’ is one of the designations for the evil inclination, which is also termed ‘the hidden one’ because it lies hidden in man’s heart. Cf. Suk. 52a (Sonc. ed., pp. 247f.).) hidden within you. Reflect and [let your reflection] lead you [to think on] the day when every face is darkened, when the body burns and the soul is withdrawn.
But Edom answered him, “You shall not pass through us, else we will go out against you with the sword.”
You shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother. When you have cause to be grieved [When his sons will transgress the words of the Torah], you will throw off his yoke from your neck.
And by thy weapons thou shalt live, and before thy brother be subject. And it shall be when the sons of Jakob labour in the law, and keep the commandments, they will set the yoke of subjection on thy neck; but when the sons of Jakob withdraw themselves and study not the law, nor keep the commandments, behold, then shalt thou break their yoke of subjection from off thy neck.
And upon thy sword shalt thou depend, entering at every place: yet thou shalt be supple and credulous, and be in subjection to thy brother; but it will be that when his sons become evil, and fall from keeping the commandments of the law, thou shalt break his yoke of servitude from off thy neck.
| וַיִּשְׂטֹ֤ם עֵשָׂו֙ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹ֔ב עַ֨ל־הַבְּרָכָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בֵּרְכ֖וֹ אָבִ֑יו וַיֹּ֨אמֶר עֵשָׂ֜ו בְּלִבּ֗וֹ יִקְרְבוּ֙ יְמֵי֙ אֵ֣בֶל אָבִ֔י וְאַֽהַרְגָ֖ה אֶת־יַעֲקֹ֥ב אָחִֽי׃ | 41 J | Now Esau harbored a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing which his father had given him, and Esau said to himself, “Let but the mourning period of my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob.” |
וישטום עשו את יעקב על הברכה, “Esau hated Yaakov on account of the blessing;” there are some commentators who do not consider the words: על הברכה in our verse as referring to the blessing that Yaakov had “robbed” Esau of, but they consider these words as Esau’s complaint about the blessing that he did receive from his father, i.e. that he would always have to fight for his survival, על חרבך תחיה, “you will live (only) by the sword.” He placed a great deal of trust in that blessing. We would then have to understand our verse as follows: “Esau hated Yaakov, as from now on he had an assurance that by means of the sword he would always survive.”
יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, Esau was sure that his father would not live long enough to sire another son who could avenge Yaakov when he would murder him.
ואהרגה, “when I shall kill, etc.” The letter ו is vocalised with the semi vowel sheva, and the letter aleph with a patach.
יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, “the time of mourning for the passing of my father will come about soon, etc.” Esau means that if he were to bring about his father’s premature death by murdering Yaakov, he would have accomplished nothing, as his father would then die prematurely through grieving over the loss of his son Yaakov. This is why he will await his father’s death from natural causes before carrying out his plan to kill his brother.
AND ESAU HATED. Va-yistom (and he hated) is to be rendered: and he harbored hatred. Va-yistemuhu (and hated him) (Gen. 49:23) is similar.
AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART. It is possible that Esau confided this thought to one of his friends. (Otherwise how could Rebekah know that Esau plotted to kill Jacob?) Others say that Rebekah knew this through prophecy. (Hence she knew that Esau planned to kill Jacob after Isaac’s death.) The first interpretation appears correct.
יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, "the days of mourning for my father are not far off." Esau referred to the time after his father's funeral when the days of mourning commence. He was afraid to murder Jacob before his father would be buried since the dead are reputed to be aware of what goes on as long as the grave or coffin has not been sealed (Shabbat 152).
ויאמר עשו בלבו, “Esau said to himself, etc.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 67,8 used this phrase to remind us that the wicked are always “prisoners” of the dictates of their hearts, whereas the righteous are in full control of their hearts. We have a number of verses speaking of wicked people in which the Bible uses the same expression. Examples are: Psalms 14,1: “Naval said in his heart,” (to himself), Jerobam said to himself (Kings I 12,26) et al. The word בלבו must be contrasted with the expression אל לבו, “to his heart,” as distinct from “in his heart.” When you speak “to your heart,” you are the boss. When a voice speaks “in your heart,” the heart is the boss. This why we find in Samuel I 1,13 where Chanah is praying that the wording used to describe this is וחנה היא מדברת אל לבה, “and Chanah, she was speaking to her heart.” When G’d is reported as speaking to Himself in Genesis 5,21 the wording used is also ויאמר ה’ אל לבו.
יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, “may the days of mourning for my father approach, etc.” He did not want to kill Yaakov while Yitzchak was alive as he was afraid of being cursed by his father and that the blessing he had received would turn into a curse. Seeing that Yaakov had gone into hiding and left town, Rivkah had to send a message to him [ותשלח in verse 42] to warn him of Esau’s plan.
וישטום...יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, he wished fervently for the day of his father’s death which was expected soon as else why did he already bless his sons? He planned to kill Yaakov after the mourning period after his father would have passed. He did not ant to kill Yaakov while their father was still alive, so as not to be responsible for Yitzchok dying as a result of grief over having lost his son.
AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said, “It is possible that he revealed his secret to one of his friends.” (If not, how did Rebekah become aware of the fact that Esau was planning to kill Jacob? (Verse 42 here).) But this is not necessarily so for any decision which a person reaches after deliberation is referred to in Hebrew as “speaking with the heart,” even when it also includes speech with the lips. A similar case is found in the verse, And with a double heart do they speak, (Psalms 12:3.) for the will is synonymous with the heart. And all Israel were of one heart to make David king, (I Chronicles 12:39.) meaning that they had all arrived at the same decision and were talking of it. Similarly, And Jeroboam said in his heart. (I Kings 12:26. Further on it says, And the king took counsel, (Verse 28). Here also there was speech which Scripture had referred to as being said in his heart.) Similarly did Eliezer say, And before I had finished speaking in my heart, (Above, 24:25.) whereas the prayer there was with his lips, as Scripture states, And he said, O Eternal G-d of my lord Abraham. (Ibid., Verse 12.) However it is possible that the expression, before I had finished speaking in my heart, means “before I had concluded the thought in my mind.” Now here the verse states that when the great hatred of Jacob permeated Esau’s soul because of the blessing, he conceived the idea of murdering his brother, and with this he comforted himself from his depressed state. This explains the verse, And the words of Esau were told to Rebekah. (Verse 42 here. As Ramban explained, a decision in one’s heart, even though coupled with speech, is still referred to in Hebrew as “the speech of heart.” Therefore, the verse means that Esau decided upon a course of action, and he himself informed his mother of his decision.) This is why she said to Jacob, Thy brother Esau comforts himself to slay thee. (Verse 42 here.) Now Rashi comments, “She was told, through Ruach Hakodesh, (See above, Note 90.) what Esau was thinking in his heart.” And so it is found in Bereshith Rabbah. (Bereshith Rabbah 67:9.) If so, Esau’s words and thoughts were only in his heart, just as in the verse, I spoke with my own heart. (Ecclesiastes 1:16.) The reason that Esau said, Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand then will I slay my brother is because he would not bring grief to his father during his lifetime. Perhaps it was due to his fear lest his father curse him, and his blessing would then turn into a curse. Rebekah, [who nevertheless advised Jacob to flee], feared that perhaps the elderly one would die suddenly, and Esau would then kill Jacob, or perhaps he might find occasion to kill him even during Isaac’s lifetime.
יקרבו ימי אבל אבי THE DAYS OF MOURNING FOR MY FATHER APPROACH — Explain it according to the evident meaning of the words — (I will wait to kill him until my father is dead), that I may not cause grief to my father. There are Midrashic explanations of various kinds.
שטם ,וישטם verwandt mit שתם mit (Klagel. 3, 8) und סתם, versperren, verstopfen, bezeichnet einen verhaltenen Hass, ähnlich wie נטר, das auch allgemein: bewahren, bergen und speziell: Hass bewahren und bergen heißt. Es ist traurig, daß hier vorausgesetzt zu sein scheint, daß wohl selten ein Mensch den andern mehr liebt als er zeigt, wohl aber ihn mehr hasst, und daß daher "bergen" stillschweigend das Bergen einer feindlichen Gesinnung bedeutet. — "Wegen des Segens, den der Vater ihm gegeben". Man darf schwanken, ob: wegen des Segens, den sein Vater dem Jakob, oder den er ihm, dem Esau, gegeben. Denn in diesem spricht sich ja erst vollständig aus, wie seine ganze Stellung dem künftigen Jakobshause gegenüber eine untergeordnete sein werde. "Was du bedeutest im Leben", war ihm ja gesagt, "fällt Jakob zu, und du musst dich ihm unterordnen, wenn du ihm gleich werden willst" — ואהרגה, mein Vater hat ja gesagt: על הרבך תחיי, das soll der erste Gebrauch von meinem Schwerte sein.
So that I will not grieve my father... Although he was wicked, he would never grieve his father. He treated his father with honor, as proved by (28:8): “Eisov realized that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Yitzchok, his father...”
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father blessed him, and for the results of that blessing. Esau said in his heart: The days of mourning for my father will approach, or my father will die, and I will kill my brother Jacob. Out of respect for his father, whom he accepted as a figure of authority, Esau would not dare to harm his brother while Isaac was still alive.
ויאמר עשו בלבו, “Esau said to himself: etc.” According to Ibn Ezra, Esau may have revealed his intention to one of his intimate friends. Nachmanides feels that there is no need to resort to such an explanation, [which distorts the meaning of the text, Ed.] seeing that something that a person resolves in his heart is often described by Scripture as אמירה, “something that has been said.” Esau’s resolve to eventually murder Yaakov was as good as if he had actually said so with his lips. The fact that he had made such a resolution consoled him over the present situation.
יקרבו ימי אבל אבי, “the days of mourning for my father’s death are approaching;” according to the plain meaning, Esau looked forward to his father’s death as he would not have wanted to cause his father such a painful experience as losing a son. Not only that, his father might curse him for what he had done. Other commentators believe that the words do not mean that Esau looked forward to his father’s death, but that he said: ”I will bring my father’s mourning Yaakov’s death closer by murdering Yaakov.”
“Esau harbored a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing” [27:41]. Esau hated his brother Jacob because of the birthright. Hizkuni writes. He hated Jacob because he had the blessing of the sword. He relied on the blessing, “by your sword shall you live” [27:40], that it would help him kill Jacob. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:41.)
“Let but the mourning period of my father come” [27:41]. Esau said: I will not trouble my father, but as soon as my father will die, I will take revenge on Jacob. So writes Rashi, (Rashi, Genesis, 27:41.) but Hizkuni writes. Esau said: I will wait until my father will die and if he will not have children, nobody will defend Jacob, since he will not have a brother. At that time I will take revenge. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:41.)
So far then Jacob's efforts provided him with useful information about how to approach Esau when he would meet him. Jacob's fear did not concern his own death at the hands of Esau, but he was concerned about the possible death of members of his family, concerning whom no promise from G-d had been received. The wording of the promise at Bet El in the dream of the ladder, had been directed only at Jacob alone. (3) Jacob divided the camp so that he could not be faulted for having neglected a chance to ensure partial survival. No doubt, the camp mentioned last, was positioned in such a way that Esau would encounter it first. Should Esau want to vent his rage by destroying Jacob's camp, and his anger could be assuaged by such a pogrom, Jacob's stratagem would have worked since that camp contained no one especially dear to him. If there had been only one camp and that had been attacked, all might have been lost. Jacob's prayer at that point acknowledged both the assistance received thus far and the promises made; it made the point however that all G-d’s promises made to Abraham and Isaac would come to nought if he and his family were not saved at this time. Jacob indicated that he did not think that he personally had any merit to entitle him to ask for favors for himself, seeing that when he had first set out on his quest he had only had a walking staff to call his own, and he had received so many favors from G-d that he was a wealthy man by now. He appealed for help, since, though assured of victory, in a battle involving so many, even victory might involve heavy casualties. G-d had not yet promised that no harm would come to any of them. Jacob was certainly entitled to feel alarmed at that point in his life. At the conclusion of his prayer, he looked for a sign that his prayer had received a favorable hearing. This is why he chose to spend the night at the site where he had offered his prayer. Since Jacob's efforts to save himself had not yet included a financial sacrifice, G-d withheld reassurance until he had done his share in that respect. It was the absence of a response from G-d then that galvanized Jacob into rising early on the following morning to arrange for the gifts to be sent to Esau. There are times when preoccupation with worldly matters-- which are after all only our second most important concerns-- exceeds what is reasonable and is apt to be misinterpreted. Jacob's encounter with the spiritual counterpart of Esau is an example of this. Since Jacob had risen during the night in order to carry insignificant belongings across the river Yabbok, this had been misinterpreted by Esau's guardian angel as evidence that Jacob was excessively concerned with worldly goods. This provided said angel with the opportunity to challenge Jaob's moral superiority over Esau (Chullin 91). Jacob recovered quickly enough from this momentary lapse, and the angel had to acknowledge Jacob's claim to morally high standards, by revealing to him that he would henceforth be known as "Israel." Nonetheless, the momentary weakness displayed and referred to by the Torah euphemistically as "dislocation of the hip joint," is frequently found among Jacob's descendants, and gives Esau/Amalek opportunities to attack the Jewish people's claim to moral leadership. Already Isaac had warned against this weakness in his blessing to Esau, when he told the latter, that he, Esau, would be able to shake off the yoke of his younger brother whenever the latter would fail to live up to his standards (Genesis 27,41). (7) The angel's request to let him go, is simply another way of saying to Jacob, "Why do you waste your time detaining me, when you should be busy preparing gifts for Esau."
AFTER YOU have advanced thus far, and truly comprehended that God exists without having the attribute of existence, and that He is One, without having the attribute of unity, I do not think that I need explain to you the inadmissibility of the attribute of speech in reference to God, especially since our people generally believe that the Law, i.e., the word ascribed to Him, was created. Speech is attributed to Him, in so far as the word which Moses heard, was produced and brought to existence by God in the same manner as He produced all His other works and creations. As we shall have to speak more fully on prophecy, we shall here merely show that speech is attributed to God in the same way as all other actions, which are similar to our own. When we are told that God addressed the Prophets and spoke to them, our minds are merely to receive a notion that there is a Divine knowledge to which the Prophets attain; we are to be impressed with the idea that the things which the Prophets communicate to us come from the Lord, and are not altogether the products of their own conceptions and ideas. This subject, which we have already mentioned above, will receive further explanation.
"...False tongue." For the serpent deceived Adam and his wife and brought evil on him and the world. Then came Jacob, who took the blessings that were his own. "Sharp arrows of the mighty" refers to Esau, who harbored hatred toward Jacob on account of the blessings, as it is written, "and Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing" (Beresheet 27:41).
[2] Another interpretation: "Things will come to your heart." Everything is first considered in the heart. Esau did this, as it is said, "And Esau said in his heart" (Genesis 27:41). Nebuchadnezzar did this, and you also said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God" (Isaiah 14:13). Haman did this, as it is said, "Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai" (Esther 5:9-13). The kingdom of Sodom did this, as it is said, "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:3-4). Likewise, Gog did this, as it is said, "Let things come to your heart and put evil schemes into your mind" (Ezekiel 38:10). Everything he thought in his heart, the Holy One, blessed be He, made public. And what Esau thought, see later at the end of chapter 42 [of Genesis]. He went to Ishmael and said, "This is not the way of the world that I should kill my father Isaac. Rather, kill him and let me inherit the entire world." This is what he said with his mouth, but in his heart he was saying, "I will kill Jacob after Ishmael kills Isaac." He came to Ishmael and killed him and said, "Why did you kill my father?" And I will inherit the entire world for myself." He thought this in his heart, and the Holy One, blessed be He, made it public, as it is said, "For I have laid bare Esau's rugged mountains and his dwelling place" (Jeremiah 49:10). The Lord said, "I know what you thought in your heart," as it is said, "Because you said, 'These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, and we will possess them,' whereas the Lord was there" (Ezekiel 35:10). There I looked into your heart and saw what you thought. Likewise, Gog and Magog think in their hearts, as it is said, "On that day, things will come to your heart and you will plan an evil plan" (Ezekiel 38:10). And the Holy One, blessed be He, makes public what they are thinking, as it is said, "And you said, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates'" (Ezekiel 38:11). And what does he think? Rather, this is what Pharaoh, who came against the Israelites, says: "He [Moses] was a fool, he left his patron and came to them." And similarly, Amalek, Sisera, and anyone who stood against them [the Israelites], they left [it] to the Holy One, blessed be He, [to deal with them], [because] they were fools. But what can I do? I will go first to the patrons of Israel, and if I kill the Messiah, he will raise up other Messiahs. But [the judgment] is upon the Lord, as it says, "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" (Psalms 2:1-2). Edom, Ishmael, Gebal, Ammon, and Assyria all conspired against the Almighty, as it is written, "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones" (Psalms 83:3). And what do they do? They stand on their feet and look up at the Almighty, saying, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more" (Psalms 83:5). What is the name of Israel? They say, "Let us wipe it out," as it is written, "Blessed is the Eternal, God of Israel" (Psalms 41:14). And what does the Lord do to them from above? He stands on their feet and punishes them, as it is written: "And this shall be the plague...he shall stand upon his feet, and his eyes shall consume away in their holes, and his tongue shall consume away in his mouth." (Zechariah 14:12). Those feet that wanted to stand against Me, the plague consumes them while they stand on their feet. Those eyes that looked upwards, his eyes shall consume away in their holes. And that tongue that spoke against Me, his tongue shall consume away in his mouth. The Lord said to them: "At first, there was no peace among you, 'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked'" (Isaiah 48:22). But now you have made peace with each other to come against Me. It is written, "For they have consulted together with one consent; against thee do they make a covenant: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah." (Psalm 83:6-9). All of you have made peace to come against Me, so I will also do the same. And you, son of man, shall say to the birds and to every beast of the field: "Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood." (Ezekiel 39:17). Just as you did not have peace with each other and made peace to come upon me, so too I call the birds and animals that did not have peace with each other and I make peace between them to come upon you. And because you said, "And let not the name of Israel be remembered anymore," (Psalm 83:5) your life will end and they will bury you and take your name away from the world, as it is said, "all the people of the land shall bury them. The day I manifest My glory shall bring renown to them", and they shall make an end. (Ezekiel 39:13)
[2] Alternative interpretation: "And Jacob fled. "The prudent sees danger and hides himself" (Proverbs 22:3). This is Jacob, and what did he see and flee from? Once he received the blessings, Esau began seeking to kill him, as it is said, "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, 'The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.'" (Genesis 27:41). Jacob went to stay with Ishmael, as it says, "And Esau went to Ishmael" (Genesis 28:9). Jacob said to Ishmael, "Your brother Isaac is my father, and I cannot kill him. But if you join forces with me, we will kill Esau." It was for Esau that Abraham was forced to expel Ishmael from his home, as Sarah said, "Cast out this slave woman and her son" (Genesis 21:10). "You kill my brother and I will kill Jacob my brother, and we will take the whole world for ourselves." And he also thought to himself, "If anyone kills his father, I will kill Jacob my brother." I will come to prosecute Ishmael, asking him why he killed my father, and I will kill him and take the whole world for myself. God said to him, "No creature knows what you thought in your heart," as it is said, "Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,' although the Lord was there" (Ezekiel 35:10). "I was there, and now I am revealing what you wanted to do," as it is said, "For I have laid bare Esau, I have uncovered his hiding places" (Jeremiah 49:10). "And I have only revealed the obvious," as it is said, "Reveal the arm of the Holy One and uncover his hiding places" (Isaiah 52:10). "Why did you want to destroy his offspring and his brother and his divine presence?" And that is why they did not succeed. When Jacob saw these actions, he said, "Why should I sit here and endanger myself and Ishmael? Therefore it is said, 'The prudent sees danger and hides himself' (Proverbs 22:3), and Jacob fled to the field of Aram." And the Holy Spirit cried out, saying, "For God shall cast upon him, and not spare; he would fain flee out of his hand." (Job 27:22).
[4] Another interpretation: Vision of Obadiah: What did Obadiah see as a reason to punish Edom? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Abraham used to feed fetuses and wayfarers, and Esau came and killed them, and he used to fill the caves with corpses, and Jezebel used to kill the prophets. Obadiah hid them in caves and sustained them, as it says, 'And it was when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them in fifty caves and sustained them with bread and water' (1 Kings 18:4). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'Let Obadiah come, who fed the prophets in caves, and punish Esau, who killed people in caves.' Therefore it is said, 'The vision of Obadiah.' Another commentary: Esau circumcised his fathers, but he despised the circumcision and chose to remain uncircumcised. Obadiah, on the other hand, was uncircumcised and despised it, but he chose to be circumcised. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'Let Obadiah come, who despised circumcision and circumcised himself, and punish Esau, who circumcised his fathers and made himself uncircumcised.' Therefore it is said, "The vision of Obadiah." Another commentary: Esau sought to fulfill the wishes of his father, as it says, 'And Esau said in his heart, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near"' (Genesis 27:41), but Obadiah honored one who was not his father, as it says, 'And behold, Obadiah was on the way, and Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face...' (1 Kings 18:7). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'Let Obadiah come, who honored one who was not his father, and punish Esau, who sought the death of his father.' [Obadiah 1:21] Therefore it is said, 'The vision of Obadiah, but for Israel, I have known his thoughts...' (Jeremiah 29:11).
“His offering was one silver dish, its weight one hundred and thirty; one silver basin of seventy shekels, in the sacred shekel; both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” (Numbers 7:49). “His offering was one silver dish [kaarat]….” – this is the offering that he presented in the name of Jacob, who had him precede Manasseh, and in the name of Joseph, who, because of his love, Jacob blessed him all those blessings, just as it says: “He blessed Joseph and said: The God [before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked…]” (Genesis 48:15), and it says: “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh…” (Genesis 48:20). “Dish [kaarat]” – this is Jacob; do not read it as kaarat, but rather, as akeret, who uprooted [akar] the right hand from Manasseh in favor of Ephraim. “Silver” – after, “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver” (Proverbs 10:20); what he said to Joseph: “His father refused, and said: I know, my son, I know; he too shall become a people…” (Genesis 48:19). “Its weight one hundred and thirty” – corresponding to the one hundred and thirty words that there are from “he laid it on Ephraim’s head” (Genesis 48:14) until “he placed Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). “One silver basin [mizrak]” – this is Joseph, who was cast away [shenizrak] from his father and sold to Egypt. “One” – as he was king in Egypt, just as it says: “One of the people (Avimelekh said this referring to himself.) almost lay [with your wife]” (Genesis 26:10). Likewise it says: “Joseph was the ruler over the land…” (Genesis 42:6). “Silver” – after “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver,” as due to his wisdom he was privileged to achieve kingship, just as it says: “After God has disclosed all this to you.… You will be in charge of my house…” (Genesis 41:39–40). “Seventy shekels in the sacred shekel” – as Gabriel came and added one letter from the name of the Holy One blessed be He to his name and taught him seventy languages, as it is stated: “He established it as a precept for Joseph [bihosef] (He added a heh, changing Joseph [Yosef] to Yehosef.) when he went out over Egypt; I learned a language I had not known” (Psalms 81:6), as were it not so, the Egyptians would not have accepted Joseph to rule over them. “Both of them full of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering” – Jacob and Joseph were both full-fledged righteous men, and the two of them resembled one another. This accords with what Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph” (Genesis 37:2). It should have said nothing other than: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Reuben.” Why is it stated: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph”? It is to teach you that Joseph resembled his father in every respect. Just as Jacob was born circumcised, so too, Joseph was born circumcised. Just as this one, his mother was barren, so too, that one, his mother was barren. Just as this one, his mother suffered from the pain of her pregnancy, so too that one, his mother suffered during birth. Just as this one, his mother bore two, so too that one, his mother bore two. Just as this one, his brother seeks to kill him, this one, too, his brothers seek to kill him. This one, his brother hates [soneh] him, and that one, likewise. This one is a shepherd and that one is a shepherd. This one is hated [nistam] and that one is hated. (See Genesis 27:41, 49:23.) This one was stolen from twice: “Stolen in the day and stolen at night” (Genesis 31:39); that one, there is a double expression of stealing: “For I was abducted [gunov gunavti] [from the land of the Hebrews]” (Genesis 40:15). This one was blessed with ten blessings, (See Genesis 27:28–29.) and that one was blessed with ten blessings. (See Deuteronomy 33:13–17.) This one departed and went outside of the Land of Israel, and that one departed and went outside of the Land of Israel. This one took a wife outside of the Land of Israel, and that one took a wife outside of the Land of Israel. This one begot children outside of the Land of Israel, and that one begot children outside of the Land of Israel. This one, angels accompanied him, and that one, angels accompanied him. (A midrash says that when Joseph went to his brothers at the behest of his father, three angels accompanied him.) This one ascended to greatness by means of a dream (See Genesis 28:10–16.) and that one ascended to greatness by means of a dream. This one, his father-in-law’s household was blessed on his account, and that one, his father-in-law’s (According to Bereshit Rabba 86:3, Joseph’s father-in-law Potifera was Potifar.) household was blessed on his account. This one descended to Egypt, and that one descended to Egypt. This one ended the famine and that one ended the famine. (See Bereshit Rabba 89:9.) This one administered an oath to his son, and that one administered an oath to his brothers. This one died in Egypt, and that one died in Egypt. This one was embalmed, and that one was embalmed. This one, his bones ascended, and that one, his bones ascended. Because Joseph resembled his father, that is why it is stated: “These are the chronicles of Jacob, Joseph”; and that is why it is stated: “Both of them full…” – regarding Jacob and Joseph. “One gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense” (Numbers 7:50). “One…ladle [kaf]” – it corresponds to the palm of his right hand, which he placed on Ephraim’s head. Why does it call it “one”? It is because it is more significant than the left. “Gold…ten shekels” – it corresponds to the ten words that there are from: “Israel extended his right hand” (Genesis 48:14) until “and he was the younger” (Genesis 48:14). “Filled with incense” – Jacob saw this matter through the divine spirit, that Ephraim was worthy for him to place his right hand on his head. Likewise it says: “Guiding [sikel] his hands, as Manasseh was the first born” (Genesis 48:14). His hands were guided [hiskilu] by the divine spirit, just as it says: “Maskil of Eitan the Ezraḥite” (Psalms 89:1). (This is a psalm stated by Eitan the Ezraḥite with divine guidance.) “One young bull, one ram, one sheep in its first year, as a burnt offering” (Numbers 7:51). “One young [ben bakar] bull” – corresponding to Abraham, as it is stated: “Abraham ran to the cattle [habakar]” (Genesis 18:7). “One ram” – corresponding to Isaac, in whose regard it is written: “[Abraham…] took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). “One sheep” – corresponding to Jacob, in whose regard it is written: “Jacob separated the sheep” (Genesis 30:40). Why did he sacrifice these three kinds of burnt offerings? It corresponds to the three patriarchs, corresponding to the blessing that Jacob blessed them: “Let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be called upon them” (Genesis 48:16). “One goat as a sin offering” (Numbers 7:52). “And for the peace offering, two bulls, five rams, five goats, five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama son of Amihud” (Numbers 7:53). “One goat as a sin offering” – corresponding to Joseph, as it is written: “They slaughtered a goat” (Genesis 37:31). Why did he sacrifice this corresponding to Joseph? It is because when Jacob blessed them with the name of the three patriarchs, likewise, he blessed them with the name of Joseph and made them dependent upon him, as it is stated: “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20). “And for the peace offering, two bulls” – corresponding to the two blessings that he blessed them: the former, “[may the angel…] bless the lads” (Genesis 48:16), and the latter, “by you Israel shall bless….” “Five rams, [five goats, five lambs]” – three species, corresponding to three generations that Joseph saw for Ephraim, who were attributed to Joseph, and they were patrilineal houses, as it is stated: “Joseph saw great-grandchildren from Ephraim” (Genesis 50:23). Likewise it says: “These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: Of Shutelaḥ.… And these are the sons of Shutelaḥ: Of Eran…” (Numbers 26:35–36). Ephraim, Shutelaḥ, Eran, these are three sons from three generations. Why were they five each? It corresponds to the five words (In the Hebrew phrase.) of “he placed Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:20), as it is from there that Ephraim merited to present his offering first. “This was the offering…” – because he presented the offering in this order, the Holy One blessed be He began lauding his offering: “This was the offering of Elishama….”
“The Lord said to His heart” – the wicked are under the control of their hearts: (They cannot control their base instincts.) “The scoundrel says in his heart” (Psalms 14:1); “Esau said in his heart” (Genesis 27:41); “Yerovam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26); “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6). But the righteous, their hearts are subject to them: (They are able to overcome their evil inclinations.) “Hannah was speaking to her heart” (I Samuel 1:13); “David said to his heart” (I Samuel 27:1); “Daniel placed in his heart” (Daniel 1:8); “the Lord said to His heart.” (The righteous are always portrayed as speaking “to their hearts,” meaning that they dictate to the heart what to do, and not vice versa.) “I will not continue…and I will not continue” (The Midrash will explain the repetition.) – it is powerful, it is powerful. (The repetition indicates the intensity of God’s commitment, as if He were declaring an oath (see Isaiah 54:9).) The Rabbis say: “I will not continue” for the [present] children of Noah, “and I will not continue” for [future] generations. Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great said: Wretched is the dough whose baker attests in its regard that it is inferior – “[and the Lord said to His heart…] as the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Abba Yosei HaTorati says: Wretched is the leaven whose maker attests that it is inferior, as it is stated: “For He knows our inclination; mindful that we are dust” (Psalms 103:14). The Rabbis say: Wretched is the sapling whose planter attests that it is inferior, as it is stated: “The Lord of hosts, who planted you, spoke evil of you” (Jeremiah 11:17). Antoninos asked our Rabbi, (Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the patriarch, also known simply as “Rabbi.” Antoninos was a senior Roman official who was friendly with him.) saying to him: ‘From what point is the evil inclination implanted in a person? From the moment he emerges from his mother’s womb, or even before he emerges from his mother’s womb?’ He said to him:’ Before he emerges from his mother’s womb.’ He said to him: ‘No. Were it implanted in him while still in his mother’s womb, he [the fetus] would dig through her innards and emerge [by force].’ Rabbi conceded to him, as he was in agreement with the opinion of the Biblical verse: “As the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth [neurav]” (Genesis 8:21). Rabbi Yudan said: “ne’erav” is written; from the moment that he pushes out [ninar] to emerge from his mother’s womb. Antoninos also asked our Rabbi, saying to him: ‘From when is a spirit (The spirit of life.) embedded in a person? From the moment he emerges from his mother’s womb, or even before he emerges from his mother’s womb?’ He said to him: ‘After he emerges from his mother’s womb.’ He said to him: ‘No. This is analogous to a piece of meat, if one were to leave it without salting it for three days, it putrefies.’ (So, too, a fetus must possess the spirit of life, or it would rot away.) Rabbi conceded to him, as he was in agreement with the opinion of the Biblical verse, as it is stated: ”You granted me life and kindness, and Your command [ufkudatekha] preserved my spirit” (Job 10:12) – from when did you place the soul in me? It is from when You deposited me (It is from when You deposited me in my mother’s womb.) [hifkadetani].
“Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart: The days of mourning for my father will approach, and I will kill my brother Jacob” (Genesis 27:41). “Esau hated [vayistom]” – Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Yosei said: A senator (Senator is an acronym for soneh, nokem, noter, which the midrash will go on to explain.) – he became toward him a hater [soneh], an avenger [nokem], and a bearer of a grudge [noter]; to this day they are called the senators of Rome. “Esau said in his heart” – the wicked are subject to the heart. “The scoundrel says in his heart” (Psalms 14:1); “Yerovam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26); “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6). But the righteous, their heart is subject to them. “Hannah, she was speaking in her heart” (I Samuel 1:13); “David said in his heart” (I Samuel 27:1); “Daniel resolved in his heart” (Daniel 1:8). They are like their Creator: “The Lord said in his heart” (Genesis 8:21). “The days of mourning for my father will approach” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: Esau acted with patience. He said: ‘What, will I cause my father to break down?’ Instead, “the days of mourning for my father will approach, and I will kill” him. Rabbi Neḥemya said: A Divine Voice said: ‘Many young donkeys have died and their hides have been spread over their mothers.’ The Rabbis say: [Esau said:] ‘If I kill him, there are Shem and Ever who will sit in judgment over me, and say to me: Why did you kill your brother? Instead, I will go and marry into Ishmael’s family, and he will come and dispute with him [Jacob] over the birthright and kill him, and I will stand against him [Ishmael] as a blood redeemer and kill him, and I will be the heir of two families.’ That is what is written: “Because you said: The two nations and the two countries will be mine, and we will inherit it, and the Lord was there” (Ezekiel 35:10). Who is it that said so? Rabbi Yudan said: It was the Holy One blessed be He: “and the Lord was there.” Rabbi Berekhya said: Esau denied and said: ‘I did not say that statement.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Do you not know that I am the prober of hearts? “I, the Lord, probe the heart”’ (Jeremiah 17:10).
Another matter, “Jacob sent” (Genesis 32: 4) – “Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked. Do not bring their scheme to fruition [zemamo al tafek]; may they depart, Selah” (Psalms 140:9). He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, do not realize for wicked Esau the thoughts of his heart.’ What is “zemamo al tafek”? He said before him: ‘Master of the universe: Place a muzzle for wicked Esau so that his satisfaction will not be complete.’ What muzzle did the Holy One blessed be He make for wicked Esau? Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: ‘These are the residents of Barbary and the residents of Germany, whom the Edomites (This refers to Rome, which was being attacked by Germanic tribes.) fear.’ Another matter, “do not grant the desires of the wicked” – he said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, just as it was Laban’s intent to harm me, but you did not allow him to do so, so, too, regarding the thoughts of my brother Esau who is thinking to kill me, thwart his evil.’ He was one of three people who thought [to do] evil, but they were unsuccessful – Esau, Yerovam, and Haman. Esau, as it is stated: “Esau said in his heart” (Genesis 27:41). Regarding Yerovam it is written: “Yerovam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26). Regarding Haman it is written: “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6). What is “Esau said in his heart”? He said: ‘Cain killed his brother, and the Omnipresent did nothing to him. Ultimately, he [Adam] begot additional sons, and they inherited the world with him. But I, I will kill Isaac my father first, and then I will kill Jacob my brother, and I will inherit the world alone,’ as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach” (Genesis 27:41) – he said: ‘First, I will hasten the mourning for Father, and then: “I will kill my brother Jacob”’ (Genesis 27:41). But the Holy One blessed be He did not enable him to do so. That is why it is stated: “Do not grant the desires of the wicked.”
Another matter, “Jacob was very frightened and distressed” – Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai said: The fright and the distress are not the same. (It would have been enough to write one of them. One who fears, is in distress.) Rather, he was frightened lest he kill, and distressed lest he be killed. He said: ‘If he overcomes me, he will kill me, and if I overcome him, I will kill him.’ That is: He was frightened lest he kill, and distressed lest he be killed. He said: ‘All these years, he [Esau] has been residing in the Land of Israel; say that he comes against me (Maybe he will be able to overcome me.) by virtue of his residence in the Land of Israel. All these years, he has been residing and honoring his parents; say that he comes against me by virtue of his honoring father and mother, as so he said: “The days of mourning for my father will approach” (Genesis 27:41). Say that this old man died and he will come against me to kill me.’ (This is another explanation for the distress of Jacob. The fear was of Esau, the distress was from the thought that maybe his father had died.) Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: This is what the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Return to the land of your fathers, to the land of your birth” (Genesis 31:3). Say that the stipulations (The stipulations that Jacob made when he departed for Padan Aram. See Genesis 28:20–22.) were until here: “And He will protect me on this path” (Genesis 28:20), and not beyond that. (Maybe the promise for protection ended when he reached the land of his fathers.) Rabbi Yudan said: The Omnipresent said to him: “Return to the land of your fathers,” but nevertheless, “Jacob was very frightened”? Rather, from here [we learn] that there is no promise to the righteous in this world. (Promises made are conditional on righteous behavior, thus the righteous may fear that they have sinned in such a way that they have lost the guarantee of protection that they received (Etz Yosef).) Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: “Behold, I am with you” (Genesis 28:15); “if God will be with me”? (Genesis 28:20). Rather, from here [we learn] that there is no promise to the righteous in this world. Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: “He said: For I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12) and nothing evil will harm you, (This is implied by the fact that God said that He would be with Moses.) and it is written: “It was on the way, in the lodging, [the Lord encountered him and sought to kill him]” (Exodus 4:24). Rather, there is no promise to the righteous in this world. Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanin of Tzippori: “Benayahu son of Yehoyada answered the king and said: “Amen; and so may the Lord, God of my lord the king, say” (I Kings 1:36). (This was said in responsed to David's decree to anoint Solomon as king.) But is it not already stated: “Behold, a son is born to you, he will be a man of rest” (I Chronicles 22:9) (The son mentioned in the verse is Solomon.) – rather, he said: ‘Many adversaries may arise from here to Giḥon.’
“For the Lord God will not do anything, [unless He has revealed His secret to His servants the prophets]” (Amos 3:7) – Jacob paired two with two, and Moses paired two with two. (They paired two of the tribes against two of the kingdoms that will conquer Israel.) Judah opposite the kingdom of Babylon – this one was likened to a lion and that one was likened to a lion. This one was likened to a lion: “Judah is a lion cub” (Genesis 49:9); and that one was likened to a lion: “The first was like a lion” (Daniel 7:4). Into the hands of whom would the kingdom of Babylon fall? Into the hands of Daniel, who descended from Judah. Benjamin opposite the kingdom of Media – this one was likened to a wolf, and that one was likened to a wolf. This one was likened to a wolf: “Benjamin is a wolf that mauls” (Genesis 49:27); and that one was likened to a wolf: “Behold another, a second beast, resembling a bear [ledov]” (Daniel 7:5) – Rabbi Ḥanina said: Ledov is written, but it was called dev. (The word dov, bear, is sometimes written with a vav. In this instance it is written without a vav, such that it can be read dev, which is Aramaic for ze’ev, wolf. Thus, the midrash is saying that Media is compared to a wolf. ) This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Therefore, a lion from the forest smote them” (Jeremiah 5:6) – this is Babylon; “a wolf of the deserts will plunder them” (Jeremiah 5:6) – this is Media. Into the hands of whom did the kingdom of Media fall? Into the hands of Mordekhai, who descended from Benjamin. Levi opposite the kingdom of Greece – this one is the third tribe, and that one is the third kingdom. (The third of the four kingdoms in the vision of Daniel (Daniel, ch. 7). ) This one has three letters, and that one has three letters. (Levi and Greece [Yavan] are each spelled with three letters in Hebrew. ) These sound horns, (The priests, from the tribe of Levi, would sound the shofar when sacrificing offerings.) and those sound trumpets. (The Greeks would sound trumpets when going out to war.) These wear hats, (The reference is to the headdresses that were part of the priestly vestments.) and those wear helmets. These wear trousers, and those wear knee breeches. Those (The Greeks) are many in number, and these are few in number. The many came and fell into the hand of the few. By what merit? It was due to the blessing of Moses, who said: “Crush the loins of those who rise against him” (Deuteronomy 33:11). Into whose hands did the kingdom of Greece fall? Into the hands of the Hasmoneans, who were from Levi. Joseph opposite the kingdom of Edom – this one has horns, and that one has horns. This one has horns – “the firstborn bull is his majesty” (Deuteronomy 33:17); and that one has horns – “and concerning the ten horns that were on its head” (Daniel 7:20). This one forsook licentiousness, and that one cleaves to licentiousness. This one was scrupulous regarding his father’s honor, and that one demeaned his father’s honor. (Joseph heeded his father and went to check on his brothers even though he knew they hated him (Genesis 37:13–14). The nation of Edom descends from Esau, who said: “The days of mourning for my father will approach, and I will kill my brother Jacob” (Genesis 27:41). Thus, Esau was looking forward to his father dying so that he could kill Jacob. ) Of this one it is stated: “I fear God” (Genesis 42:18); of that one it is stated: “And he did not fear God” (Deuteronomy 25:18). (This is stated in reference to Amalek, who descended from Esau.) Into whose hands will the kingdom [of Edom] fall? Into the hands of the one anointed for war, who comes from Joseph. (The messiah, son of Joseph. ) Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: There is a tradition that Esau will fall only into the hands of Rachel’s descendants. That is what is written: “[Therefore, hear the schemes of the Lord that He has devised against Edom…] will the young of the flock not drag them?” (Jeremiah 49:20). Why does he call them the young of the flock? Because they are the youngest of the tribes.
“Haman entered, and the king asked him: ‘What is to be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor?’ Haman said in his heart: Whom would the king delight to honor besides myself?” (Esther 6:6). “Haman entered, and the king asked him… Haman said in his heart.” The wicked are controlled by their hearts: “Esau said in his heart” (Genesis 27:41); “The scoundrel said in his heart” (Psalms 14:1); “Yerovam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26); “Haman said in his heart.” However, the righteous are in control of their hearts. That is what is written: “Hannah was speaking upon her heart” (I Samuel 1:13); “Daniel set over his heart” (Daniel 1:8); “David said to his heart” (I Samuel 27:1). And they are similar to their Creator: “The Lord said to his heart” (Genesis 8:21).
“The king said to Haman: Hurry, take the garments and the horse; as you have said, do so to Mordekhai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Do not omit anything that you spoke of. Haman took the garments and the horse, dressed Mordekhai and led him, riding, through the city square and proclaimed before him: ‘So shall be done for anyone the king wishes to honor!’” (Esther 6:10-11). “Take the garments and the horse… Haman took the garments and the horse.” He went to Mordekhai. When he [Mordekhai] was told that he was coming, he was very afraid, and he was sitting with his students before him. He said to his students: ‘My children, run and remove yourselves from here that you are not burned with my coal, as the wicked Haman is coming to kill me.’ They said: ‘If you die, we will die with you.’ He said to them: ‘If so, let us stand in prayer and pass away while praying.’ They completed their prayers and sat and engaged in the halakhot of Sefirat ha-Omer, ( The commandment to count the days between Passover and Shavuot. When the Temple stood, they would bring a meal offering of barley measuring one omer (the omer offering) on the 16th of Nisan, the second day of Passover.) as that day was the 16th of Nisan and on that day they would bring the omer offering at the time when the Temple stood. Haman came to them and said to them: ‘What are you engaged in?’ They said to him: ‘In the commandment of the omer. That is what it says: “And if you present an offering of the first fruits to the Lord…”’ (Leviticus 2:14). There (For the residents of the Land of Israel, “there” refers to Babylonia, and vice versa. In the Babylonian Talmud (Megilla 16a) it is stated that Mordekhai was demonstrating to his students how to take a handful of a meal offering (Etz Yosef).) they say: They showed him the halakhot of taking a handful [of a meal offering]. And [these interpretations] are one and the same, as they would take a handful from the omer. He said to them: ‘This omer, what is it? Is it [made] of gold or of silver?’ They said to him: ‘Not of gold and not of silver and not of wheat, but of barley.’ He said to them: ‘What is its value? Is it ten kantrin?’ (Kantrin, or singular Kantar, is a measurement of silver equivalent to one talent, ~33 kg.) They said to him: ‘It goes for ten manin.’ (Manin, or singular maneh, in this context is equivalent to the small silver coin known as a ma’a.) He said to them: ‘Rise, for your ten manin have vanquished my ten thousand kantrin of silver.’ Once [Mordekhai] had finished praying, Haman said to Mordekhai: ‘Put on these royal garments.’ He said to him: ‘Why are you dishonoring the monarchy? Is there any man who would put on royal garments without bathing?’ He [Haman] went and sought a bath attendant and could not find one. What did he do? He girded his loins and went in and bathed him. When he came out, he said to him: ‘Take this crown.’ He [Mordekhai] said to him: ‘Why are you dishonoring the monarchy? Is there any man who would put on a royal crown without a haircut?’ He [Haman] went and sought a barber and did not find one. What did he do? He went to his house and brought scissors and sat and gave him a haircut. He began to sigh. He [Mordekhai] said to him: ‘Why are you sighing?’ He said to him: ‘Woe to this man’s ( Referring to oneself in the first person was considered bad luck. “This man” in this context is Haman, referring to himself.) father – he [Haman] has been removed from being a high official and an overlord and has been made a bath attendant and a barber!’ He [Mordekhai] said to him: ‘That is why I asked you. Do I not know that the father of that man [Haman] was a bath attendant and a barber in Kefar Karyanus and you have found his barber tools?’ He [Haman] said to him: ‘Arise and ride this horse.’ He said to him: ‘I have not the strength [to mount it], for I am old.’ He said to him: ‘Am I not an old man?’ He said to him: ‘Was it not you who brought it on yourself?’ He said to him: ‘Get up, for I will bend my back for support and you step on me and get up and ride, to fulfill for you that which Scripture says: “And you shall tread on their high places” (Deut. 33:29).
Rabbi Levi said: Accursed are the wicked who are engaged in evil counsel against Israel, and each one of them counsels in his way and says: ‘My counsel is better than your counsel.’ Esau said: ‘Cain was a fool because he killed his brother during his father’s lifetime, and he didn’t know that his father would procreate. I will not do so; rather: “Let the days of mourning my father approach, and I will kill my brother Jacob”’ (Genesis 27: 41). Pharaoh said: ‘Esau was a fool. Did he not know that his brother would procreate during his father’s lifetime? I will not do so [delay before killing Israel]. Rather, while they are still small and just out of their mother’s womb, I will suffocate them’; that is what is written: “Every son who is born, you shall cast him into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22). Haman said: ‘Pharaoh was a fool, as he said: “Every son who is born, you shall cast him into the Nile.” Didn’t he know that girls marry and procreate? I will not do so; rather, “to destroy, to kill and to eliminate…” (Esther 3:13).’ [Haman continued:] ‘Even Gog and Magog (Gog is the prophesied king of Magog in the war that will take place at the end of days. See Ezekiel 38–39.) in the future are destined to say: “Those who preceded me were fools, as they engaged in counsel with their kings against Israel, but they did not know that they have a patron in Heaven.” I will not do so. I will confront their patron first, and then I will confront them.’ That is what is written: “The kings of the earth have assembled, and rulers are gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed” (Psalms 2:2). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: Wicked one, do you come to confront Me? How many divisions are before Me? How many lightning bolts? How many thunder claps? It is like what is written: “The Lord thundered with a great sound” (I Samuel 7:10); and how many seraphs and how many angels? rather, My power will emerge and wage war with you; that is what is written: “The Lord will emerge and wage war against those nations, like the day that He waged war on the day of battle” (Zechariah 14:3); “The Lord will emerge like the valiant one, He will arouse zealotry like a man of war…” (Isaiah 42:13); “The Lord will be King over the entire earth” (Zechariah 14:9).
“For the dream comes with much concern; and a fool's voice with many words” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the generation of the Flood were due to the many evil concerns in which they engaged. “And a fool’s voice with many words” – due to the many words that they expressed from their mouths, and said: “What is the Almighty that we should serve Him…” (Job 21:15). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the generation of the Dispersion were due to the many evil concerns in which they engaged. “And a fool’s voice with many words” – as they said: “And we will make a name for ourselves…” (Genesis 11:4). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the Sodomites were due to the many evil concerns in which they engaged. “And a fool’s voice with many words” – as they said: Let the convention of passersby be forgotten from among us; (Let us not allow the welcoming of guests or the performance of kindness to passersby.) that is what is written: “And it forgets that a foot may crush it or a beast of the field trample it” (Job 39:15). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the Egyptians were due to the many evil concerns in which they engaged. “And a fool’s voice with many words” – as they said: “Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice…” (Exodus 5:2). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon Sisera were due to the many evil concerns in which he engaged. “And a fool's voice with many words” – as it is stated: “He oppressed the children of Israel…” (Judges 4:3). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern,” all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon Sennacherib were due to the many evil concerns in which he engaged. “And a fool's voice with many words” – because he cursed and blasphemed, as it is stated: “Who among the gods of all these lands rescued their land [from my hand, that the Lord will rescue Jerusalem from my hand?”] (Isaiah 36:20). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were due to the many evil concerns in which they engaged, as it is stated: “They denied the Lord” (Jeremiah 5:12). Another matter: “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon Nebuchadnezzar were due to the many evil concerns in which he engaged, as it is stated: “Who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” (Daniel 3:15). Another matter “For the dream comes with much concern” – all the pain and suffering that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon Belshatzar were due to the many evil concerns in which he engaged, as it is written: “They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver…” (Daniel 5:4). Likewise, you find regarding Pharaoh, (You find a dream that comes with much concern.) as it is stated: “It was at the end of two full years [that Pharaoh dreamed]” (Genesis 41:1). Pharaoh said: (This is stated concerning the conclusion of the verse from Ecclesiastes, “and a fool’s voice with many words.”) Who watches over whom; is it I over my god or my god over me? Is it not I who watches over my god? That is what is written: “It was at the end of two full years [that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he was standing over the Nile].” (Pharaoh was standing watch over the Nile, his god.) Likewise you find regarding Aḥashverosh; Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: All night, Aḥashverosh was seeing Haman standing over him, with his sword drawn in his hand, removing his royal garment from upon him and his crown from upon his head, and seeking to kill him. He would awaken and say: What is this dream? This is a vision. (This is a prophetic vision from Heaven (Etz Yosef). Alternatively, this is but a vision, an inconsequential dream (Maharzu).) Until when? Until the morning came. The king said: “Who is in the courtyard?” (Esther 6:4). They said to him: “Behold, it is Haman standing in the courtyard” (Esther 6:5). He said: ‘This is the dream’; “for the dream comes with much concern.” “Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the king’s palace, to say to the king to hang Mordekhai on the gallows that he had prepared for him” (Esther 6:4), [for himself] and for his comrades. (The verse could have sufficed with “that he had prepared.” “Him” is an allusion to Haman himself and his sons.) [Similarly] it is written: “He prepared weapons of death for himself; his arrows will act against pursuers [ledolekim]” (Psalms 7:14). (These evildoers prepared weapons, but they themselves will ultimately be killed by them.) What is ledolekim? Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] said: These are the wicked who cast fire [delek] upon them. Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Ḥanan said: These are those who ignited the fire in the destruction of the Temple. The Rabbis say: These are the pursuers of Israel, as it is written: “On the mountains they pursued us” (Lamentations 4:19). “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6) – the wicked are under the control of their heart, as it is stated: “Esau said in his heart” (Genesis 27:41), “Yerovam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26). However, the righteous, their hearts are under their control, as it is written: “Hannah, she was speaking to her heart” (I Samuel 1:13), “David said to his heart” (I Samuel 27:1), “Daniel resolved in his heart” (Daniel 1:8). (Literally: Daniel placed upon his heart.) They are similar to their Creator, as it is stated: “The Lord said to His heart” (Genesis 8:21). Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis: Rabbi Levi said: They think evil in their heart, and I think good in My heart. (This is stated from the perspective of God. The wicked plan to do evil to the righteous, but I ensure that the righteous will not be harmed.) They think evil in their heart, and I judge them regarding their heart, as it is stated: “Their sword will come into their heart” (Psalms 37:15). “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6) – immediately, Haman responded and said: “Let them bring a royal garment” (Esther 6:8). He said to [Aḥashverosh]: ‘You have many garments, but [have them bring] the “royal garment,” the one that you wore on the day that you were crowned.’ “And a horse upon which the king has ridden” (Esther 6:8) – he said to [Aḥashverosh]: ‘You have many horses, but [have them bring] the horse upon which you rode on the day you were crowned.’ “And on whose head the royal crown was placed” (Esther 6:8) – when [Haman] mentioned the crown to him, his face contorted. [Aḥashverosh] said: ‘His time has come.’ That is what is written: “For the dream comes with much concern; and a fool's voice with many words.”
They said: Now they are coming to stir up strife because of our father's hatred of their father, viz. (Genesis 27:41) "And Esav hated Jacob."
It is written (in Is. 2:2): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT IN THE LATTER DAYS THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD SHALL BE ESTABLISHED …. This text is related (to Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING (rt.: Ts'R), . to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: Ts'R) from his beginning has rest at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: Ts'R) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings oppressed him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest. (Gen. 24:1) NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD, ADVANCED IN YEARS, AND THE LORD BLESSED ABRAHAM . Isaac was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16): AND ABIMELECH SAID UNTO ISAAC: GO AWAY FROM US, FOR YOU HAVE BECOME HAVE BECOME TOO POWERFUL FOR US. In the end they begged him for mercy, [as stated] (in vs. 27): AND ISAAC SAID UNTO THEM: WHY HAVE YOU COME UNTO ME…. Jacob also was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1): THEY HAVE HARASSED ME GREATLY FROM MY YOUTH, LET ISRAEL NOW SAY. While he was in his mothers belly, Esau wanted to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22): BUT THE CHILDREN STRUGGLED WITHIN HER…. [Moreover, when he received the blessings, (according to Gen. 27:41:) THEN ESAU HATED JACOB …, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: . So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: Ts'R) over his daughter, and after that Laban wanted to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5): AN ARAMEAN WOULD HAVE DESTROYED MY ANCESTOR. (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1): NOW JACOB RAISED HIS EYES AND SAW ESAU COMING…. There came upon him the trouble over Dinah and the trouble over Joseph. Yet in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12): AND JOSEPH SUSTAINED HIS FATHER …. Ergo (in Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING (rt.: Ts'R), .
[Another interpretation] (of Prov. 12:10): A RIGHTEOUS ONE REGARDS < THE LIFE OF HIS CATTLE >. This refers to the Holy One, who said (in Lev. 22:28): IN THE CASE OF AN ANIMAL FROM THE HERD OR THE FLOCK, < YOU SHALL NOT SLAUGHTER > IT AND ITS OFFSPRING…. (Prov. 12:10, cont.:) BUT THE COMPASSION OF THE WICKED IS CRUEL. This refers to Haman, of whom it is written (in Esth. 3:13): TO DESTROY AND TO ANNIHILATE < ALL THE JEWS >… < ON A SINGLE DAY >. R. Levi said: Woe to the wicked, because they devise secret plans against Israel. (M. Ps. 2:4.) Each and every one says: My plan is better than your plan. Esau said: Cain was stupid to kill [his brother] Abel during his father's lifetime. (Cf. Gen. R. 75:9.) Did he not know that his father would be fruitful and multiply? I am not acting like that. Instead < he said > (in Gen. 27:41): PLEASE (Na. The word is added to the Masoretic Text.) LET THE DAYS OF MOURNING FOR MY FATHER COME; [THEN I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB]. Pharaoh said: Esau was stupid to say: LET THE DAYS OF MOURNING [FOR MY FATHER] COME. Did he not know that his brother would be fruitful and multiply during his father's lifetime? I will not act like that. Instead, while they are tiny under their mothers' birthstool, I will strangle them. Thus it is written (in Exod. 1:22): EVERY SON BORN YOU SHALL THROW INTO THE NILE … Haman said: Pharaoh was stupid to say: EVERY SON BORN < YOU SHALL THROW INTO THE NILE >, [BUT EVERY DAUGHTER YOU SHALL KEEP ALIVE]. Did he not know that, when the daughters are married to men, they are fruitful and multiply through them. I will not act like that. Instead, < I will act > (in Esth. 3:13): TO DESTROY AND TO ANNIHILATE [ALL THE JEWS, YOUNG AND OLD, CHILDREN AND WOMEN, ON A SINGLE DAY]. R. Levi said: Gog [and Magog] as well are going to say the same: The former ones were stupid because they devised secret plans against Israel. Did they not know that they have a patron (Lat.: patronus.) in the heavens? I will not act like that. First I will join in battle with their patron, and after that I will join in battle with them. Thus it is written (in Ps. 2:2): THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TAKE THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS ANOINTED. The Holy One said to him: O wicked one, have you come to me to join in battle? (Rt.: ZWG. The root more commonly refers to joining in wedlock as does the Greek verb, zeugnunai.) By your life I will wage war with you, as stated (in Is. 42:13): THE LORD SHALL GO FORTH LIKE A WARRIOR…. It also says (in Zech. 14:3): THEN THE LORD WILL COME FORTH AND FIGHT WITH THOSE NATIONS AS WHEN HE FIGHTS IN THE DAY OF BATTLE.
Another interpretation (of Exod. 4:27): GO INTO THE DESERT TO MEET MOSES. This text is related (to Cant. 8:1): IF ONLY YOU COULD BE TO ME LIKE A BROTHER. Israel is saying to the Holy One: IF ONLY YOU COULD BE TO ME LIKE A BROTHER. Like which brother? (Tanh., Exod. 1:27; Exod. R. 5:1; PRK 16:5; PR 29/30A:6; 29/30B:1.) You find that from the beginning of the creation of the world until now brothers have hated each other. Cain hated Abel and killed him, as stated (in Gen. 4:8): CAIN AROSE AGAINST HIS BROTHER ABEL AND MURDERED HIM. Ishmael hated Isaac (rt.: TsHQ), as stated (in Gen. 21:9): WHEN SARAH SAW THE SON WHOM HAGAR THE EGYPTIAN HAD BORNE TO ABRAHAM PLAYING (rt.: TsHQ). Now PLAYING can only mean that he desired to kill him, as stated (in II Sam. 2:14): PLEASE LET THE YOUNG MEN ARISE AND PLAY BEFORE US. (The result of their “playing” was that they all killed each other. See above, Gen. 6:5; below, Numb. 6:8; 10:9.) Esau also hated Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 27:41): AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: . Moreover, the tribes hated Joseph, as stated (in Gen. 37:4): THEY HATED HIM. So like which brother? Israel said: Like Moses and Aaron, as stated (in Ps. 133:1): SEE HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT IT IS , since they loved each other and cherished each other. Thus when Moses received the kingship and Aaron < received > the high priesthood, they were not jealous of each other. Rather they were happy in each other's greatness. (See below, Lev. 3:5.) You know yourself it to be so. You find that, when the Holy One said to Moses (in Exod. 3:10): SO COME NOW, I WILL SEND YOU UNTO PHARAOH…, Moses said to him (in Exod. 4:13): PLEASE MAKE < SOMEONE ELSE YOUR AGENT>. Do you imagine that Moses may have delayed in order not to go? He only acted out of respect for Aaron. Moses said: Before I arose, Aaron had been prophesying to them for eighty years. He of whom it is stated (in Ezek. 20:5): I MADE MYSELF KNOWN TO THEM IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. And where is it shown that Aaron prophesied to them? Where it is stated (in I Sam. 2:27–28): NOW A MAN OF GOD CAME UNTO ELI AND SAID UNTO HIM: THUS SAYS THE LORD: I SURELY REVEALED MYSELF {TO} [UNTO] YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE IN EGYPT, WHEN THEY BELONGED TO PHARAOH'S HOUSE; AND I CHOSE HIM FROM ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL TO BE MY PRIEST. (The midrash seems to ignore the fact that what the Holy One says here is introduced by an interrogative particle.) He said to him: All these years Aaron has prophesied to them. So am I now to go to them in my brother's domain so that he will be upset? For that reason Moses did not desire to go. The Holy One said to him: Your brother Aaron will not be upset over this matter. Rather he will be happy. You yourself know that he is going out for a meeting (Gk.: apante, apantesis.) with you. It is so stated (in Exod. 4:14): SEE, HE IS SETTING OUT TO MEET YOU; AND WHEN HE SEES YOU, HE WILL BE HAPPY IN HIS HEART: not in his mouth alone but in his heart, his heart more than his mouth. WHEN HE SEES YOU, HE WILL BE HAPPY IN HIS HEART. R. Simeon ben Johay said: The heart that was happy at his brother's greatness shall put on Urim and Thummim, as stated (in Exod. 28:30): AND INSIDE THE BREAST PLATE OF JUDGMENT YOU SHALL PUT THE URIM AND THUMMIM SO THAT THEY SHALL BE UPON AARON'S HEART. Ergo (In Exod. 4:14): AND ALSO SEE, HE IS SETTING OUT TO MEET YOU; AND WHEN HE SEES YOU, HE WILL BE HAPPY IN HIS HEART. When had said this to him, took it upon himself to go. Immediately the Holy One revealed himself to Aaron. He said to him: Go out to meet your brother Moses so that he may know that you are happy over the matter. It is therefore stated (in Exod. 4:27): GO INTO THE DESERT TO MEET MOSES. Ergo (in Cant. 8:1): IF ONLY YOU COULD BE TO ME LIKE A BROTHER, like Moses and Aaron who loved each other. (Ibid., cont.:) IF I MET YOU OUTSIDE, I WOULD KISS YOU. (Exod. 4:27:) SO HE WENT TO MEET HIM ON THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD AND KISSED HIM.
Another interpretation (of Ps. 33:18): BEHOLD, THE EYE OF THE LORD < IS ON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM >. This < refers to > Jacob. (Ps. 33:18, cont.:) ON THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE, since Jacob waited for the Holy One. (Yalqut Shim‘oni, Pss., 720, explains that Jacob’s patient waiting took place after he had been told that Joseph was dead.) (Ps. 33:19:) TO DELIVER THEIR SOUL FROM DEATH, < i.e., > from his execution by Esau, who said (in Gen. 27:41): LET THE DAYS OF [MOURNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB]. (Ps. 33:19, cont.:) TO KEEP THEM ALIVE IN THE FAMINE, the one which came in his days.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 27:1): AND HE SAID UNTO HIM (Esau): MY SON; AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: HERE I AM. Solomon proclaimed (in Prov. 26:23): SILVER DROSS LAID OVER EARTHENWARE ARE BURNING LIPS AND AN EVIL HEART. To what was Esau comparable? To a caldron (Gk.: miliarion; Lat.: miliarium.) with an outside of gold inlaid with pearls but an inside of earthenware. [Thus did Esau say to his father: HERE I AM, while in his heart he was saying: When will he die?] Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:41): AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MOURNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB. Ergo (in Prov. 26:23): SILVER DROSS LAID OVER EARTHENWARE…. And so you find that the seed of [Esau], Haman, said in his heart (in Esth. 6:6): NOW HAMAN SAID IN HIS HEART. (Is. 14:13f.:) THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART: < THERE IS NO GOD >. (Is. 14:13:) AND YOU SAID IN YOUR HEART: I WILL ASCEND TO THE HEAVENS…. < I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH >. (Ezek. 38:10:) IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY THAT THOUGHTS SHALL COME UPON YOUR HEART, < AND YOU WILL DEVISE AN EVIL DESIGN >. (Ps. 10:11:) HE HAS SAID IN HIS HEART: GOD HAS FORGOTTEN. (Is. 47:8:) AND NOW {PLEASE} HEAR [THIS], {YOU} ELEGANT WOMAN WHO DWELLS IN SECURITY, WHO SAYS IN HER HEART: [I AM, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE]. Ergo (in Prov. 26:25): FOR THERE ARE SEVEN ABOMINATIONS IN HIS HEART; and Solomon proclaimed (in Prov. 26:23): SILVER DROSS < LAID OVER EARTHENWARE ARE BURNING LIPS AND AN EVIL HEART >.
(Deut. 7:12:) “And it shall come to pass if you heed [these statutes].” What is written above the matter (in Deut. 7:7)? “It is not because you are the most numerous of all the peoples [that the Lord desired you and chose you. Rather you are the least of all the peoples].” It is not because you are the most numerous of all the nations,” and it was not because you fulfilled more commandments than they; for the nations do more commandments that they were not commanded than you, and they magnify My name more than you. Thus it is stated (in Mal. 1:11-12), “For from the rising of the sun until its setting My name is great among the nations, [and in every place incense is offered to My name, even a pure oblation; for My name is great among the nations]…. But you desecrate it when you say the table of the Lord is defiled, and its special food is treated with scorn [like ordinary] food.” (Deut. 7:7:) “Rather you were the least of all the peoples.” Rather, because you diminish yourselves for Me, therefore I love you.’ And so it says (in Mal. 1:2-3), “’I have loved you,’ says the Lord …. ‘But I have hated Esau….’” It also says (in Hos. 14:5), “I will heal their veering and love them voluntarily….” My soul has volunteered to love them, even though they were not worthy; and so it says (in Deut. 7:8), “Because the Lord loves you […].” It is written (in Is. 2:2), “And it shall come to pass that in the latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains….” This text is related (to Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), [your end shall greatly flourish].” [This verse is here] to teach you that everyone who is troubled (rt.: ts'r) from his beginning will have it well at his end. You have no one who was more troubled (rt.: ts'r) than Abraham, who was cast into a fiery furnace and went into exile from his ancestral home. Moreover, sixteen kings pursued him. He also stood the test of ten trials and buried Sarah. Yet in the end he had rest, as stated (Gen. 24:1), “Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord blessed [Abraham in all things].” So too was Isaac troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, for the Philistines were jealous of him, [as stated] (in Gen. 26:16), “And Abimelech said unto Isaac, ‘Go away from us, [for you have become have become too powerful for us].’” But in the end they begged him [for mercy], as stated (in vs. 27-28), “And Isaac said unto them, ‘Why have you come unto me…?’ And they said, ‘We have clearly seen….’” Jacob also was troubled (rt.: ts'r) in his youth, as stated (in Ps. 129:1), “’They have harassed me greatly from my youth,’ let Israel now say.” While he was in his mother’s belly, Esau sought to kill him, as stated (in Gen. 25:22), “But the children struggled [within her].” [Moreover,] when he received the blessings (according to Gen. 27:41), “Then Esau hated Jacob …, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, [and I will kill my brother Jacob]’.” So he fled to Laban and was troubled (rt.: ts'r) over his daughters, and after that Laban sought to kill him, as stated (in Deut. 26:5), “An Aramean would have destroyed my ancestor.” (This is required sense by the midrash. A more usual translation would read: A WANDERING ARAMEAN WAS MY ANCESTOR.) He went away from him and encountered Esau, as stated (in Gen. 33:1), “Now Jacob raised his eyes and saw Esau coming….” There came upon him the trouble over Dinah, the trouble over Rachel and the trouble over Joseph. But in the end he had rest, [as stated] (in Gen. 47:12), “And Joseph sustained his father [and his brothers]….” Ergo (in Job 8:7), “Though your beginning was trifling (rt.: ts'r), your end shall greatly flourish.” Another interpretation (of Is. 2:2), “the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains… and Mount Tabor shall become very tall.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the palace (Palterin. Gk.: praitorion; Lat. praetorium.) children of a king. They went down from the city and killed lions, tigers, and bears in the forest. Then they brought them and hung them opposite the city gate, so that all the people in the city were amazed from those lions. The Holy One, blessed be he, did so with Sisera. [When] Sisera came against Israel on Mount Tabor; (according to Jud. 5:20), “The stars fought from the heavens; from their courses they fought with Sisera.” (Cf. Pes. 118b, according to which the stars descended and heated the iron implements in Sisera’s army.) All began to be amazed, for there had never been an event like this, when the stars came down from the heavens to make war with flesh and blood. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “In this world the stars have fought on your behalf, but in the world to come (according to Zech. 14:3-4), ‘Then the Lord will come forth and fight with those nations [as when He fights in the day of battle]. And His feet shall stand in that day [upon the Mount of Olives]….’ And [so on through] all that section (of Zechariah).” Then everyone will see and point Him out with the finger, as stated (in Is. 25:9), “In that day they shall say, ‘See, this is our God; [we waited for Him, and He delivered us. This is the Lord; we waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation].’”
(Lev. 22:28:) “In the case of an animal from the herd or the flock, [you shall not slaughter] it and its offspring on the same day.” (Although the nouns here are masculine singular and would normally read: IN THE CASE OF A BULL OR A SHEEP, Rashi understands the verse as only prohibiting the slaughter of a female beast and its offspring on the same day. Others like Ibn Ezra understand the prohibition in the verse as referring to both sexes. For a discussion of the two interpretations, see Hul. 78b-80a.) This text is related (to Prov. 12:10), “A righteous one regards the life of his beast, but the compassion of the wicked is cruel.” (Lev. R. 27:11: PRK 9:11.) “A righteous one regards the life of his beast.” This refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written in the Torah (in Deut. 22:6 with reference to birds), “you shall not take the mother with the young.” (Cf. Tos. Meg. 25a.) “But the compassion of the wicked is cruel.” This refers to Sennacherib, of whom it is written (in Hos. 10:14), “the mother was dashed to pieces with the children.” “A righteous one regards the life of his beast.” This refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written in the Torah (in Lev. 22:28), “In the case of an animal from the herd or the flock, [you shall not slaughter] it and its offspring….” “But the compassion of the wicked is cruel.” This refers to Haman, of whom it is written (in Esth. 3:13), “to destroy and to annihilate [all the Jews].” R. Levi said, “Woe to the wicked, because they devise secret plans against Israel. (M. Ps. 2:4.) Each and every one says, ‘My plan is better than your plan.’ Esau said, ‘Cain was stupid to kill [his brother] Abel during his father's lifetime. (Cf. Gen. R. 75:9.) Did he not know that his father would be fruitful and multiply [afterwards]? I am not acting like that. Instead (in Gen. 27:41), “Let the days of mourning for my father come; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”’ Pharaoh said, ‘Esau was stupid to say, “Let the days of mourning for my father come.” Did he not know that his brother would be fruitful and multiply during his father's lifetime? I will not act like that. Instead, while they are tiny under their mothers' birthstool, I will strangle them.’ Thus it is written (in Exod. 1:22), ‘Every son born you shall throw into the Nile.’ Haman said, ‘Pharaoh was stupid to say, “Every son born [you shall throw into the Nile, but every daughter you shall keep alive].” Did he not know that, when the daughters are married to men, (According to Yafat Toar, this means foreign men, but it appears to me to be speaking about older Jewish men who were born before this decree (Ed. FN).) they are fruitful and multiply through them. I will not act like that. Instead, [I will act] (in Esth. 3:13), “to destroy and to annihilate [all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on a single day].”’” R. Levi said, “Gog and Magog as well are going to say the same, ‘The former ones were stupid because they devised secret plans against Israel. Did they not know that they have a Patron (Lat.: patronus.) in the heavens? I will not act like that. First I will join in battle with their Patron, and after that I will join in battle with them.’” Thus it is written (in Ps. 2:2), “The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, have you come to Me to join in battle? (Rt.: ZWG. The root more commonly refers to joining in wedlock as does the Greek verb, zeugnunai.) By your life I will wage war with you,” as stated (in Is. 42:13), “The Lord shall go forth like a warrior […].” It also says (in Zech. 14:3) “Then the Lord will come forth and fight with those nations.”
Another example of this is stated in Scripture: Now Isaac loved Esau (ibid. 25:28). Apparently, Esau went astray because his father failed to chastise him. As we have learned, the wicked Esau committed five transgressions in one day: he slept with a betrothed maiden, killed a man, denied the concept of resurrection, rejected the essential principle of religion (i.e., became an atheist), and despised the birthright. All of these transgressions are indicated either specifically in verses in Scripture or by analogy with other verses in Scripture (gezerah shavah). Furthermore, he longed for his father’s death, so that he might slay his brother, as it is said: Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand, then will I slay my brother, Jacob (Gen. 27:41). He compelled Jacob to flee from his father’s house, while he went to Ishmael’s home to learn evil ways from him, and to add to the number of his wives, as it is said: So Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son (ibid. 28:9).
Another comment upon the verse And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: O that thou wert as my brother (Song 8:1). The Israelites said to the Holy One, blessed be He:, O that thou wert as my brother, yet you find that all brothers hated each other. Cain hated Abel, as it is said: And Cain rose up against Abel his brother (Gen. 4:8). Ishmael hated Isaac, as is said: And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport (Gen. 21:9). Making sport implies, in this instance, that he wanted to kill him, as it is said: Let the young men, I pray thee, arise and make sport before us (II Sam. 2:14). Esau hated Jacob, as is said: And Esau said in his heart, etc. (Gen. 27:41). And the tribes hated Joseph, as it is said: And they hated him (Gen. 37:4). But in this instance the Israelites asked of the Holy One, blessed be He: Do you mean like Moses and Aaron, of whom it is said: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Ps. 133:1)? They loved and cherished each other. At the time that Moses took the kingship and Aaron the priesthood, they bore no resentment toward each other. In fact, they rejoiced in each other’s exalted role.
"They journeyed from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. Speaking about Abraham and Sarah, as it is written (Genesis 12:10), "Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land." No one was allowed to oppress them, these Egyptians. Kings, such as Abimelech and Pharaoh, rebuked them, as it is written (Genesis 12:17), "But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife." Do not touch My anointed ones, said Rabbi Berechiah; referring to the Patriarchs. And in the Prophets, do not harm My prophets; referring to the prophetesses. Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Isaac (Genesis 27:42), "And Rebekah was told of the words of Esau." Who told her, since it is written (Genesis 27:41), "Esau spoke to himself"? It was the Holy Spirit that told her.
"For the conductor, a psalm of David. My God, do not be silent about my praise. As it is written (Deuteronomy 10:20), "You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him." If you do so (Psalms 22:4), He is your praise and He is your God. Israel has no praise except for the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, has no praise except for Israel, as it is written (Isaiah 43:21), "This people I have formed for Myself; they shall relate My praise." David said before the Holy One, blessed be He, "You are my praise and You are silent. My God, do not be silent about my praise." For the mouths of wicked and deceitful men have opened against me, and so it says (Psalms 37:13), "The LORD laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming." And You are silent about all this. Thus it says (Psalms 83:2), "O God, be not silent; be not deaf and be not still, O God." And You are silent about what they did in Your Temple, as it says (Isaiah 64:10-11), "Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, has become a burning waste." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them (Jeremiah 7:16), "I have been silent from the day your fathers left Egypt, and you have not listened to Me." Now Edom is acting like a woman in labor. For the mouths of wicked and deceitful men have opened. And what did they say? They opened the gates and entered the Holy of Holies and said, "Where is their God, that He may come and fight with us?" As it says (Deuteronomy 32:37-38), "And he will say, 'Where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libation? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection!'" And they said in the Temple (Psalms 115:2-3), "Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Therefore, it is said, "For the mouths of wicked and deceitful men have opened against me." These are words of hatred that surround me. What is the hatred that is spoken in hatred? It is that which Esau did to Jacob, as it is written (Genesis 27:41), "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him." And they take revenge and contend with me for no reason. Israel said, "When we sent to him in peace, we dealt with him peacefully," as it says (Numbers 20:14), "And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 'Thus says your brother Israel...'" But he (Esau) said, "No, I will go out with the sword" (Genesis 32:31). Israel said, "I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war" (Psalm 120:7). God said, "I did not leave you for that" (Amos 1:11), as it says, "Thus says the Lord, 'For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever'" (Amos 1:11). God said, "Lest I come with the sword and they attack me without cause" (Exodus 20:22). If Esau hated Jacob and took the birthright from him to drink and eat, what did he do?
Another thing the fool said in his heart. The wicked are under the authority of the son of white, and the righteous are under their own authority. The wicked are under the authority of the son of white (Genesis 27:41), and Esau said in his heart (Esther 6:6), and Haman said in his heart (1 Kings 12:26), and Jeroboam said in his heart (Isaiah 14:13), and you said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven" (Daniel 4:28). Another saying is in the mouth of the king of heaven: "What else is there for me to say?" And so Nabal said in his heart, and Esau said in his heart: "What do I think?" He said, "There is no way in the world that I will kill my father, but I will tell Ishmael, his brother, and he will kill him, and I will kill Jacob, his brother, and we will inherit the world." Thus, Esau did not say with his mouth, but in his heart he thought, "Since Ishmael kills my father and I kill my brother, I will come to court with Ishmael and kill him, and I will inherit the world." Therefore, he said in his heart, and the Lord revealed it, as it is written, "For I have exposed Esau and uncovered his hiding places" (Jeremiah 49:10). The Lord said to him, "I know what you thought in your heart," as it is written, "Because you said, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them'" (Ezekiel 35:10), and who declared it? "And the Lord was there."...
Nabal also said about Esau, the wicked one who speaks one thing with his mouth and another in his heart, that in his heart he said (Genesis 27:41), "Behold, now I am old, I know not the day of my death." But with his mouth, he said (Genesis 27:1), "Behold, I am here." The Lord said to him, "You are a wicked man, you flatter your father with your words," as it is said (Genesis 27:34), "Bless me, even me also, O my father." This is what the scripture means when it says (Proverbs 26:25), "When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart." Everything that I hate, he loves, as it is said (Proverbs 6:16-19), "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him." Another thing that Nabal said in his heart was that the Lord said to the wicked, "You think in your heart, so I will not punish you, but the sword shall enter into your heart," as it is said (Psalm 37:15), "Their sword shall enter into their own heart."
"On Hashem and His Messiah. It is compared to a mighty warrior who was in a country, and when conscripts came to that country, they were afraid of that warrior and said, 'What shall we do? Let us kill that warrior, and then we will unite with the country.' So it is with them. Rabbi Berachiah said in the name of Rabbi Levi, 'Cursed are the wicked who maintain a council against Israel, and each one says, "My counsel is better than yours." Esau was foolish; Cain killed Abel while their father was still alive, not knowing that his father would procreate and increase. I do not do that, but rather as it is written, "Let my father's days be prolonged." Pharaoh was foolish; Esau said so, not knowing that his brothers married women and those women multiplied. I do not do that, but rather until the verdict of Kikin under the pillows of their mothers I plead for them, as it is written, "Every male who is born, you shall cast into the river." Haman the wicked said, 'Pharaoh was foolish who said so, not knowing that the girls marry men and those men procreate and increase.' I do not do that, but rather as it is written, "To destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish." Gog and Magog are destined to say the same, that the fools were the first to plot against Israel and did not know that they had a patron in heaven. I do not do that, but first I unite with my patron, and then I return to Israel. This is what is written, "On Hashem and His Messiah." And the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, 'Gog and Magog, how many troops do I have before me, and how many lightning bolts, thunders, and flames? I will go with you to war,' as it is said, 'Hashem will go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies' (Isaiah 42:13). What is written there? "And Hashem shall be king over all the earth."' (Zechariah 14:9)"
Another interpretation: This is what the verse says: "Behold how good and how pleasant etc." (Psalms 133:1). And so you find that never were there brothers who loved each other like Moses and Aaron, as it says "And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses etc." It teaches that most brothers hate each other: Cain hated Abel, as it says "And Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him" (Genesis 4:8). And Ishmael hated Isaac, as it says "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian laughing etc." (Genesis 21:9). And Esau hated Jacob, as it says "And Esau said in his heart: 'The days of mourning for my father will draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother'" (Genesis 27:41). And similarly Abimelech killed his brothers, as it says "And he came to his father's house, to Ophrah, and killed his brothers" (Judges 9:5). And similarly Jehoram killed his brothers, as it says "And Jehoram rose up...and killed all his brothers by the sword" (II Chronicles 21:4). [It teaches that] brothers hate each other, but Moses and Aaron loved each other and cherished each other, and both were great and equal, as we read regarding "And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses."
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Art thou better than thy fathers?" Esau sought to slay Jacob, but he fled before him, as it is said, "And Jacob fled into the field of Aram" (Hos. 12:12). Pharaoh sought to slay Moses, who fled before him and he was saved, as it is said, "Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. And Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh" (Ex. 2:15). Saul sought to slay David, who fled before him and was saved, as it is said, "If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain" (1 Sam. 19:11). Another text says, "And David fled and escaped" (1 Sam. 19:18). Learn that everyone, who flees, is saved. Elijah, may he be remembered for good, arose and fled from the land of Israel, || and he betook himself to Mount Horeb, as it is said, "And he arose, and did eat and drink" (1 Kings 19:8). There the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed unto him, and He said to him: "What doest thou here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9). He answered Him, saying: "I have been very zealous" (1 Kings 19:10). (The Holy One, blessed be) He, said to him: Thou art always zealous ! Thou wast zealous in Shittim on account of the immorality. Because it is said, "Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was zealous with my zeal among them" (Num. 25:11). Here also art thou zealous. By thy life ! They shall not observe the covenant of circumcision until thou seest it (done) with thine eyes.
Rabbi Tanchuma said: The two lads grew up; the one went by the way of life, and the other went by the way of death, as it is said, "And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter" (Gen. 25:27). Jacob went on the way of life, for he was dwelling in tents, and he studied the Torah all his days. Esau went on the way of death, because he slew Nimrod and his son Chavir, and he almost sought to kill Jacob his brother, as it is said, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand, and I will slay my brother Jacob" (Gen. 27:41).
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
“The Lord said to Aaron: Go toward Moses to the wilderness. He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him” (Exodus 4:27). “The Lord said to Aaron: Go toward Moses to the wilderness” – that is what is written: “If only you were as my brother [who nursed from the breasts of my mother; I would find you outside, I would kiss you]” (Song of Songs 8:1). Regarding which brother is the verse speaking? If you say it is regarding Cain, but is it not written: “Cain rose against his brother Abel and killed him”? If you say it is like Ishmael to Isaac, did we not learn: Ishmael hates Isaac? If you say it is like Esau to Jacob, is it not written: “Esau hated Jacob” (Genesis 27:41)? If you say it is like Joseph’s brothers, but is it not written: “They hated him” (Genesis 37:4), and it is written: “His brothers envied him” (Genesis 37:11). Rather, it is like Joseph to Benjamin, “who nursed from the breasts of my mother” (Song of Songs 8:1), (Joseph and Benjamin were from the same mother, Rachel, whereas their other brothers were not sons of Rachel. ) [and] like Moses to Aaron, as it is stated: “He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him.” Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: All kisses are indecent except for three: The kiss of greatness, the kiss of separation, and the kiss of reunion. The kiss of greatness, as it is stated: “Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him” (I Samuel 10:1); the kiss of separation: “Orpa kissed her mother-in-law” (Ruth 1:14); the kiss of reunion, as it is stated: “He went, and he met him at the mountain of God and he kissed him.” Some say: Even a kiss of closeness is not disgraceful, as it is stated: “Jacob kissed Rachel” (Genesis 29:11), who was his relative. Rabbi Pinḥas said: There was an incident involving a brother and a sister, one of whom was in Gush Ḥalav and one of whom was in Beit Maron. The house in Gush Ḥalav caught fire. His sister came from Beit Maron and fell upon him and was hugging him and kissing him. She said: ‘I am not accustomed to come to you [and to kiss you], but I was afraid, as you are my brother and were in distress, and you emerged from it.’ “I would find you outside, I would kiss you” (Song of Songs 8:1) – where outside? It is in the wilderness, where the brothers, Moses and Aaron, kissed each other.
“If only you were like a brother to me, who suckled the breasts of my mother. I would find you outside; I would kiss you, yet they would not despise me” (Song of Songs 8:1). “If only you were like a brother to me” – like what brother? Like Cain to Abel? Cain killed Abel, as it is stated: “Cain arose against Abel his brother, and killed him” (Genesis 4:8). Rather, like Ishmael to Isaac? Ishmael hated Isaac. Rather, like Esau to Jacob? But it is stated: “Esau hated Jacob” (Genesis 27:41). Rather, like Joseph’s brothers to Joseph? They hated him, as it is stated: “His brothers were jealous of him” (Genesis 37:11). Like what brother? “One who suckled the breasts of my mother” – that is to say like Joseph to Benjamin, who loved him wholeheartedly, as it is stated: “Joseph saw Benjamin with them” (Genesis 43:16). (As the story unfolds, the verse states that Joseph wept when he saw Benjamin (Genesis 43:30).) “I would find you outside; I would kiss you”; “outside” – this is the wilderness, which is outside the settled area. “I would kiss you” – regarding two brothers who kissed each other, and these are Moses and Aaron, as it is stated: “He went, and he met him at the mountain of God, and he kissed him” (Exodus 4:27). “They would not despise me” – Rabbi Pinḥas said: There was an incident involving two siblings, one of whom was in Meron and one in Gush Ḥalav. The house of the one who lived in Meron caught fire. His sister from Gush Ḥalav came and began hugging, embracing, and kissing him, and saying: This does not demean me, as my brother was in dire straits and was delivered from them.
“For love is as intense as death” – the love that the Holy One blessed be He has for you is as intense as death. That is what is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord…” (Malachi 1:2). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – when they infuriate the Holy One blessed be He with their idol worship, as it is stated: “They would infuriate Him with strange gods” (Deuteronomy 32:16). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that Isaac had for Esau; that is what is written: “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy Esau had for Jacob, as it is stated: “Esau hated Jacob [because of the blessing with which his father blessed him]” (Genesis 27:41). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that Jacob had for Joseph, as it is stated: “Israel loved Joseph more than his sons” (Genesis 37:3). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy that his brothers had for him, as it is stated: “His brothers were jealous of him” (Genesis 37:11). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that Jonathan had for David, as it is stated: “Jonathan loved him as himself” (I Samuel 18:1). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy that Saul had for David, as it is stated: “Saul eyed David with suspicion” (I Samuel 18:9). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that a man has for his wife, as it is stated: “Enjoy life with a woman whom you love” (Ecclesiastes 9:9). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – the jealousy that he has regarding her when he says to her: Do not speak with so-and-so, and she goes and speaks with him, and immediately, “a spirit of jealousy passes over him and he is jealous of his wife” (Numbers 5:14). Another matter: “For love is as intense as death” – the love that the generation of persecution had for the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “For we are killed all day long for You” (Psalms 44:23). “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave” – as the Holy One blessed be He is destined to have great zealotry on behalf of Zion. That is what is written: “So said the Lord [of hosts]: I became zealous for Zion with great zealotry” (Zechariah 8:2). “Its sparks are the sparks of fire, a great conflagration” – Rabbi Berekhya said: Like the supernal fire; the fire does not quench water and the water does not extinguish fire.
“A bull or a sheep, it and its offspring you shall not slaughter on one day” (Leviticus 22:28). “A bull or a sheep, it and its offspring you shall not slaughter on one day.” Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: “The righteous one knows the nature of his animal” (Proverbs 12:10), this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is written in His Torah: “Do not take the mother with the fledglings” (Deuteronomy 22:6). “The mercy of the wicked is cruel” (Proverbs 12:10), this is Sennacherib, in whose regard it is written: “Mother and children were torn asunder” (Hosea 10:14). Alternatively, “the righteous one knows,” this is the Holy One blessed be He, in whose Torah it is written: “a bull, or a sheep, or a goat.” (Some suggest that the text should read: “A bull or a sheep, it and its offspring you shall not slaughter on one day” (see Rabbi David Luria). ) “The mercy of the wicked is cruel,” this is the wicked Haman, as it is written: “To destroy, to kill, and to eliminate [all the Jews, from lad to elder, women and children, on one day]” (Esther 3:13). Rabbi Levi said: Woe unto the wicked, who engage themselves in counsel against Israel and each and every one says: ‘My counsel is superior to yours.’ Esau said: ‘Cain was a fool that he killed his brother during his father’s lifetime, and he did not realize that his father would procreate [again]. I will not do so; rather, “Let the days of mourning for my father approach [and I will kill my brother Jacob]”’ (Genesis 27:41). Pharaoh said: ‘Esau was a fool, as he said: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach,” but he did not realize that his brother would procreate during his father’s lifetime. I will not do so; rather, when they are small, beneath their mothers’ birthing stools, I will strangle them.’ That is what is written: “When you see upon the birthing stool…every son that is born you shall cast him into the Nile” (Exodus 1:16, 22). Haman said: ‘Pharaoh was a fool, as he said: “Every son that is born you shall cast him into the Nile,” but he did not realize that the daughters would marry men and procreate from them. I will not do so, but rather, “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate [all the Jews].”’ Rabbi Levi said: Gog and Magog, too, are destined to say so in the future: ‘The ancients were fools, as they engaged themselves in counsel against Israel, but they did not realize that they have a Patron in Heaven. I will not do that; rather, I will first confront their Patron and then them.’ That is what is written: “The kings of the earth will mobilize” (Psalms 2:2). The Holy One blessed be He says to him: ‘Wicked one, is it Me that you have come to confront? As you live, I will wage war against you.’ That is what is written: “The Lord will emerge like a warrior, He will arouse zealotry like a man of war” (Isaiah 42:13), and it is written: “The Lord will emerge and wage war against those nations” (Zechariah 14:3). What is written there? “The Lord will be King over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:9).
..[With regard to] this did [Jeremiah] say to have it written, 'Surely the shepherd boys will drag away [the evil ones, Edom or Babylonia in defeat].' (Jeremiah 49:20, 50:45) Rabbi Samuel son of Nachmani said, 'We have a tradition in our hands that Esau [i.e., evildoers, identified with Esau, Edom, and Babylonia] will not fall except into the hands of [the tribal descendants of] Rachel's children [i.e., Joseph or Benjamin]. Why? Because if the [other] tribes were to bring suit against Esau, saying, 'Why did you pursue your brother [our ancestor Israel to harm him (see e.g., Genesis 27:41)]? [We, Israel, have a claim against you for this!]' Then he [Esau can] say to them, 'Why did you pursue your brother Joseph [to harm him]? You are no better than I!' But if Joseph should come to him and say, 'Why did you pursue your brother?', he [Esau] will have no answer. For if Esau were to say '[I pursued him] because he did me evil!' [Joseph could reply,] 'My brothers also requited me with evil, and I requited them with good!' Immediately he [Esau would have to] be silent. And about this is it written, 'See, they are become like straw, Fire consumes them; They cannot save themselves From the power of the flame . . .' (Isaiah 47:14). 'Behold, they are become like straw' -- this refers to Esau . . . [Translation incomplete]
We ask G–d daily at the end of the עמידה prayer ולמקללי נפשי תדום, "enable my soul to be silent to those who curse me." The wording seems peculiar. It would have sufficed to say: "Let me be silent to those who curse me." Why did the sages who composed this prayer add the words "my soul?" The answer is simply that unless one's humility is "soul-deep" as compared to merely "lip-deep," one has not truly attained the desired level of humility. Merely failing to respond to curses heaped upon one will not eliminate resentment and hatred carried in one's heart, and is hardly proof of humility. We may learn a lesson from nature itself. As long as the soil is hard and has not been subjected to plowing, (something which looks like abuse), it is not capable of producing crops. The same applies to our נפש. Only after experiencing some humiliating experiences is our soul capable of rising to the greatest heights it is capable of. It is clear from Proverbs 16,5: תועבת ה' כל גבה לב, "Every haughty person is an abomination to the Lord," that even if one only harbors such sentiments in one's heart, לב, G–d detests such sentiments.
There is an interesting Midrash on Psalms 2,2, יתיצבו מלכי ארץ, "The kings of the earth will take their stand, and regents will intrigue together against G–d and His anointed." Rabbi Berechyah quotes Rabbi Levi as saying that the wicked are cursed, since they conspire against Israel. Each one claims to outdo the other in his devious plot. Esau describes Cain as having been foolish, since he killed Abel during Adam's lifetime, enabling Adam to replace Abel with other children. He, Esau was going to wait to kill Jacob until after his father had died and Jacob could no longer be replaced by Isaac siring any other children (Genesis 27,41). Pharaoh considered Esau as having been foolish, since he had overlooked the fact that while he waited, Jacob himself had a chance to sire many children, thus ensuring survival of the Jewish nation. He, Pharaoh, would not go about in in this way, but he would kill the Jewish males as soon as they emerged from their mother's womb (Exodus 1,22). Haman, on the other hand, considered that even Pharaoh had been foolish, since the latter had not realised that when the Jewish girls would marry they would multiply, the children being considered Jewish in Jewish law. Hence he decreed death for all Jews (Esther 3,13). In the future Gog and Magog will consider all former enemies of the Jews as having been fools for having ignored the fact that the Jews have a Patron in Heaven who may come to their rescue. Hence Gog and Magog plan to first contend with said Patron of the Jews, i.e. G–d, and only afterwards to attack Israel itself. This is why the verse in Psalms we quoted, reads "against G–d and His Messiah." G–d is reported as smiling, saying to Gog and Magog that their undertaking is both foolish and arrogant, since they have no idea how heavily outnumbered they will be when G–d employs His lightning, etc. After all, it is written (Isaiah 42,13): "G–d will go forth like a warrior, like a fighter. He will awaken His jealousy like a man of war." It also says (Zachariah 14,9) that "G–d will be king over the entire universe" (after having battled Gog and Magog).
Esau ridiculed this, saying that Adam had been able to reproduce other human beings of whom the Torah testifies that they were "in His image and form," i.e. of equal or greater worth. Thereby he had restored the damage Cain had wrought (Genesis 5,3). This occurred when Shet was born, who provided the strain of mankind that survived the deluge. Esau vowed not to repeat Cain's mistake, but to ensure that no one could be sired by Isaac to replace Jacob. He particularly wanted to destroy one of the pillars supporting the universe, i.e. the Torah, which was represented by Jacob, the יושב אוהלים, the dweller in tents (a euphemism for Torah academies). On Genesis 25, 27, Rashi explains the plural as comprising the academies of Shem and Ever respectively. Esau reasoned that during the days of mourning for their father Isaac Jacob would have to interrupt his Torah study and the angel of death, Esau's guardian angel, would be able to claim him at such a time. We know from king David that the angel of death could not touch David while he was immersed in Torah study. He had to be distracted so that the angel of death could claim his soul. The Talmud relates a similar occasion when the angel of death tried to claim the soul of Rabbah. The latter had to be distracted through some tremendous noise (Baba Metzia 86).
All three patriarchs were refined through the experience of some degree of exile. Jacob together with his sons, of course, descended into exile in Egypt, where they were in real exile, having had to leave their homeland. Jacob actually should have been brought to Egypt in chains, as our sages state in Shabbat 89b. The 400-year exile started with the birth of Isaac, though Isaac did not actually leave the Holy Land. He is however, always referred to as being גר, a stranger, in that land. Even though the patriarchs were not physically enslaved, the status of being sojourners sufficed to consider them as being in exile. Even Abraham, who was looked up to as a prince among the local population, and who had been "crowned" king in the עמק השוה, as we have mentioned earlier, suffered thirty years of mental exile during the years between the ברית בין הבתרים and the birth of Isaac. Jacob was especially pursued by the קליפה, for Samael had managed to injure Jacob's ירך, thigh, hip joint. As a result, Jacob was in need of greater refinement than his father or grandfather, which manifested itself in a more serious form of exile. Although Esau was a son of Isaac, and honored his father, [which indicated Isaac's affinity to that קליפה of his, Ed.], the fact that Esau lived a life designed to lead to physical as well as spiritual death (as we know from his own admission in Genesis 25,32 when he sold the birthright, and again when he wished for his father to die prematurely, Genesis 27,41) meant that Isaac had rid himself of that קליפה and therefore only needed a minimal amount of exile experience. Abraham died before Esau had become wicked, and thus had no affinity to Esau's קליפה. Abraham also expelled Ishmael from his home when G–d commanded him to pay heed to what his wife Sarah had told him, namely to expel the servant woman and her son. As a result of his keeping away from both these קליפות Abraham did not have to experience actual exile. He did not even have to feel as a stranger. All that was needed to refine him was the anxiety experienced between the promise of the birth of an heir and the fulfillment of that promise, which meant the onset of the 400 years of his descendants being regarded as strangers or of their being actual slaves.
Sometimes satisfaction and cheerfulness follow upon hearing: thus it is said (Lev. x. 20), "When Moses heard that he was content," just as anger ensues in the absence of assent and hearkening, as (Ex. xvi. 20), "Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses." ..."And Moses was wroth with them." Hatred also results from hearing, as thou must know from the case of Esau, of whom it is said (Gen. xxvii. 34), "When Esau heard," and then follows (id. xxvii. 41), "Esau hated Jacob." Mercy is known to result from "hearing"; thus God said (Ex. xxii. 26), "I will hear, for I am merciful." It is said of the righteous dead (Prov. i. 33), "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely." In contrast to this, it is said of the unrighteous (Job xv. 21), "A sound of fright is in his ears: in peace the despoiler shall come upon him," and so forth. Hard-heartedness results from the want of assent; thus it is said of Pharaoh in many places (Ex. ix. 12), "The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkened not." A hard-hearted people is called (Deut. xxviii. 49), "A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, neither shalt thou hearken unto what it speaketh," and so forth.
And in the ninth year, [that] of He who scatters [mazreh, alluding to Jeremiah 31:10, which has a numerical equivalent of that year] Israel: The king of Spain conquered the entire kingdom of Grenada and Grenada the great city of many people, the princess among the states [alluding to Lamentations 1:1]. And in his power and the haughtiness of his heart, his spirit changed and incurred guilt, ascribing his might to his god [alluding to Habakkuk 1:11]. And Esau said in his heart [alluding to Genesis 27:41], “How will I find favor to my god, who girded me with might [alluding to Psalms 18:33]? With what shall I begin towards my master, he gave this city into my hands? Should it not be in bringing the people walking in the dark, the lost sheep, Israel, under his wings and to bring back the wild daughter to his his religion and to his faith? Or [otherwise] to send them away from before me to another land, that they should never return to my land and be established in front of my eyes.” Therefore the command and decree of the king [alluding to Esther 4:3] went out like the decree of Medea and Persia, and the herald proclaimed in a loud voice, “You are commanded [alluding to Daniel 3:4], all you families of the House of Israel, when you pass through the water [to be baptized], you shall pray and bow to the god of the nations, so you shall eat the bounty of the land like us today and you will settle in the land and trade in it [alluding to Genesis 34:10]. But if you refuse and rebel and not utter the name of my god and you do not bring prayers to my god, get up and get out from amidst my people, from the lands of Spain, Sicily, Majorca, and Sardinia, which are under my power. And in three months, there will not be a footprint of someone called by the name Jacob and referred to by the name Israel in all the states of my kingdom!” When I was there in the courtyard of the kings’s house, I became weary with calling out; my throat dried up [alluding to Psalms 69:4]. I spoke with the king twice and three times; with my mouth did I beseech him, saying, “Will the king save [us]? Why are you doing this to your servants? Increase greatly the dowry and the gift upon us [alluding to Genesis 34:12], gold and silver and everything that each man from the house of Israel has he will give to his land.” I called my friends, the king’s confidantes, to request [help] for my people. And princes take counsel together [alluding to Psalms 2:2] to speak to the king with great force, to reverse the decrees of anger and fury and the plan that he had thought against the Jews to destroy them [alluding to Esther 9:25]. He was like a deaf viper that stops its ears [alluding to Psalms 58:5]; he responded to no one. And the queen stood at his right to mislead him; she swayed him with her eloquence [alluding to Proverbs 7:21], to fulfill his plan from start to finish. We exerted ourselves and did not rest, I had no repose, no quiet, no rest, yet trouble came [alluding to Job 3:26]. And the people heard this evil thing, and they mourned, and in every place to which the command and the decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews [alluding to Esther 4:3]. And there was a great harsh and overcoming trembling. the likes of which had not been seen since the day of Judah’s exile from its soil to foreign soil. But everyone said to one another, “Let us be strong for the sake of our religion and for the sake of our God’s Torah, against the voice of the curser and the blasphemer, from the enemy and the avenger. If he will let us live, we shall live, and if he kills us, we shall die. We shall not profane our covenant, nor shall we let our hearts go backward. We will walk in the name of the Lord, our God. And they went with no strength, 300,000 people on foot, I being among them, from youths to the elderly, babies and women in one day [alluding to Esther 3:13] from all of the states of the king. They walked to where the wind took them, and their King went out before them, and the Lord was in front of them. One shall say, “I am the Lord’s,” another shall mark his arm “of the Lord” [alluding to Isaiah 44:5]. Some of them went to the kingdom of Portugal and to the kingdom of Narbonne, which were close to them. But behold, it was distress and darkness and outspread thick darkness [alluding to Isaiah 8:22]. And they were met with frequent and bad distress [alluding to Psalms 71:20], wreck and ruin, famine and the sword [alluding to Isaiah 51:19]. And there were some of them who made a road through the sea and a path through mighty waters [alluding to Isaiah 43:16]. But the hand of the Lord was also upon them to confound them and to destroy them. Since many of the children of the forsaken one [alluding to Isaiah 54:1] were sold as slaves and maidservants [alluding to Esther 7:4] in all the provinces of the nations. And many drowned in the Red Sea, they sank like lead in the majestic waters [alluding to Exodus 15:10). And some also were put through fire and water – since ships burnt down, and the great fire of the Lord consumed them [alluding to Numbers 11:1]. The end of the matter is that not a man was spared from His difficult judgments, some for the sword, some for captivity, and the Lord [also] placed pestilence upon them. And they became a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth [alluding to Deuteronomy 28:25) until they were wholly swept away by terrors [alluding to Psalms 73:19]. And only a few of the many remained. And it is like the statement of our ancestors: Lo, we perish; we are lost, all of us lost! (Numbers 17:27). May the name of the Lord be blessed. I have also chosen their way, the way of the ship in the heart of the seas. And I am amidst the exile, I have come with all of my household, the children are my children, the sheep are my sheep [alluding to Genesis 31:43], here in the praised city of Naples, whose kings are kings of kindness. This year, the year of you have been sojourners [gerim, alluding to Exodus 22:20, which has a numerical equivalent of that year], I spoke to my heart, “That which I have vowed will I fulfill, to write a commentary on the book of Kings, which I have not done until now.” Also because it is a time to act for the Lord, to remember the destruction of our holy and splendorous Temple and the exiles that have come over our people that are written in this book, and as I will explain, with the grace of God. Behold, if so, Hiel the Bethelite, in building Jericho, laid its foundations with his first-born and set its gates in place with his youngest [alluding to I Kings 16:34] – I am a man who has seen my poverty in the youngest of the exiles, and the expulsion that came over me, and that was my personal exile that I had from the Kingdom of Portugal. I then made the foundation and began the commentary on these four books. And in the most senior of the exiles and the saddest of them, which is this bitter hasty expulsion and this great and terrible persecution, which devoured us and discomfited us [alluding to Jeremiah 51:34] and expelled us from having a share in Spain [alluding to I Samuel 26:19] that both ears of anyone who hears about it will tingle [alluding to I Samuel 3:11], I have put the gates of the commentary of this book in place and have completed it. And I have seen fit to begin this book with two general and comprehensive prefaces about its stories.
ויאמר בלבו, “He said to himself:” the expression ויאמר בלבו, as in Genesis 27,41 about Esau, or in Esther 6,6 where it is used about Haman, is typical for wicked people; on the other hand, when a similar expression is used in connection with righteous people the formulation is: ויאמר על לבו, as in Samuel I 27,1 in connection with David, or in Daniel 1,8 in connection with Daniel. The reason for this change in formulation is that the righteous are allowed to carry out their plans, i.e. what is in their hearts, as they are in charge of their hearts, whereas the wicked only think that they will be able to carry out their plans. The reason that in connection with Avraham the former formulation is used, is because the reader of these words is apt to think that even Avraham doubted G-d’s promise.
ויצר לו, “he was distressed;” his distress was over his inability to overcome his fear of Esau in spite of the assurances he had received from G–d. (attributed to Harav Eliav hacohen) An alternate interpretation. The commentator agrees with the meaning of the words: ויירא. However, he interprets the word ויצר as referring to his fear when hearing that Esau was on the way with an armed escort planning to kill him. He knew from his mother that although Esau had sworn to await the death of his father before killing Yaakov (Genesis 27,41) he had changed his mind; when he is quoted as referring to G–d as “the G–d of my father Yitzchok,” instead of “the G–d of my father,” that Yitzchok had died in the meantime, (during the 36 years he had been away from home) as G–d does not associate His name with a living person. (Compare B’reshit Rabbah on that verse.)
After the death of Jacob, as we saw, Joseph’s brothers were afraid. Years earlier, when he had revealed his true identity to them, Joseph appeared to have forgiven them for selling him as a slave. Yet the brothers were not wholly reassured. Maybe Joseph did not mean what he said. Perhaps he still harboured resentment. Maybe the only reason he had not yet taken revenge was respect for Jacob. There was a convention in those days that there was to be no settling of scores between siblings in the lifetime of the father. We know this from an earlier episode: after Jacob took his brother’s blessing, Esau said, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob” (Gen. 27:41).
There is a classic example of appeasement in the Torah: Jacob’s behaviour towards Esau when they meet again after a long separation. Jacob had fled home after Rebecca overheard Esau resolving to kill him after Isaac’s death (Gen. 27:41). Prior to the meeting Jacob sent him a huge gift of cattle, saying “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” (32:21). When the brothers meet, Jacob bows down to Esau seven times, a classic abasement ritual. The brothers meet, kiss, embrace, and go their separate ways – not because Esau has forgiven Jacob but because either he has forgotten or he has been placated.
“And said in his heart, ‘shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah …’” (17. V. 17.) As for these words, I have already explained the phrase “in his heart” in connection with “and it grieved Him at His heart” (18. Gen. 6:6.) and “And the Lord said in His heart,” (19. Gen. 8:21.) in Maṣref La-Kesef. (20. In Maṣref La-Kesef (MK II 34) Kaspi invokes the principle that “the Torah speaks in the language of men” in regard to these verses. On this principle, see above Chapter 2.) Here the implication is that Abraham did not want the Lord or anyone else to hear him, teaching us that it is not correct to doubt the king’s words at all. The writer of the Torah recorded this for us so that we should understand | what I have explained here. The masses should certainly not feel that Abraham was in doubt. (Instead they should feel that “in his heart”) has the same meaning as when it is used with Eliezer (21. Gen. 24:45, “… and before I had done speaking to my heart …”) and Esau. (22. Gen. 27:41, “… and Esau said in his heart: ‘Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand …’” In this and the previous note, the phrase means, “he thought to himself.”) The reason for his speaking “in his heart” was that it was not right that his contemporaries should think that Abraham was in doubt or uncertain of the promise of the Lord, or uncertain of his ability to understand God’s word in spite of his being so great a prophet.
The reason why we have two verses in both of which G’d is reported as speaking (separately) although no mention is made of Avram making any response in between, is that the first verse commencing with ויאמר was not a verbalised version of what G’d “said,” but describes what he thought. Such constructions are not unique, other examples occurring in Genesis 27,41 ויאמר עשו בלבו, “Esau said in his heart, etc.” It is reported as Esau having said something, else how could his mother have heard it? Solomon, in Kohelet 2,1 also uses the word אמרתי when describing something he thought rather than something he had actually said.
Lest he tear my soul like a lion, Rending in pieces while there is none to deliver. – This could not be said of any other enemy of David except Saul, who was king; and of him it is said, Rending in pieces while there is none to deliver. And he says as a lion, because he is the mightiest among the beasts, and is called king over them, and if he rends there is none to deliver. And (the sense of) פרק (rending in pieces) is to be gathered from the sense (of the expression) in "and thou shall break in pieces (ופרקת) his yoke" (Gen. 27:41).
The two nations Israel and Judah. The Midrash Aggadah of Rabbi Tanchuma (source unknown) explains it regarding [the incident in] which Esau went to Ishmael to become his son in law in order to persuade him to contest Isaac concerning the inheritance of Abraham, and [in order that] Ishmael would kill Isaac, and [he thought] “I will be the avenger of blood and kill Ishmael.” This is the meaning of (Gen. 27:41): “Let the days of mourning for my father draw near.” And I will inherit both Isaac and Ishmael.
than a distant brother It is better that the One Who is near to those who call Him dwell among you than that you should come to your brother who distanced himself by saying (Gen. 27:41): “When the days of mourning for my father are at hand, etc.”
And so it is with Esav. He is the first person in the Bible who threatens to kill someone, and not just a random someone but his own brother (Bereshit 27:41). Although we see fratricide with the Bible’s very first brothers, Kayin’s murder of Hevel was not premeditated and it was apparently regretted. Moreover, its shadows do not cast the same pallor on future events that would be the case with Esav’s behavior.
[46] For it is indeed an insufferable threat that he holds over him, when he says: “Let the days of my father’s mourning draw near, that I may slay Jacob my brother” (Gen. 27:41); for he prays that Isaac, the only example of freedom from passion beneath the sun, who receives the divine warning “not to go down into Egypt” (Gen. 26:2), may become the subject of irrational passion, desiring him, I take it, to be wounded by the darts of pleasure or sorrow or some other passion. By so desiring he makes it clear that the man who falls short of perfection and knows only toilsome progress will be liable not to be wounded only but to be utterly destroyed. God, however, in His loving-kindness will neither cause a being of an inviolable kind to be the victim of a passion, nor will He hand over the pursuit of virtue to a mad murderer for ruin.
Tangential to the mention of Leah’s son, Judah, and the reason for his name, the Gemara explains the sources for other names, including Reuben. Rabbi Elazar said: Reuben’s name should be considered a prophecy by Leah, as Leah said: See [re’u] the difference between my son [beni] and the son of my father-in-law, Esau, son of Isaac. Even though Esau knowingly sold his birthright to his brother Jacob, as it is written: “And he sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:33), nonetheless, behold what is written about him: “And Esau hated Jacob” (Genesis 27:41).
“Saturnalia,” “hidden hatred; hating, taking revenge, preserving [hatred]. (A proposed Hebrew etymology of “Saturnalia.”) ” This is what you say, Esau hated Jacob (Gen. 27:41.) . Rebbi Isaac ben Rebbi Eleazar said, in Rome they call it “senate of Esau (In Gen. rabba66(7) there is a different, more intelligible version: Esau hated Jacob; R. Eleazar ben R. Yose said, he was his steward (סַנְטֻרוי) but became hating, taking revenge, preserving [hatred]; for this one calls the Senators (סֶנָטֹרוי) of Rome. For סנטר saltuarius cf. Bava mesi‘a5:7 Note 138.) .”
Will God hear his cry When trouble comes upon him,
Do not desert your friend and your father’s friend; Do not enter your brother’s house in your time of misfortune; A close neighbor is better than a distant brother.
Oil and incense gladden the heart, And the sweetness of a friend is better than one’s own counsel.
Eisov hated Yaakov because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Eisov said in his heart, The mourning days for my father are approaching. I will then kill my brother, Yaakov.
And Esau kept hatred in his heart against Jakob his brother, on account of the order of blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, I will not do as Kain did, who slew Habel in the life (time) of his father, for which his father begat Sheth, but will wait till the time when the days of mourning for the death of my father come, and then will I kill Jakob my brother, and will be found the killer and the heir.
| וַיֻּגַּ֣ד לְרִבְקָ֔ה אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י עֵשָׂ֖ו בְּנָ֣הּ הַגָּדֹ֑ל וַתִּשְׁלַ֞ח וַתִּקְרָ֤א לְיַעֲקֹב֙ בְּנָ֣הּ הַקָּטָ֔ן וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו הִנֵּה֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו אָחִ֔יךָ מִתְנַחֵ֥ם לְךָ֖ לְהׇרְגֶֽךָ׃ | 42 J | When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. |
ויגד לרבקה את דברי עשו בנה, “Rivkah was informed of the words of her son Esau;” he was saying quite openly what was in his heart, i.e. that as soon as his father would die, he would murder his twin brother. Someone who had heard him say this told his mother.
Your brother Eisov is consoled (misnachem). Misnachem can also mean to “glorify oneself” — Eisov boasted of what he would do to Yaakov.
DOTH COMFORT HIMSELF. Mitnachem (doth comfort himself) comes from the same root as nechamah (consolation). (It comes from the root nun, chet, mem and thus means to comfort or console.) The meaning of our clause is: Esau’s sole consolation is that he will be able to kill you. However, the Gaon says that mitnachem means to set a time and is similar in meaning to the Arabic wa’ad. (Which may mean to set a time. The phrase should thus be rendered: Esau doth set a time to kill you. This interpretation is problematic. For the problems inherent in it, see Weiser’s notes on I.E.’s comments on Gen. 6:6.)
עשו בנו הגדול, her elder son Esau. The reason she used the word הגדול "the bigger one," instead of הבכיר, "the older one", was because she was describing Esau's relative prowess compared to the physically smaller Jacob.
מתנחם לך, consoles himself concerning you. The thought of killing you acts as consolation for him regarding what you have done to him. By killing you he means to restore to himself both the birthright and the blessing.
ויגד לרבקה, how did she get to know about Esau’s intentions which he had not articulated? It is possible that she experienced a prophetic revelation, seeing that she was a prophetess. (compare Rashi) It is also possible that what Esau had thought about doing, he inadvertently mentioned to someone so that the one who had heard him reported it to Rivkah.
מתנחם לך להרגך, he acts as if he is already consoling himself over the death of Yaakov. Or, the meaning of this phrase could be that Esau has made peace with his own death because he knows that at least he had first killed you. Once he has accomplished
AND SHE SENT AND CALLED JACOB. The meaning thereof is that Jacob was in another place, not in the tent of his father and mother, since he was hiding from his brother Esau who was complaining about him, and he was ashamed or afraid of him.
HE DOTH COMFORT HIMSELF (‘LECHA’) TO SLAY THEE. “He comforts himself for the loss of the blessings by killing you.” Thus the language of Rashi. But the simple interpretation is that “he comforts himself with you.” (According to Rashi, the comfort is for the blessings Esau lost. Thus the verse states that “his comfort for the loss he suffered is to slay thee.” But according to Ramban the comfort is for his own personal sake, and the meaning of the word lecha (to you) is as if it were written becha (with you), and the thought of the verse is that “his comfort with you is to kill you.”) Similar cases [of the letter lamed having the meaning of a beth] are found in the verses, Thou hast chosen the son of Jesse, (I Samuel 20:7. The Hebrew: l’ben Yishai (to the son of Jesse). The verse thus means that “your choice lies with the son of Jesse.”) And he took hold of him, (II Samuel 15:5. The Hebrew vehechezik lo here means vehechezik bo.) and many similar cases. Perhaps the interpretation is that “he is comforting himself concerning you,” just as in the verses: And the men of the place asked him of his wife; (Above, 26:7. The Hebrew word le’ishto in this verse does not mean “to his wife,” but “concerning his wife.”) And he fell on his face; (I Samuel 20:41. The Hebrew word le’apav in this verse does not mean “to his face,” but “on his face.”) For the king had so commanded concerning him. (Esther 3:2. The word lo (to him) here means alav (concerning him).) Onkelos, however, translates it as kemin lecha, meaning, “he lies in wait for you.” It would appear from his opinion that the meaning of the Hebrew expression, mithnachem lecha, is that “Esau effects the appearance of having been consoled about the matter of the blessings as if he no longer cares for them, but in truth he lies in wait for you and acts this way so that you should not be on guard.” Now Onkelos translated according to the intent of the verse but not according to the language.
ויגד לרבקה WERE TOLD TO REBEKAH — It was told her by the Holy Spirit what Esau was thinking in his heart (Genesis Rabbah 67:9).
מתנחם לך DOTH COMFORT HIMSELF CONCERNING THEE — He regrets the brotherly relationship existing between you, harbouring thoughts other than those of brotherhood, to estrange himself from you and to kill you. The Midrashic explanation (Genesis Rabbah 67:9) is: In his eyes you are already regarded as dead and he has drunk for you (i. e. because he regards you as dead) the cup of consolation (which it was customary for near relatives of the deceased to drink). But according to the real meaning the word signifies “comforting” — he will comfort himself for the loss of the blessings by killing you.
יעקב בנה הקטן ,עשו בנה הגדול, wird gewiss nicht umsonst hervorgehoben, ebenso am Schlusse der ganzen Erzählung: אחי רבקה אם יעקב ועשו. Nach allen diesen Vorgängen blieb Esau der Ältere, Jakob der Jüngere und Rebekka Esaus Mutter wie Jakobs. In diesem ganzen spricht sich vollständig die edle reine Gesinnung Rebekkas und Jakobs aus und findet sich unsere Auffassung bestätigt. Bei gemeinen Naturen wird derjenige, der dem andern Unrecht getan, dem andern dann erst recht böse, sucht nach Vorwänden und Gründen, um das getane Unrecht hinterdrein zu rechtfertigen. Gemeine Seelen werden nach getanem Unrecht nur noch rücksichtsloser. Und Rebekka und Jakob? Daß Esau nach dem Geschehenen mehr als ungehalten war, das findet Rebekka ganz natürlich. Esau konnte ja ihre Gründe niemals verstehen, geschweige verzeihen. Und hat Jakob auch nur im geringsten von der ברכה und der בכורה Gebrauch gemacht? Nicht im mindesten. Vielmehr sehen wir Jakob entschieden im Nachteil. Sie waren doch Zwillingsbrüder. Esau aber verheiratet sich bereits zu vierzig Jahren, bringt zwei, später bereits drei Schwiegertöchter ins Haus, nimmt Teil an des Vaters Wirtschaft und Hausstand, und Jakob geht nackt fort, ohne Heller, um sich als Knecht zu verdingen, und durch Knechtesarbeit sich einen Familienstand zu erwerben, ויעבד באשה ובאשה שמר. — Vielfach hat man es auffallend gefunden, wie Jizchak, der doch sowohl durch die Erbschaft von Abraham als durch selbstgewonnenen Segen ein mehr als gewöhnlich reicher Mann war, seinen Sohn Jakob so von allem entblößt mit seinem bloßen Wanderstab habe fortwandern lassen. Allein dieser Umstand wurzelt tief in all den Motiven, die diesen Vorgängen zu Grunde lagen. Wenn Jakob durch Rebekkas Veranlassung die ברכה und die בכורה erhalten, so sollte klar hervortreten, daß dabei auch nicht eine Spur von Rücksicht auf materiellen Wohlstand obwaltete. Esau sollte nach Jakobs Abreise auch nicht eine Stecknadel vermissen können. Es ist dies das größte Dokument für Rebekkas und Jakobs Seelenadel. Diese Worte אם יעקב ועשו sind gleichsam die Grabinschrift Rebekkas. Fortan tritt sie nicht mehr tätig auf. Sie war in allem und bis an ihr Ende Mutter Jakobs und Esaus, hat stets mütterlich gehandelt. —
ותשלח, Jakob war also nicht zu Hause, nicht ein Muttersöhnchen, das immer um die Mutter gewesen wäre. אחיך, der dein Bruder ist und bleibt, und gegen den du nie vergessen darfst, daß er dein Bruder ist.
The meaning of consolation... You might ask: Does it not mean consolation according to the Midrash as well? The answer is: Rashi is saying that if we explain it as the Midrash does, meaning consolation — rather than as regret — then the verse can be explained [quite simply]: Eisov will comfort and console himself over losing the blessings by killing you. Thus, we need not explain it as referring to the cup of consolation.
The words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebecca; she sent and summoned Jacob her younger son and said to him: Behold, your brother Esau consoles himself in your regard to kill you. He consoles himself with the thought that he will kill you. 22
ותשלח ותקרא ליעקב, “she sent a message to Yaakov calling him to come and see her.” She had to send him a message as he was not at his usual place, being in hiding, either in fear of Esau’s revenge or because he was too embarrassed to face his brother, being ashamed of what he had done, and Esau having loudly complained about him to all who would listen.
מתנחם לך להרגך, “he is consoling himself with the plan to kill you.” According to Rashi this either means that he consoles himself over the loss of the blessings by killing you, or that he had already prepared the cup of wine given to a mourner to allow him to comfort himself over the loss of a dear relative.
“It was told to Rebecca” [27:42]. The Holy Spirit came upon Rebecca and informed her that Esau wanted to kill Jacob. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:42.) Therefore, Rebecca said to Jacob: go to Laban and hide there from Esau and I will send for you to come here again.
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“The words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebecca, and she sent and summoned Jacob her younger son, and said to him: Behold, your brother Esau consoles himself [mitnaḥem] in your regard to kill you” (Genesis 27:42). “Were told to Rebecca…” – who told her? Rabbi Ḥagai in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: The matriarchs were prophets, and Rebecca was one of the matriarchs. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Even a layman does not plow a furrow within a furrow, but prophets plow a furrow within a furrow? (Since a layman does not plow once and then plow a second time in a manner that destroys the first furrow, certainly the prophets do not perform an action which would be followed by an action which causes destruction. Rebecca told Jacob to take the blessings, and this led Esau to plan to kill him. Therefore, Rebecca, who was a prophetess, had been told by God of Esau's plan, and knew that what she did would not cause destruction (Matnot Kehuna).) And you say: “Do not touch My anointed ones; do not harm My prophets” (Psalms 105:15). “She sent and summoned Jacob” – she said to him: ‘This wicked one, how much he regrets about you, how much he is accepting condolences [mitnaḥem] in your regard, and he has already drunk a cup of consolation over you.’
(Gen. 28:10:) AND JACOB SET OUT. This text is related (to Prov. 12:15): THE WAY OF A FOOL IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. This refers to Esau the Wicked, according to what is written above (in Gen. 28:8f): NOW ESAU SAW THAT THE DAUGHTERS OF CANAAN WERE EVIL…. SO ESAU SET OUT UNTO ISHMAEL < AND TOOK FOR A WIFE MAHALATH THE DAUGHTER OF ISHMAEL >…. He heaped trouble upon trouble. (Prov. 12:15, cont.:) BUT A WISE MAN LISTENS TO ADVICE. This refers to Jacob. (Gen. R. 67:12.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:42): NOW IT WAS REPORTED TO REBEKAH ABOUT THE WORDS OF HER ELDER SON ESAU (i.e., about his scheming). < SO, HAVING SENT AND CALLED FOR YOUNGER SON JACOB, SHE SAID UNTO HIM: LOOK AT YOUR BROTHER ESAU. HE IS TAKING COMFORT >…. When was he taking comfort? When he would have killed you (Jacob), as stated (ibid., cont.): HE IS TAKING COMFORT < IN SCHEMING > AGAINST YOU TO KILL YOU. (Gen. 27:43:) SO NOW, MY SON, HEED MY VOICE. What is the meaning of SO NOW, MY SON? She said to him: Yesterday you heeded me and received the blessings; now heed me in order to remain alive. He said to her: But is that the proper way? For me to set out without Daddy's knowledge? If he also tells me, I will do so. Immediately (we read in Gen. 28:1f.): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM…. ARISE AND GO TO PADDAN-ARAM…. As soon as he heard that, he said to him: Give me an exiterion {i.e., travel instructions}. (The Greek word means “departing blessing.”) He said to him (in vs. 3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. Immediately (we read in vs. 7): SO JACOB HEEDED HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND WENT TO PADDAN-ARAM…. (Gen. 28:10:) AND JACOB SET OUT. Ergo (in Prov. 12:15, cont.): BUT A WISE MAN LISTENS TO ADVICE.
"They journeyed from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. Speaking about Abraham and Sarah, as it is written (Genesis 12:10), "Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land." No one was allowed to oppress them, these Egyptians. Kings, such as Abimelech and Pharaoh, rebuked them, as it is written (Genesis 12:17), "But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife." Do not touch My anointed ones, said Rabbi Berechiah; referring to the Patriarchs. And in the Prophets, do not harm My prophets; referring to the prophetesses. Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Isaac (Genesis 27:42), "And Rebekah was told of the words of Esau." Who told her, since it is written (Genesis 27:41), "Esau spoke to himself"? It was the Holy Spirit that told her.
ESAU HER ELDER SON, JACOB HER YOUNGER SON. The reason why Scripture mentions this is to accentuate the unusual action of the righteous one, (Rebekah.) for parents customarily give recognition to the firstborn in blessing, honor, and gift, (See Ramban above, 25:34.) but she, knowing of the righteousness of the younger and the wickedness of the elder, went to all this trouble to transfer the blessing and the honor from the elder to the younger. Similarly, it says further on, And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son. (Further, Verse 42.)
AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said, “It is possible that he revealed his secret to one of his friends.” (If not, how did Rebekah become aware of the fact that Esau was planning to kill Jacob? (Verse 42 here).) But this is not necessarily so for any decision which a person reaches after deliberation is referred to in Hebrew as “speaking with the heart,” even when it also includes speech with the lips. A similar case is found in the verse, And with a double heart do they speak, (Psalms 12:3.) for the will is synonymous with the heart. And all Israel were of one heart to make David king, (I Chronicles 12:39.) meaning that they had all arrived at the same decision and were talking of it. Similarly, And Jeroboam said in his heart. (I Kings 12:26. Further on it says, And the king took counsel, (Verse 28). Here also there was speech which Scripture had referred to as being said in his heart.) Similarly did Eliezer say, And before I had finished speaking in my heart, (Above, 24:25.) whereas the prayer there was with his lips, as Scripture states, And he said, O Eternal G-d of my lord Abraham. (Ibid., Verse 12.) However it is possible that the expression, before I had finished speaking in my heart, means “before I had concluded the thought in my mind.” Now here the verse states that when the great hatred of Jacob permeated Esau’s soul because of the blessing, he conceived the idea of murdering his brother, and with this he comforted himself from his depressed state. This explains the verse, And the words of Esau were told to Rebekah. (Verse 42 here. As Ramban explained, a decision in one’s heart, even though coupled with speech, is still referred to in Hebrew as “the speech of heart.” Therefore, the verse means that Esau decided upon a course of action, and he himself informed his mother of his decision.) This is why she said to Jacob, Thy brother Esau comforts himself to slay thee. (Verse 42 here.) Now Rashi comments, “She was told, through Ruach Hakodesh, (See above, Note 90.) what Esau was thinking in his heart.” And so it is found in Bereshith Rabbah. (Bereshith Rabbah 67:9.) If so, Esau’s words and thoughts were only in his heart, just as in the verse, I spoke with my own heart. (Ecclesiastes 1:16.) The reason that Esau said, Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand then will I slay my brother is because he would not bring grief to his father during his lifetime. Perhaps it was due to his fear lest his father curse him, and his blessing would then turn into a curse. Rebekah, [who nevertheless advised Jacob to flee], feared that perhaps the elderly one would die suddenly, and Esau would then kill Jacob, or perhaps he might find occasion to kill him even during Isaac’s lifetime.
Rivkah was informed about the words of Eisov, her older son, and she sent [a messenger] to call Yaakov, her younger son, and she said to him. Behold, your brother Eisov is consoled through you [lying in wait for you], [for he intends] to kill you.
And the words of Esau her elder son, who thought in his heart to kill Jakob, were shown by the Holy Spirit to Rivekah, and she sent, and called Jakob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy brother lieth in wait for thee, and plotteth against thee to kill thee.
| וְעַתָּ֥ה בְנִ֖י שְׁמַ֣ע בְּקֹלִ֑י וְק֧וּם בְּרַח־לְךָ֛ אֶל־לָבָ֥ן אָחִ֖י חָרָֽנָה׃ | 43 J | Now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to Haran, to my brother Laban. |
ועתה בני, "and now my son, etc." This has to be understood in the same vein as the statement by our sages that one should be a penitent a day before one's death (Avot 2,10). Rebeccah reminded Jacob that no one is assured of his life for even a single day. As a result one must always be penitent. This is why she chose the expression "now." קום ברח, "arise and flee!" She urged Jacob to flee at once although Esau had indicated he would not murder Jacob until after his father's death. Rebeccah was afraid that Isaac might die at any time, thus enabling Esau to try and carry out his evil intention.
ברח לך אל לבן. "Flee to Laban." Laban would stand up against Esau if the latter were to pursue Jacob in order to kill him.
ועתה..חרנה, she had heard that her brother had migrated from Ur Casdim to Charan.
ברה לך, gehe als Flüchtling fort.
Now my son, heed my voice. Just as you listened to me and took the blessing, which brought you into this problematic situation, you should once again obey me, this time in order to get you out of it. And arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran, where you can take refuge.
Jacob went out twice: Once from his mother's womb, as it is stated: Then his brother came out, holding on to the heel of Esau (Genesis 25:26). And once from the womb of his city, as it is stated: And Jacob went out from Beersheba (Genesis 28:10). When he came out of his mother's womb, he came back and entered her tents, as it is stated: and Jacob was a plain man, staying among the tents. (Genesis 25:27). Plain as a baby, folded up like a ledger. Until she grabbed him firmly by the hairs and shook him: get up and flee (Genesis 27:43)! He heard the echo of a voice saying, "Flee, my beloved. and you shall be like a gazelle" (alluding to Song of Songs 8:14). And across from it an echo of a voice answers, "Come, my beloved, let us go out to the field, let us lodge in the villages... let us see if the vine has blossomed, if the tender grapes have appeared, if the pomegranates are in bloom; there I will give my love to you" (alluding to Song of Songs 7:12-13). He understood in his bone and his flesh that the time had come for him to go out into the world: And Jacob went out.. and he went to Charan... and he lodged there...
“Now my son, heed my voice and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran” (Genesis 27:43). “Live with him a few years, until your brother’s anger will subside” (Genesis 27:44). “Now my son, heed my voice and arise, flee…live with him a few [aḥadim] years.” It is written: “Jacob worked seven years for Rachel; they were in his eyes but a few [aḥadim] days, in his love of her” (Genesis 29:20). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pazi said: Aḥadim is written here and aḥadim is written elsewhere. Just as elsewhere, aḥadim is seven years, so, too aḥadim that is stated here is seven years. “Until your brother’s anger will subside from you, and he will forget that which you did to him, and I will send and take you from there; why should I be bereaved of both of you on one day?” (Genesis 27:45). “Until your brother’s anger will subside” – his mother in her righteousness said: “Until your brother’s anger will subside,” but he did not do so, but rather: “His wrath mauled perpetually and his fury kept forever” (Amos 1:11). Reish Lakish said: His fury and his wrath did not move from his mouth – “why should I be bereaved of both of you?”
(Gen. 28:10:) AND JACOB SET OUT. This text is related (to Prov. 12:15): THE WAY OF A FOOL IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. This refers to Esau the Wicked, according to what is written above (in Gen. 28:8f): NOW ESAU SAW THAT THE DAUGHTERS OF CANAAN WERE EVIL…. SO ESAU SET OUT UNTO ISHMAEL < AND TOOK FOR A WIFE MAHALATH THE DAUGHTER OF ISHMAEL >…. He heaped trouble upon trouble. (Prov. 12:15, cont.:) BUT A WISE MAN LISTENS TO ADVICE. This refers to Jacob. (Gen. R. 67:12.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:42): NOW IT WAS REPORTED TO REBEKAH ABOUT THE WORDS OF HER ELDER SON ESAU (i.e., about his scheming). < SO, HAVING SENT AND CALLED FOR YOUNGER SON JACOB, SHE SAID UNTO HIM: LOOK AT YOUR BROTHER ESAU. HE IS TAKING COMFORT >…. When was he taking comfort? When he would have killed you (Jacob), as stated (ibid., cont.): HE IS TAKING COMFORT < IN SCHEMING > AGAINST YOU TO KILL YOU. (Gen. 27:43:) SO NOW, MY SON, HEED MY VOICE. What is the meaning of SO NOW, MY SON? She said to him: Yesterday you heeded me and received the blessings; now heed me in order to remain alive. He said to her: But is that the proper way? For me to set out without Daddy's knowledge? If he also tells me, I will do so. Immediately (we read in Gen. 28:1f.): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM…. ARISE AND GO TO PADDAN-ARAM…. As soon as he heard that, he said to him: Give me an exiterion {i.e., travel instructions}. (The Greek word means “departing blessing.”) He said to him (in vs. 3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. Immediately (we read in vs. 7): SO JACOB HEEDED HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND WENT TO PADDAN-ARAM…. (Gen. 28:10:) AND JACOB SET OUT. Ergo (in Prov. 12:15, cont.): BUT A WISE MAN LISTENS TO ADVICE.
חרנה, Charan and Padan Arom are both the same town. They were known by two different names; one name is used in connection with its being the town where Lavan resided, (Genesis 27,43) and immediately afterwards the Torah called it Padan Arom (28,2).
A Psalm of David when he fled from before Absalom his son: – Our teachers of blessed memory have explained (Midrash, Shoher Toh, ad loc.; Babli, Berakhoth 7 b) that David gave utterance to this Psalm as he ascended the Mount of Olives, as it is said (2 Sam. 15:30), "And David went up by the ascent of the (Mount of) Olives and wept as he went up." If weeping, why singing, and if singing, why weeping? (Nay) but as soon as the prophet said to him (ibid. 12:11): "Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house" he said, "Perhaps it is a slave [or a nathin] or a bastard, one of the members of the household, who has no pity on me?" As soon as he saw that it was his son he thought that he certainly would have pity upon him, and he said: A Psalm. Further they say (Midrash, Shoher Tob, ad loc.): "[Thus] David said: Jacob our father fled (Gen. 27:43); as it is said (Hos. 12:13): 'And Jacob fled into the field of Aram.' Moses fled, as it is said (Exod. 2:15) 'and Moses fled;' and I am a fugitive as they were. I thought that I was condemned to death, and now that I am going into exile, exile atoneth for iniquity" (Babli, Berakhoth 56a; Sanhedrin 37b). He says: "I have remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself " (Ps. 119:52). I remember the men of old time - and Thou hast borne with ine as Thou didst with them - and am comforted, knowing that through my flight the iniquity has been pardoned me. He begins and says A Psalm of David, (to be taken) according to the literal sense. For the Psalms were not so named (called) at the time of (the actual) event, but because they were sung in the Sanctuary. So, " When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul" (Ps. 52:2); and "When the Ziphites came" (Ps. 54:2); and "And they watched the house to kill him" (Ps. 59:1). Similarly, those which have reference to the Exile and the Destruction of Jerusalem, as, "A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance" (Ps. lxxix. i). So all those which were uttered with reference to David, on an historical occasion when David was in danger, but after he had been delivered from them all they became Psalms and praise and confession to God - Blessed be He ! - while those which were uttered concerning the Exile became Psalms on the Return of the Exiles. Now it is possible that this Psalm is connected with the preceding because the Philistines had come against David to contest his right to the kingdom and fight with him; and so Absalom his son proposed to take the kingdom from his father and kill him, but [David] conquered all and was left in possession of the kingdom. Our rabbis of blessed memory who have interpreted the Second Psalm of Gog and Magog have said (Babli, Berakhoth 1o a), "Why is the passage about Absalom (Ps. iii) connected with the passage of Gog and Magog? For this reason. If a man should say to thee, Is it possible that a servant would rebel against his master? say to him, Is it possible a son would rebel against his father? But so it was - it really was so."
[46] We recognize this in the words spoken to him by Rebecca, or Patience, his mother: “Be up and off,” she says, “to Haran to my brother Laban, and dwell with him for some days” (Gen. 27:43 f.). Do you mark, then, that the Practiser does not brook to spend a lifetime in the territory of the senses, but a few days and a short time in compliance with the necessities of the body to which he is tied, but that it is in the city discerned by the intellect that a life-long enduring is in store for him?
Now my son listen to [accept] me. Get up and flee to Lavan, my brother, to Charan.
And now, my son, hearken to me: arise, escape for thy life, and go unto Laban my brother, at Haran,
| וְיָשַׁבְתָּ֥ עִמּ֖וֹ יָמִ֣ים אֲחָדִ֑ים עַ֥ד אֲשֶׁר־תָּשׁ֖וּב חֲמַ֥ת אָחִֽיךָ׃ | 44 J | Stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury subsides— |
ימים אחדים, “one year.”
A FEW DAYS. Yamim achadim (a few days) is to be translated as a few years. Compare yamim in for a full year (yamim) shall he have the right of redemption (Lev. 25:29). Achadim (a few) means less than ten. (Echad means one, achadim is its plural. Thus achadim can refer to any number up to ten.)
עד אשר תשוב חמת אחיך. "until such time as your brother's anger subsides." Anger has a habit of cooling with the passage of time. The reason that Rebeccah continued to belabour the same point in verse 45 was that she knew that the mere passage of time would not be enough to bring about the desired cooling off of Esau's anger. Until such time as Esau would not become furious when others mentioned what had happened there was no knowing if it would be safe for Jacob to return home.
ושלחתי ולקחתיך, "I will send and fetch you." She did not want Jacob to risk returning under any circumstances until she would send for him.
עד אשר תשוב חמת אחיך, “until the anger of your brother abates.” This was the anger at having sold the birthright.
וישבת...אחדים, a few; since the number אחד is the lowest of the numbers it is no more than natural to describe a small number in terms of a multiple of “one.”
אחדים means A FEW.
חמה ist ein höherer Grad von אף .אף ist der im Gesichte sich äußernde Zorn, ohne daß man notwendig im Herzen so böse zu sein braucht. חמה ist die wahre Glut des Zornes.
Live with him a few years, until your brother’s anger subsides;
[5] Another interpretation: And God saw who was hated, in the presence of her husband, when he rebuked her. When was this? As it is said, "And Jacob served Rachel for seven years" (Genesis 29:18). This is what his mother Rebekah told him, "And you shall dwell with him for a few days" (Genesis 27:44). And Jacob loved Rachel (Genesis 29:18). And Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife" (Genesis 29:21), and it was in the evening, and all night he lay with her, thinking that she was Rachel. When he woke up in the morning, he saw that it was Leah. He said to her, "Why have you deceived me?" She replied, "Didn't you deceive your father when he asked you, 'Are you my son Esau?' and you said, 'I am' (Genesis 27:19)? And when he blessed you, you said, 'Why have you deceived me?' But your father didn't say, 'Your brother Esau came with deceit and took your blessing' (Genesis 27:35)." Because of these things, which rebuked him, he began to hate her. God said, "Her only cure is to have children. I will give her children, and her husband will be humbled before her." Therefore, God saw that Leah was hated (Genesis 29:31). "He opens the womb" (Genesis 29:31). David mocks and says, "He executes justice for the oppressed; He gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free" (Psalms 146:7).
“Now my son, heed my voice and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran” (Genesis 27:43). “Live with him a few years, until your brother’s anger will subside” (Genesis 27:44). “Now my son, heed my voice and arise, flee…live with him a few [aḥadim] years.” It is written: “Jacob worked seven years for Rachel; they were in his eyes but a few [aḥadim] days, in his love of her” (Genesis 29:20). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pazi said: Aḥadim is written here and aḥadim is written elsewhere. Just as elsewhere, aḥadim is seven years, so, too aḥadim that is stated here is seven years. “Until your brother’s anger will subside from you, and he will forget that which you did to him, and I will send and take you from there; why should I be bereaved of both of you on one day?” (Genesis 27:45). “Until your brother’s anger will subside” – his mother in her righteousness said: “Until your brother’s anger will subside,” but he did not do so, but rather: “His wrath mauled perpetually and his fury kept forever” (Amos 1:11). Reish Lakish said: His fury and his wrath did not move from his mouth – “why should I be bereaved of both of you?”
“Jacob loved Rachel, and he said: I will work for you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter” (Genesis 29:18). “Jacob loved Rachel” – [Jacob said to Laban:] ‘Because I know that the residents of your place are deceitful, that is why I am clarifying my deal with you. “He said: I will work for you…for Rachel, your…daughter” – Rachel but not Leah. “Your daughter” – so you will not bring another from the marketplace whose name is Rachel. “Younger” – so you will not exchange their names for one another. Even if you place a wicked one in a carpenter’s vise, it will be of no avail to you.’ “Laban said: Better that I give her to you, than give her to another man; remain with me” (Genesis 29:19). “Jacob worked seven years for Rachel; they were in his eyes but a few days, in his love of her” (Genesis 29:20). “Laban said: Better that I give her to you…Jacob worked…for Rachel [they were in his eyes but a few [aḥadim] days]” – Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pazi said: Aḥadim is stated here and aḥadim is stated elsewhere: “Live with him a few [aḥadim] years” (Genesis 27:44). Just as here, it is seven years, so, too, elsewhere, it is seven years.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. < She was hated >, not because she was abhorrent to her husband, but because she had scolded him when Jacob had worked seven years for Rachel. Now his mother had said to him (in Gen. 27:44): AND YOU ARE TO STAY WITH HIM (Laban) FOR A WHILE, and he had stayed seven years. (Gen. 29:21, 23:) THEN JACOB SAID UNTO LABAN: GIVE ME MY WIFE…. AND, WHEN IT WAS EVENING, HE TOOK HIS DAUGHTER LEAH < AND BROUGHT HER TO HIM >. ALL NIGHT SHE PRETENDED TO BE RACHEL. When he arose in the morning (according to Gen. 29:25), THERE WAS LEAH. He said to her: Daughter of a swindler, why did you trick me? She said to him: < What about > you! Why did you trick your father? When he said to you: Is this my son Esau, you said to him (in Gen. 27:19): I AM ESAU YOUR FIRST-BORN. Now you are saying: Why have you tricked me? And did your father not say < to Esau > (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT? So because of these things with which she scolded him, he began to hate her. The Holy One said: There is no cure for this but sons. Then her husband will desire her. Thus (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED, HE OPENED HER WOMB. David also gives praise (in Ps. 146:7): THE ONE WHO EXECUTES JUSTICE FOR THE OPPRESSED. (Gen. R. 71:2.)
[46] This mother therefore says, “child, make thine abode with him,” not for ever, but “for a few days” (Gen. 27:44). This means “Learn well the country of the senses; know thyself, and the parts of which thou dost consist, what each is, and for what it was made, and how it is meant to work, and who it is that, all invisible, invisibly sets the puppets in motion and pulls their strings, whether it be the Mind that is in thee or the Mind of the Universe.
Remain with him a short time until your brother’s fury has subsided.
Until the time when the bitterness of thy brother shall be turned away from thee.
and dwell with him a few days, until the wrath of thy brother be abated,
| עַד־שׁ֨וּב אַף־אָחִ֜יךָ מִמְּךָ֗ וְשָׁכַח֙ אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂ֣יתָ לּ֔וֹ וְשָׁלַחְתִּ֖י וּלְקַחְתִּ֣יךָ מִשָּׁ֑ם לָמָ֥ה אֶשְׁכַּ֛ל גַּם־שְׁנֵיכֶ֖ם י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ | 45 J | until your brother’s anger against you subsides—and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will fetch you from there. Let me not lose you both in one day!” |
Numbers 22,4. “now this multitude will lick up all that is around us as does the ox licking up the grass of the field, etc.;” Why did Balak draw a comparison between the encampment of the Israelites and the manner in which oxen denude the soil of its grass cover? Before explaining this it will help to explain Deuteronomy 11,15 where the Torah promises the Israelites that when they observe the Torah once they are on their own soil: ונתתי עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת, “I will provide the grass of the field for your beasts and you will eat and be satisfied.” After the first sin G’d had condemned Adam to eating the grass of the field. (Genesis 3,18) We need to remember that whatever man eats is surrounded by commandments of the Torah being fulfilled in the process. Long before the farmer can eat the bread from the corn he grew this corn was subject to a variety of regulations of the Torah that have to be fulfilled first, in order for the farmer not to have been remiss. The farmer had to fulfill commandments relating both to ploughing, such as not having a donkey and an ox pulling the same plough; when seeding the farmer must take care not to seed the same field with a mixture of seeds of different grains, etc., before the tithes and related gifts to the poor, etc., of the actual harvest become applicable. (compare Deut. 22,10 and 9) By performing these various commandments prior to enjoying the result of his labours, the Jewish farmer becomes G’d’s partner in spiritually elevating the “sparks” (of holiness) contained in some of these foods, i.e. rehabilitating parts of G’d’s creation, such as some angels which had been spiritually downgraded through failing to perform their duties. When man is reduced to eating the grass of the field, i.e. vegetation which grows without human input, he is unable through his eating, i.e. his partaking of G’d’s largesse, to accomplish his own or his environment’s rehabilitation. This was the negative effect of the curse pronounced by G’d as part of Adam’s punishment, i.e. road to rehabilitation, decreed in Genesis 3,18. [This more than offsets the apparently beneficial effect of picking his food from the ground effortlessly and eating it as is. Ed.] When the Torah describes the Israelite as “eating and being satiated” in Deuteronomy 11,15, it does not refer to the Israelite eating grass, but to his eating the ox after it has been duly slaughtered, examined for blemishes, its blood having been removed, etc., etc., i.e. numerous commandments having been performed, so that by eating it eventually the party doing so participates in the process of rehabilitating “fallen” sparks. Through this round about manner of man eating grass, i.e. grass which had first been eaten by the ox, he is enabled to participate in the rehabilitation of holy beings that had been demoted from their lofty origins. In his writings, the Ari’zal has stated that the four basic levels of phenomena in this lower universe in which we mortals live, i.e. the inert, the vegetarian, the animalistic and the articulate, i.e. the human beings, there exist four levels in the universe known in a descending order as atzilut, b’riyah, yetzirah, and assiyah. In other words, the level of the animalistic, or חי, corresponds to the level of בריאה, creatures in the early stage of existence known as בריאה a stage in which this “creature” is distinct from other “existences” on a similar level. The soul of repentant sinners is in a better position to help rehabilitate converts (who used to be pagans) than is the soul of a person who has always been a true believer in monotheism. The wicked Balak of which our portion speaks, was afraid of Israel because the Israelites had demonstrated their ability to help rehabilitate fallen sinners, i.e. “sparks,” during their journey through the desert, and he hated holiness, as has been alluded to in the line ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל, “that Moab was disgusted by the Children of Israel,” i.e. their moral/ethical values. The mere thought of having to be in the presence of holiness, literally caused Balak to puke. [The root occurs in connection with Rivkah’s telling Yitzchok of being disgusted with her life if Yaakov would marry a daughter of Canaanite descent as had his twin brother Esau. (Genesis 27,45) Ed.] According to Ari z’al what bothered Balak most, was the fact that during their wanderings the converts had been most successful in rehabilitating these “fallen” sinners, “sparks” and that is why the Torah describes this עם, i.e. the converts of the Jewish people as being רב, a major component of the people who rehabilitated sinners. He feared them more than the natural born Israelites, i.e. ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד, “Moab feared the newly converted Israelites very much.” The reason was that רב הוא, they were such a powerful influence in rehabilitating pagans. The Moabites were not nearly as afraid of the בני ישראל, the natural born Israelites being able to attract as many converts. In Balak’s eyes it was as despicable to be an Israelite as it had been in the eyes of the new King over Egypt and his nation in Exodus1,8-12. Moreover, he was aware that if his people would come into contact with other recent Jewish converts, the influence of those converts who had themselves come closer to G’d through joining the Jewish people, would be powerful enough for them to elevate Moabite converts to the highest spiritual level of life on earth, i.e. the level of בריאה. Referring back to the 4 spiritual levels of existence in the physical part of the universe, spiritual ascent, when it occurs, proceeds to the next higher level, the level of בריאה being the one corresponding to חי, the level of animalistic creatures. This is hinted at by Balak when he compared the people to the animals eating grass, i.e. כלחוך השור את ירק השדה.
למה אשכל גם שניכם יום אחד, “why should your father and I be bereft of both of you on a single day? Rivkah referred to her becoming widowed on the day Yitzchok would die, and immediately thereafter would also be bereft of Yaakov when Esau would carry out his threat. (verse 41) The principal commentary on this line is that of Rashi, who understands Rivkah as saying to Yaakov that even if he were to kill Esau first, his sons would avenge him by killing him. The word: גם, “also,” in this verse refers to herself, who meant that if she were to lose both her sons she would consider herself as dead.
יום אחד, even though they might not both die on the same day, they would be buried on the same day. (Based on the Talmud in Sotah 13)
WHY SHOULD I BE BEREAVED. Rebekah was anxious lest they kill each other, (Hence Rebekah’s statement, why should I be bereaved of you both in one day.) or that Esau would be killed for murdering Jacob. There is a Midrashic opinion that both Jacob and Esau died in one day. (Thus her words came true.)
גם שניכם יום אחד. "both of you on the same day." Rebeccah said to Jacob: "even assuming that Esau would die in an act of self defense by you or an act of revenge by a relative of yours this would not give me any satisfaction at all." Rebeccah's concern was only for the life of Jacob; she did not care about Esau at all.
עד שוב אף אחיך, “until your brother’s wrath subsides.” This was a reference to the blessing Yaakov had stolen from him. This is the reason the Torah speaks of two different types of anger Esau was filled with.
עד שוב...גם שניכם, one to include the other. We find a similar construction of lumping two people together when they share a single common denominator [such as death in this verse. Ed.] in Genesis 43,8 גם אנחנו גם אתה, “both we and you,” where the wordגם introduces two entities instead of merely adding one to another, and Yehudah tells his father that sending Binyamin with him will result in both his father and the brothers and their families being spared death from famine. The rationale of אשכול שניכם יום אחד, is simply that the death of one of the brothers will inevitably be followed immediately by the death of the other.
גם שניכם, if he will kill you he in turn will be executed by the blood avengers.
למה אשכל means WHY SHOULD I BE BEREAVED משניכם OF BOTH OF YOU? — The one who buries his children is termed שכול bereaved: so we find in the case of Jacob (43:14), “If I am to be bereaved (שכלתי) let me be bereaved”.
גם שניכם OF YOU BOTH — If he attacks you and you kill him his children will rise and kill you. The Holy Spirit poured itself forth upon her and she prophesied (had a presage) that they would both die on one day just as it is stated in the Chapter המקנה לאשתו (Sotah 13a).
עד שוב אף Es genügt nicht, daß sich die Hitze des Zornes gelegt. Ich werde warten, bis du ihm entgegenkommen kannst, ohne von ihm Unfreundlichkeit erwarten zu müssen. Man sieht, Rebekka hat die beste Vorstellung von Esaus Gemüt, daß er selbst das Unrecht, das ihm geschehen, und dessen Größe von seinem Standpunkt aus sie keineswegs verkennt, werde ganz vergessen können. "Soll ich euch denn auch verlieren an Einem Tage," wohl: wie ich euch an Einem Tage geboren? Den Gemordeten hätte sie nicht mehr, und der Mörder wäre nicht mehr ihr Sohn. Indem sie aber beide zu verlieren fürchtet, hat sie beide noch, hängt ihr Herz noch an beiden, und Esau ist ihr nicht minder Sohn als Jakob. Es sind dies alles Züge, die nicht zu übersehen sind.
שכל: Kinderberaubtsein — und אשכל: die Traube! Vielleicht bedeutet אשכל nicht sowohl die Beeren, als vielmehr das kürze Stengelgeäste, an welchem die Beeren sitzen. So lange die Beeren daran sind, sieht man das Geäste nicht. Es wird nur sichtbar, wenn es der Beeren beraubt ist. אשתך כגפן פוריה: die kinderreiche Mutter ist ein fruchtgesegneter Weinstock. Sterben ihr ihre Kinder, so steht sie wie das nackte Traubengeäste da, dem man die Beeren abgepflückt.
until your brother’s anger subsides from you, and he forgets that which you did to him, and until the matter of the blessings ceases to bother him. Once I see that his anger has calmed, I will send a messenger and take you from there, Haran. If you do not leave and keep away, you are liable to fight and even kill each other. Why should I be bereaved of both of you on one day?
למה אשכול שניכם יום אחד?, “why should I be bereaved of both of you on the same day?” According to the plain meaning of the text she referred to the death of both Yaakov and Esau. Some commentators believe she was referring to the death of Yaakov and Yitzchok, as Esau had said he would kill Yaakov as soon as Yitzchok would die.
“Let me not lose you both in one day” [27:45]. Rebecca said: go to Laban. Why should I be bereft of both of you? That is to say, Esau had said: when my father will die, I will take my revenge on Jacob at that time. Therefore Rebecca said: I will lose you both in one day. Therefore, go to Laban until his anger subsides, as Hizkuni writes. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:45.) Rashi writes: Rebecca said: if you will want to kill him, his children will rise up and will kill you. Thus, I will lose you both in one day. In fact, both of them died on the same day. (Rashi, Genesis, 27:45.)
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Now my son, heed my voice and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran” (Genesis 27:43). “Live with him a few years, until your brother’s anger will subside” (Genesis 27:44). “Now my son, heed my voice and arise, flee…live with him a few [aḥadim] years.” It is written: “Jacob worked seven years for Rachel; they were in his eyes but a few [aḥadim] days, in his love of her” (Genesis 29:20). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pazi said: Aḥadim is written here and aḥadim is written elsewhere. Just as elsewhere, aḥadim is seven years, so, too aḥadim that is stated here is seven years. “Until your brother’s anger will subside from you, and he will forget that which you did to him, and I will send and take you from there; why should I be bereaved of both of you on one day?” (Genesis 27:45). “Until your brother’s anger will subside” – his mother in her righteousness said: “Until your brother’s anger will subside,” but he did not do so, but rather: “His wrath mauled perpetually and his fury kept forever” (Amos 1:11). Reish Lakish said: His fury and his wrath did not move from his mouth – “why should I be bereaved of both of you?”
And they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation. We are taught that even the very horses and asses joined in it. On arriving at the Cave of Machpelah, Esau once more protested, and said; Kiryatharbaa the same is Hebron." R. Isaac explained the meaning of the above name is that four pair were to be buried. Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob disposed of his share when he buried Leah in it, and the remaining one belongs to me." But thou didst sell thy share with thy birthright," remonstrated the sons of Jacob. "Nay," rejoined Esau, "that did not include my share in the burial-place." "Indeed it did," they argued, "for our father, just before he died, said (Gen. 1, 5) 'In my grave which I have bought for myself.'" In the land of Canaan, "Where are the title deeds?" demanded Esau. "In Egypt," they replied. "Then let some one go for them immediately. The swift-footed Naphthali concerning whom the passage says (Ib. 49, 21) Naphthali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words, started for the records. Hushim, the son of Dan, being deaf, asked what was the cause of the commotion. When he was told that Esau stopped the interment until the deed would be brought from Egypt. "And until Naphthali returns from Egypt my father shall be in disgrace?" remarked he. Thereupon he snatched up a club and smote Esau so hard that his eyes dropped out and fell upon the feet of Jacob, at which Jacob opened his eyes and grimly smiled. This is the meaning of the passage (Ps. 58, 10) The righteous shall rejoice when he sees vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. In that moment Rebekah's prophecy was fulfilled (Gen. 27, 45) Why shall I be deprived also of you both in one day? For although they did not both die on the same day, both were nevertheless buried on the same day. Is it then possible that if Joseph would not have attended to the burial of his father, that his brothers would not have done it? Behold the passage says (Gen. 50, 13) And his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, [hence all his children performed the duty?] Indeed they were ready to perform the duty. They said, however, let us leave this task to Joseph because his (Jacob's honor will be greater when he is attended by kings than by ordinary people.
Until Leah came, etc. As Rashi explains, and similarly as is explained in Bereishit Rabbah at length, see there. Since the verse doesn't give an explanation for her being thankful for the fourth child, the midrash expounds thusly. And it must be that she was not literally prophesying, for we see that Leah is not considered as a prophetess in the first chapter of Mas. Megillah 14a. Rather, without her knowledge, God put words in her mouth to predict the future. This is similar to what Rivka says in Gen. 27:45, "Why should I lose", etc., for she too is not listed as a prophetess. And similarly we can explain the upcoming midrash regarding Reuven.
ותמת דבורה AND DEBORAH DIED — How came Deborah to be in Jacob’s house? But the explanation is: because Rebékah had promised Jacob (Gen. 27:45) “then I will send and fetch thee from thence”, she sent Deborah to him to Padan-aram to tell him to leave that place, and she died on the return journey I learnt this from a comment of R. Moses Ha-darshan.
These are minors. The death of one’s children when they are minors is called משכל as we find byin the case of Rivkah who said (Bereishis 27:45), “Why should I lose (אשכל) both of you on one day?” At that time they [Yaakov and Eisav] were minors. See parshas Toldos.
“Let me not lose you both in one day” [27:45]. Rebecca said: go to Laban. Why should I be bereft of both of you? That is to say, Esau had said: when my father will die, I will take my revenge on Jacob at that time. Therefore Rebecca said: I will lose you both in one day. Therefore, go to Laban until his anger subsides, as Hizkuni writes. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:45.)
[23] Hatred, then, was the cause of the flight that has been spoken of, but fear of that of which I am about to speak. For we read as follows: “Rebecca said to Jacob, ‘Lo, Esau thy brother threatens to kill thee. Now therefore, child, listen to my voice and arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran, and live with him for some days, until the wrath and anger of thy brother turn away, and he forget the things which thou hast done to him: and I will send and fetch thee thence’ ” (Gen. 27:42–45).
[47] And when thou hast examined thyself, make too a precise scrutiny of all that is peculiar to Laban, even the triumphs of vainglory which are accounted so brilliant. Be not caught by any of these, but, like a good craftsman, skilfully adapt them all to thine own requirements. For if, when placed in this turbid scene of state and city life, thou shalt have displayed a steadfast and well-disciplined character, I will fetch thee thence (Gen. 27:45), that thou mayest obtain the very prize obtained by thy parents: and the prize is the unfaltering and untiring ministry to the only wise Being.”
[208] I profoundly admire also Patience or Rebecca, when she exhorts him who is full-grown in soul and has overthrown the harsh tyranny of vice and passion, even then to flee away to Haran. She says, “Now therefore, my child, hearken to my voice, and arise and flee away to Laban my brother in Haran, and abide with him some days, until the wrath and anger of thy brother turn away from thee, and he forget what thou hast done to him” (Gen. 27:43–45).
[51] For it is clear that if a man slays the principle of courage, he wounds himself with the opposite disease of cowardice, and if a man does away with the strength that is attaining its prime in a training for noble deeds, he inflicts upon himself blows and great indignities with no small shame. Indeed she who represents patient waiting (Rebecca) says that, if training and gradual progress be done away with, she loses not one progeny only but the rest as well, and incurs complete childlessness (Gen. 27:45).
At that moment the prophecy of Rebecca was fulfilled, as it is written that Rebecca said of Jacob and Esau: “Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” (Genesis 27:45), as Rebecca foresaw that the future bereavement for both her sons would be on the same day. The Gemara comments: And although their deaths were not on the same day, in any event their burials were on the same day, as Esau was killed and buried on the same day that Jacob was buried.
Until your brother’s rage toward you has subsided, and he has forgotten what you did to him. I will then send [for you] and bring you [back] from there. Why should I lose both of you on one day?
until thy brother's anger have quieted from thee, and he have forgotten what thou hast done to him; and I will send and take thee from thence. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day: thou being slain, and he driven forth, as Hava was bereaved of Habel, whom Kain slew, and both were removed from before Adam and Hava all the days of the life of Adam and Hava?
| וַתֹּ֤אמֶר רִבְקָה֙ אֶל־יִצְחָ֔ק קַ֣צְתִּי בְחַיַּ֔י מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנ֣וֹת חֵ֑ת אִם־לֹקֵ֣חַ יַ֠עֲקֹ֠ב אִשָּׁ֨ה מִבְּנֽוֹת־חֵ֤ת כָּאֵ֙לֶּה֙ מִבְּנ֣וֹת הָאָ֔רֶץ לָ֥מָּה לִּ֖י חַיִּֽים׃ | 46 P | Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am disgusted with my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like these, from among the native women, what good will life be to me?” |
I am disgusted. In addition to distancing Yaakov from Eisov, this ploy would also confer on him the merit of honoring his parents.
אם לוקח יעקב אשה מבנות חת, “if Yaakov were to take a wife from amongst the Hittites;” She said this only in order to insure that Yaakov would be physically out of reach to Esau. [She could not imagine that Yaakov actually would do such a thing. Ed.] She wanted Yitzchok to specifically warn Yaakov not to marry a Hittite woman. She was afraid that unless specifically instructed, he would not want to leave his home and appear like a fugitive. He might instead marry someone from a powerful family and take his chances that they would protect him against his brother.
I AM WEARY OF MY LIFE. Katzti (I am weary) has the same meaning as tzakti (I am distressed). (I.E. literally reads: katzti is similar to its opposite; that is, katzti is similar to tzakti, the kof and tzadi changing places. Thus the root kof, vav, tzadi has the same meaning as the root tzadi, vav, kof.) Compare U-nekitzennah (and vex it) in Let us go up against Judah and vex it (u-nekitzennah) (Is. 7:6). Scripture similarly says, the land whose two kings thou hast cast a horror of (katz) (That is, the land which causes you distress (Weiser).) shall be foresaken (Is. 7:16).
קצתי בחיי. "I am fed up with my life." She did not want to reveal the true reason for her state of mind because it is forbidden to tell tales. This is why she gave Isaac a different reason for wanting Jacob sent away. When she had revealed Esau's intention to Jacob this was not tale-bearing but was fulfilment of the commandment in the second half of the verse dealing with tale bearing, "do not stand idly by when the blood of your fellow man is being shed" (Leviticus 19,16).
קצתי בחיי מפני בנות חת, “I am fed up with my life on account of the Hittite women” (Esau’s wives). You notice that the letter ק at the beginning of the word קצתי is written is smaller script. The reason was that Rivkah foresaw with her holy spirit that the Holy Temple which measured 100 (ק) cubits in length would one day be destroyed due to he sin of intermarriage between the Israelites with local Gentile women. We find a similar occurrence of the letter ק being written in larger than usual script in Psalms 84, 4 (גם צפור מצאה בית ודרור קן לה, “even a sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself”). The Psalmist in this instance refers to the silver and gold David had amassed in preparation for the building of the Holy Temple which his son Solomon would complete. In other words, when you look forward to establishing a Temple 100 cubits long, the letter ק is written larger, whereas when one envisages the destruction of this Temple the same latter ק is written in smaller script. David had complete details of the precise measurements of the Temple which would be built by Solomon as we know from Chronicles I 28,19 “All this that the Lord made me understand by His hand on me, I give you in writing—the plan of all the works.”
ותאמר...מפני בנות חת, the ones referred to were only those whom Esau had married. Rivkah says that if Yaakov were to marry someone similar, it would be better that she would die now. She considered Yaakov as already single for too many years so that she asked Yitzchok to order him to go to her brother Lavan, thereby saving him both from the avenging sword of his brother and from the daughters of the Canaanites one of whom might want to marry him Once in the house of Lavan, Yaakov would either marry one of Lavan’s daughters or some other woman related to Rivkah.
IF YA'AKOV MARRIES. Rivka said this to Yitzhak cleverly, to separate Ya'akov from Eisav, but she did not reveal to him that it was because of his [Ya'akov's] brother's hatred that she did this.
קצתי בחיי means I AM DISGUSTED WITH MY LIFE.
Wäre Rebekka ein gewöhnliches Weib gewesen, was hätte ihr willkommener sein können, als Jizchak Esaus Mordgedanken zu verraten, ihm damit zu sagen, wie sie ja nun wohl Recht gehabt, Esau ein zweiter Kain werden wolle etc. etc. Das tut sie jedoch nicht, lässt vielmehr Jakobs Reise nach Padan Aram aus ganz natürlichen und in sich völlig gerechtfertigten Motiven hervorgehen. — כאלה, wie wir sie bereits leider an den beiden Schwiegertöchtern kennen, מבנות הארץ, von dem Gott gesprochen: לא שלם עון האמרי עד הנה.
Rebecca said to Isaac: I loathe my life, I am tired of life, due to the daughters of Het, whom Esau married (see 26:34–35). If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Het, like these, from the daughters of the land, why do I need life? Rebecca hints to Isaac that he should suggest that Jacob follow his example and take a wife from his family who live far away, rather than from the local daughters of Het.
“If Jacob marries a Hittite woman” [27:46]. Hizkuni writes. Rebecca said to Isaac: you must forbid Jacob from marrying a wife from the daughters of Heth, who are in our area. Jacob will want to marry a daughter of an important chieftain that he should help him fight against Esau. Isaac called Jacob and said to him: go to Laban and marry his daughter. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 27:46.) “May El Shaddai bless you,” God will bless you.
Bereshit Rabbah's comment in Section 84, that as soon as the righteous wish to enjoy this world, Satan interferes, claiming it should be enough for them to know that they enjoy eternity in the world to come, will be explained in Chapter 30. The plain meaning of vayeshev Yaakov is that Jacob settled down. Since the Torah had previously reported the settling down of Esau in the mountains of Seir, the Torah now proceeds to describe Jacob as settling in Canaan, the home of his fathers, the land for which he had longed and toiled for so long to return to. The word "these" in this case means "such" or "thus," describing the character and condition of Jacob's descendants, and the developments which resulted from these conditions. Compare Genesis 27,46, "From the daughters of Chet such as these," or Numbers 26,53, "To these the land shall be divided," meaning to "people such as these." (5) Since Joseph was young and delicate, he had not yet assumed the task of tending sheep with his brothers as a regular duty, but rather did so as a pastime whenever the brothers grazed their flocks near his home. At such times, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah would watch over his well being. Since he was close to them, he would carry tales of their doings to his father. The surrounding population, observing handsome people like the sons of Jacob, were jealous and accused the brothers of all kinds of misdeeds in order to discourage their respective wives from getting involved with them. The brothers would discuss such matters among themselves, and Joseph, instead of trying to suppress the fact that he had overheard these conversations, repeated them at home. In this way, he created the impression that the subject matters of the conversations he had overheard should be taken at face value, and reflected on the lifestyle of his brothers.
“Rebecca said to Isaac: I loathe my life due to the daughters of Ḥet. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Ḥet, like these, from the daughters of the land, why do I need life?” (Genesis 27:46). “Rebecca said to Isaac: I loathe my life [due to the daughters of Ḥet]” (Esau’s wives. See Genesis 26:34–35.) – Rav Huna said: She began collecting mucus from her nose and casting it down. “If Jacob takes…from the daughters of Ḥet, like these” – she was striking this one, then that one, and that one, then this one. (Esau’s wives were standing there.)
And it came to pass at that time that Isaac called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him: Take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field and take me some venison; and make me savory meat and bring it to me, so that I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die, for behold I am old and grayheaded. And Esau did accordingly, and he took his weapons and went into the field to hunt for venison as heretofore, to bring it to his father according to his order, that he might bless him. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau, his son, and she hastened and called her son Jacob, saying unto him: These words did thy father speak unto thy brother, and I have heard it; and now therefore make thou haste and do as I will tell thee; arise then and go to the flock, I pray thee, and fetch me thence two good kids of the goat and I will make them savory meat for thy father such as he loveth, and thou shalt bring the savory meat unto him that he may eat before thy brother's return from the chase, and that thy father may bless thee. And Jacob hastened to do as his mother had ordered him, and he made savory meat and brought it to his father before Esau had returned from the chase. And Isaac said unto Jacob: Who art thou, my son? And he replied: I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me; arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me as thou hast spoken unto me. And Isaac arose and he ate and drank to his heart's content, and he blessed Jacob. And Jacob de parted from his father as soon as he had blessed him. And scarcely had Jacob gone away from Isaac, when, behold, Esau came from his chase in the field, and he also had made savory meat and brought it to his father that he should eat thereof and bless him. And Isaac said unto Esau: Who, and where is he that hath taken venison and brought it unto me before thou cometh, and whom I have blessed? And Esau knew at once that it was his brother Jacob who had done this, and Esau’s wrath was kindled against his brother Jacob for thus acting towards him. And Esau said: Is he not rightly called Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times; he took away my birthright, and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And Esau wept greatly. And when Isaac heard the voice of his son Esau weeping, Isaac said unto Esau: What can I do my son? thy brother came with subtlety and hath taken away thy blessing. And Esau hated his brother Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him, and his anger was very fierce. And Jacob was greatly afraid of his brother and he arose and fled into the house of Eber, the son of Shem. And Jacob concealed himself there from his brother.
But a life that has no reverence of God in it cannot be called life. And a person should be disgusted with and reject a life that is against the will of the Creator, may He be Blessed, as is said of Rebecca: "And Rebecca said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these daughters of the land, then of what good is my life to me?' " (Gen. 27:46). Therefore, in a place where there is desecration of God's Name he should not worry about his life and always let his heart be ready to surrender himself for the Sanctification of God's Name in all of the commandments, be they light or of great importance.
The symbolisms expressed by the use of בת-אחות-אם "daughter-sister-mother" relationship between G–d and the Jewish people, or the matriarchs and G–d, which we have described on page 137 and later, may be alluded to in the way the Torah divides the number of years Sarah lived into three distinct periods, i.e. "one hundred years, twenty years and seven years" (Genesis 23,1). Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 explains that Sarah was as beautiful at twenty as she had been at seven years of age, whereas she was as free from sin at a hundred years of age as she had been at twenty. The number seven may allegorically be explained as referring to the seven days of Creation (including the Sabbath) before the original light was withdrawn. This association gives Sarah the אם כל חי, "Mother Superior" image. When the Torah was given to the Jewish people and the serpent's pollutant was neutralised, the world was restored to a state when כתנות אור, garments woven of light, could have been worn. The passage dealing with the creation of light in Genesis 1, 3-5, mentions the word אור, light, five times, an allusion to the five Books of Moses, as pointed out in the Midrash. The Zohar sees in the verse commencing with Hashem Hashem in Exodus 34,6 an allusion to the number twenty, i.e. the Ten Commandments and the ten directives by which the universe was created. These complemented each other. When you spell the two letters Yud as words, i.e. יוד, their combined value is also 20. This idea is reflected in the "twenty years" the Torah here speaks of. Although the universe did not actually revert to the condition it had been in prior to withdrawal of the אור בראשית, the original light, the precondition existed, and, but for the sin of the golden calf, Israel would have achieved that status through Torah study and observance, and the original light would have been revealed to them. At the moment the Torah was revealed, the light appeared to them just as it had been during the seven days of Creation. This is the deeper meaning of Proverbs 7,4: אמור לחכמה אחותי את, "Say to wisdom 'you are my sister.'" Israel, due to the Revelation and Torah study, was on the level we have described as אחות. Afterwards, when the people made the golden calf, they ruined even that level of closeness to G–d with the result that the כ in 23,2 became reduced in size. When the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, was built, this provided some degree of rehabilitation for the opportunity lost through the golden calf. [The Temple the author refers to must be the one of Herod; Solomon's Temple was only thirty cubits high. Ed.] When Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 on our verse next compares Sarah's innocence at one hundred to her innocence at twenty, this is an allusion to the partial rehabilitation during the period of the second Temple. There were public offerings which achieved atonement for the people. Nonetheless, the people were only on the level of בת, (the lowest of the three levels described on pages 137/138). This is why we find Israel referred to as בת ציון, בת ירושלים in Isaiah, Lamentations and elsewhere. The small letter כ in the word ולבכותה is a clear allusion to the aforegoing. When you remove the letter כ completely, you are left with the word לבתה, "to her daughter," i.e. the word בת, daughter. When the Temple was destroyed, the letter ק was also reduced in size, as pointed out by the Baaal Haturim in his commentray on Genesis 27,46 where Rebeccah expressed disdain for her own life if Jacob, too, were to marry a Canaanite girl. The cause of Rebeccah's desperate outcry, according to Baa l Haturim, was that in her mind's eye she saw the destruction of the hundred-cubit high Temple. When the Temple was destroyed the Jewish people forfeited even the status of בת in their relationship with G–d. For some time after that the most they could achieve in the way of direct communication with G–d was the בת קול, an echo of their former relationship. Nowadays, due to our sins, we do not even experience that form of communication with G–d. This situation will not improve until the Messiah will come, hopefully very soon. At such a time, אור חדש will shine over Zion.
Rebeccah concluded that there was no point in living a life that was measured by the yardstick of the undiluted מדת הדין, seeing that hardly anyone could survive if he were to be measured by that attribute alone. This is why she said: קצ-תי בחיי, i.e. what good is my life under such circumstances! (Genesis 27,46) Unless some relief is found for the rest of the world's population this is the end of meaningful life. She referred to the tribe of חת, a Canaanite tribe whose daughters Esau had married. Seeing that the Canaanites were cursed already and that Esau himself was an outgrowth of the סטרא אחרא, she considered the combination as lethal, bound to lead to the oblivion of their offspring. Because of such considerations, the name that should by rights have been קצחי was changed to יצחק, to introduce the element of joy into their lives. The immediate cause for this was Isaac giving tithes which resulted in G–d blessing his efforts, as related in 26,12. It is strange that when Malachi 3,10 describes the blessing that results from tithing, he uses the expression of ארובות השמים, "the windows of heaven." Since the Torah uses the same expression at the onset of the deluge in Genesis 7,11, we wonder why the prophet would use an expression to symbolize blessing when that same expression had symbolized a curse on mankind in its prior usage in the Bible.
Jacob's descendants merited the same advantages in due course. They experienced that the sea was split for their sake, and they witnessed the "great hand" of G–d at work (Exodus 14, 31). Israel merited the “רקיע” when G–d descended to Mount Sinai traversing all seven Heavenly Regions each known as a different רקיע at the time He gave them the Torah, commencing His revelation with the words: "I am the Lord your G–d who has taken you out of Egypt" (Midrash Hagadol Exodus 19, 20 – slightly different wording). Israel's relationship with G–d's throne is alluded to in Jeremiah 17, 12: כסא כבוד מרום מראשון מקם מקדשנו, "O Throne of Glory exalted from of old, our sacred Shrine". The "throne" mentioned is the throne of G–d in His Heaven. The same prophet wrote in Lamentations 2, 1: (after the destruction of the Temple) ‘השליך משמים ארץ תפארת ישראל, "He cast down from Heaven to Earth the majesty of Israel." Our sages in Eicha Rabbah 2,2 commented on this verse: G–d said: "The only reason you have the audacity to annoy Me is the fact that Jacob's features are engraved on My throne; Here I fling it down in your faces!" At that point in time, the letter כ in the ירך of Jacob became dislocated. The three letters in the word ירך, thigh, are the respective first letters of the words ים, רקיע, כסא. The dislocation of Jacob's thigh joint is an allusion to the dislocation of G–d's throne. The numerical value of the word כף in the expression כף ירך יעקב, is 100. It is an allusion to the letter ק which is written smaller in Rebeccah's exclamation קצתי בחיי, in Genesis 27, 46. We had explained previously that that was an allusion to the destruction of the Temple as foreseen by Rebeccah. Allegorically speaking, if one removes the letter ק from Jacob's name, one is left only with יעב, meaning a cloud which blocks out the sun and the daylight. This is the deeper meaning of Jeremiah in Lamentations 2, 1: איכה יעיב באפו א-דני את בת ציון, "How has the Lord shamed (brought dark clouds) the daughter of Zion in His wrath." The prophet refers to the former distinction of Israel having been flung to earth.
כי אין לחם....ונפשנו קצה בלחם הקלוקל, “for there was no bread (that was the product of the earth) and the insubstantial bread from heaven (the manna) the people had become fed up with.”The expression קצה is familiar to us from when Rivkah experiencing so much tension with her daughters-in-law, the wives of Esau, told her husband that if Yaakov were to marry wives from a similar background she would become fed up with living. (Genesis 27,46, קצתי בחיי.)
ויקוצו, they became frustrated with their own lives when watching the development of the Israelites. This expression for frustration with one’s own life has already been used when Rivkah could not bear thinking about Yaakov marrying a Canaanite girl. (Genesis 27,46) It also occurs in a similar sense in Isaiah 7,16.
ויקח אשה את יהודית....ותהיין מורת אוח, seeing that Rivkah is reported in 27,46 as becoming fed up with her life if she would have to live to see Yaakov also marry a Canaanite girl, the Torah had to explain what had produced such a prejudice in Rivkah against the local girls. מורת רוח, the construction of the word מורת, with the vowel patach under the letter ר needs to be understood by comparing it to the root עשה, also a root ending with the letter ה. In Psalms 148,8 we have the formulation ossah devaro, which is feminine, seeing it describes the activity of the רוח סערה, a stormy wind, which is feminine. The construct form of the word ossah there would be ossat, Similarly, the word מורת in our verse is a construct form of the feminine form of the word מורה, not with the vowel segol under the letter ר but with the vowel kametz. [as in numerous similar nouns that appear sometimes as feminine and sometimes as masculine. Ed.] The word מורה meaning being contrary, rebellious, also appears in a slightly different form, i.e. ממרה as for instance, in Joshua 1,18 ימרה את פיך, “someone who will rebel against your orders.” When it appears in a genitive, construct form, it becomes morat. In Proverbs 14,10 we encounter a similar construction (though it is written with the vowel kametz under the letter מ) The verse reads: אבל לב יודעת מרת נפשו, “a heart knows its soul’s bitterness.” The use of the chataf kametz under the letter מ there converts the word from adjective to being a noun. It is derived from מררות, “something bitter.” (compare Deuteronomy 32,32) In our verse here the word מורת is not a noun but a construct form of a verb, similar to Lamentations 1,20 כי מרה מריתי, “for I am experiencing a great deal of distress.” Here (in our verse) the vowel cholem instead of kametz as in Lamentations, is a manifestation of the abbreviated, chataf vowel often found with the middle letter of the root
ויקץ מואב, the expression describes someone becoming fed up with life, similar to when Rivkah had said that she would become fed up with her life if Yaakov were to marry a Canaanite girl as had Esau his brother (Genesis 27,46)
To show His disgust. As in, “קַצְתִּי בְּחַיָּי [=I am disgusted with my life].” (Bereishis 27:46.) (Alternatively, “began to cut [=לְקַצוֹת] into Yisroel” as in Devorim 25:12, “you shall cut off [=וְקַצוֹתָ].”—Metzudas Tzion Or, “began to strike at those living at the border [=קָצֶה],” i.e., those living in the eastern part of Eiver Hayardein. )
קוץ — ואקץ signifies loathsomeness. Similar is: (Genesis 27:46) "I am sick (קצתי) of my life”, like a man who is disgusted with his food (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 12 16).
ויקץ מואב means they (Moab) were sick of their lives (the expression is similar to קצתי בחיי in Genesis 27:46, being an abbreviated form of it).
and do not abhor Heb. תקץ, from the expression of (Gen. 27:46) “I abhor (קצתי) my life.”
Rivkah said to Yitzchok, I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Cheis. If Yaakov marries a woman of the daughters of Cheis, like these, from the daughters of the land, what is life [worth] to me.
And Rivekah said to Izhak, I am afflicted in my life on account of the indignity of the daughters of Heth. If Jakob take a wicked wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these of the daughters of the people of the land, what will life be to me?
| וַיִּקְרָ֥א יִצְחָ֛ק אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹת֑וֹ וַיְצַוֵּ֙הוּ֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ לֹֽא־תִקַּ֥ח אִשָּׁ֖ה מִבְּנ֥וֹת כְּנָֽעַן׃ | 1 P | So Isaac sent for Jacob and blessed him. He instructed him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite women. |
Rashi (Bereishis 28:1) asks: Why does the Torah mention Yaakov leaving (Vayetze Yaakov), when the focus should be on his destination? Rashi explains that the departure of a tzadik from a place has a significant impact. This seems puzzling because the initial question was based on the idea that knowing where Yaakov left from is not as important as knowing where he is going. Rashi's answer suggests a negative impact on the place once Yaakov leaves, which seems to strengthen the original question. However, this can be understood differently: When a tzadik is in a place, he is its glory, meaning the place's value comes from the tzadik's presence. The Torah teaches that even after the tzadik leaves, an imprint of his holiness remains, giving the place enduring significance. This concept is also seen in the creation of the world. Before creation, there was only Hashem. After creation, the world's greatness lies in the divine imprint left by Hashem, which sustains it. Similarly, this principle applies to all actions a person performs. Each limb that engages in a mitzvah retains a level of sanctity, contributing to the individual's spiritual repair and the world's overall rectification.
Yitzchok called. Yaakov was embarrassed to come to Yitzchok on his own after having deceived him. By calling him Yitzchok conferred his retroactive approval of Yaakov’s deed.
Set out and go. This was a veiled warning that he should flee for his safety.
ויקרא ..ויברך אתו, the text of the blessing commences with the words: וא-ל שדי יברך אותך (verse 3).
ויברך אותו, nun freiwillig und mit vollem Bewusstsein. Rebekkas Heilmittel hatte ihm völlig die Augen geöffnet.
As a result of Rebecca’s statement, or perhaps after arriving at this decision independently, Isaac summoned Jacob. He blessed him, and he commanded him; he said to him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, in the manner of your brother.
And He informed him also that in leaving the land of Israel he required greater protection than when he was in the land. This is to be inferred from the verse (Genesis 28:16): "And I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go, and I will return you to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." Every "until" in Scripture denotes one of two things: either the cessation of something at a particular time, as in (Exodus 24:14): "And to the elders he said: 'Wait for us here until we return to you,'" the implication being that they should not wait after their return (this being the sense of "until" in the preponderant number of instances in Scripture), or (in a case where something should more likely obtain beyond that particular time), the obtaining of that thing even up to that time (and needless to say, beyond that time, when it is more likely to obtain). Of this second variety is (Genesis 49:10): "The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the scepter from between his feet, until Shiloh comes," in which the meaning is that even when the kingdom "hovers" between the tribes and it be dictated that the tribe of Judah have no kingship whatsoever, still, so long as there is a king in Israel, Judah's punishment will not be so great as to divest him entirely of the staff of kingdom — until Shiloh, the anointed king [Messiah] comes, at which time the kingdom will even more obviously not depart from him. And of this variety, likewise, is the "until" in "for I will not leave you until I have done…" For the meaning cannot be: I will not leave you until then, but afterwards I will leave you. The meaning, rather, is as follows: G-d informs Jacob that the union between the righteous and the Blessed One being stronger in the chosen land than outside it, it should follow that He leave him [now that Jacob is leaving the land], but his going being for the purpose of fulfilling his father's command, viz. (Genesis 28:6): "Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan," the Blessed One will protect him and be with him [even there], for one who cleaves to good people inclines his heart to service of the L-rd and one who does not do so causes his seed to be removed from Him.
It should be explained, however, why a prophet must be wealthy and tall. As far as his being strong, we can understand that one who is sent out to chastise a great multitude must be extremely courageous and turn back for nothing, as the Blessed One exhorts Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17): "Therefore, gird your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; do not be afraid of them, lest I make you afraid of them." But why must a prophet be wealthy and tall?
Variant reading: “This is what their father Jacob spoke to them” (Genesis 49:28) is not written here, but rather, “their father.” Another man like me is destined to bless you and from the place that I concluded, he will begin, as it is stated: “This is what [their father] spoke.” When Moses stood, he began with “this,” as it is stated: “This is the blessing [that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel with before his death]” (Deuteronomy 33:1). [Jacob] said to them: ‘I will say these blessings to you. When will they take effect? When you receive the Torah,’ as it is stated: “This is the Torah” (Deuteronomy 4:44). That is, “this is what their father spoke to them.” With that which their father Jacob concluded [in blessing] them, Moses began [blessing] them. Moses said: “I gain insight from the elders, [for I uphold Your edicts]” (Psalms 119:100). Isaac, when he blessed Jacob, and said to him: “And God Almighty [will bless you]” (Genesis 28:3), with what did he conclude? “Isaac summoned Jacob” (Genesis 28:1). (This is called the conclusion because it was the beginning of Isaac’s concluding blessing to Jacob, after he had already blessed him in Genesis ch. 27. See also a variant reading in Devarim Rabba 11:1. ) Jacob began from where his father had concluded, as it is stated: “Jacob summoned his sons” (Genesis 49:1), and he concluded when he blessed them with “this” – “this is what [their father] spoke [to them]” (Genesis 49:28). Moses began from where Jacob had concluded: “This is the blessing” (Deuteronomy 33:1). With what did Moses conclude? “Happy are you Israel” (Deuteronomy 33:29). David, too, when he came to recite a psalm, began from where Moses had concluded: “Happy is the man” (Psalms 1:1). That is, “I gain insight from the elders.” “They came to the threshing floor of Atad, that is beyond the Jordan, and they lamented a very great and substantial lament there, and he observed mourning for his father seven days” (Genesis 50:10).
“Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him. He commanded him and said to him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan” (Genesis 28:1). “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him” – Rabbi Abahu said: Because the blessings were uncertain in his hand. (The blessings which Jacob received when Isaac thought he was Esau were considered uncertain by Jacob.) Where were they reinforced in his hand? It is here, “Isaac summoned Jacob.” (Isaac blessed him at his own initiative.) Rabbi Elazar said: Ratification of a document is only by its signatories, so that you will not say that had Jacob not deceived Isaac, he would not have received his blessings. The verse states: “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him.” Rabbi Berekhya said: This is analogous to the son of kings who was digging to take a pound of gold. He [the king] said to him: ‘Why clandestinely? Come and take it openly.’ “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him.” “He commanded him” – he cautioned him against the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. (He cautioned him not to marry them. They were allies of Abraham. See Genesis 14:24.) “Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:7). “Jacob heeded his father and his mother.” That is what is written: “Every way of a man is fitting in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). Every way of a man is fitting in his own eyes – this is Samson: “Samson said to his father: Take her for me, as she is fitting in my eyes” (Judges 14:3). “And one who heeds counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15) – this is Jacob: “Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went.”
Another matter, “Jacob sent messengers” (Genesis 32:4) – this is what was said with divine spirit by Solomon king of Israel: “Blessings upon the head of the righteous, and villainy will cover the mouth of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:6). Corresponding to whom did Solomon state this verse? He said it corresponding only to Jacob and Esau. “Blessings upon the head of the righteous” – this is Jacob. “And villainy will cover the mouth of the wicked” – this is the wicked Esau. Happy are the righteous who are blessed on earth and are blessed in Heaven, and this is appropriate, as it is stated: “So that one who blesses himself in the land will bless himself by the God of faithfulness” (Isaiah 65:16) – to inform you that all the blessings that Isaac blessed Jacob, corresponding to those, the Holy One blessed be He blessed him from on High. Isaac said to him: “God will give you from the dew of the heavens…” (Genesis 27:28), and the Holy One blessed be He blessed him with dew and rain, as it is stated: “The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew [from the Lord, like raindrops]” (Micah 5:6). Isaac said to him: “and from the fats of the earth” (Genesis 27:28), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “He will give rain for your seeds with which you will sow the ground” (Isaiah 30:23). Isaac said: “Peoples will serve you” (Genesis 27:29), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Kings will be your caregivers, and their princesses, your wet nurses” (Isaiah 49:23). Isaac said: “You will be a lord to your brethren” (Genesis 27:29), and the Holy One blessed be He said to him through Moses: “To place you uppermost over all the nations” (Deuteronomy 26:19). You learned that all the blessings that Isaac blessed Jacob from below, corresponding to that, the Holy One blessed be He blessed him from on High. His mother Rebecca, too, blessed him corresponding to them, as it is stated: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High” (Psalms 91:1). So she said to him: “For He will charge His angels on your behalf [to guard you in all your ways]” (Psalms 91:11). When she said that to him in that language, the Divine Spirit blessed Him: “When he calls upon Me, I will answer him…” (Psalms 91:15). Once the Holy One blessed be He blessed him, why did his father bless him again, as it is stated: “Isaac summoned Jacob, and he blessed him”? (Genesis 28:1). It is, rather, that Isaac saw through the divine spirit that his descendants were destined to be exiled among the nations. He said to him: ‘Come and I will bless you blessings of exile, so that the Holy One blessed be He will return to you and gather you from the midst of the exiles.’ What are the blessings? “In six troubles He will deliver you, and in seven, no harm will touch you. …From the scourge of the tongue you will be hidden, and you will not fear pillage when it comes. At pillage and hunger you will laugh, and from the beasts of the earth, do not fear” (Job 5:19, 21–22). That is why it is stated: “Blessings upon the head of the righteous.”
“This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death” (Deuteronomy 33:1). Halakha: A person of Israel who passed before the ark (He served as prayer leader.) and erred, (He is unable to continue the prayer for some reason.) how must he act? So the Sages taught: One who passes before the ark and errs, let another pass in his stead. Our Rabbis taught us, Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: If one erred in the first three blessings, he returns to the beginning of “Shield.” (“Shield of Abraham,” the first blessing of the Amida prayer.) Rav Huna said: If one erred in the middle three (There are actually thirteen middle blessings in the weekday Amida prayer. Thus, the midrash is referring to a case in which someone made a mistake in one of the thirteen middle blessings. In the Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah there are three middle blessings.) blessings, he returns to “the holy God.” (The third blessing ends with the words "the holy God." The midrash states that the person who made the mistake starts from the fourth blessing, which begins right after the words "the holy God.") Rav said: If one erred in the final three, he returns to the beginning of “we give thanks.” (Which is the first of the last three blessing) Another matter, one who passes before the ark and erred, another passes in his place. From where does he begin? It is from the beginning of the blessing where he erred. From where did they derive it? It is from the patriarchs of the world. Why? It is because each of them would begin only from where the other ended. How so? Abraham blessed Isaac. From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5). What did he give him? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: He gave him the birthright, like the matter that is stated: “He sold his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:33). Rabbi Neḥemya said: He gave him a blessing, like the matter that is stated: “May God give you [of the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth…]” (Genesis 27:28). Isaac arose to bless Jacob, he said: ‘From the place that father ended, I will begin. Father ended with veyiten, I, too, will begin with veyiten,’ as is it is stated: “May God give you [veyiten lekha].” With what did Isaac end? It was with summoning, as it is stated: “Isaac summoned Jacob and blessed him” (Genesis 28:1). Jacob arose to bless the tribes, he said: ‘I will begin only with summoning,’ as it is stated: “Jacob summoned his sons” (Genesis 49:1). With what did he end? It was with zot, as it is stated: “And this [vezot] is what their father spoke to them” (Genesis 49:28). Moses arose to bless Israel, he said: ‘I will begin only with zot.’ From where is it derived? It is from what is written regarding the matter: “This is [vezot] the blessing.”
(Deut. 33:1:) AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. This text is related (to Prov. 31:29): MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VALIANTLY, BUT YOU SURPASS THEM ALL. This is the blessing of Moses, (Tanh., Deut. 11:1; PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but compared to all of them none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence. He blessed one and cursed another. (Gen. 9:27:) MAY GOD ENLARGE (YPT) JAPHETH (YPT); but he said (vs. 25:) CURSED BE CANAAN. Isaac blessed Jacob. There was strife in it, in that he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT; and it is stated (in vs. 41): THEN ESAU HATED JACOB <…, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MORNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB>. Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he said to Reuben (in Gen. 49:4): UNSTABLE AS WATER; and similarly (in vs. 5): SIMEON AND LEVI . And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned] from the Holy One. When he created Adam, he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): THEN GOD BLESSED THEM; [and (The other part of this bracket is several lines below.) the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7): AND THE LORD SAID: I WILL BLOT OUT THE HUMANITY WHICH I CREATED. When Noah left the ark, the Holy One saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world. Then the Holy One added one blessing for him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): FOR I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION…. When Abraham came, the Holy One said: It is not a practice worthy of me, that I should be obliged to bless my creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who issue a blessing through him, I am placing my seal upon , as stated (in vs. 2, cont.): AND SO BECOME A BLESSING. (vs. 3:) I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU…. What is the meaning of I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU. The Holy One said: Take note. I am handing over the blessings to ALL WHOM YOU BLESS, and I am sealing through you. But if from then on the blessings were {spoken} [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said: If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard. (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5; also Matthew 13:24–30.) : He gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said: If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard. (Cf. Matthew 13:24–30.) And so also did Abraham say: If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Look here. It is simply that he is leaving him alone until the Holy One comes, when he will deal with what belongs to him.] Jacob came and received five blessing: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) : Two from his father, according to what is stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why TREMBLED? R. Eleazar ben Padat said: because he saw Gehinnom open for Esau. He wanted to say: Cursed. He repented and added a blessing when he said (ibid., end): HE ALSO SHALL BE BLESSED. Here is one blessing. A second (is in Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. [The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4): AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…; the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE (the angel) BLESSED HIM THERE; and the blessings of the Holy One (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…, AND BLESSED HIM.] When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessing that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28): ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, WHEN HE BLESSED THEM, EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM. (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. < According to another interpretation, Moses made> an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4) since it was fitting for him to bless with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars ; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10): BUT HERE YOU HAVE EVEN BLESSED THEM THESE THREE [TIMES]. The Holy One said to him: You are wicked. Your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair. Then he will bless Israel, and it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9): HE THAT HAS A BENEVOLENT EYE SHALL BE BLESSED (YBRK). Do not read YBRK SHALL BE BLESSED, but SHALL BLESS. This refers to Moses our Master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel. He also blessed them with four blessings:
(Gen. 49:28, cont.:) AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM WHEN HE BLESSED THEM. EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM. "Him" is not written here but HE BLESSED THEM. (Tanh., Gen. 12:17; Gen. R. 97, New Version, on 49:28 (= pp. 1227—1228 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); 99(100)4; Numb. R. 13:8; Cant. R. 4:7:1; cf. also Exod. R. 1:6, 16.) Why so? Because (in Gen. 49:8-22) he gave Judah the strength of a lion, Joseph the strength of an ox, (Shor. Although the Masoretic Text of Gen. 49:22, from which this allusion is taken, vocalizes this word as shur, i.e., “wall,” the present context requires that Joseph be likened to some animal.) Naphtali the lightness of a deer, and Dan the bite of a serpent. You might say that one is greater than another; < so > their commonality is < mentioned > at the end. EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING … HE BLESSED THEM. Thus he distributed the land to them. He gave Judah the land which produces barley and Benjamin land which produces wheat. Even so, they had a commonality with each other in that they each would eat what belonged to the other. Ergo (in Gen. 49:28): AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM. "Unto them" is not written here but TO THEM. (Buber cites Samuel Jaffe ben Isaac Ashkenazi, Yefeh To’ar, a commentary on the Midrash Rabbah, Part I on Genesis (Venice, 1597—1606), who cites Rashi, on Gen. 24:7, and explains that “to them” (lahem) used with the verb “speak” (rt.: DBR), as opposed to its use with the verb “say” (rt.: ’MR), means that one is speaking “concerning them” rather than “with them,” which is what “unto them” (alehem) would have implied. So also Enoch Zundel ben Joseph in his commentary Ets Yosef, on Tanh., Gen. 12:16. For a suggested rendering, see the following note.) (Ibid.:) AND THIS < is how > someone like me is going to bless you, and at the place where I have stopped he is beginning. Thus it is stated (ibid.): AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM. (Apart from the words AND THIS (in the sense of ALSO THIS), there is another hint there that the verse has a wider meaning in that Jacob is simply alluded to as THEIR FATHER instead of by name. Like Jacob, Moses is a father of Israel.) When Moses arose, he opened (the blessing in Deut. 33:1) with AND THIS IS THE BLESSING < WITH WHICH MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD, BLESSED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BEFORE HE DIED >. < He began > from where Jacob had stopped. Ergo (in Gen. 49:28 also): AND THIS. He said these blessings for them. When did they come to pass for you? From the time that you received the Torah, about which it is written (in Deut. 4:44): AND THIS IS THE TORAH. Note the AND THIS. And also, with whatever < expression > Jacob had closed his blessing, Moses opened for them. Moses said (in Ps. 119:100): I HAVE GAINED UNDERSTANDING FROM THE ELDERS. When Isaac blessed Jacob, he said (in Gen. 28:3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. With what did he finally close his blessing? With a calling (according to Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. So, in the case of Jacob, where his father had stopped, from there he had begun (according to Gen. 49:1): THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS. Then, Jacob stopped (in Gen. 49:28) with THIS; so Moses also, when he arose to bless the tribes, began with AND THIS (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. And with what did Moses close? With BLESSED ARE YOU, as stated (in Deut. 33:29): BLESSED ARE YOU, O ISRAEL! WHO IS LIKE YOU? See < how > David opened (Ps. 1:1)! With BLESSED IS THE ONE. Ergo (in Ps. 119:100): I HAVE GAINED UNDERSTANDING FROM THE ELDERS.
(Numb. 23:4:) “Then God encountered Balaam.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing?” (Ibid., cont.:) “And [Balaam] said unto him, ‘I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].’” [The matter] is comparable to a money-changer who lies about the weights. When the head of the marketplace came, he noticed him. He said to him, “What are you doing inflating and lying about the weights?” [The money changer then] said to him, “I have already sent a gift (Gk.: doron.) to your house.” So also it was in the case of Balaam. The holy spirit cried out to him. It said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing.” He said to it (in Numb. 23:4), “I have prepared the seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar].” It said to him (in Prov. 15:17), “’Better a meal of vegetable greens [where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred in it].’ Better the dinner of unleavened bread and bitter herbs which Israel ate in Egypt, than bulls which you offer with hands of [hatred].” (Numb. 23:5:) “So the Lord put a word (davar) in Balaam's mouth,” which twisted his mouth and pierced it, (Both “twisted” and “pierced” connote the use of a bit on a horse.) as one would drive a nail into a board. R. Eliezer (understanding davar as word) says, “An angel was speaking.” But R. Joshua says, “[It was] the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated, (in Numb. 23:5), “Return unto Balak and speak thus.” (Numb. 23:6:) “So he returned unto him, and there he was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the ministers of Moab,” who stood anxiously awaiting [the time] when he would come and speak. (Numb. 23:7:) “So he took up his theme and said, ‘From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.’” I was one of the exalted ones, (Ramim. The midrash links this word with ARAM in Numb. 23:7.) but Balak has brought me down to the pit of corruption. (Numb. R. 20:19; also above, Lev. 5:1 and the notes there.) (Ibid.:) “Brought me (yanheni, rt.: nhh),” [is to be understood] just as you say (in Ezek. 32:18), “bring (rt.: nhh) the masses of Egypt [and cast them down… unto the lowest part of the netherworld along with those who go down to the pit].” (Thus Numb. 23:7 comes to mean that Balak BROUGHT (rt.: NHH) Balaam down to the grave. The unusual Biblical translation is necessary to fit the sense of the midrash.) Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram.” I was with the highest (ram) of the high, and Balak has brought me down from my glory. [The matter] is comparable to one who was walking with the king. When he saw [some] robbers, (Gk.: lestai.) he left the king and toured along with the robbers. When he returned to be with the king, the king said to him, “Go with whomever you have toured with, because it not possible for you to walk with me again.” Similarly Balaam had been bound to the holy spirit. When he paired himself with Balak, the holy spirit departed from him. So he returned to being a diviner as in the beginning. Thus it is stated (at his execution in Josh. 13:22), “Balaam ben Beor the diviner….” Therefore did he say, “I was high up (ram), and Balak brought me down.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:7), “From Aram, Balak the king of Moab has brought me, from the hills of the east.” [Balaam] said to [Balak], “We are alike, even both of us, for being ungrateful, because were it not for our father Abraham, there would have been no Balak. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 19:29), ‘And it came to pass that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away.’ Except for Abraham, he would not have delivered Lot from Sodom; and you are one of the children of the children of Lot. (As a Moabite, Balak was descended from Moab, the son of Lot. See Gen. 19:37.) Moreover, if it were not for their father Jacob, I should not have been present in the world, because Laban had sons only through the merit of Jacob, since it is written at the beginning (in Gen. 29:9), ‘Rachel came with the sheep.’ Now if he had sons, how was his daughter a shepherdess? As soon as Jacob came there, sons were given to him, as stated (in Gen. 31:1), ‘Now he heard the things that Laban's sons [were saying].’ (Jewish tradition gives three views on Balaam’s relation to Laban: That he was Laban himself, that he was Laban’s nephew, and that he was Laban’s grandson. See Ginzberg, vol. III, p. 354; vol.. V, p. 303, n. 229; vol. VI, pp. 123f., nn. 722f.; p. 130, n. 764.) And it also says [that Laban said] (in Gen. 30:27), ‘I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.’ So if it were not for their ancestors, you and I would not have been present in the world”. (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “Come, curse Jacob for me.” Whoever curses the Children of Jacob is cursing himself, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:3), “and the one who curses you, I will curse.” It also says (in Gen. 27:29), “cursed be those who curse you, (See above, Gen. 6:16.) and blessed be those who bless you.” (Numb. 23:7:) “Come, curse [Jacob] for me.” If you had told me to curse another people, for example, the Children of Abraham from the concubines, I would have been able [to do so]. But Jacob? When a king selects a portion for himself, and someone else gets up and speaks disparagingly about it, will he keep his life? Now these people are the Holy One, blessed be He’s, heritage, His portion, and His treasure. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 32:9), “For the Lord's share is His people; Jacob the portion of His heritage.” And it is written (in Exod. 19:5), “and you shall be My treasure.” (Numb. 23:7, cont.:) “And come, denounce Israel.” When a king takes a crown and puts it on his head, and someone says of it that it is nothing, will he keep his life? Now in regard to these people it is written about them (in Is. 49:3), “Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” (Numb. 23:8:) “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed, when Jacob went in to receive the blessings. It is written (in Gen. 27:16), “Then [she clothed his arms and the hairless part of his neck] with the skins of goat kids.” His father said to him (in Gen. 27:18), “Who are you?” He said to him (in vs. 19), “I am Esau, your first-born.” Does not the one who puts forth a lie with his mouth deserve to be cursed? Yet not only [was he not cursed], but he was blessed; as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “he shall also be blessed.” So how do I curse them? (In the words of Numb. 23:8) “God has not cursed.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” According to universal custom, when a legion (Lat.: legio.) rebels against the king, it incurs the penalty of death. Now since these denied and revolted against Him, when they said to the calf (in Exod. 32:4), “This is your God, O Israel,” did they not, therefore, deserve to have Him destroy them at that time? [Still] He did not cease to cherish them. Instead He had clouds of glory accompany them. Nor did He withhold the manna and the well from them. And so it says (in Neh. 9:18-20), “Even though they had made themselves a molten calf […], You in Your great mercies did not abandon them in the desert […]; and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth […].” How can I curse them? This [question] is related (to Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” When He commanded them concerning the blessings and the curses, He mentioned them (as the people) in connection with the blessings where it is stated (in Deut. 27:12), “These shall stand [on Mount Gerizim] for blessing the people;” but He did not mention them in connection with the curses. Thus it is stated (in vs. 13), “And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse.” Moreover, when they sin and He plans to bring a curse upon them, it is not written that He Himself is bringing them (i.e., the curses); but with respect to the blessings, He Himself is blessing them; for so it says (in Deut. 28:1, 8), “And it shall come to pass that, if you diligently obey […], the Lord your God will set you high [over all the nations of the earth]. The Lord will command the blessing to be with you.” But with respect to the curses, it is written (according to Deut. 28:15), “And it shall come to pass that, if you do not obey […], then [all these curses] shall come upon you,” [i.e.,] of their own accord. Ergo (in Numb. 23:8), “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?” (Numb. 23:9:) “For from the top of the rocks I see him,” in order to make the hatred of that evil man (i.e., Balaam) known to you. As from his blessing you may know his thoughts. To what is he comparable? To someone who came to chop down a tree. One who is not an expert chops off the branches one at a time and becomes tired, but the clever one exposes the roots and [then] chops it down. Similarly that wicked man said, “How shall I curse each and every tribe? Rather I will go to their roots.” When he came to touch them, he found them hard [to cut]. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks I see him.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 23:9), “For from the top of the rocks,” these are the patriarchs; (ibid., cont.) “and from the hills I behold him,” these are the matriarchs. (Numb. 23:9, cont.:) “Here is a people dwelling alone.” When He makes them rejoice, no nation rejoices along with them. Rather they are all afflicted, [as stated (in Deut. 32:12),] “The Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign god with him.” (Numb. 23:9, cont.:), “And they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” But when the nations are rejoicing in this world, they (i.e., the Children of Israel) eat with each and every kingdom, and no one is charging [such pleasures] against their account (rt: hshb). (In other words the pleasures that Israel enjoys in this world are not to be deducted from their pleasures in the world to come.) It is so stated (in Numb. 23:9, cont.), “and they shall not be reckoned (rt.: hshb) among the nations.” (Numb. 23:10:) “Who has counted the dust of Jacob?” Who is able to count the commandments which they carry out upon the dust: (In Deut. 22:10,) “You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together”; (in Deut. 22:9,) “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed”; (in Numb. 19:9,) “Then someone clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer”; (in Numb. 5:17,) “[Then the high priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel] and some of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle”; (in Lev. 19:23,) “[Moreover, when you come into the land and plant any tree for food, you shall count its fruit as forbidden,] three years it shall be forbidden to you, [it shall not be eaten]”; and so on with all of them. (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Or numbered the sand (rb') of Israel,” [i.e.,] their copulations (rt.: rb'). (For this interpretation, cf. Nid. 31a.) Who can number the masses (Gk.: ochloi.) that have emerged from them, from those women who seize on and cherish the commandments (of procreation), as stated (in Gen. 30:15), “But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?’” [And so too (in Gen. 30:3, 9),] “Here is my maid Bilhah; go into her.” “When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, [she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife].” [And so too (in Gen. 16:3),] “So Abraham's wife Sarai took her maidservant Hagar the Egyptian… [and gave her to her husband Abraham as a wife].” (Numb. 23:10, cont.:) “Let me die the death of the upright.” The matter is comparable to a butcher who came to slaughter a cow that belonged to a king. The king began to take notice. When [the butcher] realized [what was happening], he began by discarding the knife, then giving [the cow] a rubdown [and] filling the feeding trough for it. He began to say, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to slaughter it; but observe that I have [now given it sustenance].” Similarly Balaam said, “Let my life be forfeit for coming to curse, but I will bless [them].” Ergo (in Numb. 23:10), “let me die the death of the upright!”
And he gave unto Moses, etc. (Exod. 31:18). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thy lips, O my bride, drop honey (Song 4:11). R. Abba the son of Judah said: The community of Israel praised the Holy One, blessed be He, from on high to below, while the Holy One, blessed be He, praised Israel from below to on high. Israel praised Him from on high to below when she caused Him to descend from the upper spheres to the lower sphere, as it is said: That they make me a Sanctuary (Exod. 25:8). He praised them from below to on high when He said: The Lord Thy God will set them on high (Deut. 28:1). Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness? (Song 3:16). Israel praised him from above to below, that is, from His head to His foot: His head is as the most fine gold … His eyes … His locks … His eyes … His cheeks … His lips … His hands … His loins … His legs … His mouth is most sweet … this is my Beloved (Song 5:11–16), while He praised them from below to above: How beautiful are thy steps … the roundings of thy thighs … thy navel is like a round goblet … thy belly is like a heap … thy two breasts … thy neck is as a tower … thine eyes … thy nose … thy head upon thee is like Carmel (ibid. 7:2–6). Thy lips drip honey (ibid. 4:11).
(Deut. 33:1:) “And this is the blessing.” This text is related (to Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.” This is the blessing of Moses, (PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but there was none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence, as he blessed one and cursed another, as stated (Gen. 9:27,) “May God enlarge (ypt) Japheth (ypt) [...]; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Isaac blessed Jacob, but there was strife in it. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:4), “May He give you the blessing of Abraham, but he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35), “Your brother came with deceit”; and it is stated (in vs. 41), “Then Esau hated Jacob […, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob’].” Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he rebuked Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:4), “Unstable as water”; and similarly (in vs. 5), “Simeon and Levi [are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords].” And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned it] from the Holy One, blessed be He. When he created Adam, He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:27-28), “male and female. Then [God] blessed them.” And the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7), “And the Lord said, “I will blot out the humanity which I created.” When Noah left the ark, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1), “Then God blessed Noah and his children.” The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world, and He added blessing, as stated (in Gen. 12:2), “For I will make you into a great nation.” Once Abraham came, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “It is not honorable for Me, that I should be obliged to bless My creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who they issue a blessing, I am placing my seal upon [those blessings], as stated (in vs. 2, cont.), ‘[I will bless you and magnify your name] and so become a blessing.’” (Vs. 3:) “I will bless those who bless you….” What is the meaning of “I will bless?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Take note. I am handing over the blessings to all whom you bless, and I am sealing [them] through you.” But if from then on the blessings were [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said, “If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard, (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5.) [and] gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said, “If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.” And so also did Abraham say, “If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Rather look here. I will leave him alone until the Holy One, blessed be He, comes, when He will deal with what belongs to Him.” Jacob came and received five blessings: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) From his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “Then Isaac trembled (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why “trembled?” R. Eliezer ben Pedat said, “[He did so] because he saw Gehinnom open in front of him. He wanted to say, ‘Cursed will be [Jacob.’ Instead,] he went back [on it], and added blessing [to it], when he said (ibid., end), ‘he also shall be blessed.’” Here is one [blessing]. A second (is in Gen. 28:1), “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him.” The blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, (is in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob [… and blessed him].” The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4), “And may He grant you the blessing of Abraham.” And the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30), “and he (the angel) blessed him there.” When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessings that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28), “All these are the tribes of Israel, [twelve in number, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them, each one with his own blessing is how he blessed them].” (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” [According to another interpretation, Moses made] an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4.) since it was fitting for him to bless them with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars [he had built]; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but [Balaam] only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10), “but here you have even blessed them these three times.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair; then he will bless Israel.” And it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9), “He that has a benevolent eye shall be blessed (ybrk).” Do not read “ybrk [with vowels meaning] shall be blessed,” but [with vowels meaning] “shall bless.” This refers to Moses our master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel, such that he blessed them with [the other] four blessings: The first is (in Exod. 39:43), “When Moses saw all the work […] he blessed them.” The second is (in Lev. 9:23), “Then Moses and Aaron came unto the tent of meeting; and when they came out, they blessed the people….” The third is (in Deut. 1:11), “May the Lord God of your ancestors add [to your numbers a thousand times more than you are and bless you].” The fourth is (here in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” It is therefore stated (in Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.”(Deut. 33:1:) And this is the blessing.” It was fitting for Moses to bless Israel because he had constantly risked his life for them. (PRK 31(suppl. 1):12.) For this reason, it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing [that Moses blessed... the Children of Israel].” (Deut. 33:1:) “The man of God (the Power).” If it says, “man,” why does it say, “God,” and if it says, “God,” why does it say, “man?” It is simply that at the time he fled from in front of Pharaoh, he was a man, but at the time he trounced [the Egyptians], he was a power. Another interpretation: At the time that he went up to the firmament, he was a man; in front of the angels that were all fire, he was a man. But at the time he came down, he was a power. Before he went up to the firmament, he was a man, as he would eat and drink. But all the time that he was there, he was a power, as stated (in Exod. 34:20), “and they were afraid to approach him.”
Thus with the very words with which Jacob concluded his blessing, Moses began to bless them. Moses said: I learn understanding from my elders (Ps. 119:100). When Isaac blessed Jacob, he said to him: And God Almighty bless thee (Gen. 28:3). How did he conclude his blessing? With the word call, as it is said: And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him (ibid., v. 1). And Jacob began where his father had ended, as it is said: And Jacob called his sons (Gen. 49:1), and concluded: And this is what their father spoke to them. When Moses blessed the tribes, he began where Jacob had left off, as is said: And this is the blessing, and he concluded with: Happy, art thou, O Israel (Deut. 33:29). Later, David began where Moses concluded, saying: Happy is the man (Ps. 1:1). Hence Scripture states: I learn understanding from my elders (Ps. 119:100).
Rabbi Shimon said: "Fortunate are the righteous who do not depart from the world until they command their children after them regarding the words of the Torah. We find this with our forefather Abraham, who did not depart from the world until he commanded his children and his household to keep the ways of the Lord, as it says, 'For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord' (Genesis 18:19). And so, Isaac commanded Jacob, as it says, 'And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him' (Genesis 28:1), and Jacob commanded his children, as it says, 'And Jacob finished commanding his sons' (Genesis 49:33). And David, the king of Israel, commanded his son Solomon, as it says, 'Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying' (1 Kings 2:1). And so too, Moses did not depart from the world until he rebuked Israel for their sins and commanded them to keep the commandments of the Lord, as it says, 'These are the words' (Deuteronomy 1:1).What are these words? Rabbi Yishmael said, "These words are equivalent to the Ten Commandments that Israel received at Mount Sinai. Moreover, when Israel said, 'We will do and we will hear' (Exodus 24:7), they did not wait long before rebelling and saying, 'These are your gods, O Israel' (Exodus 32:4). But these words (of rebuke and commandment) restored Israel to a better state and bound them to the Lord and His Torah, as it says, 'But you who cleave to the Lord your God are alive, every one of you, this day' (Deuteronomy 4:4). The Lord said to Moses, 'Since Israel has cleaved to Me through these words, they will be called only by your name, as it says, 'These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel' (Deuteronomy 1:1). It is not said, 'which the Lord spoke,' but rather, 'which Moses spoke.'"
Another interpretation of "Happy is the man" (Psalm 1:1): This refers to the righteous men. The prophets are happy because they give form to the image of God, and to the one who plants the tree. This is what the scripture means by "For the Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psalm 84:12). Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said: "Happy are they who are like the sun, which shines forth, and like a shield, which protects." Another interpretation of "shield": This refers to the Persian Targum for a curtain that surrounds a person, protecting them from the four winds. And how do we know that it includes the fourth wind? It is written, "You crown us with loving-kindness" (Psalm 5:13). Another interpretation of "sun" and "shield": This refers to Abraham, our forefather. "Sun" refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Who raised up righteousness from the east" (Isaiah 41:2) The shield represents Abraham, as it is said, "I am your shield" (Genesis 15:1). The God represents Abraham, as it is said, "You are a prince of God in our midst" (Genesis 23:6). Grace and glory God gives represent Abraham, as it is written, "And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold" (Genesis 13:2). "He does not withhold good from those who walk with integrity" represents Abraham, as it is said, "Walk before me, and be blameless" (Genesis 17:1). If Scripture speaks of Abraham in this way, then when it says, "He does not withhold good from those who walk with integrity," what does it mean to walk with integrity? Rather, just as Abraham, who walked with integrity before the Holy One, Blessed be He, had a shield, so too anyone who walks with integrity before Him has a shield. After him, what is written? "Happy is the man who trusts in You" (Psalms 84:13). Abraham is not written here, but rather "man," meaning all people. David said, "Happy is the man whom You discipline, Lord, and whom You teach from Your law" (Psalms 94:12). Rabbi Yudan opened by saying, "Do not boast before the king, and do not stand in the place of great men" (Proverbs 25:6). Rabbi Yudan read it from the place where this section was closed and from the place where the previous section was opened. Rabbi Pinchas worked an extended passage from Psalms 119:100, "I understand more than the aged." At first, the Holy One, Blessed be He, blessed His world, as it says, "And God blessed them" (Genesis 1:28). Once Noah stood, He blessed him, as it says, "And God blessed Noah and his sons" (Genesis 9:1). Once Abraham stood, He blessed him, as it says, "And God blessed Abraham in everything" (Genesis 24:1). What is the meaning of "it will be a blessing"? Rav Nachman said that He handed the blessings over to him and said, "Until now, I have been required to bless the world, but from now on, the blessings are in your hands, and whomever you bless will be blessed." Once Isaac stood, he blessed him, as it says, "And Abraham gave everything he had to Isaac" (Genesis 25:5). What did he give him? Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Nechemia, and the Rabbis (said): Rabbi Yehuda said it was the firstborn. Rabbi Nechemia said it was a blessing. And the Rabbis said it was burial and a deed of inheritance. Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Chama: they only gave him gifts. And why didn't they give him a blessing? It is like a king who had a garden and gave it to a tenant, and in it were all kinds of trees intertwined with each other, one of the Tree of Life and one of the Tree of Death. The tenant said, "If I water the Tree of Life, the Tree of Death will live with it. And if I do not water it, how will the Tree of Life live?" The tenant returned and said, "This year I will complete my tenancy and go, and what do I care about the king's garden?" Abraham said, "I will not bless Isaac now because the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah are now being blessed." I am flesh and blood today, but tomorrow I will be in the grave, and what needs to be done in his world will be done. When Abraham died, God revealed Himself to Isaac and blessed him, as it says, "After Abraham's death, God blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). And so He did to Jacob, as it says, "God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan Aram, and He blessed him" (Genesis 35:9). And Isaac stood and blessed Jacob with giving, as it says, "May God give you of the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28), and he sealed it with a call, "And Isaac called Jacob, and he blessed him" (Genesis 28:1). Jacob stood to bless the tribes and began with what Isaac had sealed. This is what is written, "And Jacob called to his sons and said" (Genesis 49:1), and he sealed it with this, as it says, "And this is what their father said to them" (Genesis 49:28). Moses stood to bless Israel, and said, "Jacob is the firstborn of the Holy One, blessed be He," and he began with a call and sealed it with "And this is the blessing" (Deuteronomy 33:1), and he sealed it with "Happy are you" (Deuteronomy 33:29). When David stood, he opened with "God is my Lord," and sealed it with "Blessed are You, God" (Psalms 118:27).
וכל בנותיו, “and all of his daughters;” according to Rabbi Yehudah, twin sisters had been born for Yaakov with the birth of all of his sons. These had been married by their respective half-brothers, sons of different mothers. According to the opinion of Rabbi Nechemyah, all the sons married wives of Canaanite origin. If he were correct, why does the Torah in our verse not speak of “all his daughter-in-law?“ Rabbi Nechemyah, aware of this, would reply, that in the whole world daughters-in-law are referred to as daughters. (B‘reshit Rabbah 84,21) [Naomi, in the Book of Ruth, certainly is not described as calling her daughters-in-law, “daughters.” Ed.] It is difficult to understand Rabbi Nechemyah, as we all know to what length Avraham had gone to prevent Yitzchok from marrying a wife of Canaanite descent. Yitzchok too had commanded Yaakov not to marry a woman of Canaanite descent and had sent him all the way to Charan to avoid such a union. (Genesis 28,1) Nonetheless, Yehudah married a woman of Canaanite descent. (Genesis 38,2 ברת גבר תגרא, (daughter of a business man, according to Onkelos איש כנעני means business man, traveling salesman) Onkelos therefore accepts the view of Rabbi Yehudah, who said that twin daughters were born with all of Yaakov’s sons.) This is also how we have to understand Genesis 46,10: ושאול בן הכנענית, “and Sha-ul, son of a female merchant.” According to Rabbi Nechemyah’s approach to the subject, there is no need for what sound like far fetched solutions to our problem. The word כנעני or כנענית in either of the verses that bothered us, are simply understood as elsewhere in the Bible, as people of Canaanite descent. We do have a problem if we accept Rabbi Yehudah’s interpretation, an interpretation lacking specific sources in the written text. The Talmud, tractate Yumah folio 28, states that Avaraham had voluntarily observed all the commandments in the written and oral Torah, even including the rabbinic commandment known as eyruv tavshilin, a method of how to prepare food when the day after a festival is a Sabbath, and preparation of food on the festival for the Sabbath is not admissible. He is also supposed to have observed the law of yibbum, marrying the widow of a brother who died without having ever had any children. (Compare Genesis 38,8) where Yehudah, Er’s father, gave Er’s widow Tamar to Onan, his brother, as a wife, in order for him to become posthumously and vicariously a father. If these laws were operative prior to the Torah having been revealed at Mount Sinai to the Jewish people, how could Yaakov have married two sisters while the first sister had still been alive? Also, how could any of the sons of Yaakov have married their sisters? We could answer that although these laws were already known by tradition since Avraham’s time, they had not become obligatory until after revealed at Mount Sinai. Our forefathers were free to choose the parts of the commandments they wished to observe voluntarily even they had been privy to them through the Holy Spirit. When the Talmud in Pessachim, folio 119, tells us that in the future (afterlife) at the meal prepared by G–d for the righteous, that when Yaakov was being honoured presiding over the grace after the meal, he declined the honour, saying that seeing he had wed two sisters while both were alive, he was not worthy of that honour. Clearly he considered what he had done as having been improper. It is possible to argue that having been aware that what he had done would qualify for a penalty if he would do so after the revelation at Mount Sinai, he felt that he deserved at least a minor penalty. If he decided in favour of committing an act deserving of a minor penalty, he did so because he wished to marry only wives who were personally righteous, and these were hard to find, especially considering the age at which he had a chance to get married. As it turned out, even one of these two sisters who was a righteous woman did not by herself bore for him all the twelve tribes.
ויקרא יעקב אל בניו, “Yaakov called in his sons.” According to a Midrash, Yaakov commenced his blessing from the point where Yitzchak had concluded blessing his son as it is written: “Yitzchak called Yaakov and blessed him” (Genesis 28,1). Moses in turn commenced his blessing (Deut. 33,1) from the point where Yaakov had left off. David in turn, at the commencement of the Book of Psalms, began with the words with which Moses had left off, i.e. אשרי האיש, “happy the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked.” Moses had concluded (Deut. 33,29) his blessings of the Jewish people with the words: “happy Israel, who can compare to you?” Referring to this David said in Psalms 119,100 “I have gained more understanding than my elders .”
ויחל נח איש האדמה, we had already pointed out in 5,29 that Noach was a farmer and excelled in this vocation. Now, after the deluge, he acquired additional expertise in combining different strains of grapes and making wine out of the grapes. Up until this time people had used grapes only as a fruit to eat, and had not learned how to make intoxicating wine. When the Torah writes ויחל ויטע, this means that he began by planting grapes and ended by making wine. The expression ויחל is usually associated with the first stage תחלה, in a process requiring several stages. Alternately, the word ויחל is used in the same sense as in Samuel I 14,35 החל לבנות מזבח, “it was the first altar which he (Saul) established” Or, the meaning of the word ויחל may be similar to Joshua 3,7 אחל גדלך, “I will establish your greatness.” and similar to Genesis 10,8 הוא החל להיות גבור, “he was the first to become a hero, a warrior.” Or, the word simply means “he began with this work of farming, as part of which he planted a vineyard.” The line may simply mean that Noach began to plant a vineyard, [in which case we gain the impression that this was his major concern at this time. Ed.] What leads to all these explanations is the repetition of two verbs in close succession ויחל ...ויטע, without the Torah telling us what Noach had done. We have such a construction in Genesis 28,10 ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה, “Yaakov left Beer Shevah heading towards Charan,” where we are also forced to understand the second verb וילך as meaning ללכת, to go. This story has to be understood as portraying two separate subjects. First we have to remember that Canaan, Cham’s son and his offspring were a cursed tribe, cursed by Noach, that is. We observe throughout the Book of Genesis how careful our ancestors were not to intermarry with members of such a cursed part of mankind. Avraham not only went out of his way to forbid Eliezer to take a wife from such people for his son Yitzchok (Genesis 24,3) but Yitzchok and Rivkah both warned Yaakov against such liaisons (Genesis 28,1). The Torah introduces a story showing how Canaan was even worse than his father Cham, so that the Torah makes a point of calling Cham “the father of Canaan,” [although he was the youngest of his four sons. (10,6) G’d had foreseen already that the offspring of Canaan would be totally corrupt, depraved. This is why He had encouraged Noach to curse his own grandson. (compare our comment on verse 8 on the wording of G’d’s address to Noach) Seeing that Noach was a prophet, his curse came true. Another aspect of this story is to warn anyone drinking wine not to overindulge, as this will impair the functioning of his brain, that which separates him from the animals. Solomon in Proverbs 23,2 is extremely critical of people who drink to excess. Also the prophets, (Isaiah 5,22; 28,1, and Amos 6,6) are very outspoken about the detrimental effects of drinking too much intoxicating wine. If the first human being ever to drink wine, i.e. Noach, became so drunk that he was unaware that he had disrobed himself, this serves as a warning to all of his descendants to be very careful in the manner in which the treat such intoxicating drink.
The midrash reveals a truly fascinating comparison of Leah’s deception of Yaakov with Yaakov’s own deception of his father, Yitzchak. In both cases, there are at least six points of comparison: 1) one sibling pretends to be the other; 2) the deception is instigated by a parent; 3) the deception ends up to be for the good of everyone involved, in spite of the emotional anguish it causes its victim; 4) there was no time to wait – not acting would have been as much a choice as acting; 5) the victim (Yitzchak and Yaakov) was fooled because he could not see, one on account of his blindness, the other because of the dark of night; (I am indebted to my student, Dana Pulver, for this keen observation. The observation also seems to be made by Leon Kass in The Beginnings of Wisdom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003) pp. 423–24.) 6) the deception appeared to be the only way of accomplishing an important goal – Ramban (Ramban on Bereshit 27:4) argues that Yitzchak was intent on giving the blessing to Esav and that no one could have dissuaded him. As a result, Rivka sought to direct the blessing to Yaakov with the only method at her disposal. Similarly, Yaakov was only interested in marrying Rachel, who, if we follow the story carefully, was less suited than Leah to be his wife. (After all, the vast majority of the Jewish people, as well as its religious and political leadership, all come from Leah and not from Rachel. See Rabbeinu Bahya on Bereshit 28:1, who suggests that Yaakov may have even been punished for his incorrect desire to marry Rachel and not Leah.) Following in her mother-in-law’s footsteps, Leah used the only method at her disposal to get Yaakov to enter into this critical marriage.
In light of Midian’s centrality in the Ba’al Peor story, it pays to remember the unusual place this nation has in the formative experiences of the Jewish people. The odyssey begins with Moshe’s sojourn in Midian, when he is taken in by Yitro and offered the latter’s daughter in marriage. Marriage to a foreign noblewoman in a foreign land is not unique to Moshe; it parallels Yosef’s experience in Egypt. But neither is it common. In fact, given that the idea of keeping marriage “within the family” is stressed by both Avraham (Bereshit 24:1-9) and Yitzchak (Bereshit 28:1–9), marriage with a foreigner is usually far from the ideal.
Yitzchok called Yaakov and blessed him. He commanded him and said to him, Do not marry a woman of the daughters of Canaan.
And Izhak called Jakob, and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a wife from the daughters of the Kenaanaee.
| ק֥וּם לֵךְ֙ פַּדֶּ֣נָֽה אֲרָ֔ם בֵּ֥יתָה בְתוּאֵ֖ל אֲבִ֣י אִמֶּ֑ךָ וְקַח־לְךָ֤ מִשָּׁם֙ אִשָּׁ֔ה מִבְּנ֥וֹת לָבָ֖ן אֲחִ֥י אִמֶּֽךָ׃ | 2 P | Up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take a wife there from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. |
קום לך, the word קום is not to be understood literally as “rise!,” but as an instruction to go about the task to be fulfilled with speed, without delay. פדנה ארם, we explained this as meaning “to Charan.”
פדנה is the same as לפדן to Padan;
ביתה בתואל is the same as לבית בתואל to the house of Bethuel. To every word requiring a ל prefixed you may attach a ה as a suffix (Yevamot 13b).
Wo eine Frau wie deine Mutter geboren und trotz eines Laban erzogen worden ist, da ist es auch möglich, daß du die entsprechende Frau findest.
Any word that requires a ל prefix... It does not mean just any word, as we find this rule applies only to names of places and countries, such as בבלה and חברונה, and sometimes to vessels, such as המזבחה.
Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Betuel, father of your mother, and take yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban, brother of your mother. Apparently Isaac knew that Laban had daughters, as some sort of contact was maintained between the families.
It was concerning this blessing that Esav and Yaakov quarreled. Moreover, it is the right of the firstborn that Esav sold to Yaakov. Later, Yitzchak confirmed the sale when he sent Yaakov to Padan-Aram. This is what he meant when he told him, (Genesis 28:2) “Get up and go to Padan-Aram and God who is Self-Sufficient-El Shaddai-א"ל שד"י will bless you and give you the blessing of Avraham, to you and your descendants with you.” Thus, by saying, “to you and your descendants,” the blessing-Brachah-ברכה was given as an inheritance exclusively to Yaakov and his descendants alone.
Our rabbis, of blessed memory, found it necessary to awaken us to this, and therefore informed us of a very important principle when they said, (Talmud Berachot 58a) “The earthly kingdom is similar to the heavenly kingdom.” That is, if it is necessary to be careful about all the above matters when entering into the presence of an earthly king of flesh and blood, how much more is this so of a person who enters to greet the face of the King, King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, He Who is blessed and exalted.
When HaShem’s-יהו"ה quality of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ"י becomes filled with His quality of El Shaddai-א"ל שדי-the Self-sufficient God, then it too is called by His name Shaddai-שד"י and El Shaddai-א"ל שדי, as was explained (in Gate One), and all the blessings and goodness that are influenced to His quality of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ"י in order to fulfill the needs of every creature, are through El Shaddai-א"ל שדי-the Self-sufficient God, as it states, (Genesis 28:3) “El Shaddai-א"ל שדי will bless you and will make you fruitful and multiply you etc.” Through this Divine quality He also says “enough” to all troubles, that they should not befall a person. This is why, when our forefather Yaakov prayed to HaShem-יהו"ה, blessed is He, he referred to Him by His title El Shaddai-א"ל שדי. Now, sometimes this Divine quality is called The Source of Living Waters-Mekor Mayim Chayim-מקור מים חיים.
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Jacob arrived intact.” It is written: “Those who sow in tears, reap with joyous song” (Psalms 126:5). “Those who sow in tears” – this is our patriarch Jacob, who sowed the blessings in tears: “Perhaps my father will feel me” (Genesis 27:12). “Reap with joyous song” – “God will give you from the dew of the heavens and from the fat of the earth” (Genesis 27:28). “Though he walks weeping” (Psalms 126:6) – “he raised his voice and wept” (Genesis 29:11). “Bearing his sack of seed” (Psalms 126:6) – as he is drawn to the place that he is destined to procreate from there, as it is written: “Take a wife for you from there” (Genesis 28:2), “Isaac sent Jacob and he went to Padan Aram; to Laban, son of Betuel” (Genesis 28:5). “He returns in joyous song, bearing his sheaves [alumotav]” (Psalms 126:6) – he came bearing young men [uleimin] and young women [ve’uleimita].
And thus with Jacob, viz. (Genesis 28:2) "And Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed" (to accord honor to Joseph, the ruler at that time).
Another interpretation (of Cant. 2:10): MY DARLING (rt.: R'H). the daughter of Abraham, the one who was my companion (rt.: R'H), as stated (in Is. 41:8): THE SEED OF MY FRIEND ABRAHAM. (Cant. 2:10, cont.:) MY FAIR ONE (rt.: YPH), by virtue of Isaac, who beautified (rt.: YPH) me in the world as he laid his neck upon the altar. (Ibid., cont.:) AND COME AWAY (rt.: HLK), by virtue of Isaac whose mother said to him (in Gen. 28:2): ARISE, GO (rt.: HLK) TO PADDAN-ARAM, …. (Cant. 2:11:) FOR NOW THE WINTER IS PAST, [THE RAINS ARE OVER AND GONE]. What is the meaning of THE WINTER and THE RAINS? THE WINTER is merely six months, and during it there are no hardships except when THE RAINS come down. (Cant. R. 2:11:1 connects this interpretation with the following and thereby suggests that like the winter, Israel’s stay in Egypt was not unrelieved hardship.)
(Gen. 9:18:) AND THE CHILDREN OF NOAH < WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK > WERE < SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH >. (Tanh. Gen. 2:12.) [Let our master instruct us: Who is the one commanded about being fruitful and multiplying, the man or the woman? Thus] have our masters taught (in Yev. 6:6): THE MAN IS COMMANDED ABOUT BEING FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLYING BUT NOT THE WOMAN. R. Johanan ben Baroqah says: It says concerning both of them (in Gen. 1:28): AND GOD BLESSED THEM, [AND GOD SAID TO THEM: BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY]. (yTa‘an. 7:9 (69c); yMeg. 1:6 (70c); Gen. R. 8:12.) However, the man is commanded more than the woman. You know yourself that it is so. Look at how Abraham showed a lot of determination in taking a wife for his son Isaac; for thus it says (in Gen. 24:2-4): SO ABRAHAM SAID UNTO THE SENIOR SERVANT OF HIS HOUSE … AND I WILL MAKE YOU SWEAR BY THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEAVENS … THAT YOU < GO > UNTO MY LAND < WHERE I WAS BORN >…. Thus Abraham showed determination about being fruitful and multiplying. So also Isaac sent Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 28:2): ARISE, GO TO PADDAN-ARAM, TO THE HOUSE OF BETHUEL. He sent him to take a wife who was suitable for him. < In doing so he was > unlike the people of the flood generation, who were lecherous, who were going for what was indecent for them. See what is written (in Gen. 6:2): THE DIVINE SONS SAW < HOW BEAUTIFUL THE HUMAN DAUGHTERS WERE AND TOOK WHOMEVER THEY CHOSE AS THEIR WIVES >. The Holy One said: Inasmuch as they have done this, let them perish from the earth. But why were the cattle destroyed with them, as stated (in Gen. 7:23): BOTH HUMAN AND CATTLE? Because the cattle also were acting immorally and going with species that were not their own, the horse with the donkey, the lion with the bull, the snake with the lizard. (Cf. Sanh. 108a.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 6:12): THEN GOD SAW THE EARTH, AND, BEHOLD, IT WAS CORRUPT; [FOR ALL FLESH HAD CORRUPTED ITS WAY UPON THE EARTH]. It does not say "Every person," but ALL FLESH, < i.e., > even the cattle, the wild beasts, and the fowl. Therefore, they were blotted out along with them. R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said: Just as none but the righteous entered the ark, (See Sanh. 108b.) so the cattle, wild beasts, and fowl who were with them were righteous, as stated (in Gen. 8:19): < THEY WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK > BY THEIR FAMILIES. Do cattle have families? Only those cattle who had not joined themselves to another species entered the ark; therefore, the Holy One ascribed a lineage for them. So, if cattle, wild beasts, and fowl, who are nothing, were ascribed a lineage, was it not proper for Noah and his sons to be ascribed a lineage? The Holy One immediately ascribed them a {lineage, according to what is written} [lineage. Where is it shown? In what we have read] on the matter (in Gen. 9:18): AND THE SONS OF NOAH WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK WERE < SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH >….
You know this to be so from the fact that Abraham sought a wife for his son Isaac: And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his household, etc. (Gen. 24:2), and it is written also: I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven … that thou shalt go unto my country (ibid., vv. 3–4). Hence, it is apparent that Abraham was concerned with the observance of the law of Increase and multiply. Similarly, Isaac told Jacob: Arise! Go to Padan-aram (Gen. 28:2), to seek a wife proper for him. He did not wish him to be like the men of the generation of the flood, who wallowed in unchastity and indulged in sexual intercourse with species other than their own. Observe what is written concerning them: The sons of God saw the daughters of men … and took them wives, whomsoever they chose (Gen. 6:2). That was the reason they were obliterated from the earth.
[48] Similar instructions are given him by his father, with slight additions; for he says, “Rise up and flee away into Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father, and take to thee thence a wife from the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother” (Gen. 28:2).
[76] For we read in the case of Abraham as follows: “and Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives; and the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai” (Gen. 11:29) and in the case of Jacob “arise and escape to Mesopotamia, to the family of Bethuel thy mother’s father, and take to thyself from thence a wife from the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother (Gen. 28:2). and in the case of Aaron, “and Aaron took to himself Elizabeth, daughter of Aminadab, sister of Naasson, as his wife” (Exod. 6:23).
Set out and go to Padan Aram, to the house of Besueil, your mother’s father, and marry one of the daughters of Lavan, your mother’s brother.
Arise, go to Padan of Aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father, and take thee from thence a wife from the daughters of Laban mother's brother.
| וְאֵ֤ל שַׁדַּי֙ יְבָרֵ֣ךְ אֹֽתְךָ֔ וְיַפְרְךָ֖ וְיַרְבֶּ֑ךָ וְהָיִ֖יתָ לִקְהַ֥ל עַמִּֽים׃ | 3 P | May El Shaddai (El Shaddai See note at 17.1.) bless you, make you fertile and numerous, so that you become an assembly of peoples. |
ואל שדי, “and the G-d known also as Shaddai;” the G-d Who has said of Himself that none of His creatures needs any other power to help him. (Compare Rashi on Genesis 17,1) “He will bless you.”Rabbi Eleazar in Bereshit Rabbah 67,12, says that a divorce decree becomes valid only after its signatories have appended their seals to it. This is why Yitzchok was not content with the blessing he had already given Yaakov which had commenced with the words: ויתן לך, in 27,28.
See note at 17.1.
ואל שדי AND GOD ALMIGHTY —He who has a sufficiency of blessings שָׁדִּי for those who are blessed by Him, יברך אתך MAY HE BLESS THEE.
Du brauchst nichts mit dir zu nehmen als Gott, der wird dich segnen, d. h. dir die Mittel geben, einen Hausstand zu gründen und dann dir die Kraft geben, Kinder zu erzeugen und sie in deinem Sinne zu erziehen, daß du dich in ihnen vervielfältigst, und du wirst, was mir nicht gelungen ist, עמים haben, verschieden geartete Kinder, Wurzeln der künftigen verschieden gearteten Stämme, aber sie alle werden ein קהל, eine einheitliche Gesamtheit bilden, es wird kein פסול unter ihnen sein.
May the Almighty … bless you. With riches.
Make you fruitful. With offspring.
And multiply (or “magnify”) you. May He magnify your stature
He who has sufficient blessings... Otherwise, why is this particular Name of Hashem mentioned here?
Isaac now bestows another blessing upon Jacob: May God Almighty, a name of God that expresses His might and His many deeds, bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you; may you be an assembly of peoples, meaning that your descendants will become a great nation;
(1) Moses argues, that after confession of the sin and an advocate such as himself of whom G-d had said "I have known you by name," no further lack of grace should exist. Nevertheless, You have said "I will send an angel before you," i.e. not like the angel mentioned in Parshat Mishpatim. When talking about the function of this angel, no mention was made by You, that he would be like the angel that accompanied us up to now. Of the previous angel, the Torah had said "and the Lord was walking ahead of them by day and by night in a pillar of cloud...and during the night in a column of fire." (Exodus 13,21) (2) Now however, Moses argues "You state for I will not go up in your midst." (33,3) All this points to the fact that You are still angry, and that You are entrusting the supervision of my people to someone who is equivalent to those who supervise the fate of all other nations. Therefore, Moses asks "let me know Your ways, so that I will know You and be able to find favour in Your eyes, and this will demonstrate that this people is really YOUR people." G-d responds "My face, i.e. My personal hashgachah will lead you." Moses continues that G-d should not think that he was unaware that without "YOUR Presence we cannot even progress one step on the way," but I wanted You to assure me that by teaching me Your ways we qualify for the superior type of hashgachah reserved for the tzaddikim. How else would I know that not only I, personally, but also Your people have found favour in Your eyes? This could only be by means of veniflinu ani ve-amcha that both I and Your people will be granted miraculous distinctions! (3) G-d responded by saying that He would perform miracles in the presence of both Moses and His people, the like of which had never been performed. (34, 10) This would prove that all the Jewish people are under the protection of the third and most exclusive type of hashgachah peratit the most personalised supervision by G-d. This is also the meaning of "I will be gracious to whomever I choose to be gracious to;" (33, 19) it will be an act of grace, not entitlement or automatic response by Me. Since G-d had explained His response to the needs of the people already twice, Moses asks for a personal favour, an act of grace for himself, when he says "please show ME Your glory." He wanted to be shown this at once, not to have to wait until some future national crisis would trigger the need for that kind of revelation of G-d’s Majesty. The word na, is frequently used as prefacing a request for immediate fulfilment. Examples are Numbers 12, 13, "heal her now!," or Exodus 11,2, "speak now!" (4) G-d responds by saying "I will let all My goodness pass before you." You will then understand the relationship of all the things that exist, and how they are all traced back to Me, the original Cause of all existence and all happenings. I will proclaim the four lettered name before you" i.e. I will use the four lettered name of which I once said to you "this is My name and this is My memorial." (Exodus 3, 15) "I will reveal the significance of this name so that you will know that whosoever knows it and calls upon it, I will respond to such a person by performing miracles in this (otherwise) orderly world. In this manner I will demonstrate that I will bestow grace on those I decide to grant grace to." When G-d says "you cannot see My face," this is not to be construed as a denial of Moses’s request, but as a teaching and an instruction. The ultimate wisdom of the sage is to know what element of theology needs to remain beyond his understanding. This is the difference between a chacham, a wise man and someone who is still wiser than a chacham. The latter can add to his knowledge of "causes" without getting to know the essence. This is why G-d tells Moses that the highest level of his perception is to know that one cannot see "MY FACE," i.e. understand "My" attributes in a manner that would form a composite picture of "My" essence. As long as a human being is alive, i.e. ha-adam vechay, such perceptions are not possible. The nature of your life, Moses is told is the combination of matter and spirit. This precludes the comprehension of the essence of the pure spirit. Once you are no longer part of an earthly shell, part of a primitive form of life, you would be able to realise some of My positive attributes. Berachot 17, phrases it "In the world of the future, the righteous will sit with their crowns on their heads, and enjoy the outpourings of the Divine Presence." Put another way: as long as man has a normal intellect, cognition of My essence is beyond him, as we find in Numbers 21, 9, "when he would look at the copper snake he would live." When looking at the copper snake, some people were under the illusion that they had seen G-d. A blind man who has never seen light, sometimes imagines himself as competetnt to define light because he is not satisfied with his state of blindness and longs to advance beyond that stage. This may be what the prophet Isaiah 6,5, refers to when he said "woe unto me: I thought I was a person of unclean lips, dwelling amongst a people that are impure, for I have seen the Lord of hosts with my eyes." What is described here is a reference to this vision of the Divine entourage, merkavah which the prophet had experienced, in which he saw the throne of G-d. As Maimonides comments, the power of the prophet is that he can make relevant comparisons between the form and the Creator, between exterior form and inner content. (5) "He said, here there is a place near Me, stand there on the rock etc." Afterwards G-d said "you cannot see." G-d now explains how these matters relate to one another. "I can elevate you to a place from which you can look down on earth, then when My majesty passes, you will stand in this highest place that it is possible for man to achieve, and I will cover you with My hand." This will act as a lid to protect you from that part of Me that is not given to mortal man to understand. But afterwards, "I will remove My hand, and you will see My rear, "meaning the negative aspects of Me. This is the most any human can do. (33,22-23) In chapter 60 of his "Moreh," Maimonides explains this in the famous parable with the ship. The nikrat hatzur, is understood as the summit of the rock. Moses’s vantage point will be above the earth, so to speak. Since things created by G-d directly have no lasting existence, i.e. are by (6) their very nature created only for the brief moment they are needed, such as the manna in the desert, and since the second set of tablets needed to endure, they had to be constructed by human hands. As long as G-d contributed only the writing, the continued existence of these tablets was assured. The reason no one was to accompany Moses to the mountain was, that since the first time the objective had been to let the people hear "so that the people will hear when I speak with you," Aaron and the elders were to accompany Moses part of the way. The fact that Moses would be addressed directly by G-d had been demonstrated already, there was therefore no need for Aaron or elders to accompany Moses again. Animals also were not allowed on the mountain, to underline the sanctity of the site. After this, the Torah says "Moses rose early and ascended the mountain," conclusive proof of Rashi's opinion that conversation between G-d and people up to that time had taken place within his tent. Now Moses took with him the tablets which had as yet not been inscribed. G-d descended on the mountain, that is to the place previously defined as "there is this place with Me." Moses stood on the rock. "He proclaimed in the name of G-d," i.e. G-d now proceeded to instruct him in the thirteen attributes." G-d passed in front of him." This is the fulfilment of "I will let all My goodness pass before you." Normally, Moses would have experienced a transient revelation to be immediately forgotten, dreamlike; however, because G-d had added the words "I will remove My hand," He granted Moses a much longer lasting impression of the revelation that was to follow. Had G-d only stated "I will cover you with My hand," this would not have been the case. The whole revelation would be an indirect (negative) revelation, not a direct (positive) one, as would have been the case had there been a vision of G-d’s "face." At any rate, the comment "I will grant grace to whomsoever I shall decide to grant grace to," is the reference to the instruction in the thirteen attributes as outlined in the Talmud Rosh Hashanah 17. Rabbi Yonathan comments there that if it had not been for that verse, I would not have been permitted to explain it in that vein. G-d instructed Moses how to pray, wore a tallit and showed Moses that whenever Israel sinned, he should likewise drape himself in such a prayer shawl and G-d would be willing to forgive Israel. Rabbi Yehudah says that G-d made a contract with Moses that he would not return empty handed from any entreaty incorporating mention of G-d’s thirteen attributes. This is the meaning of "Here I conclude a covenant in the presence of the people." (34, 10)
(Gen. 28:3) “that God Almighty bless him" [Isaac’s blessing to Jacob when Jacob left for Padan-Aram] -- When spelled out as pronounced, "#" " becomes , its value equals 1000 minus 1, that is, 999, which is in Yesod, according to the Gaon in his explanation of the Hebrew alphabet (See Extracts of the Gaon). Also see The gates of heaven on the verse: “that God Almighty bless etc. The number 999 is the highest level of Mashiach ben Yosef when the awakening comes from below, as written: “the smallest will become a thousand, ” etc.
When HaShem’s-יהו"ה quality of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ"י becomes filled with His quality of El Shaddai-א"ל שדי-the Self-sufficient God, then it too is called by His name Shaddai-שד"י and El Shaddai-א"ל שדי, as was explained (in Gate One), and all the blessings and goodness that are influenced to His quality of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ"י in order to fulfill the needs of every creature, are through El Shaddai-א"ל שדי-the Self-sufficient God, as it states, (Genesis 28:3) “El Shaddai-א"ל שדי will bless you and will make you fruitful and multiply you etc.” Through this Divine quality He also says “enough” to all troubles, that they should not befall a person. This is why, when our forefather Yaakov prayed to HaShem-יהו"ה, blessed is He, he referred to Him by His title El Shaddai-א"ל שדי. Now, sometimes this Divine quality is called The Source of Living Waters-Mekor Mayim Chayim-מקור מים חיים.
Come and behold how many were the blessings Jacob received. The one from his father he earned through cunning, and that gained him all these many blessings; the one of the Shechinah he received from the Holy One, blessed be He, when he returned from Laban, as it is written, "And Elohim...blessed him" (Beresheet 35:9). He was given one by the minister of Esau and one from his father when he went to Paddan-Aram, as it is written, "And El Shadai bless you..." (Beresheet 28:3).
which God gave to Abraham. (Genesis 28:3,4)
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
Chapter (72) 73: Torah [1] "And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). As it is written in scriptures: Knowledge [of escape from You] is concealed from me. It is too formidable. I cannot know it. (Psalm 139:6). What is the meaning of "extraordinary level of understanding beyond my grasp"? It refers to something that is difficult for a person to comprehend, as it says, "If there arise among you a matter too hard for judgment" (Deuteronomy 17:8). Jacob said, "I cannot understand this matter." God promised Abraham that he would have twelve tribes, as it says, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them...So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5). Just as there are twelve constellations in the heavens that govern the world, so too I will establish twelve tribes from you that will govern the world, as it is said, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Ishmael was born and he begot twelve princes, as it is said, "And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12), Abraham thought that these were the twelve tribes. But God said to him, "No, not those that you think. Sarah will bear a son for you" (Genesis 17:19), as it is said, "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Genesis 21:12). It is through Isaac that your seed will be called (Genesis 21:12), as I said to you, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Isaac married Rebecca and she was found to be barren, he began to question how the promise that God made to Abraham could be fulfilled, as she was barren, as it is said, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren" (Genesis 25:21), and the children struggled within her (Genesis 25:22). "I'm sorry," she began, "if that's the case, I apologize to one another and "She went to inquire of יהוה," (Genesis 25:22), went to the study hall of Shem, and the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body' (Genesis 25:23). Why did she say why is it? (Genesis 25:22), "this" is numerically equivalent to 12. And God said to her [Sarah], "What you think is not so, but there are two nations in your womb." When Jacob stood up and went out to Laban, Isaac called him and said to him, "Let it be known that the Lord is establishing twelve tribes from you," as it is said, "Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you" (Genesis 28:1-4). The blessing that He blessed Abraham with, saying, "Look up now" (Genesis 15:5), is fulfilled through you. And once Jacob went and took wives and fathered twelve tribes, as it says, "And the sons of Jacob were twelve" (Genesis 35:22), Joseph began to see hints of it in his dream, saying, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream" (Genesis 37:9). Jacob began to keep watch over his father's words, and his father kept the matter (Genesis 37:11). And when Joseph was sold and Simeon was bound and Benjamin was brought to take revenge, Jacob began to cry out, "Me? What do I know? I thought that from my fathers I would establish twelve tribes, but I am dwindling and going down," as it says, "Joseph is gone" (Genesis 42:36). Everything that the old man promised was fulfilled, and yet I am decreasing and going down. "How incomprehensible is this to me," as it says, "I do not know what to say to you, but one thing remains in my hand, the blessing that my father blessed me with, saying, 'And Almighty God bless you'" (Genesis 28:3).
Variant reading: “This is what their father Jacob spoke to them” (Genesis 49:28) is not written here, but rather, “their father.” Another man like me is destined to bless you and from the place that I concluded, he will begin, as it is stated: “This is what [their father] spoke.” When Moses stood, he began with “this,” as it is stated: “This is the blessing [that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel with before his death]” (Deuteronomy 33:1). [Jacob] said to them: ‘I will say these blessings to you. When will they take effect? When you receive the Torah,’ as it is stated: “This is the Torah” (Deuteronomy 4:44). That is, “this is what their father spoke to them.” With that which their father Jacob concluded [in blessing] them, Moses began [blessing] them. Moses said: “I gain insight from the elders, [for I uphold Your edicts]” (Psalms 119:100). Isaac, when he blessed Jacob, and said to him: “And God Almighty [will bless you]” (Genesis 28:3), with what did he conclude? “Isaac summoned Jacob” (Genesis 28:1). (This is called the conclusion because it was the beginning of Isaac’s concluding blessing to Jacob, after he had already blessed him in Genesis ch. 27. See also a variant reading in Devarim Rabba 11:1. ) Jacob began from where his father had concluded, as it is stated: “Jacob summoned his sons” (Genesis 49:1), and he concluded when he blessed them with “this” – “this is what [their father] spoke [to them]” (Genesis 49:28). Moses began from where Jacob had concluded: “This is the blessing” (Deuteronomy 33:1). With what did Moses conclude? “Happy are you Israel” (Deuteronomy 33:29). David, too, when he came to recite a psalm, began from where Moses had concluded: “Happy is the man” (Psalms 1:1). That is, “I gain insight from the elders.” “They came to the threshing floor of Atad, that is beyond the Jordan, and they lamented a very great and substantial lament there, and he observed mourning for his father seven days” (Genesis 50:10).
It is written: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand…? He who has clean hands…. He will receive the blessing from the Lord…” (Psalms 24:3–5). (These phrases are all interpreted as applying to Jacob. The first, “who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?” is an allusion to the verse: “Arise, ascend to Bet El” (Genesis 35:1) (Etz Yosef; see Midrash Tehillim 24:9). ) It is written: “So said the Lord of hosts, God of Israel: They will again say…the Lord will bless you, abode of righteousness, mountain of sanctity…” (Jeremiah 31:23). (The blessing mentioned in this verse, which refers to the God of Israel, is understood as applying to Jacob, also known as Israel (Etz Yosef). ) It is written: “A man of faith will abound with blessings” (Proverbs 28:20) – this is Jacob. “And one who hastens to become rich will not be absolved” (Proverbs 28:20) – this is Esau. It is written: “The blessing of the Lord, it will enrich” (Proverbs 10:22). “And one who hastens to become rich will not become rich” is not written here, but rather, “will not be absolved” – this is the wicked Esau, who married Yehudit, Basmat, and Maḥalat in order to increase wealth; he will never be cleansed. It is written: “I will cleanse; their blood I will not cleanse” (Joel 4:21) – that is what is written: “For his pursuit of his brother with the sword; and suppressing his mercy” (Amos 1:11). “God appeared to Jacob again, upon his arrival.” Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “You shall craft for Me a stone altar…[I will come to you and I will bless you]” (Exodus 20:21) – the matters can be derived a fortiori: If one who crafts an altar to My name, I appear to him and bless him, Jacob, whose image is fixed on My throne, all the more so. “God appeared to Jacob.” Rabbi Levi began: “And a bull and a ram for a peace offering…[for today the Lord shall appear to you” (Leviticus 9:4) – the matters can be derived a fortiori: If one who sacrifices a ram to my name, I appear to him and bless him, Jacob, whose image is fixed on My throne, all the more so. “God appeared” – “Blessed are you upon your arrival, and blessed are you upon your departure” (Deuteronomy 28:6). Upon his arrival at his father-in-law’s house, he was laden with blessings: “May God Almighty bless you…” (Genesis 28:3), and upon his departure from his father-in-law’s house, he was laden with blessings: “God appeared to Jacob…[and He blessed him].” “Who confirms the word of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers” (Isaiah 44:26) – Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: When He “confirms the word of his servant,” do we not know that He “fulfills the counsel of His messengers”? It indicates that one angel appeared to Jacob our patriarch and said to him: ‘The Holy One blessed be He is destined to appear to you in Beit El and change your name, and I am destined to be standing there.’ That is what is written: “In Beit El He will find us and there He will speak with us” (Hosea 12:5) – “will speak with you” is not written here, but rather, “there He will speak with us.” The Holy One blessed be He appeared to him to fulfill the angel’s words; [and for] Jerusalem, in whose regard all the prophets prophesy, all the more so that He will fulfill the words of His prophets.
(Gen. 49:28, cont.:) AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM WHEN HE BLESSED THEM. EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM. "Him" is not written here but HE BLESSED THEM. (Tanh., Gen. 12:17; Gen. R. 97, New Version, on 49:28 (= pp. 1227—1228 in the Theodor-Albeck edition); 99(100)4; Numb. R. 13:8; Cant. R. 4:7:1; cf. also Exod. R. 1:6, 16.) Why so? Because (in Gen. 49:8-22) he gave Judah the strength of a lion, Joseph the strength of an ox, (Shor. Although the Masoretic Text of Gen. 49:22, from which this allusion is taken, vocalizes this word as shur, i.e., “wall,” the present context requires that Joseph be likened to some animal.) Naphtali the lightness of a deer, and Dan the bite of a serpent. You might say that one is greater than another; < so > their commonality is < mentioned > at the end. EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING … HE BLESSED THEM. Thus he distributed the land to them. He gave Judah the land which produces barley and Benjamin land which produces wheat. Even so, they had a commonality with each other in that they each would eat what belonged to the other. Ergo (in Gen. 49:28): AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM. "Unto them" is not written here but TO THEM. (Buber cites Samuel Jaffe ben Isaac Ashkenazi, Yefeh To’ar, a commentary on the Midrash Rabbah, Part I on Genesis (Venice, 1597—1606), who cites Rashi, on Gen. 24:7, and explains that “to them” (lahem) used with the verb “speak” (rt.: DBR), as opposed to its use with the verb “say” (rt.: ’MR), means that one is speaking “concerning them” rather than “with them,” which is what “unto them” (alehem) would have implied. So also Enoch Zundel ben Joseph in his commentary Ets Yosef, on Tanh., Gen. 12:16. For a suggested rendering, see the following note.) (Ibid.:) AND THIS < is how > someone like me is going to bless you, and at the place where I have stopped he is beginning. Thus it is stated (ibid.): AND THIS IS WHAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE TO THEM. (Apart from the words AND THIS (in the sense of ALSO THIS), there is another hint there that the verse has a wider meaning in that Jacob is simply alluded to as THEIR FATHER instead of by name. Like Jacob, Moses is a father of Israel.) When Moses arose, he opened (the blessing in Deut. 33:1) with AND THIS IS THE BLESSING < WITH WHICH MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD, BLESSED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BEFORE HE DIED >. < He began > from where Jacob had stopped. Ergo (in Gen. 49:28 also): AND THIS. He said these blessings for them. When did they come to pass for you? From the time that you received the Torah, about which it is written (in Deut. 4:44): AND THIS IS THE TORAH. Note the AND THIS. And also, with whatever < expression > Jacob had closed his blessing, Moses opened for them. Moses said (in Ps. 119:100): I HAVE GAINED UNDERSTANDING FROM THE ELDERS. When Isaac blessed Jacob, he said (in Gen. 28:3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. With what did he finally close his blessing? With a calling (according to Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. So, in the case of Jacob, where his father had stopped, from there he had begun (according to Gen. 49:1): THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS. Then, Jacob stopped (in Gen. 49:28) with THIS; so Moses also, when he arose to bless the tribes, began with AND THIS (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. And with what did Moses close? With BLESSED ARE YOU, as stated (in Deut. 33:29): BLESSED ARE YOU, O ISRAEL! WHO IS LIKE YOU? See < how > David opened (Ps. 1:1)! With BLESSED IS THE ONE. Ergo (in Ps. 119:100): I HAVE GAINED UNDERSTANDING FROM THE ELDERS.
[(Gen. 35:9, 11:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN < .. > AND GOD SAID TO HIM:] < I AM GOD ALMIGHTY >. This text is related (to Deut. 28:6): BLESSED SHALL YOU BE IN YOUR COMING; < AND BLESSED SHALL YOU BE IN YOUR GOING AWAY >. When Jacob went away from his father's house, he went away with a blessing, as stated (in Gen. 28:3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. Also, when he came from Paddan-Aram, he came with a blessing, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN < … > AND BLESSED HIM. How did he bless him? R. Levi said: He blessed him with a benediction for mourners. What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 35:8)? THEN < REBEKAH'S NURSE > DEBORAH DIED < AND WAS BURIED UNDER THE OAK BELOW BETHEL; AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK >. R. Samuel bar Nahman said: While Jacob was observing the mourning for his nurse, news < about the death > of his mother came, as stated (ibid.): AND ITS NAME WAS CALLED WEEPING OAK (Allon Bakhut). R. Samuel bar Nahman said: The language is Hellenistic. What is the meaning of Allon < in Greek >? "Another." (I.e., another occasion for weeping, namely the occasion of the death of Rebekah. So Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 35:8; Gen. R. 81:8; PRK 3:1.) The Holy One said: How long will this righteous one remain in grief? R. Jonathan bar Il'ay said: The Holy One said: It is right that I show him a friendly face, as stated (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN….
[(Gen. 35:9:) NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN.] This text is related (to Job 22:28): WHEN YOU DECREE SOMETHING, IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR YOU. < The passage > speaks about Jacob. (Ibid., cont.:) [AND LIGHT SHALL SHINE UPON YOUR WAYS. UPON] two WAYS. When he went away from his father's house, the Holy One revealed himself to him. What is written (in Gen. 28:13)? AND BEHOLD, THE LORD STOOD OVER HIM AND SAID. Also, when he returned, what is written (in 35:9)? NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN. What is the meaning of AGAIN? R. Judah said: He said to him: Once AGAIN I am revealing myself to you. The Holy One revealed himself to him five times, which corresponds to the five blessings with which his father had blessed him; and they are as follows (according to Gen. 28:3f): (1) < MAY > GOD ALMIGHTY < BLESS YOU, (2) MAKE YOU FRUITFUL, AND (3) MULTIPLY YOU, (4) SO THAT YOU MAY BECOME A CONGREGATION OF PEOPLES >; (5) AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…. Here are five blessings. And < God > revealed himself to him:
Thus with the very words with which Jacob concluded his blessing, Moses began to bless them. Moses said: I learn understanding from my elders (Ps. 119:100). When Isaac blessed Jacob, he said to him: And God Almighty bless thee (Gen. 28:3). How did he conclude his blessing? With the word call, as it is said: And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him (ibid., v. 1). And Jacob began where his father had ended, as it is said: And Jacob called his sons (Gen. 49:1), and concluded: And this is what their father spoke to them. When Moses blessed the tribes, he began where Jacob had left off, as is said: And this is the blessing, and he concluded with: Happy, art thou, O Israel (Deut. 33:29). Later, David began where Moses concluded, saying: Happy is the man (Ps. 1:1). Hence Scripture states: I learn understanding from my elders (Ps. 119:100).
From Egypt I called out to God. "Mitzrayim" is what the Jewish people call the Lord in all languages, and He answers them. They called Him "Shaddai" in the fields, as it says, "May El Shaddai bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and He answered them in the fields, as it says, "I am El Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply" (ibid. 35:11). They called Him "Elohim," as it says, "O Lord, what can You give me?" (Exodus 2:22), and He answered them, as it says, "And their cry for help rose up to God" (ibid. 2:23). They called Him "Hashem," as it says, "And we cried out to Hashem" (Deuteronomy 26:7), and He answered them, as it says, "Hashem heard our voice" (ibid. 26:8). They called Him "Yah" from Egypt, as it says, "From Egypt I called out to Yah, and He answered me in the expanse of Yah" (Psalms 81:6). Similarly, it says, "For what great nation is there that has a god so close to it as Hashem our God whenever we call upon Him?" (Deuteronomy 4:7). Another meaning of "Mitzrayim" is "speaking of Egypt," as it says, "And they embittered their lives with hard labor, with mortar and with bricks" (Exodus 1:14). "In the expanse of Yah" means that God broadened His kindness to me, as it says, "The wings of a dove are sheathed with silver" (Psalms 68:14). Another meaning is in reference to David. When David left his brothers and they left him, all of Israel at that moment lifted their eyes to heaven, and David said, "A song of ascents. I will lift my eyes to the mountains" (Psalms 121:1). The Holy Spirit answered him and said, "Do not let your foot slip; your Guardian does not slumber" (ibid. 3). In the expanse refers to how God broadened the way for David, and all of Israel followed him until they arrived at the Philistine camp, as it says, "And the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines" (1 Samuel 17:53).
THE VISION OF JACOB AT BETHEL "BETTER is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). The first blessings wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob were concerning the dews of heaven, and concerning the corn of the earth, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth" (Gen. 27:28). The final blessings were the blessings of the foundation of the world, and in them there is no (interruption), either in this world or in the world to come, as it is said, "And God Almighty bless thee" (Gen. 28:3). And he further added unto him the blessing of Abraham, || as it is said, "And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee" (Gen. 28:4). Therefore (say): "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). "Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit" (ibid.). "Better is the patient in spirit"—this (saying) is applicable to our father Jacob, for every day he was patient in spirit, and he spake all kinds of words of entreaty. (The words) "than the proud in spirit" (ibid.) refer to the wicked Esau, because every day he was eating the flesh of that which he had hunted. Owing to his pride he did not give any of his food to Jacob. Once he went out to hunt but he did not meet with any success. He saw Jacob eating lentil food, and he desired this in his heart, and he said to him: "Let me gulp down, I pray thee, some of that red pottage" (Gen. 25:30). Jacob said to him: Thou camest forth red at thy birth from thy mother; (now) thou dost desire to eat (this) red food; therefore he called his name "Edom" (red), as it is said, "And Esau said to Jacob" (ibid.).
ויתן לך אלוקים, “and may G–d give you, etc.;” Yitzchok, -remarkably- addresses the attribute of Justice of G–d when we might have expected him to address the attribute of mercy. By doing so he implied that this blessing was conditional on the person on whom it had been bestowed being worthy of it. Nonetheless, when it comes to Esau, we see that Yitzchok does not include such a condition in his blessing, as in verse 39 in our chapter he reassures him by saying: “your dwelling will be in the fat parts of the earth and you will enjoy the dew from above. You will live by the sword, although you will serve your brother.” He adds that on the contrary, the blessing given to his brother Yaakov is conditional on his not making your life intolerable.” [my choice of words. Ed.] It is noteworthy that in his lengthy prayer after consecrating the Temple he has built, King Solomon attaches the condition of worthiness when speaking of how G–d shall respond to the prayers of the Israelites, whereas when speaking of gentiles coming to Jerusalem to pray there, he does not attach such a condition but asks G–d to grant the wishes of such gentiles, regardless. (Kings I 8,32-43) Solomon is concerned that the gentiles should not get the impressions that our G–d is someone with Whom one needs to bargain. Yitzchok was concerned about the same when realising that Esau, if he insisted on his blessing surely credited G–d in heaven with being the One Who would provide its becoming reality. If he did not think so, why would he demand it? [When G–d fulfills the requests of a gentile, without regard to his worthiness, if the gentile as a result does not become G–d fearing and grateful, he will find that the very fulfillment of his request will eventually boomerang and he will more than lose its benefit. Ed.] You will also find that there are ten different categories of blessings, corresponding to the ten utterances used by G–d when He created His universe, and corresponding to the Ten Commandments. These blessings were pronounced on seven different occasions. 1) here; 2).Genesis 28,3: ואל שדי יברך אותך and the attribute of G–d known as shadday will bless you. 3) Genesis 28,13 (to Yaakov); 4) Genesis 32,27: “I will not let you depart (Yaakov to the angel he had wrestled) until you bless me;” 5) Genesis 35,9: “G–d appeared to Yaakov;” 6) Genesis 46,3; and Genesis 12,2, where G–d blessed Avraham for the first time. Avraham was blessed by G–d on seven different occasions. The Jewish people were given seven different (days) that are holy, most of them festivals: Sabbath, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Sh’mini Atzeret. There are seven stars that serve the sun and the moon in their orbits. [The author adds some astronomical observation that have to do with the time to plant and harvest being related to sunset and sunrise which I have not understood. Ed.]
Firstly, in the vision beginning, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto him: I am God Almighty …” (4. Gen. 17:1.) Having begun with “Lord” in accordance with the principle I mentioned—that Abraham possessed this important knowledge—the writer of the Torah continues the rest of the vision without mentioning “Lord” again, for the vision refers to material things appealing to the imagination, such as Abraham’s becoming the patriarch for many peoples through Isaac and Ishmael; and also the command to make the sign in his flesh, and that of his descendants. For this reason “God” is used, for being equivocal, it refers to the Heavenly Spheres as well as the imaginative faculty predominating in every prophet, except Moses. (5. Guide II:36.) This is certainly the case when those prophets perceive that which is of a material nature and imagined, as has been explained. The Torah is likewise precise in its use of Shaddai (“Almighty”), which, being an adjective similar to davvai, refers to someone victorious (alone) whenever | large numbers of people would (ordinarily) be necessary, as has been explained. (6. See below chap. X, n. 3, where this name is discussed.) It is the same in the Lord’s words to Jacob, and in those of Isaac to Jacob (when he said), “and God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee.” (7. Gen. 28:3.) It is likewise in Jacob’s words to Joseph, (when saying) “God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan and said unto me …” (8. Gen. 48:3.)
They are one people. The explanation of "people" is that they all follow one custom [minhag], as it is written later on Gen. 28:3 in the explanation of 'and you shall be a congregation of peoples'.
And the congregation of the peoples let it compass Thee about: And over it return Thou on high. – He speaks of congregation (עדת) in a general, and of peoples (לאמים) in a specific, sense. The congregation is the congregation of Israel, which includes them all; the peoples (לאמים) are the twelve tribes of Israel. And they are called לאמים, i.e. peoples (עמים) and nations (גוים), as Isaac said to Jacob: "that thou mayest be a company of peoples (עֹמים קהל)" (Gen. 28:3). And so God says to Jacob (ibid. 35:11): "A nation and a company of nations (גוים קהל) shall be of thee." So you see he calls them "peoples" (עמים) and "nations" (גוים) relative to the tribes; and he calls them a " company " (קהל) and a "congregation" (עדה), for the twelve tribes formed one company and one congregation. If he were using the word לאמים ("peoples") of the nations of the world, he would not have made use of the expression congregation (ועדת), for a single congregation could not comprise them (all), because every single people (לאום) forms a congregation by itself in its own sight. Therefore the Nazarenes (Christians) have erred in interpreting the verse of Jesus, and explaining and the congregation of the peoples of the nations who have been converted to his faith, and who say that (the words) and over it return on high is an indication that he would come down (from heaven) to assume human flesh. Now say to them, in the first place, that the Psalm ex Psalm explains in its title about whom it was spoken; and then that the prayer would be in vain if he were God, while if his prayer had reference to the flesh (the Incarnation), it was unavailing. And if they say to you that such was his will that he should be hanged (reply) then, if so, it was foolish that he should pray for something he did not desire. And add that the greater part of the Psalm speaks of one enemy, while he had many enemies. And regarding the assumption of human flesh (the Incarnation), I have already written in the second Psalm how you should answer them. Now, according to our exposition, the interpretation of this verse will be as follows. It was known in Israel that David had been anointed to be king, and it was known likewise also that Samuel had anointed him at God's direction. And in the place where he had been anointed all recognised that Samuel had not done this of his own mind, for when Eliab, (David's) eldest brother, came he said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him" (i Sam. 16:6), for he thought that he was to be the king until the Lord said to him: "Look not on his countenance nor on the height of his stature" (ibid. 5:7). And when the youngest came God said to him, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he" (ibid. 5:12). If so, he who pursued after David was as though he pursued after God, and he who surrounded him to capture him as one who surrounded God, who is blessed. And because of this he says, Let it compass thee about, after the manner of the prophet (Zech. 2:12), who says: "for he that toucheth you is as one who toucheth the apple of his eye." And when he says, And over it return Thou on high, it is as he has (just before) said, Arise and lift up Thyself. And it is all figurative, for when God forgives man's transgression, it is as though He should descend from His place of power and His habitation of judgment. And when He visits man's iniquity and judges him, then it is as though He should rise and lift Himself up and return on high to the place of judgment. And so it is said of the vengeance on Pharaoh (Exod. 15:1), "for He is highly exalted."
ואלהי אבי יצחק AND GOD OF MY FATHER ISAAC — But in another place (Genesis 31:42) he said, “And the Dread of Isaac”! Then also why did he again mention the Proper Name of God (first invoking him as God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and then continuing “O Lord, who saidst unto me”)? It should have been written “O God of Abraham and God of Isaac (omitting ‘O Lord’) who saidst unto me, “Return unto thy country” etc. But the explanation is as follows: Jacob said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “You made me two promises. One was when I left my father’s house at Beersheba when You said to me (Genesis 28:3) “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac”, and on that occasion you promised me (Genesis 28:15) “and I will keep thee whithersoever thou goest”. Then again in Laban’s house You said to me (Genesis 31:3) “Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred and I will be with thee”. There You revealed Yourself to me by Your Proper Name alone, as it is said (Genesis 31:3) “And the Lord said unto Jacob “Return unto the land of thy fathers etc.” Relying upon these two promises I now come before You invoking you as “the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac” and also simply as “the Lord” under which names You made me these two promises respectively.
Adonai who remembers us, will bless; He will bless the House of Israel; He will bless the House of Aharon. He will bless those that fear Adonai, the small ones with the great ones. May Adonai bring increase to you, to you and to your children. Blessed are you to Adonai, the maker of the heavens and the earth. The heavens are Adonai's heavens, but the earth He has given to the children of man. It is not the dead that will praise Adonai, and not those that go down to silence. But we will bless Adonai from now and forever. Halleluyah! (Psalms 115) Adonai who remembers us: The Holy Zohar107 (107 Zohar Vol 1, 233a Note that the word zachranu is understood to be from the word Zachar, male, and Beit Yisrael, The house of Israel, because in rabbinic literature women are said to be “a man’s house.”) states “God who remembers us (zaharanu)” - refers to the men. “He will bless the house of Israel,” refers to the women.” See what is written there at length. From this we take away the explanation, zacharnu - men; Beit Yisrael, the women. We will explain the rest of the passage based on this, with God’s help. It would appear that this is based on what is stated in the sixth chapter of Yevamot, ”Anyone who dwells without a wife, dwells without a blessing, as it says, “To cause a blessing to rest on your house.” (Ez. 44:30)”108 (108 See BT Yevamot 62b) The Ra’anach,109 (109 Rabbi Eliyahu ben Chaim 1530-1613,) of blessed memory, writes, “Isaac sent for Jacob and blessed him. He instructed him, saying, “You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite women. Up and go to Paddan Aram…May El Shadai bless you…” (Gen. 28:1-3) At first since Jacob dwelled without a wife, without a blessing. Therefore, Isaac gave him a blessing. But when he commanded him, “Up and go to Paddan Aram and take a wife,” Isaac said, ‘My blessing is not necessary for when you take a wife you will receive a blessing from God. For this is the way one blesses one's house. Rabbi Ishmael expresses this opinion in Hullin 49a, “The Kohanim bless Israel and the blessed Holy One blesses the Kohanim, as it says, “And I will bless them.” (Num. 6:27) This means, I will bless the Kohanim. That which is stated “God who remembers us” refers to the men and when the blessed Holy One blesses the men it is certainly because they were married. If this was not so, then they would have dwelled without blessing. And since it says, “He will bless the house of Israel - this refers to the women. The women were worthy of a blessing because they caused the men to be blessed. This is so for Israel but for the Kohanim there is another quality as well. Until the Kohanim marry, since they bless Israel, the Holy One blesses them, as it says, “And I will bless them.” When they marry, it goes without saying that they are blessed from above. Each day they are blessed from heaven. But here it says, “He will bless the House of Aaron,” - this refers to the wives of the Kohanim. They are blessed but the wives of the kohanim are especially fitting for a blessing because they bring a special blessing upon their husbands. Therefore, we say “He will bless the House of Aaron!” The passage continues, “May Adonai bring increase to you, to you and to your children.” At first God blesses the Kohanim, and the converts; afterwards it states, “May he bring blessing, this is second and third upon you and your children. The third is certain a hazakah,110 (110 In Jewish law, a chazakah (Hebrew חזקה, "presumption") is a legal presumption; it establishes burden of proof. There exist many such presumptions, for example regarding the ownership of property, a person's personal status (e.g. whether they are a kohen or Levite), and presumptions about human behavior.) a legal presumption, that it is good in the sight of God to continue to bless Israel without stopping.
May the Almighty, Shaddai, bless you, make you fruitful and multiply you. May you become an assembly of peoples [tribes].
And El Shadai will bless thee with many possessions, and increase thee and multiply thee into twelve tribes, and thou shalt be worthy of the congregation of the sons of the Sanhedrin, the sum of which is seventy, according to the number of the nations.
| וְיִֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ אֶת־בִּרְכַּ֣ת אַבְרָהָ֔ם לְךָ֖ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ֣ אִתָּ֑ךְ לְרִשְׁתְּךָ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ מְגֻרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥ן אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְאַבְרָהָֽם׃ | 4 P | May you and your offspring be granted the blessing of Abraham, that you may possess the land where you are sojourning, which God assigned to Abraham.” |
Genesis 27,30 “it was that as soon as Yitzchok had concluded blessing Yaakov, etc.;” we need to understand why Yitzchok had not wanted to bestow a blessing on Yaakov, originally. Nachmanides writes: (not found in Torah commentary) that Yitzchok preferred Yaakov to remain unaware of the blessings bestowed upon him. [Perhaps he felt that way seeing that his own father, Avraham, also had not bestowed a blessing upon him, and left it for G’d to do so after he had died. Compare. Genesis 28,4 where Yitzchok makes it plain to Yaakov that he had not received this blessing from his own father. Ed.] This seems difficult to understand. Perhaps we may understand it better in conjunction with what the Talmud B’rachot 45 states that the person translating the public Torah reading must not raise his voice to be louder than the voice of the person reading the Torah from the original scroll. The reader represents G’d, Who has given us the Torah, whereas the translator only represents the reader. The Talmud cites Exodus 19,19 as the source for this ruling. Anyone reading that verse will be astounded, as it sounds as if G‘d, responding to Moses spoke louder than Moses, when repeating what Moses had told Him. (Compare Tossaphot on that folio) However, the point is, as we learned in B’rachot 12, that any benediction that does not contain a reference to G’d as King, is not considered a benediction in the full meaning of the word. Similarly, any benediction which follows immediately after another benediction also does not rank as a (separate) benediction in the full sense of the word so that it does not need to include another reference to G’d as “King”. It appears that Avraham had a “claim” on the word א-ל as a name of G’d, as G’d uses this name when bestowing acts of loving kindness on His creatures. Yitzchok, on the other hand, had a similar claim on the word אלוקים for G’d, as this name represents Justice or judgment. This is why his son Yaakov in Genesis 31,42 speaks of פחד יצחק “He Who Yitzchok was in awe of and Who assisted me,” when describing Yitzchoks’ G’d.” Yaakov, had a “claim” on the tetragram, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה, the name of G’d representing primarily the attribute of Mercy. In order for the attribute of Justice to be “sweetened” somewhat, it needs to be applied in conjunction with the other two attributes we mentioned. The Ari z’al said that the word אתה when used in the beginning of each benediction is an allusion to the attribute א-ל, so that when one commences the benediction with the words ברוך אתה י-ה-ו-ה, the word ברוך signifying continuation, or conduit, meaning that G’d continuously dispensing loving kindness by means of both His names אתה א-ל י-ה-ו-ה. Through His continuing to do so, G’d automatically “sweetens,” i.e. softens the impact of the attribute of Justice, the one referred to as אלוקינו in every benediction we pronounce. It follows that when one benediction follows on the heels of another benediction, there having been no prayer or psalm interrupting the two, that there is no need to acknowledge G’d once more as being King, as the full impact of the attribute of Justice has already been softened so that we do not need to appeal to G’d as a benevolent ruler, i.e. King, to soften the attribute of Justice once more.
לרשתך את ארץ מגוריך, “to give you as an inheritance the land in which you presently are sojourning.” Seeing that you must not take a wife from the present occupiers of this land, Yitzchok had to reconfirm this. Not only that, he implied that seeing the Canaanites, ever since having been cursed by Noach, were a nation of slaves, slaves could not claim legal title to any possessions.
וא-ל שדי...ויתן לך את ברכת אברהם, which G’d pronounced concerning you and your descendants, for just as I was a special seed to my father, though he had other children beside me, you are my special seed and will be the bearer of this promise/prophecy.
לרשתך את הארץ, seeing that you cannot take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites as Avraham had commanded Yitzchok because they are slaves, (cursed.)
את ברכת אברהם THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM, (i. e. the blessing which He gave to (Abraham) to whom He promised, (12:2) “and I will make of thee a great nation”, and (26:4) “and all the nations shall bless themselves by thy seed”: may these blessings have been said regarding you — may that great nation and that blessed seed issue from you.
אתך, nicht אהריך, nicht erst aus deinen späteren Nachkommen wird sich ein einheitlicher Kern für das künftige Volk entwickeln. Keines deiner Kinder wird sich dir entfremden, alle bei dir und mit dir Erben der dem Abraham gewordenen Verheißung sein. —
Vergleicht man den Inhalt dieses dem Jakob bewußtvoll erteilten Segens mit dem oben Esau zugedachten, in welchem keine Spur von der abrahamitischen Bestimmung enthalten ist, so dürfte unsere Auffassung desselben gerechtfertigt erscheinen. Das Siegel aber des Ganzen ist das in Raw Hirsch on Genesis 28: 6 f. enthaltene: Als Esau sah usw. und daß er, indem er ihn segnete, usw. usw. erst nachdem er alles dies gesehen, kam ihm ungefähr das Bewusstsein, daß die kanaanitischen Frauen seinem Vater nicht recht sein müssen — also von all dem Herzleid und Kummer, die seine Frauen bis jetzt den Eltern gebracht, hatte Esau keine Ahnung, und nun jetzt, nachdem ihm davon eine Vorstellung aufdämmerte — was tat er? Entfernte er seine kanaanitischen Frauen? Nein! Er nahm sich noch eine Frau zu seinen Frauen zur Frau, על נשיו לו לאשה! So wenig Sinn und Verständnis hatte Esau für das, um was es sich eigentlich im Hause Abrahams handelte, und hat eben damit Rebekkas Beurteilung seiner Befähigung für die künftige Leitung und Vertretung dieses Hauses vollkommen gerechtfertigt.
ויתן לך את ברכת אברהם, when He had said (12,2) “become a source of blessing!” This involves his teaching people about monotheism, the acceptance of which would result in tangible blessings for those people from G’d. This in turn would make the people regard Avraham as responsible for the blessings they receive. לך ולזרעך אתך לרשתך, if the children would also be following in the footsteps of their parents acting as spiritual instructors to the people around them, their claim to this land would be reinforced. This would become an irreversible sanctification of the name of the Lord. Isaiah 49,3 described this as G’d saying: ישראל אשר בך אתפאר, “Israel in whom I am glorified.” This is also an example of what David had in mind when he said in Psalms 104,31 “G’d delights in His handiwork.”
ארץ מגוריך, the land of Canaan in which you dwell at the present time.
May that nation descend from you as well as that blessed seed. Otherwise, [if it simply meant that Yaakov should be blessed as Avraham was,] it should say ויתן לך ברכת אברהם. But את ברכת אברהם implies taking Avraham’s blessing and bequeathing it to Yaakov. Why does Rashi not relate ברכת אברהם to inheriting the Land, saying that Yaakov, over and above Yitzchok’s other sons, should receive the Land? Because inheriting the Land is a gift, not a blessing. (Re’m)
may He give you the blessing of Abraham – to you, and to your descendants with you – to inherit the land of your residence, which God gave to Abraham. With this statement, Isaac reaffirms the initial blessing he gave his younger son: Indeed, Jacob will inherit Abraham’s legacy.
Only Abraham and his descendants were commanded regarding circumcision as Genesis 17:9-10 states: 'Keep My covenant, you and your offspring... circumcise every male.' The descendants of Ishmael are excluded as implied by Genesis 21:12: 'It is through Isaac, that your offspring will be called.' Esau's descendants are also excluded, for Isaac told Jacob Genesis 28:4: 'May God grant Abraham's blessing to you and your descendants,' implying that only he is the true offspring of Abraham who maintains his faith and his upright behavior. Thus, they alone are obligated in circumcision.
When a person takes a vow not [to benefit] from the descendants of Abraham, he is permitted [to benefit] from the descendants of Yishmael and the descendants of Esau. (Although actually, both of these nations descended from Abraham, Yishmael being Abraham's son and Esau, Isaac's.) He is forbidden to benefit only from the Jews, (The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 217:40) states that this includes converts.) as [indicated by Genesis 21:12]: "Through Isaac, your offspring will be called." (Thus excluding Yishmael and his descendants.) And Isaac told Jacob [ibid. 28:4]: "And I will give you the blessing of Abraham." (Thus excluding Esau and his descendants. In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Nedarim 3:11), the Rambam adds another point. In the covenant God made with Abraham bein habetarim, he was told that his descendants would be "strangers in a foreign land" and only Jacob's descendants - not those of Esau or Yishmael - were subjected to this decree.)
Chapter (72) 73: Torah [1] "And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). As it is written in scriptures: Knowledge [of escape from You] is concealed from me. It is too formidable. I cannot know it. (Psalm 139:6). What is the meaning of "extraordinary level of understanding beyond my grasp"? It refers to something that is difficult for a person to comprehend, as it says, "If there arise among you a matter too hard for judgment" (Deuteronomy 17:8). Jacob said, "I cannot understand this matter." God promised Abraham that he would have twelve tribes, as it says, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them...So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5). Just as there are twelve constellations in the heavens that govern the world, so too I will establish twelve tribes from you that will govern the world, as it is said, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Ishmael was born and he begot twelve princes, as it is said, "And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren" (Genesis 16:12), Abraham thought that these were the twelve tribes. But God said to him, "No, not those that you think. Sarah will bear a son for you" (Genesis 17:19), as it is said, "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Genesis 21:12). It is through Isaac that your seed will be called (Genesis 21:12), as I said to you, "Thus shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5). When Isaac married Rebecca and she was found to be barren, he began to question how the promise that God made to Abraham could be fulfilled, as she was barren, as it is said, "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren" (Genesis 25:21), and the children struggled within her (Genesis 25:22). "I'm sorry," she began, "if that's the case, I apologize to one another and "She went to inquire of יהוה," (Genesis 25:22), went to the study hall of Shem, and the Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body' (Genesis 25:23). Why did she say why is it? (Genesis 25:22), "this" is numerically equivalent to 12. And God said to her [Sarah], "What you think is not so, but there are two nations in your womb." When Jacob stood up and went out to Laban, Isaac called him and said to him, "Let it be known that the Lord is establishing twelve tribes from you," as it is said, "Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And may God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you" (Genesis 28:1-4). The blessing that He blessed Abraham with, saying, "Look up now" (Genesis 15:5), is fulfilled through you. And once Jacob went and took wives and fathered twelve tribes, as it says, "And the sons of Jacob were twelve" (Genesis 35:22), Joseph began to see hints of it in his dream, saying, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream" (Genesis 37:9). Jacob began to keep watch over his father's words, and his father kept the matter (Genesis 37:11). And when Joseph was sold and Simeon was bound and Benjamin was brought to take revenge, Jacob began to cry out, "Me? What do I know? I thought that from my fathers I would establish twelve tribes, but I am dwindling and going down," as it says, "Joseph is gone" (Genesis 42:36). Everything that the old man promised was fulfilled, and yet I am decreasing and going down. "How incomprehensible is this to me," as it says, "I do not know what to say to you, but one thing remains in my hand, the blessing that my father blessed me with, saying, 'And Almighty God bless you'" (Genesis 28:3).
“These are those who were counted of the children of Israel….” That is what is written: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea…” (Hosea 2:1). “The number of the children of Israel will be,” that is what is written: “Forever, Lord, does Your word stand in the heavens” (Psalms 119:89). Because the Holy One blessed be He promised Abraham, and that promise came about when Israel departed from Egypt. When did the Holy One blessed be He promise him? It was when he said to him to depart from his father’s home, as it is stated: “Go from your land…I will render you a great nation…” (Genesis 12:1–2). Abraham said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, everything that you promised me, what benefit do I have from it, as I have no children,’ as it is stated: “Abram said: My Lord God, what will You give me, [ and I go childless?]” (Genesis 15:2). Abraham saw in his constellation that he was not destined to beget children. What did the Holy One blessed be He do for him at that moment? Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon said that Rabbi Ḥanin said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It teaches that the Holy One blessed be He elevated him above the dome of the heavens and said to him: ‘Emerge from that constellation in which you see that you are not destined to beget, I will show you that you will beget children’ as it is stated: “He took him outside, and said: Look [habet] now toward the heavens [and count the stars, if you could count them, and He said to him: So shall be your descendants]” (Genesis 15:5). Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It says habet only when one is situated above, just as it is stated: “Look [habet] from Heaven and see” (Psalms 80:15). “He said to him: So shall be your descendants” (Genesis 15:5). What is “so shall be your descendants”? Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: To what is the matter comparable? To one who embarked on a trip and walked the first day, the second day, the third day, until ten days, but did not find a city, an inn, a tree, water, or a creature. After he went ten days, he spotted a tree from a distance. He said: ‘Perhaps there is water beneath it.’ When he reached it, he saw that it was standing alongside a spring. When he saw that it was fine, it fruits were excellent, and its branches were fine, he sat himself down, cooled in its shade, ate of its fruits, and drank from the spring. It was pleasant for him and his strength was restored. When he arose to leave, he said to the tree: ‘With what can I bless you and what can I say to you? May your tree be fine? It is fine. May your shade be fine? It is already fine. May your branches be fine? They are fine. May your fruits be sweet? They are sweet. May a spring emerge from beneath your roots? A spring already emerges from beneath your roots. May you stand in a desirable place? You stand in a desirable place. With what can I bless you? Rather, may all the saplings that are produced from you be like you.’ So, when the Holy One blessed be He created the world, twenty generations lived and they were of no use, and no righteous person was produced from them. After twenty generations, the Holy One blessed be He saw Abraham, who was situated in the land of Babylon, that is called distant, as it is stated: “From a distant land…” (II Kings 20:14). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Will you say that he has the strength to endure?’ When they cast him into the fiery furnace, and he sanctified the name of the Holy One blessed be He, and withstood his ordeal, the Holy One blessed be He immediately drew him near to the land of Israel. He [Abraham] built him the inn, and would feed passersby, would bring people under the wings of the Divine Presence, publicized the glory of the Holy One blessed be He in the world, and attached his name (There is a reference to God's name within Abraham's name (Maharzu).) to the name of the Holy One blessed be He, like the [names of the] angels. The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: ‘What can I say to you and with what can I bless you? May you be wholehearted, in that you shall be righteous before Me or that Sarah your wife will be righteous before Me? You are righteous and Sarah your wife is righteous before Me. Or that all the members of your household will be righteous before Me? They are righteous before Me. Rather, may all the offspring that are destined to be produced from you be like you.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is written: “He said to him: So shall be your descendants.” You find that Abraham was blessed with stars, as it is stated: “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars…[so shall be your descendants]” (Genesis 15:5). Isaac was blessed with sand, as it is stated: “For I will bless you and multiply your descendants…[as the sand that is upon the seashore]” (Genesis 22:17). Jacob was blessed with the dust of the earth, as it is stated: “Your descendants will be as the dust of the earth….” (Genesis 28:14). The blessing of Abraham came about in the days of Moses, as, indeed, it is written: “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today [as the stars of the heavens in abundance]” (Deuteronomy 1:10). The blessing of Jacob, who was blessed with the dust of the earth, came about in the days of Bilam, as, indeed, it is written: “Who counted the dust of Jacob” (Numbers 23:10). The blessing of Isaac, who was blessed with sand, came about in the days of Hosea, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured and cannot be counted; it will be that instead of it being said of them: You are not My people, it will be said of them: Children of the living God” (Hosea 2:1). Since it is regarding Isaac that the blessing of sand is written, it should have said: “The number of the children of Isaac will be.” But it does not say so, but rather, “the number of the children of Israel will be.” Why? It is, rather, that when Jacob our patriarch departed to go to Padan Aram, his father passed the blessing of sand to him, just as he said to him: “May He grant you the blessing of [et birkat] Abraham” (Genesis 28:4). What is et? Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: This is what he said to him: ‘The blessing with which both I and Abraham were blessed; “for I will bless you [ki varekh avarekhekha]” (Genesis 22:17), a blessing for the father and a blessing for the son. “And multiply [veharha arbe],” multiplication for the father and multiplication for the son.’ “As the sand that is upon the seashore,” this blessing Isaac passed to Jacob. That is why it says: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea.” That is, “forever, Lord, does Your word stand in the heavens” (Psalms 119:89).
“Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin” (Genesis 27:11). “Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man” – a demon-like man, just as it says: “Demons [se’irim] will dance there” (Isaiah 13:21). “And I am a man of smooth [ḥalak] skin” –just as it says: “For the Lord's portion [ḥelek] is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to one with a full head of hair and a bald person who were standing at the edge of the threshing floor. The chaff went up onto the one with the full head of hair and became entangled in his hair. The chaff went up onto the bald person, and he placed his hand on his head and removed it. So, Esau the wicked is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, and he has no means with which to gain atonement. But Jacob is sullied with iniquities all the days of the year, comes Yom Kippur, and he has the means with which to gain atonement, as it is stated: “For on this day he shall atone” (Leviticus 16:30). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is not related to that and that is not related this. (The verse is not related to that interpretation and that interpretation is not related to the verse.) Rather, (The same conclusion can be reached from a different source.) “the goat shall bear upon itself” (Leviticus 16:22) – this is Esau, as it is stated: “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy [sa’ir] man.” “All their iniquities [avonotam]” (Leviticus 16:22) – the iniquities of the simple man [avonot tam], as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple [tam] man” (Genesis 25:27). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver [metate’a]” – like a dead man [met], an aberration [to’eh], (Metate’a is an acronym for met and to’eh.) and an idolater. (Anyone who distorts the truth in his speech it is as though he engages in idol worship (Sanhedrin 92a).) “I will bring upon myself a curse” – even the one blessing that he is destined to bestow at the end, (See Genesis 28:4.) he will not bestow it upon me. “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son; only heed my voice, and go, take for me” (Genesis 27:13). “His mother said to him: Your curse is upon me, my son” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Adam, who sinned, was it not his mother that was cursed, as it is stated: “The ground is cursed on your account”? (Genesis 3:17). You, too, “your curse is upon me, my son.” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [Rebecca said:] ‘It is incumbent upon me to enter and say to your father: Jacob is righteous and Esau is wicked.’ (It is incumbent upon me to see to it that there will be no curse at all.) “He went, took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made tasty food, like that his father likes” (Genesis 27:14). “He went, took, and brought to his mother” – compelled, coerced, and weeping.
(Deut. 33:1:) AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. This text is related (to Prov. 31:29): MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VALIANTLY, BUT YOU SURPASS THEM ALL. This is the blessing of Moses, (Tanh., Deut. 11:1; PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but compared to all of them none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence. He blessed one and cursed another. (Gen. 9:27:) MAY GOD ENLARGE (YPT) JAPHETH (YPT); but he said (vs. 25:) CURSED BE CANAAN. Isaac blessed Jacob. There was strife in it, in that he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35): YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH DECEIT; and it is stated (in vs. 41): THEN ESAU HATED JACOB <…, AND ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART: LET THE DAYS OF MORNING FOR MY FATHER COME, AND I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB>. Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he said to Reuben (in Gen. 49:4): UNSTABLE AS WATER; and similarly (in vs. 5): SIMEON AND LEVI . And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned] from the Holy One. When he created Adam, he blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): THEN GOD BLESSED THEM; [and (The other part of this bracket is several lines below.) the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7): AND THE LORD SAID: I WILL BLOT OUT THE HUMANITY WHICH I CREATED. When Noah left the ark, the Holy One saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world. Then the Holy One added one blessing for him, as stated (in Gen. 12:2): FOR I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION…. When Abraham came, the Holy One said: It is not a practice worthy of me, that I should be obliged to bless my creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who issue a blessing through him, I am placing my seal upon , as stated (in vs. 2, cont.): AND SO BECOME A BLESSING. (vs. 3:) I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU…. What is the meaning of I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU. The Holy One said: Take note. I am handing over the blessings to ALL WHOM YOU BLESS, and I am sealing through you. But if from then on the blessings were {spoken} [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said: If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard. (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5; also Matthew 13:24–30.) : He gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said: If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard. (Cf. Matthew 13:24–30.) And so also did Abraham say: If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Look here. It is simply that he is leaving him alone until the Holy One comes, when he will deal with what belongs to him.] Jacob came and received five blessing: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) : Two from his father, according to what is stated (in Gen. 27:33): THEN ISAAC TREMBLED (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why TREMBLED? R. Eleazar ben Padat said: because he saw Gehinnom open for Esau. He wanted to say: Cursed. He repented and added a blessing when he said (ibid., end): HE ALSO SHALL BE BLESSED. Here is one blessing. A second (is in Gen. 28:1): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM. [The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4): AND MAY HE GRANT YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM…; the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30 [29]): AND HE (the angel) BLESSED HIM THERE; and the blessings of the Holy One (in Gen. 35:9): NOW GOD APPEARED UNTO JACOB AGAIN…, AND BLESSED HIM.] When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessing that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28): ALL THESE ARE THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, WHEN HE BLESSED THEM, EACH ONE WITH HIS OWN BLESSING IS HOW HE BLESSED THEM. (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1): AND THIS IS THE BLESSING. < According to another interpretation, Moses made> an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4) since it was fitting for him to bless with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars ; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10): BUT HERE YOU HAVE EVEN BLESSED THEM THESE THREE [TIMES]. The Holy One said to him: You are wicked. Your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair. Then he will bless Israel, and it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9): HE THAT HAS A BENEVOLENT EYE SHALL BE BLESSED (YBRK). Do not read YBRK SHALL BE BLESSED, but SHALL BLESS. This refers to Moses our Master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel. He also blessed them with four blessings:
(Deut. 33:1:) “And this is the blessing.” This text is related (to Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.” This is the blessing of Moses, (PRK 31:11.) in respect to which you should note that in the case of the earlier generations each and every one blessed his generation, but there was none was like the blessing of Moses. Noah blessed his children, but it contained a divergence, as he blessed one and cursed another, as stated (Gen. 9:27,) “May God enlarge (ypt) Japheth (ypt) [...]; and let Canaan be a slave to them.” Isaac blessed Jacob, but there was strife in it. It is so stated (in Gen. 28:4), “May He give you the blessing of Abraham, but he said to Esau (in Gen. 27:35), “Your brother came with deceit”; and it is stated (in vs. 41), “Then Esau hated Jacob […, and Esau said in his heart, ‘Let the days of mourning for my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob’].” Jacob blessed the tribes, but there was strife among them, in that he rebuked Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:4), “Unstable as water”; and similarly (in vs. 5), “Simeon and Levi [are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords].” And from where did each and every one of the patriarchs learn to bless his generation? [They learned it] from the Holy One, blessed be He. When he created Adam, He blessed him, as stated (in Gen. 1:27-28), “male and female. Then [God] blessed them.” And the world was maintained by that blessing, until the generation of the flood came, and they cancelled it out, as stated (in Gen. 6:7), “And the Lord said, “I will blot out the humanity which I created.” When Noah left the ark, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that this blessing had passed from them. He blessed Noah and his children anew, as stated (in Gen. 9:1), “Then God blessed Noah and his children.” The world was maintained by this blessing, until Abraham came into the world, and He added blessing, as stated (in Gen. 12:2), “For I will make you into a great nation.” Once Abraham came, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “It is not honorable for Me, that I should be obliged to bless My creatures. Rather take note! I am handing over the blessings to Abraham and to his seed, so that for all who they issue a blessing, I am placing my seal upon [those blessings], as stated (in vs. 2, cont.), ‘[I will bless you and magnify your name] and so become a blessing.’” (Vs. 3:) “I will bless those who bless you….” What is the meaning of “I will bless?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Take note. I am handing over the blessings to all whom you bless, and I am sealing [them] through you.” But if from then on the blessings were [handed over] to Abraham, why did he not bless Isaac? It was because Abraham saw that Esau would issue from him. He said, “If I bless Isaac, then Esau will be blessed, and Isaac will be found lacking.” A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To the head of a household that had a vineyard, (See Gen. R. 61:6; Numb. R. 11:2; M. Pss. 1:5.) [and] gave it to a tenant. And in that vineyard was a tree of life, but it had overgrown a tree having a deadly poison. Now he did not know what to do. He said, “If I cultivate that vineyard, then the tree having a deadly poison will flourish; but if I do not cultivate that vineyard, then the tree of life will die. So what shall I do? I will bear with that vineyard until the owner of the vineyard comes. Then he may do what he wants with his vineyard.” And so also did Abraham say, “If I bless Isaac, Esau will end up being blessed and Jacob will lose out. Rather look here. I will leave him alone until the Holy One, blessed be He, comes, when He will deal with what belongs to Him.” Jacob came and received five blessings: two from his father, one from Abraham, one from the angel, and one from the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cf. Gen. R. 94:5.) From his father, as stated (in Gen. 27:33), “Then Isaac trembled (when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau). Why “trembled?” R. Eliezer ben Pedat said, “[He did so] because he saw Gehinnom open in front of him. He wanted to say, ‘Cursed will be [Jacob.’ Instead,] he went back [on it], and added blessing [to it], when he said (ibid., end), ‘he also shall be blessed.’” Here is one [blessing]. A second (is in Gen. 28:1), “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him.” The blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, (is in Gen. 35:9), “Now God appeared unto Jacob [… and blessed him].” The blessing of Abraham (is in Gen. 28:4), “And may He grant you the blessing of Abraham.” And the blessing of an angel is (in Gen. 32:30), “and he (the angel) blessed him there.” When Jacob came to bless the tribes, he blessed them with the five blessings that he had in hand and added one blessing to them, as stated (in Gen. 49:28), “All these are the tribes of Israel, [twelve in number, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them, each one with his own blessing is how he blessed them].” (The midrash notes that the words, HE BLESSED THEM, occur twice and interprets the verse to mean that one blessing, the fivefold blessing he had received, was for the tribes as a group while the other blessing was a specific blessing for each tribe.) When Moses came to bless Israel, he added a seventh blessing to them. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” [According to another interpretation, Moses made] an addition to the blessings with which Balaam had blessed Israel, (Cf. PRK 31(suppl. 1):4.) since it was fitting for him to bless them with seven blessings corresponding to the seven altars [he had built]; (On these altars, see Numb. 23:1, 14, 29.) but [Balaam] only blessed them with three, as stated (in Numb. 24:10), “but here you have even blessed them these three times.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “O wicked one, your eye is too jaundiced for you to bless them. Moreover, I am not putting the power in your hand to finish your blessing over Israel. Moses will come, whose eye is fair; then he will bless Israel.” And it is about him that Solomon has said (in Prov. 22:9), “He that has a benevolent eye shall be blessed (ybrk).” Do not read “ybrk [with vowels meaning] shall be blessed,” but [with vowels meaning] “shall bless.” This refers to Moses our master whose eyes were fair when he blessed Israel, such that he blessed them with [the other] four blessings: The first is (in Exod. 39:43), “When Moses saw all the work […] he blessed them.” The second is (in Lev. 9:23), “Then Moses and Aaron came unto the tent of meeting; and when they came out, they blessed the people….” The third is (in Deut. 1:11), “May the Lord God of your ancestors add [to your numbers a thousand times more than you are and bless you].” The fourth is (here in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing.” It is therefore stated (in Prov. 31:29), “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all.”(Deut. 33:1:) And this is the blessing.” It was fitting for Moses to bless Israel because he had constantly risked his life for them. (PRK 31(suppl. 1):12.) For this reason, it is stated (in Deut. 33:1), “And this is the blessing [that Moses blessed... the Children of Israel].” (Deut. 33:1:) “The man of God (the Power).” If it says, “man,” why does it say, “God,” and if it says, “God,” why does it say, “man?” It is simply that at the time he fled from in front of Pharaoh, he was a man, but at the time he trounced [the Egyptians], he was a power. Another interpretation: At the time that he went up to the firmament, he was a man; in front of the angels that were all fire, he was a man. But at the time he came down, he was a power. Before he went up to the firmament, he was a man, as he would eat and drink. But all the time that he was there, he was a power, as stated (in Exod. 34:20), “and they were afraid to approach him.”
A lady asked of R. Yosé the son of Halafta: “In how many days did the Holy One, blessed be He, create the world?” “In six days,” he replied, “as it is written: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth (Exod. 20:1).” “What has He been doing since then?” she asked. “He has been erecting ladders,” he answered, “upon which one ascends and another descends; one becomes wealthy and the other poor.” You know this to be so from the fact that it is written with reference to Jacob’s going to Aram-naharaim: With my staff I passed over this Jordan (Gen. 32:11). And he took one of the stones of that place and put under his head (ibid. 28:11). Surely, if he had owned a mattress or a cushion he would have placed them under his head, yet after he joined Laban’s household he became wealthy, as is said: And the man increased exceedingly (ibid. 30:43). Why did he become wealthy? Because of the power of the blessings his father had bestowed upon him, as it is said: And give thee the blessing of Abraham (ibid. 28:4). What was Abraham’s blessing? And the Lord blessed Abraham in all things (ibid. 24:1). After his return from Laban’s house, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Now I must bless him Myself. Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared before him and blessed him, as it is said: And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Padan-aram, and blessed him (ibid. 35:9).
THE VISION OF JACOB AT BETHEL "BETTER is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). The first blessings wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob were concerning the dews of heaven, and concerning the corn of the earth, as it is said, "And God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth" (Gen. 27:28). The final blessings were the blessings of the foundation of the world, and in them there is no (interruption), either in this world or in the world to come, as it is said, "And God Almighty bless thee" (Gen. 28:3). And he further added unto him the blessing of Abraham, || as it is said, "And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee" (Gen. 28:4). Therefore (say): "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:8). "Better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit" (ibid.). "Better is the patient in spirit"—this (saying) is applicable to our father Jacob, for every day he was patient in spirit, and he spake all kinds of words of entreaty. (The words) "than the proud in spirit" (ibid.) refer to the wicked Esau, because every day he was eating the flesh of that which he had hunted. Owing to his pride he did not give any of his food to Jacob. Once he went out to hunt but he did not meet with any success. He saw Jacob eating lentil food, and he desired this in his heart, and he said to him: "Let me gulp down, I pray thee, some of that red pottage" (Gen. 25:30). Jacob said to him: Thou camest forth red at thy birth from thy mother; (now) thou dost desire to eat (this) red food; therefore he called his name "Edom" (red), as it is said, "And Esau said to Jacob" (ibid.).
The covenantal blessings that God had given Abraham and Isaac were completely different. They were about children and a land. It was this blessing that Isaac later gave Jacob before he left home (Gen. 28:3–4):
Had she spoken to Isaac on the day of the blessing, Isaac might have said something that would have changed the entire course of their, and their children’s, lives. I imagine Isaac saying this: “Of course I know that it will be Jacob and not Esau who will continue the covenant. But I have two quite different blessings in mind, one for each of our sons. I will give Esau a blessing of wealth and power: ‘May God give you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth…. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you’ (Gen. 27:28–29). I will give Jacob the blessing God gave to Abraham and to me, the blessing of children and the promised land: ‘May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham’ (Gen. 28:3–4).”
That He made with Abraham—as it says, “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I assign …” (Gen 15:18). And that covenant and oath was le-Yiṣḥaq, meaning for the sake of Isaac, and not for the sake of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. For when the text says “To your offspring”—with a covenant and an oath—it means for Isaac, as it says, “For what will be called your ‘offspring’ will be from Isaac” (Gen 21:12). The oath was at the binding of Isaac. For it says, “By Myself I swear, the Lord declares” (Gen 22:1), and He [later] said to Isaac, “and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham” (Gen 26:3). The same oath and covenant He then confirmed in a decree for Jacob, for Israel, as an eternal covenant; for the oath and covenant were for his special offspring, not for Esau. Isaac, after all, said to Jacob, “May He grant the blessing of Abraham to you” (Gen 28:4).
BEHOLD (‘HINEI’), OF THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE THY DWELLING. The intent of the word hinei (behold) is: “Now I could give you of the fat places of the earth and of the dew of heaven, for of these there is sufficient [abundance] for both of you to have of the fat places of the earth and of the dew of heaven, but in the matter of lordship, that will be his, and you shall serve him.” Isaac also did not give him plenty of corn and wine as he gave to his brother since he wanted to honor the one who had been blessed first above him. Later he said to Jacob, And G-d Almighty give thee the blessing of Abraham… that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, (Further, 28:4.) meaning that he should have the plentifulness of the corn and wine in the land of Canaan, which was Abraham’s gift, while Esau would have the dew and the fat places of the earth in another land.
In your letter you mention that the apostle has spurred on a number of people to believe that several verses in Scripture allude to the Madman, such as "bimeod meod"5 (Genesis 17:20), "he shined forth from Mount Paran"6 (Deuteronomy 33:1), "a prophet from the midst of thee" (Deuteronomy 18:15), and the promise to Ishmael "I will make him a great nation" (Genesis 17:20). These arguments have been rehearsed so often that they have become nauseating. It is not enough to declare that they are altogether feeble; nay, to cite as proofs these verses is ridiculous and absurd in the extreme. For these are not matters that can confuse the minds of anyone. Neither the untutored multitude nor the apostates themselves who delude others with them, believe in them or entertain any illusions about them. Their purpose in citing these verses is to win favor in the eyes of the Gentiles by demonstrating that they believe the statement of the Koran that Mohammed was mentioned in the Torah. But the Muslims themselves put no faith in their own arguments, they neither accept nor cite them, because they are manifestly so fallacious. Inasmuch as the Muslims could not find a single proof in the entire Bible nor a reference or possible allusion to their prophet which they could utilize, they were compelled to accuse us saying, "You have altered the text of the Torah, and expunged every trace of the name of Mohammed therefrom." They could find nothing stronger than this ignominious argument the falsity of which is easily demonstrated to one and all by the following facts. First, Scripture was translated into Syriac, Greek, Persian and Latin hundreds of years before the appearance of Mohammed. Secondly, there is a uniform tradition as to the text of the Bible both in the East and the West, with the result that no differences in the text exist at all, not even in the vocalization, for they are all correct. Nor do any differences effecting the meaning exist. The motive for their accusation lies therefore, in the absence of any allusion to Mohammed in the Torah. The phrase "a great nation" cited above does not connote a people in possession of prophecy or a Law, but merely one large in numbers just as in reference to idolaters Scripture says "nations greater and mightier than yourselves." (Deuteronomy 11:23). Similarly, the phrase "bimeod meod" simply signifies "exceedingly." Were there any allusion in the verse to Mohammed, then it would have read "and I shall bless him bimeod meod," and whoever likes to hang on to a spider's web might then discover a reference to Mohammed therein. As it is, since Scripture says "I shall increase him bimeod meod," it can only denote an extravagant increment in numbers. There is no question that the Divine assurance to Abraham to bless his descendants, to reveal the Torah to them, and to make them the Chosen People, refers only to the offspring of Isaac. For Ishmael is mentioned as an adjunct and appendage in the blessing of Isaac, which reads "and also of the son of the bond-woman will I make a nation." (Genesis 21:13). This verse suggests that Isaac holds a primary position and Ishmael a subordinate place. This point is made even more explicit in the blessing which ignores Ishmael entirely. "For in Isaac shall seed be called in thee." (Genesis 21:12). The meaning of God's promise to Abraham is that the issue of Ishmael will be vast in numbers but neither pre-eminent nor the object of divine favor, nor distinguished for the attainment of excellence. Not because of them will Abraham be famed or celebrated, but by the noted and illustrious scions of Isaac. The phrase "shall be called" simply means, shall be renowned, as it does in the verse, "Let thy name be called in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac." (Genesis 48:16). Other verses also indicate that when God promised Abraham that His law would be vouchsafed to his children as is implied in the words "And I will be their God" (Genesis 17:8), He meant Isaac to the exclusion of Ishmael as is intimated in the declaration "But My covenant will I establish with Isaac" (Genesis 17:21), although He had already conferred His favor upon Ishmael when He said "Behold I have blessed him" (Genesis 17:20). Similarly, Isaac by bestowing the blessing of Abraham upon Jacob exclusively, debarred Esau from it, as we read in his benediction "And may He give you the blessing of Abraham" (Genesis 28:4). To sum up, the Divine covenant made with Abraham to grant the sublime Law to his descendants referred exclusively to those who belonged to the stock of both Isaac and Jacob. Hence the prophet expresses his gratitude to God for "the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac, which He established unto Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant." (Psalms 105:9, I Chronicles 16:16). It is also to be noted that the name of the Arabian prophet which the Mahommedans believe to be mentioned in the Torah, by way of allusion, which the Jewish apostates find in the phrase "bimeod meod," is A.H.M.D. and not M.H.M.D. So it is explicitly stated in the Koran: "They find him mentioned in the Torah and the Gospels (Sura 7:156); his name is Ahmad." But the numerical value7 of the latter is not equal to that of the words "bimeod meod" which is supposed to contain an allusion to the prophet of Islam. The argument from the phrase "He shined forth from Mount Paran" (Deuteronomy 33:2) is easily refutable. Shined is past tense. Had Scripture employed the future tense "he will shine forth from Mount Paran" then the imposters might have had a semblance of truth on their side. However the use of the past tense "he shined forth" demonstrates that this phrase describes an event that has taken place, namely the theophany on Sinai. When the Deity was about to reveal Himself on Sinai, the heavenly light did not descend suddenly like a thunder-bolt, but came down gently, manifesting itself gradually first from the top of one mountain, then from another, until He reached His abode on Sinai. This notion is implied in the verse "The Lord revealed himself at Sinai, after His light had radiated to them from Seir and glimmered from Mount Paran." (Deuteronomy 33:2). Mark well, that the phrase "unto them" refers to Israel. Note also how Scripture indicates the various gradations in the intensity of the Divine Splendor. It speaks of the light that glimmered from Mount Paran which is further removed from Sinai, but of the light that radiated from Mount Seir, which is nearer to it, and finally of the revelation of the full splendor of God on Sinai which was the goal of the theophany as is related in the verse "And the glory of God abode on Mount Sinai" (Exodus 24:16), "and the Lord came from Sinai". (Deuteronomy 33:2). Similarly, the idea that the light descended gradually from mountain to mountain is conveyed in Deborah's description of the grandeur of Israel at the Revelation on Sinai when she exclaimed "Lord when Thou didst go forth out of Seir, when Thou didst march out of the field of Edom" (Judges 5:4). Our sages of blessed memory, tell us that God, may He be praised and exalted, charged a prophet before the time of Moses to go to the Romans and another to go to the Arabs with the purpose of presenting them the Torah, but each of them in turn spurned it. When Moses was later sent to us we signified our acceptance in the words "All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and obey" (Exodus 24:7). The aforementioned event happened before the Sinaitic Revelation, consequently Scripture speaks in the past tense: "He came, radiated forth, and shone," which proves that no prophecy is intended in these words." You write in your letter, that some people were duped by the argument that Mohammed is alluded to in the verse "A prophet will the Lord thy God raise up unto thee, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren" (Deuteronomy 18:15), while others remained unconvinced because of the phrase "from the midst of thee." It is most astonishing that some folks should be deluded by such specious proof, while others were almost persuaded, were it not for the phrase "from the midst of thee." Under these circumstance it is incumbent upon you to concentrate and understand my view in the matter. Remember that it is not right to take a passage out of its context and to draw inferences from it. It is imperative to take into consideration the preceding and following statements in order to fathom the writer's meaning and purpose before making any deductions. Were it otherwise, then it would be possible to assert that Scripture has prohibited obedience to any prophet, and interdicted belief in miracles, by quoting the verse, "Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet," (Deuteronomy 13:4). It could likewise be affirmed that a positive command exists requiring us to worship idols, by citing the verse "And ye shall serve other gods" (Deuteronomy 11:16). Other illustrations could be multiplied ad libidinem. To sum up, it is wrong to interpret any given verse apart from its context. In order to comprehend unequivocally the verse under discussion namely, "A prophet will the Lord thy God raise up unto thee, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren," it is necessary to ascertain its context. The beginning of the paragraph whence the verse is taken, contains prohibitions of the acts of soothsaying, augury, divination, astrology, sorcery, incantation and the like. The Gentiles believe that through these practices they can predict the future course of events and take the necessary precautions to forestall them. The interdiction of these occult proceedings were accompanied with the explanation that the Gentiles believe they can depend upon them to determine future happenings. But you may not do so. You will learn about the time to come from a prophet who will rise up among you, whose predictions will come true without fail. You will thus arrive at a foreknowledge of circumstances without being obliged to resort to augury, divination, astrology and the like, for he will spare you that. Matters will be facilitated for you by the fact that this prophet will live within your borders. You will not be compelled to go in search after him from country to country, nor to travel to distant parts, as is implied in the phrase, "from the midst of thee." Moreover, another notion is conveyed in the words "from the midst of thee from thy brethren like unto me," namely, that he will be one of you, that is, a Jew. The obvious deduction is that you shall be distinguished above all others for the sole possession of prophecy. The words "like unto me" were specifically added to indicate that only the descendants of Jacob are meant. For the phrase "of thy brethren" by itself might have been misunderstood and taken to refer also to Esau and Ishmael, since we do find Israel addressing Esau as brother, for example, in the verse, "Thus saith thy brother Israel" (Numbers 20:14). On the other hand, the words "like unto me," do not denote a prophet as great as Moses, for this interpretation is precluded by the statement "And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses." (Deuteronomy 34:10). The general drift of the chapter points to the correctness of our interpretation and will be confirmed by the succession of the verses, to wit "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire etc.," (Deuteronomy 18:10), "For these nations, that thou art to dispossess, hearken unto soothsayers, and unto diviners; but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do ." (Verse 14). "A prophet will the Lord why [sic] God raise up unto thee, from the midst of thee, of they brethren, like unto me," (Verse 15). It is obviously clear that the prophet alluded to here will not be a person who will produce a new law, or found a new religion. He will merely enable us to dispense with diviners and astrologers, and will be available for consultation concerning anything that may befall us, just as the Gentiles confer with soothsayers and prognosticators. Thus we find Saul advising with Samuel concerning his lost asses, as we read, "Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said: 'Come and let us go to the seer'; for he that is now called a prophet was beforetime called a seer." (Samuel 9:9). Our disbelief in the prophecy of Omar and Zeid8 is not due to the fact that they are non-Jews, as the unlettered folk imagine, and in consequence of which they are compelled to justify their standpoint by the Biblical statement "from thy midst, out of thy brethren." For Job, Zophar, Bildad, Eliphaz, and Elihu are all considered prophets and are non-Jews. On the other hand, although Hananiah, the son of Azur was a Jew, he was deemed an accursed and false prophet. Whether one should yield credence to a prophet or not depends upon the nature of his doctrines, and not upon his race, as we shall explain presently. Our ancestors have witnessed Moses, our Teacher, foremost among the prophets, holding a colloquy with the Divinity, reposed implicit faith in him when they said to him, "Go thou near and hear," (Deuteronomy 5:24). Now he assured us that no other law remained in heaven that would subsequently be revealed, nor would there even be another Divine dispensation, as the verse, "It is not in heaven," (Deuteronomy 30:12) implies. Scripture prohibits us from making any amendments to the Law or eliminating anything, for we read "Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 13:1). We pledged and obligated ourselves to God to abide by His Law, we, our children, and our children's children, until the end of time as Scripture says "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever." (Deuteronomy 29:28). Any prophet, therefore, no matter what his pedigree is, be he priest, Levite, or Amalekite, is perfidious even if he asserts that only one of the precepts of the Torah is void, in view of the Mosaic pronouncement "unto us and unto our children forever." Such a one we would declare a false prophet and would execute him if we had jurisdiction over him. We would take no notice of the miracles that he might perform, just as we would disregard the wonder-working of one who seeks to lure people to idolatry, as we are enjoined in the verse "And the sign or wonder came to pass ... thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet" (Deuteronomy 13:3). Since Moses, of blessed memory, has prohibited image worship for all the time, we know that the miracles of a would-be-seducer to idolatry are wrought by trickery and sorcery, Similarly, since Moses has taught us that the Law is eternal, we stamp definitely as a prevaricator any one who argues that it was destined to be in force for a fixed duration of time, because he contravenes Moses. Consequently we pay no attention to his assertions or supernatural performances. Inasmuch as we do not believe in Moses because of his miracles, we are under no obligations to institute comparison between his miracles and those of others. Our everlastingly firm trust and steadfast faith in Moses is due to the fact that our forebears as well as he, had heard the Divine discourse on Sinai, as it is intimated in the Scripture, "and they will also believe thee forever" (Exodus 19:9). This event is analogous to the situation of two witnesses who observed a certain act simultaneously. Each of them saw what his fellow saw and each of them is sure of the truth of the statement of his fellow, and does not require proof or demonstration, whereas other people, to whom they would report their testimony, would not be convinced without confirmation or certification. Similarly, we of the Jewish faith, are convinced of the truth of the prophecy of Moses, inasmuch as our ancestors in common with him witnessed the Divine revelation on Sinai, and not merely because of his miracles.9 He performed all of these only as the occasion demanded and as is recorded in Scripture. We do not give credence to the tenets of a miracle worker, in the same way we trust in the truth of Moses our Teacher, nor does any analogy exist between them. This distinction is a fundamental principle of our religion, but seems to have fallen into oblivion, and has been disregarded by our co-religionists. This thought was present in the mind of Solomon when he addressed the Gentiles in behalf of Israel, "What will you see in the Shulamite? as it were a dance of two companies." (Song of Songs 7:1). The verse means to say, "If you can produce anything like the revelation on Sinai then we shall concede some misgivings concerning Moses." If a Jewish or Gentile prophet urges and encourages people to follow the religion of Moses without adding thereto or diminishing therefrom, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the others, we demand a miracle from him. If he can perform it we recognize him and bestow upon him the honor due to a prophet, but if he fails to do so, he is put to death. We require only a miracle as his credentials, although it may be wrought by stratagem or magic, just as we accept the evidence of witnesses although there is a possibility of perjury. For we are divinely commanded through Moses to render judgment in a suit at law in accordance with the testimony of two witnesses, the possibility of false swearing notwithstanding. Similarly we are enjoined to yield obedience to one who asserts that he is a prophet provided he can substantiate his claims by miracle or proofs, although there is a possibility that he is an impostor. However, if the would-be-prophet teaches tenets that negate the doctrines of Moses, then we must repudiate him. This point was made abundantly clear in the introduction to our large work on the commentary of the Mishnah, where you will find some useful information concerning principles which form the foundation of our religion, and the pillars of our faith. It is incumbent upon you to know that the rule that nothing may ever be added to or diminished from the Laws of Moses, applies equally to the oral law, that is the traditional interpretation transmitted through the sages of blessed memory. Be cautious and on your guard lest any of the heretics, may they speedily perish! mingle among you, for they are worse than apostates. For although this country is, as you know, a place of scholars, students and schools, they indulge in bombastic talk and we warn our people against their occasional errors, heresies and mistakes. As for you, in this distant country, although you are scholars, learned in the law, and pious, you are few in number, may God increase your number and hasten the time of gathering you all together. If any of the heretics rises up to corrupt the people, they will undermine the faith of the young folks and they will not find a savior. Beware of them and know that it is permitted to slay them in our opinion for they repudiate the statement in the prophecy of Moses who commanded us to act "According to the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee thou shalt do." (Deuteronomy 17:11). They assert in wicked defiance that they believe most firmly in the prophecy of Moses, as the Arabs and Byzantines say, yet they destroy and nullify his law and kill the adherents thereof. Whoever joins them is just like his seducer. We deemed it imperative to call your attention to these facts, and to raise the young generation on these tenets, because they are a pillar of faith!
May He give you the blessing of Avraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land of your dwelling which God gave to Avraham.
And He will give the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy sons with thee, and cause thee to inherit the land of thy sojourning, which he gave unto Abraham.
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יִצְחָק֙ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹ֔ב וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ פַּדֶּ֣נָֽה אֲרָ֑ם אֶל־לָבָ֤ן בֶּן־בְּתוּאֵל֙ הָֽאֲרַמִּ֔י אֲחִ֣י רִבְקָ֔ה אֵ֥ם יַעֲקֹ֖ב וְעֵשָֽׂו׃ | 5 P | Then Isaac sent Jacob off, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau. |
Genesis 29,5., “He said: ‘do you know Lavan son of Nachor, etc.?’” If we wish to read an allegorical meaning into Yaakov’s question to the shepherds: “where are you from, my brothers,” and their reply: “we are from Charan,” we must refer to the Zohar I 147, as well as the last Rashi on Parshat Noach where Rashi refers to an inverted letter נ at the end of the word חרן, [something that at the time of Minchas Shay, (Rabbi Yedidyah Shlomoh Rafael Minortzi of Mantua) was apparently still found in the Torah scrolls, Ed.] [The common denominator of both commentaries appears to be that the word חרן is an allusion to the attribute of Justice, suggesting that in that place such concepts as רחמים, mercy, something beyond strict justice was unheard of. Ed.] Rashi there quotes an opinion according to which G’d related to mankind primarily with the attribute of Justice until the time of Avraham and his benevolent activities on earth. Yaakov enquired from the shepherds (who had demonstrated strict Justice by not trusting anyone not to take more than his fair share of water from the well unless he had been watched over by his colleagues) if they had not heard that there are also other yardsticks by which mankind could be judged, i.e. the attribute of Mercy. The reply of the shepherds appeared to have been in the negative when they emphasized that their home was חרן. Yaakov persisted in asking how it could be possible to live like that. The word (name) לבן, is perceived as the opposite of חרן, so that Yaakov’s question השלום לו, “is he well?” had a double entendre, referring also to his spiritual well being. According to this the shepherds replied: שלום לו, “he is physically and spiritually well.” The shepherds used the reference to his daughter Rachel as proof or rather as the cause that he was spiritually at peace, i.e. that his daughter Rachel was a major factor in this. They may have hinted without being aware of this, at Rachel’s future role near the throne of G’d as an advocate on behalf of her people in exile. (According to the Sefer Chassidim, Rachel’s spirit intervenes with G’d whenever the Jewish people face special problems. She possessed this power thanks to her good deeds while alive on earth).
“… Lavan, son of Betuel the Aramean, brother of Rivka, Yaakov and Eisav’s mother.” (Bereshit, 28:5) Yitzchak made it known to Yaakov that he had already completed all the birurim (clarifications) necessary between Israel and the nations of the world. Therefore he told his son that he need not occupy himself with this, for all his children would be called in the name of Israel. They, however, had to make even more important birurim among the souls of Israel themselves, in order to distinguish who were the select, for there are many levels among them. This is even so for the future, of which it is said (Yesahya, 11:9), “and the world will be filled with the knowledge of God,” for it is also said (Yirmiya, 31:26), “behold, the days are coming, says God, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Yehuda, with the seed of man, and the seed of beast.” These are conflicting levels. Then man will no longer experience dread before his teacher, for man shall no longer learn from his brethren, but all that one innovates in words of Torah will be made known to his fellow with brilliance. This is because at this time everyone will know his own portion in Torah is with perfect clarity. Yaakov suffered greatly over these birurim (in the course of Jewish spiritual history), and this was the entire matter with Yosef who asserted that he was the chosen among his brothers.
“… Lavan … brother of Rivka ….” (Bereshit, 28:5) Yitzchak told Yaakov that he shall see and understand, that just as his mother gave birth to good and evil at one time, so too he should be wary of Lavan who also contains a mixture of good and evil, and he should take care that he receives only the good.
אם יעקב ועשו, “mother of Yaakov and Esau.” The Torah had to repeat this although the reader knows it, as the reader might wonder how a couple such as Yitzchok and Rivkah had produced a person as wicked as Esau. If Rivkah had not been the sister of a wicked person such as Lavan and daughter of a wicked person such as Betuel, the question would have been more serious.[Personally, I think the verse is important as the Torah’s mentioning Yaakov first, i.e. confirming that he was the firstborn legally, having purchased that status from his brother. Moreover, we know that from the marriage of King Chizkiyah to the daughter of the prophet Isaiah the great prophet, a Jewish rasha came forth, so that such phenomena are not strange seeing we have been given the freedom of choice. Ed.] Our sages, not basing themselves on the DNA factors, stated in Baba Batra 110, that most children reflect the character of their maternal uncles. An alternate exegesis: the reason that mention is made of their mother here is that the Torah wants the reader to know that Rivkah did what she did for the benefit of both her children. This is in line to when she said: “why would I have to lose both my children in one day?
וישלח יצחק, Isaac sent away, etc. Why is Laban described as Rebeccah's brother, something we have known for a long time? Why is Rebeccah described here once more as both Jacob's and Esau's mother?
Actually, the Torah found it necessary to explain why Isaac would send a pious son to a person such as Laban, seeing the latter was known to be wicked. True, Abraham had despatched Eliezer to take a wife for Isaac from the house of Bethuel; however, Bethuel was not a well known רשע, an evil person such as Laban. Besides, Abraham had never told Eliezer in so many words to go to the house of Bethuel whereas he had named Laban specifically as Jacob's destination. He instructed him to marry a daughter of the wicked Laban. By repeating that Laban was after all a brother of the pious Rebeccah the Torah alerts us to the probability that one or both of Laban's daughters could be just as pious as Rebeccah who stemmed from the house of Bethuel. One must not assume that the children and grandchildren of a wicked father or grandfather will automatically turn out to be of evil character. The Torah hints at this by reminding us that even Rebeccah was the mother of both a pious person such as Jacob and an evil person such as Esau.
You have to appreciate that in the period under discussion [prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai in which all the holy souls participated Ed.] the holy souls had not yet been separated from the regions in which they were imprisoned. Seeing that Abraham's family was recognised as a region where holiness had found a foothold, both he and Sarah being the first proselytes, anyone who would subsequently convert to Judaism would be called either Abraham if a male or Sarah if a female. It is a fact that holy members of a holy species look for other members of the same species. Abraham was still incomplete in this regard as neither he nor his son Isaac had as yet produced female offspring, i.e. holy female souls. Perhaps this is even the reason that we are told in Genesis 25,19: "Abraham begat Isaac," to remind us that he had succeeded only in producing a holy male soul. This situation still existed when Isaac sent out Jacob to secure a wife. The holy female souls had not yet been separated from their place of imprisonment. Isaac therefore had to send Jacob to search for his lost mate, i.e. the girl in whose body such a holy soul was imprisoned.
It was only during subsequent generations that Jews were no longer forced to roam the world to find their mates amongst the Gentiles. If nonetheless some "sparks" of holiness (holy souls in captivity) still exist amongst the Gentiles they will eventually convert and then be recognised as holy souls returning to their home (the Jewish people).
This raises the question of Abraham's insistence that Isaac not marry someone of Canaanite descent. Isaac also instructed Jacob not to marry a Canaanite. Bereshit Rabbah explains this prohibition to marry girls of Canaanite descent as being due to that tribe being cursed whereas Abraham's seed was blessed. Actually the words of the Midrash are somewhat obscure. In light of what we have written Abraham may have meant that Canaan [Noach's grandson] had been denied holy female souls amongst his seed as a result of Noach's curse. Hence there was no chance of finding the girl who possessed a holy soul amongst that tribe. This is the deeper meaning of Noach's curse, i.e. that Canaan would be denied access to holiness.
Whereas it is a fact that even nowadays we still experience conversions to Judaism amongst the Gentiles, it is remarkable that we have no record of members of the Canaanites ever converting to Judaism as did some Romans and other nationals, for instance. This proves our theory. This may also have been the real reason that the Torah commanded the Jewish people not to allow a single Canaanite soul to survive [in the campaign to capture the land of Israel] as we know from Deuteronomy 20,16. The Torah may have stressed the word "soul" in that verse to indicate that none of these people had a holy soul worth preserving. This was the difference between the Canaanites and nations such as Ammon and Moab.
Since G'd has revealed all this to us we must try and understand what purpose our subjugation by Canaanite tribes served (compare Judges 4,2), seeing that the purpose of exile is to extract the sparks of holiness that are scattered amongst the Gentiles, and there are no such "sparks" amongst the Canaanites. Our sages have told us in Pessachim 119 that "our forefathers did not depart from Egypt until they had turned Egypt into a trap that did not contain any bait and into a deep pool of water devoid of fish." The scriptural proof cited is Exodus 12,36: "they emptied Egypt." The Ari zal in his שער הגלגולים explains that it was necessary to empty Egypt of any such stray holy souls to make a return by the Jewish people in the future pointless. In view of all this, what purpose could subjugation of the Jewish people by the Canaanites have served if there was not even a chance to save some stray holy soul through all our suffering?
We find in לקוטי תורה פרשת מקץ that there are two different "sparks" of holy souls which are imprisoned in the קליפה. One is the type of soul which is freed through being "born," i.e. through entering a human body at birth. Examples of such souls are: Abraham, Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel, as well as the soul of Rabbi Chaninah ben Tradyon which emanated from Shechem's having slept with Jacob's daughter Dinah. Ruth the Moabite and Naamon the Ammonite are also examples of such souls. The other type of holy soul imprisoned in the קליפה is one that is firmly attached to its קליפה and is not capable of exiting from its source unless its קליפה causes anguish to Israel. When that happens the holy soul trapped within the קליפה is released and able to return to its origin. Now we understand why there is a purpose to Israel being subjected to exile at the hands of such people [representatives of such קליפות Ed.]. The prophet Ovadiah said concerning such an exile: "This sickening exile for the children of Israel under the Canaanites as far as Tzorfat (Ovadiah 1,20)." This verse which uses the term החל must then be understood similarly to Daniel 8,27: נהייתי ונחליתי, "I was broken up and I was sick." Such an exile achieves its objective in a manner different from all other exiles of the Jewish people. When Ovadiah speaks of כנענים instead of בכנענים when describing that exile, as well as describing Canaan in the plural instead of in the singular as is the case with other nations where Israel was exiled, this may be a veiled reference to the "sparks" of holiness still hidden within the קליפה of Canaan which are known as כנענים. In short, Ovadiah describes the purpose of that exile as being the chance of "rescuing" holy souls that were still identified with כנענים prior to the ultimate redemption, thus enabling those souls to participate in that redemption.
וישלח יצחק את יעקב, “Yitzchak sent Yaakov, etc. Here the question arises that seeing Yaakov left his father’s home at the command of his parents, why do the sages claim that the separation of 22 years which Yaakov experienced from his son Joseph was due to his failure to observe the commandment of honouring father and mother during that period? (compare Megillah 17) Perhaps we must assume that his parents had meant for him to marry Leah and to return home forthwith when his father would send for him. Yaakov, however, had set his mind on marrying Rachel on account of her beauty; he was therefore not fulfilling a parental command by doing so and his delay in returning home was accounted against him. In fact, he had volunteered to serve seven years for Rachel (Genesis 29,18).
וילך פדנה ארם אל לבן בן בתואל הארמי, “he went towards Padan Aram, to Lavan son of Bethuel the Aramite.” While he was on his way he intended to marry one of the daughters of Lavan. This is why the Torah describes him as going “to Lavan.” After all, this had been what his father had commanded him to do when he said to him (verse 2): “arise and go to Padan Aram to the house of Bethuel and take for yourself from there a wife from amongst the daughters of Lavan your mother’s brother.” There is also the question of why the Torah had to write: “the brother of Rivkah, the mother of Yaakov and Esau.” Did we not know that Lavan was Rivkah’s brother, etc.? According to the plain meaning of the text we must interpret this line as a complimentary comment on Yaakov who was prepared to follow a parental command and marry a girl who was the daughter of two generations of wicked people, i.e. Bethuel and Lavan. The Torah wanted to justify Yaakov by pointing out that though Lavan was a wicked person, his sister Rivkah was a fine woman, righteous in her own right. He could therefore assume that Lavan’s daughters, much like Bethuel’s daughter Rivkah, might be just like their aunt. The Torah continues complimenting Rivkah who became the mother of both “Yaakov and Esau.” The Torah wanted to emphasise that Rivkah, as opposed to her husband, had always loved Yaakov best (25,28), although she could have preferred her elder son as is customary. I have heard from my teacher that the words “mother of Yaakov and Esau” are to show us that Rivkah deliberately sent Yaakov to a place where the biological relationship to Yaakov and Esau were of the same degree so that Lavan would not have a reason to favour Esau over Yaakov and allow Esau to harm Yaakov who had come to seek shelter under the roof of his uncle. An investigative/rational approach to our verse: The Torah reminds us that when twins are born there are two afterbirths seeing each twin grows within its own setting. In the case of Esau and Yaakov, however, something unnatural occurred. Although they grew up within a single afterbirth, nonetheless their characters were so totally at variance. This was foreshadowed when Rivkah experienced that the fetuses were fighting with one another inside her (25,22). The Torah had to remind us that Rivkah had already endured much before these sons had been born.
וישלח, he sent him off to proceed in the direction he had instructed him. Yaakov complied with his father’s instruction, as the Torah continues וילך פדנה ארם, he took with him sufficient supplies of money and food to last him until he would arrive there. His parents knew that once he would be at his uncle Lavan he would not be short of any of his needs.
אחי רבקה, Rivkah’s brother. He had ample reason to go there if he had to flee some place, seeing his uncle was a brother of his mother. In this phrase Yaakov is mentioned ahead of Esau, although he was the younger, because his relationship to Rivkah who was also his mother was much closer than that of Rivkah to Esau her older son. Everyone of her family in Padan Aram was aware of their sister Rivkah’s special fondness for Yaakov.
THE BROTHER OF REBEKAH, JACOB’s AND ESAU’s MOTHER. Because it stated (It is obvious that Ramban has in mind the words of Rashi, whose comment upon the expression, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother, was, “I do not know what this intends to tell us.” Ramban then proceeds to offer an explanation.) that Isaac commanded Jacob to get a wife from the daughters of Laban, his mother’s brother, Scripture mentions that he was also the brother of Esau’s mother. It would have been proper for Isaac to have commanded Esau likewise, but since he knew that the blessing of Abraham would apply only to Jacob and his seed, he did so only to Jacob. Now Scripture further mentions that Esau heard that his father had commanded Jacob not to take a wife from among the daughters of Canaan (Verse 1 here.) and that he should go to his mother’s brother Laban. He [Esau] heeded his father’s will that one not take a wife from among the daughters of Canaan, but he did not act properly and take a wife from the daughters of Laban, despite his [Laban’s] being his mother’s brother. Scripture further mentions that he took her (Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. (Verse 9 here.)) besides his former wives, and he did not divorce the evil wives since he followed his heart’s desire more than he followed the will of his father. Vayeitzei
אם יעקב ועשו MOTHER OF JACOB AND ESAU — I do not know what the addition of these words is intended to tell us.
I do not know what this teaches us. Some ask: What is Rashi telling us — that he does not know? If he does not know, let him not comment! The answer is: Rashi knew a number of answers that could be given, but did not know which is true according to the simple meaning of Scripture. (Kitzur Mizrachi; see Tzeidah L’Derech)
Isaac sent Jacob, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban, son of Betuel the Aramean, brother of Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau.
אחי רבקה, אם יעקב ועשו, “the brother of Rivkah, who was the mother of Yaakov and Esau. Nachmanides explains that the reason why Rivkah is described here by the Torah as “the mother of Yaakov and Esau,” [something that we all know perfectly well, Ed.] is because Yitzchok had commanded Yaakov to select a wife from among the daughters of Lavan, “the brother of your mother.” The Torah is at pains to remind us that Lavan was also the brother of Esau’s mother, and because of this it would have been appropriate for Yitzchok to command Esau also to take a wife from among his uncle’s daughters. However, seeing that the seed of Avraham would be carried on only through Yaakov, there was no point in Esau marrying someone from Lavan’s family. Other commentators feel that the Torah was at pains to give Yaakov precedence over Esau who was biologically his senior, as soon as Yaakov had secured the blessing of his father. The Torah’s mentioning “Yaakov and Esau” in that order, serves as proof that the blessing was indeed fulfilled, and that Yaakov would henceforth be deemed as senior to his brothers, i.e.הוי גביר לאחיך as we read in All of this, in spite of the fact that after Yitzchok’s death the Torah reverts to mentioning Esau first when it reports Yitzchok’s funeral. This was because Esau had never left the land of Israel, attending to his father’s needs, whereas Yaakov had been outside the Holy Land for over 20 years. [I find this difficult as Esau had voluntarily left the Holy Land (Genesis 36,6), not because of his life being in danger and his father having sent him out of the land to get a wife without giving him a dowry, 11 years before his father died. Ed.] Some commentators say that the reason why the Torah repeats these details about Yaakov’s genealogy is in order for you not to be dismayed that from two such righteous parents as Yitzchok and Rivkah, a wicked person such as Esau could have been produced. The Torah does not want us to forget for a moment that Rivkah herself had a brother who was everything but righteous. Our sages have established a rule (based on empirical knowledge, Ed.] according to which most children have a tendency to develop in accordance with their mother’s brother(s).
“The Isaac sent Jacob off, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau” [28:5]. Hizkuni writes. The verse tells us that Rebecca was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Even though we have long known this, but the Torah teaches us, how is it that Isaac and Rebecca were both pious and had a son who was an evildoer? Therefore, the verse says, Laban the brother of Rebecca. That is to say, because Laban was Rebecca’s brother, and the children take after the mother’s brother. That is to say, because Laban was Rebecca’s brother, therefore, she was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Another explanation is that Rebecca sent away Jacob so that Jacob should not kill Esau and Jacob would also get killed. Therefore, she sent Jacob away. The verse tells us this; Rebecca was the mother of Jacob and Esau. She had pity on Esau and Jacob. (Hizkuni, Genesis, 28:5.) Toldot Yizhak and Bahya write. How was Rebecca not afraid to send Jacob from the area of Beer Sheva to Paddan-aram? Perhaps Esau would pursue him. That is why the verse tells us, “the mother of Jacob and Esau” [28:5]. That is to say, she sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, because in Paddan-aram they knew that Rebecca had higher regard for Jacob and they would protect Jacob from Esau’s hands. She was the mother of Jacob and afterwards, the mother of Esau. That is, she loved Jacob more than Esau. Some sages say that all the twins were created in two membranes. However, Jacob and Esau were in one membrane in the womb, and that is why it calls her the mother of Jacob and Esau. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 28:5; Bahya, Genesis, 28:5.)
We must therefore accept two premises: 1) Jacob did not really aim at the birthright. 2) Neither of the two brothers was concerned with inheriting Isaac's material wealth. Even the honor connected with the birthright was of no real concern to either Esau or Jacob. Both were deeply desirous of acquiring things of genuine value, goodness, things which can only be secured by means of heavenly blessing. In this respect we must view the birthright as profoundly related to the Divine blessings and Isaac's power to direct such blessings. Isaac was not reconciled to the fact that Jacob had obtained the blessing by deceit until Esau cried out, "He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing" (Genesis 27,36). Only then did Isaac say to Esau, "I have made him an overlord over you." When Esau questioned his father saying, "Have you only one blessing, Father?" Isaac quite calmly allowed the blessing to remain with Jacob, and bestowed upon him in addition the blessing of Abraham to make him the principal heir of the Abrahamitic tradition (Genesis 28, 1-5). What had been in Isaac's mind originally, and what transpired to make him change his mind? The greatest difficulty in all this is the fact that heaven obviously went along with all the changes made by the human participants in these events. Evidence of this is the fact that G-d calls Israel "My firstborn son" (Exodus 4,22-23) when Moses first confronts Pharaoh. Since one cannot deny then that heaven stamped Jacob's performance with its seal of approval, we must find answers to the questions raised. The following parable may help explain. In one of the islands, there lived a nation whose king had traditionally always been chosen by the people for his qualities of leadership. Though the nation always chose a descendant of the former king, the people managed through this device to invariably secure a suitable ruler. This was because there was no automatic succession to the throne. It happened that one particular king was so outstanding, and his accomplishments on behalf of his nation so great, that the council of state voted that henceforth the firstborn son of that king and the firstborn son of the son after him should automatically succeed their respective fathers. This law was not made subject to periodic review and therefore became unchallengeable. In due course, one of the later kings had two sons, the elder being boorish, selfcentred, i.e. totally unfit to rule. His younger brother however, possessed all the qualities needed to make him a suitable ruler. The law makers' hands were tied, however, since they were bound by the act of gratitude to an earlier king which had been enshrined in law. After much debate, the elders decided that their only course of action lay in persuading the older of the two brothers to renounce his claim to the succession voluntarily. For that purpose, they prepared a great banquet of the type the older son enjoyed; they used the occasion to point out to the king's older son that the burdens of office would interfere greatly with his present lifestyle etc. In this fashion, they succeeded in getting the older son to renounce his claim to the throne. The application of this parable to our story is self evident. Compare five points of similarity between the parable and our story: 1) The original law to establish leadership position based on merit. 2) The change in the law, establishing precedence based on birth. 3) The incidence of some prospective rulers being obviously unfit. 4) Advice on how to neutralize the harmful effects of the law to base the succession on claims supported by birthright. 5) Return to the original manner of selecting a ruler.
According to Rabbi Yehudah, who states that the messengers were of the flesh and blood variety, Jacob may have displeaesd G-d in some manner. The fact that no help was forthcoming from G-d until the night following the return of the messengers supports our view that until Jacob had exhausetd all means at his disposal to ensure that the encounter would be successful, Providence would not manifest itself. Only after the successful struggle with the "man," concluding Jacob's preparations for the fateful encounter, would G-d offer His reassurance. From this we learn the importance of doing all one can to ensure one's success. (1) Jacob instructed the servants in a manner that would show that he was treating Esau with the courtesy due an older brother. (6) Calling all the giftbearers together would have revealed inner fear both to them and to members of his family. He told Esau that he had stayed with Laban all these years, in order to show Esau that he had not felt the need to run away from Laban. He indicated that he could understand Esau's reluctance to welcome a brother who had hired himself out for wages; since by now, however, he had acquired a fortune, Esau need not be ashamed of his poor brother. (2) The fact that the messengers returned without actually having met Esau proves they must have been angels; who else would have arrogated to himself the right to return "mission unaccomplished?" Moreover, who else would have offered gratuitous advice to Jacob? They did so in order to give Jacob time enough to arrange the gifts and to send them ahead. When Joseph encountered the "man" while he is searching for his brothers, he is also given gratuitous advice. In that case also, we assume it was an angel who proffered that advice (Genesis 37,16-18).
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife” (Genesis 25:20). “Isaac was forty years old [when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife]” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: If it is to teach that she is from Aram Naharayim, and is it not already stated: “From Padan Aram,” why does the verse state “Aramean” – “daughter of Betuel the Aramean [haarami]”? (Somebody who lived in Padan Aram was called an Aramean.) Why does the verse state “sister of Laban the Aramean”? Rather, it is coming to teach you: Her father was a charlatan [ramai], her brother was a charlatan, and the residents of her place were likewise so, but this righteous woman who emerged from their midst, to what is she comparable? It is to a “lily among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2). “He went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:5). Why does the verse state: “To Laban the Aramean”? (Genesis 28:5).It teaches that he included them all in deceit.
“Jacob arrived intact.” It is written: “Those who sow in tears, reap with joyous song” (Psalms 126:5). “Those who sow in tears” – this is our patriarch Jacob, who sowed the blessings in tears: “Perhaps my father will feel me” (Genesis 27:12). “Reap with joyous song” – “God will give you from the dew of the heavens and from the fat of the earth” (Genesis 27:28). “Though he walks weeping” (Psalms 126:6) – “he raised his voice and wept” (Genesis 29:11). “Bearing his sack of seed” (Psalms 126:6) – as he is drawn to the place that he is destined to procreate from there, as it is written: “Take a wife for you from there” (Genesis 28:2), “Isaac sent Jacob and he went to Padan Aram; to Laban, son of Betuel” (Genesis 28:5). “He returns in joyous song, bearing his sheaves [alumotav]” (Psalms 126:6) – he came bearing young men [uleimin] and young women [ve’uleimita].
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana began: “Raise your voice, Bat-Galim, [listen, Layish; destitute is Anatot]” (Isaiah 10:30). Isaiah said to Israel: Instead of reciting songs and psalms before idols, raise your voice in words of Torah, raise your voice in synagogues. “Bat-Galim” – just as these waves [galim] are conspicuous in the sea, so their ancestors were conspicuous in the world. Another matter: “Bat-Galim” (Isaiah 10:30) – bat golim, daughter of exiles: daughter of Abraham, the one of whom it is written: “There was a famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt [to reside there]” (Genesis 12:10); daughter of Isaac, of whom it is written: “Isaac went to Avimelekh, king of the Philistines, to Gerar” (Genesis 26:1); daughter of Jacob, of whom it is written: “He went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:5). “Listen” (Isaiah 10:30), listen to My commandments, listen to words of Torah, listen to words of prophecy, listen to perform acts of righteousness and good deeds. “Layish [Laisha]” (Isaiah 10:30) – and if not, laisha, (This is one of the biblical terms for lion.) the lion will ascend upon you. This is the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “The lion has ascended from its lair” (Jeremiah 4:7). “Destitute [is Anatot]” (Isaiah 10:30) – destitute of righteous individuals, destitute of prophecy, destitute of mitzvot and good deeds. “Anatot” – and if not, (If you do not listen to all these warnings.) “Anatot,” – that resident of Anatot will come and prophesy in your regard, as it is written: “The words of Jeremiah son of Ḥilkiyahu, of the priests who were in Anatot…” (Jeremiah 1:1). When the punishment arrived, he lamented over them, eikha. (Eikha means “how,” and is the opening word of the book of Lamentations, which begins: “How does the city that was full of people sit solitary?” (Lamentations 1:1). Eikha is also the Hebrew name of the book of Lamentations. The prologue to Eikha Rabba records how different Sages would begin their study of Lamentations. They would often begin by expounding a verse that in their view encapsulated the essence of the book, before beginning with the first verse. Thus, many of these introductions conclude with the word eikha, which is used as an expression of lamentation, as well as a reference to Lamentations 1:1 and a transition from the Sage’s introduction to his actual recitation or study of Lamentations (see Etz Yosef).)
Thus did R. Tanhuma interpret (Exod. 12:1–2): THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, SAYING: THIS MONTH SHALL BE FOR YOU THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTHS…. This text is related (to Cant. 2:10–12): MY BELOVED ANSWERED AND SAID TO ME: ARISE, MY DARLING, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY. FOR NOW THE WINTER IS PAST,…. THE BLOSSOMS HAVE APPEARED IN THE LAND…. (PRK 5:9; PR 15:10; Cant. R. 2:9:5.) MY BELOVED ANSWERED through Moses AND SAID TO ME through Aaron: ARISE, MY DARLING (rt.: R'H), O daughter of Abraham, who befriended (rt.: R'H) me in the world. MY FAIR ONE (rt.: YPH), O daughter of Isaac, who beautified (rt.: YPH) me in the world, when his father bound him upon the altar. AND COME AWAY, O daughter of Jacob, the one who (according to Gen. 28:7) heeded HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER [AND WENT TO PADDAN-ARAM]. R. Aqiva says: The text ARISE<…,> [COME AWAY] (both of which are feminine imperatives with the letter yod at the end). The < extra > yod stands for ten, [due to] the ten commandments which you are going to receive on Sinai. ARISE, MY DARLING, MY FAIR ONE …. R. Johanan said: MY DARLING (R'YTY) what is written (in Exod. 29:39): THE ONE LAMB YOU SHALL OFFER IN THE MORNING…. (The Masoretic text of Cant. 2:10 vowels R‘YTY as ra‘yati (MY DARLING). R. Johanan would revowel R‘YTY as re‘iyyati (MY PASTURING), a word which refers especially to the pasturing of sacrificial animals. Hence the reference to the sacrificial lambs of Exod. 29:39.)
“Like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the girls” (Song of Songs 2:2). “Like a lily among the thorns,” Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding Rebecca, as it is stated: “Isaac was forty years old, and he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramaean of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramaean, [to be his wife]” (Genesis 25:20). If it is to teach that she was from Padan Aram, why does the verse state: “Sister of Laban the Aramean”? (Why does the verse emphasize that her father was an Aramean and her brother was an Aramean and that she was from Padan Aram?) Rather, her father was a swindler [ramai], her brother was a swindler, and the people of her area were swindlers, and this righteous woman emerged from their midst. To what is she comparable? It is to a “lily among the thorns.” Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Simon: It is written: “Isaac sent Jacob and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban son of Betuel the Aramean,” thereby including all of them in swindling. (By mentioning “Aramean” at the end of the verse, it implies that all those mentioned in the verse were swindlers. Yet Jacob did not learn from their corrupt ways (Etz Yosef).)
“You shall not act in accordance with the practices of the land of Egypt in which you lived, and you shall not act in accordance with the practices of the land of Canaan where I am bringing you, and you shall not follow their statutes” (Leviticus 18:3). “In accordance with the practices of the land of Egypt” – that is what is written: “Like a lily among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2). Rabbi Yitzḥak interpreted the verse regarding Rebecca, as it is stated: “Isaac was forty years old [when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife]” (Genesis 25:20). If it is to teach that she was from Padan Aram, why does the verse state that she was the sister of Lavan the Aramean? (Once the verse states that she was from Padan Aram, why did it need to state that her father and brother were Arameans (see Bereishit Rabba 63:4). ) Rather, her father was a deceiver [ramai] and the people of her locality were deceivers, and this righteous woman emerged from their midst. To what is she comparable? To a “lily among the thorns.” Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Simon: It is written: “Isaac sent Jacob and he went [to Padan Aram; to Laban, son of Betuel the Aramean]” (Genesis 28:5), he included them all in deceit. (The fact that the verse refers to Lavan son of Betuel the Aramean is to imply that Lavan and Betuel acted with deceit. The fact that the place was called Padan Aram implies that all the people of that locale acted with deceit. )
There is a mystical element concealed in all this. Jacob and Esau were twins. There were two reasons for this. We have already explained that one purpose was for Esau to be able to absorb the excess pollutant from Jacob, i.e. as if one half of the baby to be born contained all the negative influences. As a result, Jacob would eventually also inherit Esau's share, the present world. Esau in fact absorbed the negative part of Jacob, whereas Jacob became the recipient of the positive part of Esau. The Torah alludes to this mystery in 28,5, where Rebeccah is described as "mother of Jacob and Esau." Rashi comments that he does not understand what new dimension the Torah conveys in the verse. I believe that the Torah teaches us that Rebeccah, in her capacity as mother of both of these twins, allocated to each one certain genes in keeping with her prerogative as a mother. This is why the Torah could describe her earlier as "personally dressing Jacob," though clearly we must understand this merely as a figure of speech, and Jacob no doubt physically dressed himself. Rebeccah had exercised her prerogative to make one twin appear like the other. Once this had been accomplished, Jacob was certainly in line for receiving blessings that were meant to be effective in this world. Jacob's principal garments, of course, were those described as בגדי עשו החמודות, "Esau's valuable clothes," also mentioned in 27,16 as having remained under Rebeccah's care. These were reportedly the skins worn by Adam, a reminder of his having rehabilitated himself after his sin. G–d had made these for him in the terrestrial גן עדן, which is situated "opposite" its celestial counterpart.
Toldot Yizhak and Bahya write. How was Rebecca not afraid to send Jacob from the area of Beer Sheva to Paddan-aram? Perhaps Esau would pursue him. That is why the verse tells us, “the mother of Jacob and Esau” [28:5]. That is to say, she sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, because in Paddan-aram they knew that Rebecca had higher regard for Jacob and they would protect Jacob from Esau’s hands. She was the mother of Jacob and afterwards, the mother of Esau. That is, she loved Jacob more than Esau. Some sages say that all the twins were created in two membranes. However, Jacob and Esau were in one membrane in the womb, and that is why it calls her the mother of Jacob and Esau. (Toldot Yizhak, Genesis, 28:5; Bahya, Genesis, 28:5.)
Yitzchok sent Yaakov on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Lavan, son of Besueil the Aramean, the brother of Rivkah, mother of Yaakov and Eisov.
And Izhak sent Jakob away, and he went to Padan Aram unto Laban bar Bethuel the Armaite, the brother of Rivekah the mother of Jakob and Esau.
| וַיַּ֣רְא עֵשָׂ֗ו כִּֽי־בֵרַ֣ךְ יִצְחָק֮ אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹב֒ וְשִׁלַּ֤ח אֹתוֹ֙ פַּדֶּ֣נָֽה אֲרָ֔ם לָקַֽחַת־ל֥וֹ מִשָּׁ֖ם אִשָּׁ֑ה בְּבָרְכ֣וֹ אֹת֔וֹ וַיְצַ֤ו עָלָיו֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לֹֽא־תִקַּ֥ח אִשָּׁ֖ה מִבְּנ֥וֹת כְּנָֽעַן׃ | 6 P | When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, charging him, as he blessed him, “You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite women,” |
And this is the rank of the “right side” of holiness and of “chesed to Abraham” (Micah 7:20. Abraham signifies the attribute of chesed; see Sefer Habahir 48 (131); Zohar I:41a, II:51b; Zohar Chadash 27a; et passim.—The “right side,” too, signifies chesed; see Addendum, Mystical Concepts in Chassidism.) who said: (Genesis 18:27.) “And I am dust and ashes.” (Cf. Chullin 89a.) This (humility) is also the trait of Jacob, and therewith he justified himself for his fear of Esau and did not rely on the promise given to him—“And, behold, I am with you….” (Genesis 28:6.) (That is), because Jacob regarded himself as utterly insignificant (Lit., was very, very small in his (own) esteem.) [because of the multitude of favors, “for with my staff…” (Genesis 32:11.) ], and as unfit and unworthy to be saved…and as the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “maybe sin will cause…,” for it appeared to him that he had sinned. (Berachot 4a.)
וירא עשו כי ברך יצחק את יעקב, Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, etc. This verse does not seem to tell us anything new. If it were meant to tell us that this was the reason Esau took an additional non-Canaanite wife, verse eight would have sufficed for that purpose.
We must therefore look for some meaning beyond the mere words of the verse. Esau was aware of Jacob's' departure and of its nature, i.e. that he thereby fulfilled both a commandment by his father and mother and the commandment to look for a wife. Knowing that Isaac had blessed Jacob to complete his undertaking successfully, Esau did not bother to pursue Jacob, realising that under such circumstances he would not succeed. Although Esau is reputed to have sent his eldest son Eliphaz to catch up with Jacob and to kill him (according to Rashi on Genesis 29,11), it is possible that he merely wanted to test his ability to vanquish Jacob on his journey. This scenario may have been re-enacted when the descendants of Esau (Amalek) attacked the Israelites after the latter had crossed the sea of reeds. Esau considered his son's ability to pursue Jacob successfully as greater than his own ability to do so.
בברכו אותו ויצו עליו לאמור לא תקח אשה מבנות כנען, "when he had blessed him and commanded him saying: ‘do not take a wife from amongst the daughters of Canaan.’” The experience of the fathers was being repeated with the sons. This is why Yitzchak commanded his son not to take a wife from the people of Canaan but to go to his own family and members of his father’s family, just as his father had commanded concerning his own choice of a potential marriage partner at the time. Why did Yitzchak bless Yaakov again (28,1) and why did the Torah repeat this fact in our verse? Why was this matter referred to a third time with the words בברכו אותו? The Torah wanted to make it clear beyond any doubt that the fact that on the first occasion Yitzchak had not been aware whom he had really blessed had become totally irrelevant and that Yaakov‘s blessing was confirmed beyond dispute and that even Esau was fully aware of it. Bereshit Rabbah 67,17 writes that the second blessing was necessary as there had been a weakness concerning the validity of the original blessing. This “weakness” was now eliminated and it was clear to everyone that Yaakov’s blessing was legal beyond any doubt or dispute. The blessings received by Yaakov here were in the nature of a confirmation, a stamp, if you will, on the original blessing. It was similar to the practice of confirming a bill of divorce with such a stamp. In Jewish law, a bill of divorce is valid only if it bears such stamp. Without such confirmation there would still be people accusing Yaakov of having “snatched” the blessing away from Esau for whom it was intended. It also showed that if Yaakov had not agreed to become part of the short-lived charade to show his father how easily he could be tricked he would have obtained the blessing due him anyway. We observe in history that the blessing has a way of being transferred from generation to generation. We find the first basic blessing of mankind being given to Adam and Chavah in Genesis 1,27. When, due to the curse which rested on the world at the time of the deluge this blessing had to be renewed, we read in Genesis 9,1 that G’d bestowed this blessing again on Noach and his sons. When the generation of the Tower had become guilty of a collective sin, the blessing which had been in a state of suspended animation was given to Avraham in Genesis 12,2 and he was given the power to direct it as he saw fit. Avraham was entitled to pass on this blessing to Ishmael, his oldest son as was the custom in those days. However, Avraham refrained from doing so as G’d had told him that his principal heir was Yitzchak. At the same time, since he did not want to cause rivalry and feuding between his sons Ishmael and Yitzchak, he decided not to allocate this power to bless to either one of this sons and to leave it to G’d to decide when and to whom to grant this power. G’d intervened and gave this blessing to Yitzchak (25,11). Yitzchak was entitled to give the blessing to Esau, seeing he was the firstborn. This is why Yaakov agreed to trick his father as he had become the legal firstborn. As a result of Esau selling his birthright he had lost both it and the power to receive or bestow the blessing. When Yaakov founded a family of twelve sons each of whom became the head of one of the twelve tribes making up the Jewish nation, he would have been entitled to transfer this blessing and the powers associated with it to his own firstborn Reuven. He did not do so, however, seeing Reuven had been guilty of a serious trespass as a result of which his father transferred the birthright to Joseph (Chronicles I 5,1). When these blessings were fulfilled for Yaakov the third of the patriarchs, this serves as an assurance to us in this our third exile that they will also be fulfilled at the time of the redemption from this exile. Seeing that the Torah tells us that even the spiritual representative of Esau at the celestial court agreed that Yaakov had deserved to be the recipient of these blessings and he himself conferred a blessing on Yaakov (Genesis 32,30), this was a forerunner of what the prophet Isaiah said concerning the redemption in the future: והיו מלכים אומניך ושרותיהם מיניקותיך אפים ארצה ישתחוו לך ועפר רגליך ילחכו וידעת כי אני ה’ אשר לא יבושו קווי, “Kings shall tend your children, their queens shall serve you as nurses; they shall bow before you, face to the ground and they lick the dust of your feet, and you shall know that I am the Lord; those who trust Me shall not be shamed.” (Isaiah 49,23).
וירא, seeing that the sense of sight is a more reliable sense of perception than any of the other 4 senses, the Torah describes Esau’s realisation of what had transpired as being visual.
לקחת לו משם אשה, the fact that Yaakov was fleeing from Esau’s wrath had not become known, everyone thinking he had left to select a bride for himself.
וירא עשו כי ברך יצחק את יעקב, Esau realised that in the blessings which Yitzchok had given Yaakov the land of Canaan as his heritage had been included, and that Yitzchok also had given Yaakov specific instructions to get a wife from amongst the daughters of Lavan, the brother of his mother, and on no account to marry a local Canaanite girl. Esau therefore arrived at the conclusion that he had been deprived of his share in the land of Canaan as a penalty for having married Canaanite girls and that this was the reason why Yaakov had been successful in stealing the blessing of Avraham from him. He therefore decided to marry into Avraham’s family, i.e. a descendant of Ishmael. He thought to himself that perhaps by doing this he would restore his claim to Avraham’s heritage.
וירא עשו כי ברך יצחק, we see from here that in spite of Esau’s noting that his father had sent Yaakov all the way to Charan to prevent his marrying one of the Canaanite girls, as this was not in keeping with his blessing, he did not pay much attention to this, except that when he saw to what extent his father was unhappy about this כי רעות בנות כנען בעיני יצחק אביו, he thought that it was due to his wives opposing his parents’ lifestyles, etc., as documented I 26,35. In order to appease his parents he then went to Ishmael to marry Machalat. One of the reasons the Torah reports these details is to show that had Yitzchok objected to Esau’s marrying Canaanite girls in the first place his objection would have been effective. If Rivkah’s intervention was effective now when she remonstrated with her husband there is no reason to believe that it would not have been effective when Esau was about to get married.
Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Padan Aram, to take himself a wife from there. In blessing him he commanded him, saying: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
And He informed him also that in leaving the land of Israel he required greater protection than when he was in the land. This is to be inferred from the verse (Genesis 28:16): "And I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go, and I will return you to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." Every "until" in Scripture denotes one of two things: either the cessation of something at a particular time, as in (Exodus 24:14): "And to the elders he said: 'Wait for us here until we return to you,'" the implication being that they should not wait after their return (this being the sense of "until" in the preponderant number of instances in Scripture), or (in a case where something should more likely obtain beyond that particular time), the obtaining of that thing even up to that time (and needless to say, beyond that time, when it is more likely to obtain). Of this second variety is (Genesis 49:10): "The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the scepter from between his feet, until Shiloh comes," in which the meaning is that even when the kingdom "hovers" between the tribes and it be dictated that the tribe of Judah have no kingship whatsoever, still, so long as there is a king in Israel, Judah's punishment will not be so great as to divest him entirely of the staff of kingdom — until Shiloh, the anointed king [Messiah] comes, at which time the kingdom will even more obviously not depart from him. And of this variety, likewise, is the "until" in "for I will not leave you until I have done…" For the meaning cannot be: I will not leave you until then, but afterwards I will leave you. The meaning, rather, is as follows: G-d informs Jacob that the union between the righteous and the Blessed One being stronger in the chosen land than outside it, it should follow that He leave him [now that Jacob is leaving the land], but his going being for the purpose of fulfilling his father's command, viz. (Genesis 28:6): "Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan," the Blessed One will protect him and be with him [even there], for one who cleaves to good people inclines his heart to service of the L-rd and one who does not do so causes his seed to be removed from Him.
(Gen. 34:1:) < NOW LEAH'S DAUGHTER DINAH, WHOM SHE HAD BORNE TO JACOB, WENT OUT > TO SEE THE DAUGHTERS OF THE LAND. TO SEE < implies > TO BE SEEN. (The unpointed Hebrew text could be read either way by assuming a contraction of the passive common in Mishnaic Hebrew. See M.H. Segal, A Grammar of Mishnaic Hebrew (Oxford: Clarendon, 1958), section 115. See also Gen. 22:14, where the same contracted passive is used to explain a place-name based on the active Hebrew verb, “to see.” On Gen. 22:14, see E.A. Speiser, Genesis (“Anchor Bible,” 1; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964), pp. 163f.) To what is the matter comparable? To one who was walking in the marketplace with a piece < of meat > in his hand. (Gen. R. 80:5.) A dog, having seen it, went after it, and snatched it from him. Thus did Dinah go out TO SEE (and TO BE SEEN) when Shechem saw her and seized her. (See Eccl. R. 10:8:1.) Another interpretation (of Gen. 34:1): TO SEE THE DAUGHTERS OF THE LAND. When the children of Jacob came into the land of Israel, they began to exhibit their strength, their wealth, and their beauty. They exhibited their strength (according to Gen. 34:25): THAT TWO OF JACOB'S SONS, < SIMEON AND LEVI, BROTHERS OF DINAH >, [EACH TOOK HIS SWORD … AND KILLED EVERY MALE]. They exhibited their wealth (according to Gen. 33:17): BUT JACOB JOURNEYED TO SUCCOTH, BUILT A HOUSE FOR HIMSELF, AND MADE STALLS (sukkot) FOR HIS CATTLE. He began opening < cattle > bazaars. (Gk.: katalusis (“resting place” or “inn”). See Gen. R. 79:6; Eccl. R. 10:8:1; Esth. R. 3:7.) And where is it shown concerning their beauty? (In Gen. 34:1:) NOW LEAH'S DAUGHTER DINAH, WHOM SHE HAD BORNE TO JACOB, WENT OUT TO SEE AND TO BE SEEN. (Note that the midrash understands the one verb, “see,” in both an active and passive sense. See above, note 59.) (Gen. 34:2:) THEN SHECHEM BEN HAMOR THE HIVITE, THE PRINCE OF THE LAND, SAW HER. < It is > the wicked < who > "see." (Thus in Esth. 3:5:) WHEN HAMAN SAW. (Similarly in Gen. 28:6:) WHEN ESAU SAW. (So also here, in Gen. 34:2:) THEN SHECHEM BEN HAMOR … SAW. David said (in Ps. 69:24:) LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED SO THAT THEY DO NOT SEE.
ויצא יעקב AND JACOB WENT OUT— Owing to the fact that it was because the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac, his father, that Esau went to Ishmael, Scripture broke off the narrative contained, in the section dealing with Jacob, and wrote (verse 6 till verse 9), “Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed [Jacob] etc., that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac and so he went to Ishmael” and when it finished this (the account of Esau’s further marriage) it resumes the previous subject.
Vergleicht man den Inhalt dieses dem Jakob bewußtvoll erteilten Segens mit dem oben Esau zugedachten, in welchem keine Spur von der abrahamitischen Bestimmung enthalten ist, so dürfte unsere Auffassung desselben gerechtfertigt erscheinen. Das Siegel aber des Ganzen ist das in Raw Hirsch on Genesis 28: 6 f. enthaltene: Als Esau sah usw. und daß er, indem er ihn segnete, usw. usw. erst nachdem er alles dies gesehen, kam ihm ungefähr das Bewusstsein, daß die kanaanitischen Frauen seinem Vater nicht recht sein müssen — also von all dem Herzleid und Kummer, die seine Frauen bis jetzt den Eltern gebracht, hatte Esau keine Ahnung, und nun jetzt, nachdem ihm davon eine Vorstellung aufdämmerte — was tat er? Entfernte er seine kanaanitischen Frauen? Nein! Er nahm sich noch eine Frau zu seinen Frauen zur Frau, על נשיו לו לאשה! So wenig Sinn und Verständnis hatte Esau für das, um was es sich eigentlich im Hause Abrahams handelte, und hat eben damit Rebekkas Beurteilung seiner Befähigung für die künftige Leitung und Vertretung dieses Hauses vollkommen gerechtfertigt.
Eisov saw that Yitzchok blessed Yaakov, and sent him to Paddan Aram, to find a wife there; and as he blessed him, he commanded him saying, Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
And Esau considered that Izhak had blessed Jakob, and had sent him to Padan Aram to take to him from thence a wife, when he blessed him, and commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of the Kenaanites;
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב אֶל־אָבִ֖יו וְאֶל־אִמּ֑וֹ וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ פַּדֶּ֥נָֽה אֲרָֽם׃ | 7 P | and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram, |
וישמע יעקב AND THAT JACOB HEARKENED — This is to be connected with the proceeding statement, (v. 6) thus: And when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and that he had sent him away to Padan-aram … and that Jacob had hearkened to his father and had gone to Padan-aram and that the daughters of Canaan were evil … then he also determined to take a wife from his own family and went to Ishmael.
Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went to Padan Aram.
“Jacob obeyed his father” [28:7]. Jacob obeyed and went to Paddan-aram. Bahya asks a question. If Isaac and Rebecca had told Jacob to go to Paddanaram, why did the Holy One punish Jacob that he tarried in the house of Laban and did not honor his father? We find that Joseph the Righteous One was lost to his father for twenty-two years and Jacob did not receive any honor from Joseph, because Jacob did not honor Isaac for twenty-two years, because he was in the house of Laban. The explanation is that Isaac sent Jacob that he should marry Laban’s oldest daughter, who was Leah, and should not tarry there long. Jacob liked Rachel and tarried because of Rachel and that is why the Holy One punished him. (Bahya, Genesis, 28:6.) The Imre Noam gives an explanation. Jacob was hidden for fourteen years in Shem’s house of study. Esau’s anger subsided and Rebecca heard from Esau that he did not want to do anything to Jacob. Rebecca sent Deborah to Jacob that he should come home. Deborah found Jacob in the house of Laban, the first year that he had come to the house of Laban. Jacob tarried in the house of Laban for twenty-two years and did not honor his father and mother. Therefore, the Holy One punished him that Joseph also did not honor Jacob for twenty-two years. The Holy One punished him, measure for measure. (Imre Noam, Genesis, 27:44.)
20. The Rabbi: The beginning of the Sabbath must be calculated from Sinai, or rather Alush, where the Mannah first descended. Consequently Sabbath does not come in till the sun has set behind Sinai, and so on to the remote west, and round the globe to China, which is the extreme end of the inhabited earth. Sabbath begins in China eighteen hours later than in Palestine, since the latter lies in the centre of the world. Sunset in Palestine, therefore, concurs with midnight in China, and midday in Palestine concurs with sunset in China. This is the problem of the system based on the eighteen hours in the [Talmudical] rule: If the conjunction of the moon takes place before midday, the new moon becomes visible near sunset. This refers to Palestine, the place where the law was given, and where Adam at the end of Sabbath was transferred from paradise. It is there where the calendar began after the six days of creation. Adam, then, began to name the days, as he did with all that dwelt on earth, and the following generations continued counting in the same way. This is the reason why there is no difference among mankind about the seven days of the week, which commenced at the hour when the inhabitants of the extreme west held noon. This was the hour of sunset for Palestine, and at this moment the first light was created, the sun being created later on. This first light was but an illumination, which soon passed away, leaving the world in darkness. The established order was then that night preceded day, as it is written: 'It was evening and it was morning.' In the same manner the Tōrāh ordained: 'From evening unto evening' (Leviticus 23:32). Do not quote against me those recent astronomers, the thieves of science, though their theft was unintentional. They found, however, their science in a precarious condition, since the eye of prophecy was stricken with blindness; so they had recourse to speculation, and composed books on the strength of it. In contradistinction to the Tōrāh, they considered China as the original home of the calculation of the days. The contrast is not, however, complete, because they agree with the Jewish theory in assuming the beginning of the break of the day to have taken place in China. The difference between our theory and theirs consists chiefly in the circumstance that we count the night before the day. The 'eighteen' hours must, consequently, be made the basis of the nomination of the days of the week. For there are six hours between Palestine, where the nomination of the days began, and the place of the sun at the time when nomination began. Thus the name of Sabbath, e.g. was employed for the beginning of the day on which the sun rose for the extreme west, whilst it set for Adam in Palestine. It kept the name 'beginning of Sabbath' till the sun culminated for him eighteen hours later, when it was evening in China, and also beginning of the Sabbath. This was the extreme limit for the day to be called Sabbath, because the region further on is only called east of the place where the days began to be counted. A place must, however, exist which is at the same time extreme west and the beginning of east. This is, for Palestine, the beginning of the inhabited world, not only from the point of view of the law, but also from that of natural science. For it would be impossible for the days of the week to have the same names all over the world unless we fix one place which marks the beginning, and another one not far off, not that the one be merely an eastern point for the other, but that the one should be east absolute, and the other west absolute. If this were not so the days could not have definite names, since every point of the equator can be east or west at the same time. China would thus be east for Palestine, but west for the antipodal side. The latter would be east for China, but west for [what we call] west, and the last-named would be east for the antipodal side, but west for Palestine, and there would be neither east, nor west, nor beginning, nor end, nor definite names for the days. Adam, however, did give definite names to the days, taking Palestine for his starting-point, but each name spreads over a certain geographical latitude, because it is impossible to fix the horizon for every single point on earth Jerusalem itself would have many east and west points; the east of Zion would not be also the east of the Temple, and their horizons, strictly speaking, different, though not noticeable to the eye. This would be the case in a greater degree between Damascus and Jerusalem, and we could not deny that in the former place Sabbath commenced earlier than it does in the latter, and in Jerusalem sooner than it does in Egypt. A certain latitude must, therefore, be allowed. But the latitude in which differences in the nomination of the day become apparent amounts to eighteen hours, neither more nor less. The inhabitants of one meridian still call the day Sabbath, whilst those of another are past it, and so on till eighteen hours after the time when the Sabbath began, and the sun culminated in Jerusalem. It is then when the name Sabbath comes to an end. Therefore no one exists who would call the day Sabbath, but uses the name of the next day. This is meant by the words: If the conjunction takes place before noon, it is understood that the new moon is visible at sunset. In other words: If the Mōlād takes place before noon on the Sabbath in Jerusalem, it is understood that the new moon is visible on the Sabbath at sunset. This is because the name Sabbath is retained for eighteen hours after the reason for so calling it had departed from the place where it had begun, and the sun a day and a night later culminates again in Palestine. The new moon is, therefore, bound to appear at the eastern border of China in the twilight of the Sabbath. This agrees with the rule of the sages: A night and a day are reckoned to the month. The name Sabbath gives place everywhere to Sunday, although Palestine had before that left Sabbath, and was in the midst of Sunday. The intention of [this rule] was that the name of the same day of the week should hold good all over the world, and the question could be put both to the inhabitants of China and the West: 'On which day did you celebrate the New Year?' The answer would be: 'On Sabbath.' This notwithstanding that the latter people had finished the feast, whilst the former, according to the geographical position of their country towards Palestine, were still celebrating it. With regard to the name of the days of the week, they had both kept the same day. Thus does the knowledge of the 'Sabbath of the Lord' and the 'Festivals of the Lord' depend upon the land which is the 'inheritance of the Lord,' and has, as thou didst read, the other names of 'His holy mountain' (Psalms 99:9,), 'His footstool,' (Psalms 99:5) 'Gate of heaven' (Genesis 28:7). For the law shall go forth from Zion' (Micah 4:2). [Thou didst also read] how the Patriarchs endeavoured to live in the country whilst it was in the hands of the pagans, how they yearned for it, and had their bones carried into it, as did Jacob and Joseph. Moses prayed to see it, and when this was denied to him, he considered it a misfortune. Thereupon it was shown to him from the summit of Pisgah, which was to him an act of grace. Persians, Indians, Greeks, and children of other nations begged to be allowed to offer up sacrifices, and to be prayed for in the holy Temple; they spent their wealth at the place, though they believed in other laws not recognized by the Tōrāh. They honour it to this day, although the Shekhinah no longer appears there. All nations make pilgrimages to it, long for it, excepting we ourselves, because we are punished and in disgrace. All the Rabbis tell of its great qualities would take too long to relate.
22. The Rabbi: One sentence is: All roads lead up to Palestine, but none from it. Concerning a woman who refuses to go there with her husband, they decreed that she is divorced, and forfeits her marriage settlement. On the other hand, if the husband refuses to accompany his wife to Palestine, he is bound to divorce her and pay her settlement. They further say: It is better to dwell in the Holy Land, even in a town mostly inhabited by heathens, than abroad in a town chiefly peopled by Israelites; for he who dwells in the Holy Land is compared to him who has a God, whilst he who dwells abroad is compared to him who has no God. Thus says David: 'For they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods' (I Samuel 26:19), which means that he who dwells abroad is as if he served strange gods. To Egypt they ascribed a certain superiority over other countries on the basis of a syllogism in the following way: If Egypt, with regard to which a covenant was made, is a forbidden land, other countries are still more so. Another saying is: To be buried in Palestine is as if buried beneath the altar. They praise him who is in the land more than him who is carried thither dead. This is expressed thus: He who embraces it when alive is not like him who does so after his death. They say concerning him who could live there, but did not do so, and only ordered his body to be carried thither after his death: While you lived you made Mine inheritance an abomination, but in death 'you come and contaminate my country' (Jeremiah 2:1). It is told that R. Hananyah, when asked whether it was lawful for a person to go abroad in order to marry the widow of his brother, said: His brother married a pagan woman; praised be God who caused him to die; now this one follows him The sages also forbade selling estates or the remains of a house to a heathen, or leaving a house in ruins. Other sayings are: Fines can only be imposed in the land itself; no slave must be transported abroad, and many similar regulations. Further, the atmosphere of the Holy Land makes wise. They expressed their love of the land as follows: He who walks four yards in the land is assured of happiness in the world to come, R. Zērā said to a heathen who criticized his foolhardiness in crossing a river without waiting to reach a ford, in his eagerness to enter the land: How can the place which Moses and Aaron could not reach, be reached by me?
“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife” (Genesis 25:20). “Isaac was forty years old [when he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean, from Padan Aram, sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife]” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: If it is to teach that she is from Aram Naharayim, and is it not already stated: “From Padan Aram,” why does the verse state “Aramean” – “daughter of Betuel the Aramean [haarami]”? (Somebody who lived in Padan Aram was called an Aramean.) Why does the verse state “sister of Laban the Aramean”? Rather, it is coming to teach you: Her father was a charlatan [ramai], her brother was a charlatan, and the residents of her place were likewise so, but this righteous woman who emerged from their midst, to what is she comparable? It is to a “lily among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2). “He went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:5). Why does the verse state: “To Laban the Aramean”? (Genesis 28:5).It teaches that he included them all in deceit.
“Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him. He commanded him and said to him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan” (Genesis 28:1). “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him” – Rabbi Abahu said: Because the blessings were uncertain in his hand. (The blessings which Jacob received when Isaac thought he was Esau were considered uncertain by Jacob.) Where were they reinforced in his hand? It is here, “Isaac summoned Jacob.” (Isaac blessed him at his own initiative.) Rabbi Elazar said: Ratification of a document is only by its signatories, so that you will not say that had Jacob not deceived Isaac, he would not have received his blessings. The verse states: “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him.” Rabbi Berekhya said: This is analogous to the son of kings who was digging to take a pound of gold. He [the king] said to him: ‘Why clandestinely? Come and take it openly.’ “Isaac summoned Jacob and he blessed him.” “He commanded him” – he cautioned him against the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. (He cautioned him not to marry them. They were allies of Abraham. See Genesis 14:24.) “Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:7). “Jacob heeded his father and his mother.” That is what is written: “Every way of a man is fitting in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). Every way of a man is fitting in his own eyes – this is Samson: “Samson said to his father: Take her for me, as she is fitting in my eyes” (Judges 14:3). “And one who heeds counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15) – this is Jacob: “Jacob heeded his father and his mother, and he went.”
Ḥizkiya said: Our patriarch Jacob was sixty-three years old when he took the blessings, [and] spent another fourteen years [during which] he was hidden in the house of Ever. (See Megillah 17a.) He spent another seven years that he worked for Rachel. The result is that he married a wife at the age of eighty-four years. Esau was at the age of forty years. We learned that the Holy One blessed be He delays for the righteous and moves forward for the wicked. Rabbi Hoshaya said: It is already written: “Jacob heeded his father and his mother” (Genesis 28:7), why does the verse state: “Jacob departed from Beersheba.” It is, rather, that he said [to himself]: [My] father, when he sought to depart outside the Land of Israel, from where did he seek permission? Was it not from Beersheba? (It is not clear what the midrash is referring to here.) I, too, will go to Beersheba. If He gives me permission, I will depart, but if not, I will not depart. That is why it was necessary for the verse to say: “Jacob departed from Beersheba.”
Thus did R. Tanhuma interpret (Exod. 12:1–2): THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, SAYING: THIS MONTH SHALL BE FOR YOU THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTHS…. This text is related (to Cant. 2:10–12): MY BELOVED ANSWERED AND SAID TO ME: ARISE, MY DARLING, MY FAIR ONE, AND COME AWAY. FOR NOW THE WINTER IS PAST,…. THE BLOSSOMS HAVE APPEARED IN THE LAND…. (PRK 5:9; PR 15:10; Cant. R. 2:9:5.) MY BELOVED ANSWERED through Moses AND SAID TO ME through Aaron: ARISE, MY DARLING (rt.: R'H), O daughter of Abraham, who befriended (rt.: R'H) me in the world. MY FAIR ONE (rt.: YPH), O daughter of Isaac, who beautified (rt.: YPH) me in the world, when his father bound him upon the altar. AND COME AWAY, O daughter of Jacob, the one who (according to Gen. 28:7) heeded HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER [AND WENT TO PADDAN-ARAM]. R. Aqiva says: The text ARISE<…,> [COME AWAY] (both of which are feminine imperatives with the letter yod at the end). The < extra > yod stands for ten, [due to] the ten commandments which you are going to receive on Sinai. ARISE, MY DARLING, MY FAIR ONE …. R. Johanan said: MY DARLING (R'YTY) what is written (in Exod. 29:39): THE ONE LAMB YOU SHALL OFFER IN THE MORNING…. (The Masoretic text of Cant. 2:10 vowels R‘YTY as ra‘yati (MY DARLING). R. Johanan would revowel R‘YTY as re‘iyyati (MY PASTURING), a word which refers especially to the pasturing of sacrificial animals. Hence the reference to the sacrificial lambs of Exod. 29:39.)
“My beloved spoke up, and he said to me: Rise, my love, my fair one, and go” (Song of Songs 2:10). “My beloved spoke up [ana], and he said [ve’amar] to me,” what did He say to me? “This month is for you the beginning of the months” (Exodus 12:2). Alternatively, “my beloved spoke up, and he said to me,” Rabbi Azarya said: Is speaking not the same as saying? Rather, he answered [ana] me by means of Moses, and said [ve’amar] to me by means of Aaron. (God sent Moses in response to Israel’s pleas for help, and He spoke to them by means of Aaron, who served as Moses’ spokesman (Midrash HaMevoar).) What did He say to me? “Rise, my love, my fair one, and go.” “Rise,” hurry yourself. Another matter, “rise [kumi lakh]” daughter of Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Go [lekh lekha] from your land and from your birthplace” (Genesis 12:1). “My love [raayati], my fair one [yafati],” daughter of Isaac, who endeared [sheria] himself to Me and exalted [yipa] Me upon the altar. “And go,” daughter of Jacob, who obeyed his father and his mother, as it is stated: “Jacob obeyed his father and mother and went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:7).
THIS IS NONE OTHER THAN THE HOUSE OF G-D, AND THIS IS THE GATE OF HEAVEN. This refers to the Sanctuary which is the gate through which the prayers and sacrifices ascend to heaven. Rashi comments, Rabbi Elazar the son of Rabbi Yosei the son of Zimra said, ‘This ladder stood in Beer-sheba and its slope (“Its slope.” In our text of Rashi: “the middle of its slope.” Ramban will explain later that the reference is to “the end” of the slope, which is the head of the ladder.) reached unto the Sanctuary in Jerusalem. Beer-sheba is situated in the southern part of Judah, and Jerusalem is to its north on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, and Beth-el was in the northern portion of Benjamin’s territory, on the boundary between Benjamin’s territory and that of the children of Joseph. It follows, therefore, that a ladder whose base is in Beer-sheba and whose top is in Beth-el has its slope (“Its slope.” In our text of Rashi: “the middle of its slope.” Ramban will explain later that the reference is to “the end” of the slope, which is the head of the ladder.) reaching opposite Jerusalem. Now regarding the statement of our Rabbis that the Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘This righteous man has come to the place where I dwell, [namely, the Sanctuary in Jerusalem, and shall he depart without spending the night?’], (Chullin 91b.) and with regard to what they also said, ‘Jacob gave the name Beth-el to Jerusalem’ (Pesachim 88b.) this place which he called Beth-el was Luz and not Jerusalem! And whence did they learn to say so, [implying that Luz is identical with Jerusalem]? I therefore say that Mount Moriah [the Temple site in Jerusalem] was forcibly removed from its place and came here to Luz, and this movement of the Temple site is ‘the springing of the earth’ which is mentioned in Tractate Shechitath Chullin. (“The slaughtering of unconsecrated beasts.” This tractate is now generally called Chullin (Unconsecrated Beasts). 91b.) It means that the site on which the Sanctuary was later to stand came towards Jacob to Beth-el. And this too is what is meant by vayiphga bamakom (and he met the place): (Verse 11 here.) [as two people meet, who are moving towards each other]. If you should ask, ‘When our father Jacob passed the site of the Sanctuary [on his way from Beer-sheba to Haran] why did He not detain him there?’ The answer is: If it never entered his mind to pray at the place where his fathers had prayed, should Heaven make him stop there? He had journeyed as far as Haran, as we say in the chapter of Gid Hanasheh, (“The sinew of the hip.” It is the seventh chapter of Tractate Chullin (see Note 18) 91b.) and Scripture itself helps us clarify this point by saying, And he went to Haran. (Verse 10 here.) When he arrived at Haran he said, ‘Is it possible that I have passed the place where my fathers prayed without praying there myself?’ He decided to return and had returned as far as Beth-el, whereupon the ground of the Temple site sprang for him until Beth-el.” All these are the words of the Rabbi. (Rashi. See also Note 139, Seder Bereshith.) But I do not agree with them at all for ‘the springing of the earth’ which the Rabbis mention in connection with Jacob is like that which they have said happened to Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, namely, that he reached Haran in one day. As they have said in Tractate Sanhedrin, (95a.) “The earth sprang for three persons: Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, our father Jacob, and Abishai the son of Zeruiah.” (II Samuel 21:17. In coming to the rescue of David, a miracle occurred, and he reached him at once though he was far away from him.) And the Rabbis explained: “Eliezer, the servant of Abraham — for it is written, And I came this day unto the fountain, (Above, 24:42.) which teaches that on that very day he embarked on his journey. Jacob — for it is written, And he met the place. (Verse 11 here.) When he arrived at Haran he said, ‘Is it possible that I have passed the place where my fathers prayed without praying there myself?’ As soon as the thought of returning occurred to him, the earth sprang for him, and immediately he met the place.” Thus the Rabbis explicitly say that as soon as the thought to return occurred to him in Haran, the earth sprang for him and he met the place where his fathers prayed, but not that he returned to Beth-el, nor that Mount Moriah sprang and came there to Beth-el. In Bereshith Rabbah (59:15.) the Rabbis further equated them both [Eliezer and Jacob] with respect to “the springing of the earth.” Thus they said: “And he arose, and went to Aram-naharaim (Above, 24:10.) — on the very same day. And I came this day unto the fountain (Above, 24:42.) — this day I embarked on the journey, and this day I arrived.” With respect to Jacob the Rabbis interpreted in a similar vein: “And he went to Haran (Verse 10 here.) — the Rabbis say on the very same day.” And furthermore, what reason is there for Mount Moriah to “spring” and come to Beth-el, as Rashi claims, after Jacob had troubled himself to return from Haran to Beth-el, a journey of many days? (If such a miracle was to be performed, why did not Mount Moriah spring all the way to Haran?) Moreover, Beth-el does not lie on the border of the Land of Israel which faces towards Haran for Haran is a land which lies to the east [of the Land of Israel while Beth-el lies in its western part]. (Above, 12:8.) Additionally, the middle part of a ladder is not referred to as its “slope.” (Thus Rabbi Elazar who said that “its slope” reached to the Sanctuary did not refer to its middle, as Rashi has it.) And, finally, what reason is there for the middle of the ladder to be opposite Beth-el, [where, according to Rashi, the side of the Sanctuary had been transported], when the middle part of an object does not possess significance beyond that of its whole? There is, however, another intent to these Midrashim. The Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah, (68:6.) “Rabbi Hoshayah said, ‘It has already been stated, And Jacob hearkened to his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram. (Above, 28:7.) What then does Scripture teach by repeating, And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba? (Verse 10 here.) Rather, the redundancy teaches us that Jacob said, “When my father desired to leave the Land of Israel, at what location did he seek permission for it? Was it not in Beer-sheba? I, too, shall go to Beer-sheba to seek this permission. If He grants me permission, I shall leave, and if not, I shall not go.” Therefore Scripture found it necessary to state, And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba.’” (Verse 10 here.) The intent of this Midrash is that the Rabbis were of the opinion that Jacob was blessed by his father in Hebron, the land of his father’s sojournings, and it was to Hebron that he came when he returned to his father from Paddan-aram, as it is said, And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba — the same is Hebron — where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. (Further, 35:27.) Now if so, the verse stating, And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba (Verse 10 here.) teaches that when his father commanded him to go to Laban (Above, 28:5.) he went to Beer-sheba to receive Divine permission, and that is the place wherein he spent the night and saw visions of G-d, and it was there that He gave him permission to exit from the Land of Israel, even as He said, And I will keep thee wherever thou goest and will bring thee back unto this land. (Verse 15 here.) And the ladder which he saw, in the opinion of Rabbi Yosei the son of Zimra, he saw with its feet in Beer-sheba, in the very place where he lay, and with the end of its slope which is the top of the ladder reaching to a point opposite the Sanctuary. It was supported by heaven at the gate through which the angels enter and exit. The revered G-d stood over him, and therefore he knew that Beer-sheba was the gate of heaven, suitable for prayer, and the Sanctuary was the house of G-d. And in the morning Jacob continued his journey from Beer-sheba and arrived at Haran on the same day, and this was “the springing of the earth” mentioned with respect to Jacob. This is the opinion of Rabbi Yosei the son of Zimra who said in Bereshith Rabbah, (69:5.) “This ladder stood in Beer-sheba and its slope reached to the Sanctuary, as it is said, And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba; (Verse 11 here.) And he was afraid and said, How fearful is this place.” (Verse 17 here.) And the stone which he erected as a pillar (Verse 18 here.) he did not erect in the place where he slept, for Beer-sheba is not Beth-el and it was in Beth-el that he erected it, and there he went upon his return from Paddan-aram, as it is said, Arise, go up to Beth-el … and make there an altar unto G-d who appeared unto thee, etc. (Further, 35:1.) But he erected it [after carrying the stone from Beth-el to Jerusalem] (Thus comments Rabbi David Luria (R’dal) in explanation of Ramban’s words. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 160.) opposite the slope, at the place where the head of the ladder stood, which he had called the house of G-d, and this is the city which had previously been called Luz. (Verse 19 here.) Thus in the opinion of Rabbi Yosei the son of Zimra, Luz was Jerusalem which Jacob called Beth-el. (Verse 19 here.) Possibly this may be so, according to the verses in the book of Joshua. (The source intended is not clear to me. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 160, for further discussion of this matter.) It is certainly true that it is not the Beth-el near Ai (Above, 12:8. Whereas the Beth-el referred to here had previously been called Luz.) for that Beth-el was originally so named in the days of Abraham (Above, 12:8. Whereas the Beth-el referred to here had previously been called Luz.) and prior to that. But Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Shimon differs there (Bereshith Rabbah 69:8.) with Rabbi Yosei the son of Zimra, and he says: “This ladder stood upon the Sanctuary site and its slope reached to Beth-el. What is his reason? And he was afraid, and said, (Verse 17 here.) etc. And he called the name of that place Beth-el.” (Verse 19 here.) Thus in the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Shimon the verse stating, And he lighted upon the place, (Verse 11 here.) means Mount Moriah. And he tarried there all night, because the sun was set for him not at its proper time [so that he should spend the night there], for as our Rabbis have stated: (Chullin 91b.) “[The Holy One, blessed be He, said], ‘This righteous man has come to the place where I dwell. Shall he then depart without staying there over night?’” And so Jacob saw the ladder with its feet standing in that place, and its slope, which is its top, reached to a point which was opposite that particular Beth-el [which was mentioned in connection with Ai during Abraham’s era], (Above, 12:8. Whereas the Beth-el referred to here had previously been called Luz.) and that was the city of Luz. And Jacob said that the very place where he spent the night was the house of G-d, and the slope of the ladder was the gate of heaven, thus Mount Moriah is excellent for prayer, and Beth-el also is a suitable place for the worship of G-d. And he erected the pillar in Beth-el, for in the opinion of all Rabbis he erected it opposite the slope of the ladder. The opinion of Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Shimon, [i.e., that Jacob slept on Mount Moriah, and he erected the pillar in Beth-el], is in agreement with the Midrash in the Gemara of the chapter concerning Gid Hanasheh, (“The sinew of the hip.” It is the seventh chapter of Tractate Chullin (see Note 18) 91b.) and that of Chapter Cheleck, (“Portion,” i.e., in the World to Come. This is the tenth chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin, 95b.) which states that Jacob left Beer-sheba and came to Haran, and when he reconsidered and decided to return and pray at Mount Moriah, the place where his fathers had prayed, then the earth “sprang” for him and he lighted immediately upon Mount Moriah. Perhaps it is the Rabbis’ opinion that the earth “sprang” for him both when going from Haran to Mount Moriah and when returning from Mount Moriah to Haran. This would be in agreement with the opinion of the Rabbi who says: (Bereshith Rabbah 68:9.) “And he went to Haran (Verse 10 here.) — on the same day. And he lighted upon the place (Verse 11 here.) — at once, very suddenly.” I found it more explicitly in Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol: (Chapter 35.) “Jacob was seventy-seven years of age when he left his father’s house, (He was sixty-three when he was blessed by his father (Megillah 16 a), and for the following fourteen years he was secluded in the house of Shem and Eber for the purpose of studying Torah. This makes Jacob seventy-seven years old when he left Haran. The Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer refers to it as “when he left his father’s house,” but the intent is as explained. (Rabbi David Luria.)) and he followed the well that travelled before him from Beer-sheba to Mount Moriah, a two-day journey, and he arrived there at midday, etc. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘Jacob, you have bread in your travelling-bag, the well is before you, enabling you to eat and drink and lie down in this place.’ Jacob replied, ‘Master of all worlds, the sun has yet to descend fifty stages, and shall I lie down to sleep in this place?’ Prematurely, the sun then set in the west. Jacob looked and saw that the sun had set in the west, so he tarried there all night, because the sun was set. (Verse 11 here.) Jacob took twelve stones from the stones of the altar upon which his father Isaac had lain bound as a sacrifice (Above, 22:9.) and put them under his head. By the fact that his resting-place contained twelve stones, G-d informed him that twelve tribes were destined to be established from him. But then all twelve stones were transformed into one stone to inform him that all twelve tribes were destined to become one nation in the earth, as it is said, And who is like Thy people, like Israel, a nation one in the earth? (II Samuel 7:23.) In the morning Jacob awoke with great fright, and said, ‘The house of the Holy One, blessed be He, is in this place,’ as it is said, And he was afraid, and said: How fearful is this place! (Verse 17 here.) From here you learn that whosoever prays in Jerusalem is considered as if he prayed before the Throne of Glory, for the gate of heaven is open there to receive the prayer of Israel, as it is said, And this is the gate of heaven. (Verse 17 here.) Jacob then wanted to collect the stones [which he had used as a resting-place for his head in order to build an altar], but he found them all to be one stone, and so he set it up as a pillar in that place. Thereupon oil flowed down for him from heaven, and he poured it on top of the stone, as it is said, And he poured oil upon the top of it. (Verse 18 here.) What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? With His right foot He sank the anointed stone unto the depths of the abyss to serve as the key-stone of the earth, just as one inserts a key-stone in an arch. It is for this reason that it is called Even Hashethiyah (The Foundation Stone), (On this stone, the Ark of G-d, which contained the two Tablets of the Law, rested in the Holy of Holies in the Sanctuary in Jerusalem. (Yoma 53b.)) for there is the center of the earth, and from there the earth unfolded, and upon it stands the Temple of G-d, as it is said, And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be G-d’s house. (Verse 22 here. The use of the present tense in the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer — “and upon it stands the Temple of G-d” — may either be a reference to the remains of the ancient Sanctuary and its environs, which were still visible in the days when the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer was composed, or it may preferably indicate that although the Temple is now in ruins the place thereof is still deemed sacred as in the days when the House of G-d was firmly established on the sacred mountain.) From there he [Jacob] went on his journey, and in the twinkling of an eye he arrived in Haran.” Thus far [extends the quotation from the Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol]. Thus, all Midrashim — despite some minor differences among them — acknowledge that “the springing of the earth” occurred to Jacob through which he travelled a journey of many days in the twinkling of an eye. It is possible that all Midrashim concede to one another, and that on all these journeys of his — when going from Beer-sheba to Haran, when he desired to return to Mount Moriah, and when he left there to go to Haran — the earth “sprang” for him. But there is not one of all these Midrashim which says, as Rashi said, [that Mount Moriah was forcibly removed from its location and was transported to meet him in Beth-el].
[70] Thus we read in the case of Jacob, when he was sent to marry into his mother’s family, “Jacob heard his father and mother, and went to Mesopotamia” (Gen. 28:7). “Heard them,” it says, not their voice or words, for the practiser must be the imitator of a life, not the hearer of words, since the latter is the characteristic mark of the recipient of teaching, and the former of the strenuous self-exerciser. Thus this text too is meant as a lesson to us that we may realize the difference between a learner and a practiser, how the course of one is determined by what a person says, the other by the person himself.
And Yaakov listened to [accepted] his father and mother, and went to Paddan Aram.
and that Jakob obeyed the word of his father, and the word of his mother, and was gone to Padan Aram:
| וַיַּ֣רְא עֵשָׂ֔ו כִּ֥י רָע֖וֹת בְּנ֣וֹת כְּנָ֑עַן בְּעֵינֵ֖י יִצְחָ֥ק אָבִֽיו׃ | 8 P | Esau realized that the Canaanite women displeased his father Isaac. |
וירא עשו כי רעות בנות כנען, Esau realised that the Canaanite daughters were displeasing in the eyes of his father. The Torah tells us here that Esau's only concern was the effect his Canaanite wives had on his father's sensibilities. The fact that these women were evil by nature did not bother him. His soul did not despise them. Subsequent events teach that the fact that Isaac disapproved of these women did not produce any results other than that Esau did not marry still more Canaanite girls. He did not consider divorcing these wives. Perhaps Esau's only concern was that his father's blessing would not be applicable to children born to him by his Canaanite wives, and that is why married a daughter of Ishmael to insure that his father's blessing would remain effective for his descendants.
וישמע, Esau also heard that Yaakov had obediently followed his father’s instructions to get himself a wife from that far away He “saw” now that רעות בנות כנען, that the daughters of the Canaanite whom he had married were considered as evil in the eyes of his father Yitzchok. Even though he had been fully aware of this already previously, seeing that his father had already protested his marrying these girls at the time, he had not made it a major issue to forbid him to marry them as he knew that his major seed would not be Esau. Now Esau realised how deeply his father resented these daughters-in-law seeing he had sent Yaakov such a long way to get himself a wife from Charan. This is why he went to Ishmael.
Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were objectionable in the eyes of Isaac his father. Until this point, Esau thought that the main objection to his marrying women from Canaan came from his mother. It was only now that he realized how displeased his father was with his choice.
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
“Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were objectionable in the eyes of Isaac his father” (Genesis 28:8). “Esau went to Ishmael, and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nevayot, in addition to his wives, as his wife” (Genesis 28:9). “Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan (Ḥet was considered a Canaanite.) …Esau went to Ishmael” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He gave consideration to converting. (The reference is to repenting.) “Maḥalat” – as the Holy One blessed be He forgave [mahal] him for his iniquities. “Basmat” (Genesis 36:3) – as his mind was now satisfied [nitbasma]. Rabbi Elazar said: Had he divorced the first ones, it would have been correct, but, “in addition to his wives” – pain upon pain. Another matter, thorn upon thorn – it was an addition to a full house. “Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went to Haran” (Genesis 28:10). Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Aivu: “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare, but the righteous emerges from trouble” (Proverbs 12:13). “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare” – due to the rebellion that Esau and Ishmael rebelled against the Holy One blessed be He, and angered him, and, likewise, his wives angered Him, they encountered a snare. “But the righteous emerges [vayetze] from trouble” – this is Jacob, “Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went to Haran.”
“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himself to him and Haman was filled with wrath” (Esther 3:5). “Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himself to him” – Rabbi Aivu said: “May their eyes,” of the wicked, “grow dim so they cannot see” (Psalms 69:24). Because the sight of the eyes of the wicked takes them down to Gehenna; that is what is written: “The children of the great saw the daughters of man” (The children of the great sinned in doing so. See the following verses.) (Genesis 6:2); “Ham, father of Canaan, saw [the nakedness of his father] (Genesis 9:22); “Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were objectionable [in the eyes of Isaac his father]” (Esau had previously married two women from Canaan.) (Genesis 28:8); “Balak son of Tzippor saw [all that Israel had done to the Emorites]” (He subsequently hired Bilam to curse them.) (Numbers 22:2); “Bilam saw that it was pleasing in the eyes of the Lord to bless Israel,” (Despite his efforts to curse them.) (Numbers 24:1); “Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himself to him.” However, the sight of the eyes of the righteous brings light, as the sight of the eyes of the righteous elevates them to the highest heights; that is what is written: “He [Abraham] lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men” (Genesis 18:2); “He [Abraham] saw, and behold, a ram” (Genesis 22:13); “He [Jacob] saw, and behold, a well in the field” (Genesis 29:2); “He [Moses] saw, and behold, a bush” (Exodus 3:2); “Pinḥas saw” (He saw the Israelites sinning with the daughters of Midyan and arose to put a stop to it.) (Numbers 25:7). Therefore, they are happy with the sight of their eyes, as it is stated: “The upright see this and rejoice” (Psalms 107:42).
(Gen. 28:10:) AND JACOB SET OUT. This text is related (to Prov. 12:15): THE WAY OF A FOOL IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. This refers to Esau the Wicked, according to what is written above (in Gen. 28:8f): NOW ESAU SAW THAT THE DAUGHTERS OF CANAAN WERE EVIL…. SO ESAU SET OUT UNTO ISHMAEL < AND TOOK FOR A WIFE MAHALATH THE DAUGHTER OF ISHMAEL >…. He heaped trouble upon trouble. (Prov. 12:15, cont.:) BUT A WISE MAN LISTENS TO ADVICE. This refers to Jacob. (Gen. R. 67:12.) Thus it is stated (in Gen. 27:42): NOW IT WAS REPORTED TO REBEKAH ABOUT THE WORDS OF HER ELDER SON ESAU (i.e., about his scheming). < SO, HAVING SENT AND CALLED FOR YOUNGER SON JACOB, SHE SAID UNTO HIM: LOOK AT YOUR BROTHER ESAU. HE IS TAKING COMFORT >…. When was he taking comfort? When he would have killed you (Jacob), as stated (ibid., cont.): HE IS TAKING COMFORT < IN SCHEMING > AGAINST YOU TO KILL YOU. (Gen. 27:43:) SO NOW, MY SON, HEED MY VOICE. What is the meaning of SO NOW, MY SON? She said to him: Yesterday you heeded me and received the blessings; now heed me in order to remain alive. He said to her: But is that the proper way? For me to set out without Daddy's knowledge? If he also tells me, I will do so. Immediately (we read in Gen. 28:1f.): SO ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM…. ARISE AND GO TO PADDAN-ARAM…. As soon as he heard that, he said to him: Give me an exiterion {i.e., travel instructions}. (The Greek word means “departing blessing.”) He said to him (in vs. 3): MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU. Immediately (we read in vs. 7): SO JACOB HEEDED HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND WENT TO PADDAN-ARAM…. (Gen. 28:10:) AND JACOB SET OUT. Ergo (in Prov. 12:15, cont.): BUT A WISE MAN LISTENS TO ADVICE.
A BITTERNESS OF SPIRIT. Each one of Esau’s wives (And they were is in the plural; morat is a singular. Scripture should have used the plural morot. Hence I.E.’s comment.) was a morat ru’ach (bitterness of spirit) to Isaac and Rebekah. Some say that morat (bitterness) is similar to the word moreh (rebellious) in If a man have a stubborn and rebellious (moreh) son (Deut. 21:18). (According to this interpretation the verse reads: and each one of them was rebellious (morat) against the wishes of (ru’ach) Isaac and Rebekah.) However, I believe that morat comes from the same root as marah (bitter) in bitter (marah) as wormwood (Prov. 5:4). (According to this interpretation morat is not a verb meaning rebellious but a noun meaning bitter. The meaning of morat ru’ach is: they were a bitterness of the spirit; i.e., Isaac and Rebekah were displeased with having Canaanite daughters-in-law. In this case one does not have to interpret morat ru’ach as each one was a morat ru’ach, because it can be interpreted as both were a bitterness of spirit. Thus there is no problem with And they were being in the plural and morat ru’ach in the singular (Krinsky).) Indeed, it is explicitly written, and Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased not (The Hebrew literally reads: were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father; that is, Isaac did not like them. In other words, they were a bitterness of spirit to him because they were Canaanites, not because they rebelled against him.) Isaac, his father (Gen. 28:8). The account of Esau’s wives was recorded so that the Israelites would keep themselves from taking Canaanite women.
Eisov [thus] realized that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Yitzchok, his father.
and Esau considered that the daughters of Kenaan were evil before Izhak his father,
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ עֵשָׂ֖ו אֶל־יִשְׁמָעֵ֑אל וַיִּקַּ֡ח אֶֽת־מָחֲלַ֣ת ׀ בַּת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֨אל בֶּן־אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֲח֧וֹת נְבָי֛וֹת עַל־נָשָׁ֖יו ל֥וֹ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | 9 P | So Esau went to Ishmael and took to wife, in addition to the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth. |
“And Eisav went to Yishmael, and took Makhalat daughter of Yishmael … for a wife.” (Bereshit, 28:9) It is written in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 67:13), “we derive from the name makhalat that the Holy One, blessed be He, forgave [makhal] Eisav for all of his sins.” The main characteristic of Eisav was murder, while the main characteristic of Yishmael was licentiousness. Despite all of the deficiencies in the world, each of the two has a positive aspect. For instance, though the root of anger is evil, nonetheless there is a value in getting angry at a criminal. And though the root of licentiousness is evil, it has a positive aspect in that there it allows for amelioration in a place void of God’s will, and the good are allowed to improve. This can be understood in how Eisav went and took Yishmael’s daughter Makhalat, he made it clear that there was nothing good about him. This is because he becomes angry at the tsaddikim and showed mercy to the wicked, combining these two deficiencies together. This is the explanation of why “all his sins were forgiven,” for He no longer needed to watch over the details of his sins, since it had been made clear that he had no good side within him, and had no life at all. By way of example, a man wants to take revenge on his neighbor. He thinks about how much his neighbor wronged him. Yet when he sees that his neighbor has given himself over to rebellion against the kingdom, completely abandoned God’s law, (then he is lost, so to speak, and somehow) forgiven for all transgression. Thus it was here, that God forgave all his sins.
וילך עשו אל ישמעאל, “Esau went to Yishmael;” Our sages in the Talmud Baba Kamma 92, refer to a popular proverb saying that palms that do not produce fruit are usually found near other non fruitbearing trees. Rashi understands the proverb as an allusion to wicked people keeping company with other wicked people. Our verse describing Esau as going to Yishmael to choose another wife is quoted as the Scriptural source for this proverb. We have a similar verse in the Book of Prophets Judges 11,3 where Yiftach is described as having kept company with common criminals. A third verse confirming this is found in Scriptures where we are told that birds keep company with other birds of the same species, and human beings with like minded other human beings. (no source specified) Apparently the verse is found in the book ben sirs, a text often quoted by the Talmud but not part of the Holy Scriptures. ויקח את מחלת בת ישמעאל, “he married Machalat daughter of Yishmael.”Esau reasoned as follows: Yitzchok promised Yaakov the land of Canaan as the land of Israel in his second blessing. He also told him to take a wife from his own family but not from the Canaanites. Now that I married such women, this nullified my claim to the land of Canaan in the future. The only way he saw to overcome this obstacle was by marrying a descendant of Avraham, i.e. a daughter of Yishmael.
[SO ESAU WENT UNTO ISHMAEL.] When Esau learned that Isaac blessed Jacob a second time and charged him not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, (Verse 1. This comment forms the conclusion of I.E.’s notes on Gen 27:46.) he went unto his uncle Ishmael and married his daughter Basemath, who was also called Mahalath. (Our verse tells us that Esau married Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael. However, Gen. 36:3 tells us that Esau married Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter. I.E. solves the discrepancy by explaining that the daughter of Ishmael whom Esau married had two names.) She, like Jethro, had two names, for I believe that Jethro and Hobab are one and the same person. (Cf. Ex. 18:1, and Num. 10:29. In the former, Moses’ father-in-law is called Jethro, in the latter, by the name Hobab. In his comments on Ex. 2:18, I.E. says that they refer to one and the same person, as he had two names.)
THE SISTER OF NEBAIOTH. He was the most important of all his brothers. (Therefore Mahalath is identified as the sister of Nebaioth.) It is also possible that Ishmael had many wives and that Mahalath was Nabaioth’s sister from the same mother. (Sister here means sister from the same mother. Hence Scripture tells us that Mahalath was the sister of Nabaioth. The Bible mentions one wife of Ishmael (Gen. 21:21). Hence I.E.’s uncertainty.)
וילך...אחות נביות. This Nevayot was an extremely well known personality, and so was his sister. (25,20) Compare also the formulation in Genesis 10,21 which shows that Yaphet was a well known personality.
על נשיו, he married Machalat in addition not instead of his other wives. She was to represent a higher level of spirituality in Esau’s household. His other wives now occupied a socially inferior status.
אחות נביות, seeing that Nevayot was the oldest of Ishmael’s children the Torah calls Machalat “the sister of Nevayot,” (instead of merely “the daughter of Ishmael”). We find something parallel to this in Exodus 15,20 ותקח מרים הנביאה אחות אהרן, “Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took, etc.” The reason she is referred to in that fashion is that she was older than Moses but younger than Aaron. On the other hand, in a verse where both Moses and Aaron are mentioned together with Miriam, (Exodus Numbers 26,59) she is referred to as “their sister.” The Torah employs the same formulation in Genesis 36,22 where Timna is described as the sister of Lotan, seeing that Lotan was the oldest of his brothers as we know from verse 20 in that chapter, i.e. לוטן, ושובל, וצבעון, וענה.
אחות נביות THE SISTER OF NEBAIOTH — By a logical inference from what is stated that she was “the daughter of Ishmael” would I not know that she was the sister of Nebaioth? But the words are added to tell us that Ishmael died after he had betrothed her to Esau and before her marriage, and that her brother Nebaioth gave her away in marriage And we may learn, also, that Jacob was at that period sixty-three years old For Ishmael was seventy-four years old when Jacob was born — since Ishmael was fourteen years older than Isaac, and Isaac was sixty when they (Jacob and Esau) were born, making seventy-four and his (Ishmael’s) years were one hundred and thirty seven — as it is said (25:17) “And these are the years of Ishmael etc.” — consequently when Ishmael died Jacob was sixty-three years old. We learn from this that he (Jacob) concealed himself in Eber’s School for fourteen years and only after that did he proceed to Haran. For before Joseph’s birth he had stayed in Laban’s house only fourteen years, as it is said (31:41) “I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters and six years for thy flock”, and he received the sheep as wages only after Joseph was born, for it is said (30:25) “And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph etc. [that Jacob wished to leave Laban and he agreed to remain with him on condition of receiving certain sheep as wages]. Now Joseph was thirty years old when he became ruler in Egypt, and from then until the time that Jacob came down to Egypt was nine years — seven of plenty and two of famine — and Jacob then said to Pharaoh (47:9), “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years”. Go and calculate: the fourteen years he passed with Laban before Joseph’s birth, and the thirty years of Joseph’s life before he became ruler and the nine years from when he became ruler until the time that Jacob came to Egypt make fifty three years from the time he joined Laban until the time he came to Egypt But when he parted from his father he was sixty-three years old, as shown above, so that you have 116 years as his age when he came to Egypt, on the assumption that the fifty-three years he spent with Laban etc. began immediately after he had left his father. But he (Jacob) himself said to Pharaoh, “[I am] one hundred and thirty years”. So you see that fourteen years are missing on this assumption. Thus you learn that after he had received the blessings he concealed himself in Eber’ School for fourteen years (Megillah 17a). But he received no punishment for them (these fourteen years) on account of the merit of having studied the Torah in Eber’s School during that period For Joseph was separated from his father only twenty-two years — that is, from the age of seventeen to that of thirty-nine - corresponding to the twenty-two years during which Jacob was separated from his father and could not perform the duty of honouring him (by actively attending to his needs), viz, the twenty years he spent in Laban's house and the two years he passed in travelling home - for it is written (33:17) with regard to his journey homewards, "And Jacob built him a house and made booths for his cattle", and our Rabbis, of blessed memory, inferred (Megillah 17a) from this verse that during his travels he passed eighteen months at Succoth, since a house means a dwelling for the rainy season, and "booths" means for the summer time. And this statement that the study of the Torah protects one from punishment fits in with the calculation which we made above, based upon the Sacred Text, regarding the period from when he left his father until the time when he went down to Egypt at the age of 130 years, where we found a surplus of 14 years, so that he must have been absent from his father for 36 years. But we may regard it as certain that when on his journey to Laban he concealed himself in Eber's house it was for the purpose of studying the Torah with him and that because of the merit of studying the Torah he received no punishment for them (those fourteen years) so that Joseph was separated from him only twenty-two years "measure for measure"(Megillah 17a). Thus far (beginning at "But he received no punishment") is found in an old Rashi text.
על נשיו BESIDES HIS FORMER WIVES — He added wickedness to wickedness for he did not divorce his first wives (Genesis Rabbah 67:13).
We learn from this that he hid in the house of Eiver for fourteen years and afterwards went to Charan. Question: Why does Rashi here mention [only] Eiver, while when explaining the verse “She went to inquire of Hashem” (25:22), he mentions [only] Sheim, and when explaining the words “They clashed” (ibid), he mentions [both] Sheim and Eiver? The answer is: “They clashed” is a blanket statement. When she would pass houses of Torah study, Yaakov would agitate and rush to come out. Sheim and Eiver had different study halls, as it is written (25:27): “Yaakov was a man without fault, dwelling in tents,” [in the plural form. See Rashi there.] Assumedly, Scripture means that Yaakov agitated by both tents. But regarding “She went to inquire of Hashem,” Rivkah went to [only] one of them, and surely she went to Sheim, since he was the grandfather of Eiver, and greater than him. While here, Rashi mentions only Eiver because, by this time, Sheim had already died.
Therefore, Esau went to his uncle Ishmael, and took Mahalat, the daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, sister of Nevayot, Ishmael’s firstborn, in addition to his previous wives, as his wife. In this manner, he too married his cousin, as was planned for Jacob.
Rava [again] said to Rabbah bar Mari: From where can be derived the popular saying, ‘A bad palm will usually make its way to a grove of barren trees’? — He replied: This matter was written in the Torah, repeated in the Prophets, mentioned a third time in the Writings, and also learned in a Mishnah and taught in a Baraita: It is stated in the Torah as it is written (Gen 28:9), So Esau went unto Yishmael; repeated in the prophets, as is written (Jud 11:13), And there gathered themselves to Jephtah idle men, and they went out with him; mentioned a third time in the Writings, as is written (Ben Sira 13:15): Every fowl dwells near its kind and man near his equal; it was learned in the Mishnah: ‘All that which is attached to an article that is subject to the law of defilement, will similarly become defiled, but all that which is attached to anything which would always remain [ritually] clean would similarly remain clean; and it was also taught in a Baraita: R. Eliezer said: ‘Not for nothing did the starling follow the raven, but because it is of its kind.’ Bava Kama 92b
[2] Another interpretation: "Things will come to your heart." Everything is first considered in the heart. Esau did this, as it is said, "And Esau said in his heart" (Genesis 27:41). Nebuchadnezzar did this, and you also said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God" (Isaiah 14:13). Haman did this, as it is said, "Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai" (Esther 5:9-13). The kingdom of Sodom did this, as it is said, "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:3-4). Likewise, Gog did this, as it is said, "Let things come to your heart and put evil schemes into your mind" (Ezekiel 38:10). Everything he thought in his heart, the Holy One, blessed be He, made public. And what Esau thought, see later at the end of chapter 42 [of Genesis]. He went to Ishmael and said, "This is not the way of the world that I should kill my father Isaac. Rather, kill him and let me inherit the entire world." This is what he said with his mouth, but in his heart he was saying, "I will kill Jacob after Ishmael kills Isaac." He came to Ishmael and killed him and said, "Why did you kill my father?" And I will inherit the entire world for myself." He thought this in his heart, and the Holy One, blessed be He, made it public, as it is said, "For I have laid bare Esau's rugged mountains and his dwelling place" (Jeremiah 49:10). The Lord said, "I know what you thought in your heart," as it is said, "Because you said, 'These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, and we will possess them,' whereas the Lord was there" (Ezekiel 35:10). There I looked into your heart and saw what you thought. Likewise, Gog and Magog think in their hearts, as it is said, "On that day, things will come to your heart and you will plan an evil plan" (Ezekiel 38:10). And the Holy One, blessed be He, makes public what they are thinking, as it is said, "And you said, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates'" (Ezekiel 38:11). And what does he think? Rather, this is what Pharaoh, who came against the Israelites, says: "He [Moses] was a fool, he left his patron and came to them." And similarly, Amalek, Sisera, and anyone who stood against them [the Israelites], they left [it] to the Holy One, blessed be He, [to deal with them], [because] they were fools. But what can I do? I will go first to the patrons of Israel, and if I kill the Messiah, he will raise up other Messiahs. But [the judgment] is upon the Lord, as it says, "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" (Psalms 2:1-2). Edom, Ishmael, Gebal, Ammon, and Assyria all conspired against the Almighty, as it is written, "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones" (Psalms 83:3). And what do they do? They stand on their feet and look up at the Almighty, saying, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more" (Psalms 83:5). What is the name of Israel? They say, "Let us wipe it out," as it is written, "Blessed is the Eternal, God of Israel" (Psalms 41:14). And what does the Lord do to them from above? He stands on their feet and punishes them, as it is written: "And this shall be the plague...he shall stand upon his feet, and his eyes shall consume away in their holes, and his tongue shall consume away in his mouth." (Zechariah 14:12). Those feet that wanted to stand against Me, the plague consumes them while they stand on their feet. Those eyes that looked upwards, his eyes shall consume away in their holes. And that tongue that spoke against Me, his tongue shall consume away in his mouth. The Lord said to them: "At first, there was no peace among you, 'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked'" (Isaiah 48:22). But now you have made peace with each other to come against Me. It is written, "For they have consulted together with one consent; against thee do they make a covenant: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah." (Psalm 83:6-9). All of you have made peace to come against Me, so I will also do the same. And you, son of man, shall say to the birds and to every beast of the field: "Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood." (Ezekiel 39:17). Just as you did not have peace with each other and made peace to come upon me, so too I call the birds and animals that did not have peace with each other and I make peace between them to come upon you. And because you said, "And let not the name of Israel be remembered anymore," (Psalm 83:5) your life will end and they will bury you and take your name away from the world, as it is said, "all the people of the land shall bury them. The day I manifest My glory shall bring renown to them", and they shall make an end. (Ezekiel 39:13)
Chapter (45) 46: Torah. [1] "And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba" (Genesis 28:10) - This is the path of a fool, straight in his own eyes [and listens to wise advice] (Proverbs 12:15). This refers to Esau, as it is written: "And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father" (Genesis 28:8), and "Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath" (Genesis 28:9). He added trouble upon trouble. "The path of a fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise" (Proverbs 12:15) - This refers to Jacob, as it is written: "And Rebekah was told about the words of Esau her son" (Genesis 27:42), [and she said] "Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?" (Genesis 27:45) - Until when will he console me? When he kills you! "And now, my son, listen to my voice" (Genesis 27:8). She said to him, "You have already listened to me and taken the blessings, so now listen to me again and live" - Jacob replied. "And this is the way that I will deceive my father" (Genesis 27:12), and he said to her, "Even he said [to me], 'do it,' and I will do it" (Genesis 27:13), and Isaac called to Jacob, saying "Arise, go to Paddan-Aram" (Genesis 28:2). As soon as Jacob heard this, he said to Isaac, "Give me your blessing" - and Isaac said to him, "May God Almighty bless you" (Genesis 28:3), and immediately "Jacob listened" (Genesis 28:5) and "Jacob went out and encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Therefore, it is said, "and he who listens to wise counsel."
[2] Alternative interpretation: "And Jacob fled. "The prudent sees danger and hides himself" (Proverbs 22:3). This is Jacob, and what did he see and flee from? Once he received the blessings, Esau began seeking to kill him, as it is said, "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, 'The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.'" (Genesis 27:41). Jacob went to stay with Ishmael, as it says, "And Esau went to Ishmael" (Genesis 28:9). Jacob said to Ishmael, "Your brother Isaac is my father, and I cannot kill him. But if you join forces with me, we will kill Esau." It was for Esau that Abraham was forced to expel Ishmael from his home, as Sarah said, "Cast out this slave woman and her son" (Genesis 21:10). "You kill my brother and I will kill Jacob my brother, and we will take the whole world for ourselves." And he also thought to himself, "If anyone kills his father, I will kill Jacob my brother." I will come to prosecute Ishmael, asking him why he killed my father, and I will kill him and take the whole world for myself. God said to him, "No creature knows what you thought in your heart," as it is said, "Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,' although the Lord was there" (Ezekiel 35:10). "I was there, and now I am revealing what you wanted to do," as it is said, "For I have laid bare Esau, I have uncovered his hiding places" (Jeremiah 49:10). "And I have only revealed the obvious," as it is said, "Reveal the arm of the Holy One and uncover his hiding places" (Isaiah 52:10). "Why did you want to destroy his offspring and his brother and his divine presence?" And that is why they did not succeed. When Jacob saw these actions, he said, "Why should I sit here and endanger myself and Ishmael? Therefore it is said, 'The prudent sees danger and hides himself' (Proverbs 22:3), and Jacob fled to the field of Aram." And the Holy Spirit cried out, saying, "For God shall cast upon him, and not spare; he would fain flee out of his hand." (Job 27:22).
“Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were objectionable in the eyes of Isaac his father” (Genesis 28:8). “Esau went to Ishmael, and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nevayot, in addition to his wives, as his wife” (Genesis 28:9). “Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan (Ḥet was considered a Canaanite.) …Esau went to Ishmael” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He gave consideration to converting. (The reference is to repenting.) “Maḥalat” – as the Holy One blessed be He forgave [mahal] him for his iniquities. “Basmat” (Genesis 36:3) – as his mind was now satisfied [nitbasma]. Rabbi Elazar said: Had he divorced the first ones, it would have been correct, but, “in addition to his wives” – pain upon pain. Another matter, thorn upon thorn – it was an addition to a full house. “Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went to Haran” (Genesis 28:10). Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Aivu: “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare, but the righteous emerges from trouble” (Proverbs 12:13). “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare” – due to the rebellion that Esau and Ishmael rebelled against the Holy One blessed be He, and angered him, and, likewise, his wives angered Him, they encountered a snare. “But the righteous emerges [vayetze] from trouble” – this is Jacob, “Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went to Haran.”
Raba said again unto Rabba bar Mari: "Wherefrom the following people's saying: 'Although the wine belongs to the owner, thanks is nevertheless due to the waiter?'" He answered: "From (Num. 27, 19) And thou shalt lay thy hand upon him; and also (Deut. 34, 9) And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him," etc. (The whole credit is given to Moses). Raba said again to Rabba bar Mari: "Wherefrom the following people's saying: 'The bad palm will travel to meet a barren can (like meets like)?'" He answered: "This is written in the Pentateuch, repeated in the Prophets, mentioned a third time in the Hagiographa, also learned in a Mishnah and taught in a Baraitha: Pentateuch, the following passage (Gen. 38, 9) And Esau went unto Ishmael; Prophets (Jud. 11, 3) And then gathered themsleves to Yiphthach idle men, and they went out with him; Hagiographa (Ben Sira, 13) Every fowl associates with its kind and man with his equal; Mishnah, "All that is attached to an unclean article is unclean and all that is attached to a clean article is clean." Baraitha: R. Eliezer said: "Not in vain did the gladiator go to the raven, because it is of its kind."
(Ibid., cont.:) BUT RACHEL HAD A LOVELY FORM AND WAS LOVELY TO LOOK AT. Why? Because it is stated (in Prov. 15:30): GOOD NEWS PUTS FAT ON THE BONES. He (Esau) took no action. Rather (in Gen. 28:9): ESAU WENT TO ISHMAEL AND TOOK MAHALATH BAT ISHMAEL < BEN ABRAHAM, THE SISTER OF NEBAIOTH, FOR A WIFE >. Jacob said: Because of the blessings he wanted to kill me; so when I take his wife Leah, who knows if he will leave Mahalath bat Ishmael, come against me, and say: Was it not enough for you to take my birthright and my blessing, that you have taken my betrothed as well! He therefore said to Laban (in Gen. 29:18): I SHALL SERVE YOU SEVEN YEARS FOR < YOUR YOUNGER DAUGHTER > RACHEL. Apart from such a situation, would a man taking a wife leave the older and take the younger? (Since daughters inherit in the absence of sons (Numb. 27:8), the elder daughter would receive the double inheritance of the first-born. See Deut. 21:15-17.) Rather < the story is > to teach you that, since Leah was sitting around because of Esau, Jacob said to Laban (ibid.): I SHALL SERVE YOU SEVEN YEARS FOR < YOUR YOUNGER DAUGHTER > RACHEL. Now, when Laban saw that, he said: See here, I am giving away the elder immediately. (Gen. 29:23:) AND, WHEN IT WAS EVENING, HE TOOK HIS DAUGHTER LEAH < AND BROUGHT HER TO HIM >. Jacob said to him: Now were these the terms? (Cf. Gen. R. 70:17.) (Gen. 29:25, 26, 28:) DID I NOT SERVE WITH YOU FOR RACHEL? THEN LABAN SAID: IT IS NOT THE CUSTOM IN OUR PLACE…. SO JACOB DID THUS, < AND COMPLETED THE BRIDAL WEEK OF THIS DAUGHTER; THEN LABAN GAVE HIM HIS DAUGHTER RACHEL FOR A WIFE >. He began to love her more than Leah. The Holy One said: Look, I am giving Leah children so that she may be more beloved than Rachel. (Gen. 29:31:) WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED, HE OPENED HER WOMB.
Another example of this is stated in Scripture: Now Isaac loved Esau (ibid. 25:28). Apparently, Esau went astray because his father failed to chastise him. As we have learned, the wicked Esau committed five transgressions in one day: he slept with a betrothed maiden, killed a man, denied the concept of resurrection, rejected the essential principle of religion (i.e., became an atheist), and despised the birthright. All of these transgressions are indicated either specifically in verses in Scripture or by analogy with other verses in Scripture (gezerah shavah). Furthermore, he longed for his father’s death, so that he might slay his brother, as it is said: Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand, then will I slay my brother, Jacob (Gen. 27:41). He compelled Jacob to flee from his father’s house, while he went to Ishmael’s home to learn evil ways from him, and to add to the number of his wives, as it is said: So Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son (ibid. 28:9).
Esau said to Jacob: Divide all that my father has left into two portions, and I will choose (first), because I am the elder. || Jacob said: This wicked man has not satisfied his eye with wealth, as it is said, "Neither are his eyes satisfied with riches" (Eccles. 4:8). What did Jacob do? He divided all that his father had left as the one part, and the other part was to be the land of Israel and the Cave of Machpelah. What did Esau do? He went to Ishmael in the wilderness in order to consult him, as it is said, "And Esau went unto Ishmael" (Gen. 28:9). Ishmael said to Esau: The Amorite and the Canaanite are in the land, and Jacob trusts (in God) that he will inherit the land, therefore take all that thy father has left, and Jacob will have nothing.
Our forefather Jacob was 63 when he was blessed. Ishmael died at that time as is written, "Esau saw that Isaac had blessed...Jacob listened to his father...Esau saw [the Canaanite women] were bad [in the eyes of Isaac]...Esau went to Ishmael..."(Genesis 28:9). There seems no need for the verse to state "sister of Nebaioth." What do we learn from the fact that it says "sister of Nebaioth"? We learn that Ishmael died and Nebaioth [Ishmael's firstborn therefore] married off his sister to Esau. Jacob our forefather hid [from Esau] 14 years in the land of Israel and served Eber. Eber died two years after Jacob went to Aram-Naharaim. [Jacob] left and went to Aram-Naharaim and he was found by the well when he was 77 years old and he was in Laban's house for 20 years: 7 before he married any matriarchs, 7 from when he married in the Matriarchs and 6 years after the 11 tribes and Dinah were born. It comes out that all the tribes were born in seven years besides Benjamin. Each and every one each 7 months. He left Aram-Naharaim and came to Succoth and stayed there 18 months as is written "And Jacob went to Succoth" (Genesis 33:17). He left Succoth and went to Bet El and made 6 new encampments close to the place.
And Eliphaz, Esau’s son, was a swift man, an expert with the bow, as his father had taught him, and also in the chase, and a valiant hero. And Eliphaz did as he was ordered by his father; and Eliphaz was only thirteen years of age at that time. And Eliphaz arose and took along with him ten of the brothers of his mother, and hurried after Jacob. And he kept close to Jacob, and he lay in wait for him at the boundary of Canaan, opposite the city of Shechem. And when Jacob saw Eliphaz and his men following him, Jacob halted in his way to ascertain what this meant, for he knew nothing about it. But Eliphaz drew his sword and advanced towards Jacob with his men. And Jacob said unto them: What is the cause of your coming hither, and for what reason do you follow me with your naked swords? And Eliphaz approached him, saying: Thus hath my father instructed me to do, and neither shall I depart from the orders which my father hath given me. And when Jacob heard that Esau had spoken unto Eliphaz to use all his force, Jacob came near unto them and entreated Eliphaz and his men, saying: Behold, here is all that I have, and which was given me by my father and mother, take all this and leave me and do not kill me, and may this deed be accounted unto thee a righteousness. And the Lord caused Jacob to find favor in the eyes of Eliphaz and his men, and they listened to the voice of Jacob, and they did not slay him. And Eliphaz and his men took away all that Jacob had, as also the silver and gold that he had brought from Beersheba; they did not leave him the least thing. And Eliphaz went away with his men, and they returned to Esau, to Beersheba, and they informed him of all that had happened unto them with Jacob, and they delivered to him all that they had taken from Jacob. And Esau was very wroth at Eliphaz, his son, and at the men that were with him, for failing to slay Jacob. And they excused themselves, saying: Because Jacob entreated us not to slay him, and our compassion was aroused in his behalf, hence we took of him all he had and brought it unto thee. And Esau took all the silver and gold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob and stored it away in his house. And when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and that he gave him a charge, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; and seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac, his father, and Rebekah, his mother, then went Esau unto Ishmael and took above the wives which he had, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to wife.
And Jacob was sixty-three years old when he fled from the land of Canaan, from Hebron. And Jacob was concealed in the house of Eber for fourteen years, and he continued there to study the ways of the Lord and His commandments. And when Esau saw that Jacob fled to escape from him after having cunningly secured the blessing, then Esau was sorely vexed and he was angry at his father and mother also. And he arose also and took his wife and left his father and mother to go into the land Seir, and he located there. And Esau saw there a woman among the daughters of Heth, and her name was Bosmath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and he took her to wife in addition to the wife he had. And Esau called her name Adah, saying: The blessing hath passed away from me at that time. And Esau tarried in the land of Seir for six months without having seen the face of his father and mother at his departure from them. And afterwards Esau took his wives and returned to the land of Canaan, and he left his two wives at his father's house, in Hebron. And Esau’s wives provoked and grieved Isaac and Rebekah with their actions, for they did not walk in the ways of the Lord, but they served their fathers’ gods, made of wood and of stone, as their fathers had taught them, and they were even more wicked than their fathers. And they followed the evil desires of their hearts, and they brought sacrifices and burned incense to the Baalim, and Isaac and Rebekah were weary of them, and Rebekah said unto Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? And in those days Adah, Esau’s wife, conceived and bear a son unto him, and Esau called the name of the son born unto him, Eliphaz. And Esau was sixty-five years of age when she bear him. And in those days, Ishmael, the son of Abraham, died in the sixty-fourth year of Jacob’s life. And all the days that Ishmael lived were one hundred and thirty seven years when he died. And when Isaac heard of Ishmael’s death he mourned him and lamented over him for many days. And at the end of fourteen years of Jacob’s dwelling in the house of Eber, Jacob was desirous of seeing his father and mother; and Jacob returned unto the house of his father and mother, in Hebron. And by that time Esau had forgotten what Jacob had done unto him in having taken from him the blessing; but when Esau saw Jacob coming back to his father and mother, Esau was reminded of what Jacob had done unto him, and he was very much enraged against him, and he sought to kill him. And Isaac, the son of Abraham, was old and far advanced in years, and Esau said: The mourning days for my father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob.
And when this was told unto Rebekah, she sent hastily and had her son Jacob called, and she said unto him: Arise and flee thou to Laban, my brother, and tarry there with him a few days until thy brother's fury turn away from thee, and then thou shalt return. And Isaac called Jacob, saying unto him: Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, for such is the injunction of our father, Abraham, according to the commandments of our Lord, saying: Unto thy seed shall I give this land; if thy children observe the covenant that I have , made with thee then I also will perform unto thy children what I have promised unto thee, and I shall not for sake them. And now, my son, listen unto my voice concerning all that I will command thee, and do not take a wife from the midst of the daughters of Canaan. But arise thou and go to Haran, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and from there take unto thee a wife from the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. And take heed that thou forget not the Lord thy God and His ways in the land whither thou goest, and that thou shouldst not become attached to the people of the land, to seek after vanity and forsake the Lord. And when thou comest unto that land serve the Lord even there, and turn thou neither to the right nor to the left from the path which I have commanded thee and which thou hast learned. And the Almighty may grant thee to find favor with the people of the land, and take there unto thee a wife according to thy pleasure, but one that is good and just, and following the ways of the Lord. And may the Lord establish unto thee and thy seed the blessing of Abraham, thy father, to make thee fruitful and to multiply thee, that thou shouldst become a multitude of nations in the land whither thou goest. And may God permit thee to return unto this land, the land of thy father's habitation, with children and with great wealth, with joy and with gladness. And Isaac having finished his instructions and blessings gave unto Jacob numerous gifts, as also silver and gold, and he sent him away. And Jacob listened unto his father and mother, and he kissed them and left for Padan-aram. And Jacob was seventy-five years of age when he departed from the land of Canaan, even from Beersheba. And when Jacob had gone away to Haran, Esau called Eliphaz, his son, and spoke to him secretly, saying: Now hasten thou and take thy sword into thy hand and pursue Jacob, and pass before him on the road and then lie in wait for him and kill him with thy sword in one of the mountains, and take all that is his and return to me.
And his sons carried him to the cave of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the sons of Heth as a possession of a burial place. And all the kings of the land of Canaan went along with Jacob and Esau to bury Isaac. And all the kings of the land of Canaan showed great honors unto Isaac when he died. And the sons of Jacob and the sons of Esau went around barefooted, going around, crying and lamenting until they reached, Kerjath-arba. And Jacob and Esau buried their father Isaac in the cave of Machpelah, in Hebron, amidst exceedingly great honors according to the funerals of kings. And Jacob with his sons and Esau with his sons and all the kings of Canaan, mourned a great and heavy mourning over him, and after they buried him they still mourned for him through many days. And it was at the death of Isaac that he left all his cattle and all those belonging unto him unto his sons. And Esau said unto Jacob: Behold here is all that our father hath left, and we will divide it into two parts, and I will take my choice. And Jacob said let us do so. And Jacob took all that Isaac had left unto them in the land of Canaan, the cattle and all the other property, and he divided it into two parts in the presence of Esau and his sons, and said unto Esau : Behold all is here before thee, and now select the half thou wishest to take. And Jacob said unto Esau: Listen now at my proposal. The Lord God of heaven and of earth spoke unto our fathers, Abraham and Isaac, saying: Unto thy seed shall I give this land to possess it forever. And now behold here is before thee all the personal property of our father on one side, and the possession of Canaan on the other, and - select whichever thou pleaseth. If thou wishest to have the land then take it for thee and thy sons forever, and I will take all these riches; and if thou wishest these riches, then take them, and I will have this land for me and my sons to possess it forever. And Nebayoth, Ishmael’s son, was there with his sons in the land, and Esau went on that day, and he consulted him, saying: Such and such was Jacob’s proposal unto me, and now give me thy advice, and I will act accordingly. And Nebayoth said unto him: What are those words that Jacob hath spoken unto thee? Behold all the sons of Canaan are dwelling in the land, and Jacob speaketh of possess ing it with his seed forever, and now go thou and take all the riches of thy father, and leave unto thy brother Jacob the land, according to his words. And Esau rose up and returned unto Jacob, and he did according as he was advised by Nebayoth, Ishmael’s son. And Esau took all the wealth that Isaac had left, the slaves and the cattle, and all the other property and of all that great wealth he gave nothing unto Jacob. And Jacob took the entire land of Canaan, from the river of Egypt even unto the Euphrates, as an inheritance forever for himself, and his sons and his seed after him for all time.
“These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household” (Exodus 1:1). That is what is written: “He who spares his rod hates his son, and he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24). The way of the world is that a person whom another tells him: ‘So-and-so struck your son,’ he would harass him. What is the meaning when the verse states: “He who spares his rod hates his son”? It is to teach you that anyone who withholds rebuke from his son, his son will ultimately set out on a path of depravity and he will hate him. As we find regarding Ishmael, who was beloved (Literally, he had longings for his father, which could explain his father’s love for him.) by his father Abraham, who did not chasten him, and he set out on a path of depravity. He then hated him and expelled him from his home emptyhanded. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he began to bring an idol from the marketplace, and he played with it and worshipped it in the manner that he saw others doing. (Although he made it look like he was just playing with it and even mocking it, in fact his intention was to worship it.) Immediately, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing [metzaḥek]” (Genesis 21:9), and metzaḥek means nothing other than idol worship, like you say: “They rose to carouse [letzaḥek]” (Exodus 32:6). (This verse is written in the context of the sin of the Golden Calf.) Immediately, “She said to Abraham: Expel this maidservant and her son” (Genesis 21:10), so that my son will not learn his ways. Immediately, “the matter was very troubling in the eyes of Abraham regarding his son” (Genesis 21:11), because he emerged to a path of depravity. “God said to Abraham: Let it not be troubling in your eyes about the lad…everything that Sarah says to you, heed her voice” (Genesis 21:12). From here you learn that Abraham was subordinate to Sarah in prophecy. Immediately, “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water…” (Genesis 21:14), teaching you that he hated Ishmael because he set out on a path of depravity, and sent him and his mother Hagar emptyhanded, and for that reason expelled him from his home. Is it conceivable that Abraham, in whose regard it is written: “Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), would send his wife and his son from his house emptyhanded, without garments and without sustenance? Rather, it is to teach you that once he [Ishmael] set out on the path of depravity, he [Abraham] paid no attention to him. (Consequently the verse states that he gave them bread and water, implying that he did not give them other means of support. ) What ultimately became of him? When he banished him, he sat at the crossroads and would rob people, as it is stated: “He will be a wild man” (Genesis 16:12). Similarly, “Isaac loved Esau” (Genesis 25:28); therefore he set out on a path of depravity, because he did not chasten him, as we learned: The wicked Esau violated five transgressions on that day. He consorted with a betrothed young woman, killed a person, denied the revival of the dead, denied the principle [of belief in God], and scorned the birthright. In addition, he desired the death of his father and sought to kill his brother, as it is stated: “Let the days of mourning for my father approach and I will kill Jacob my brother” (Genesis 27:41), and he caused Jacob to flee from his fathers. And he [Esau] too went to Ishmael to learn from him the path of depravity and to add to his wives, as it is stated; “Esau went to Ishmael, [and took Maḥalat the daughter of Ishmael…in addition to his wives, as his wife]” (Genesis 28:9). Similarly, David did not chastise Avshalom and did not chasten him, [and Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity. He sought to kill his father, he lay with his [father’s] concubines, and forced him to walk barefoot, weeping; and thousands and tens of thousands from Israel fell. In addition, he caused him endless hardships, as it is written: “A psalm by David when he fled from Avshalom, etc.” (Psalms 3:1). What is written afterward? “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors, etc.” (Psalms 3:2). The path of depravity (A wayward child) in a person’s household is worse than the war of Gog and Magog, as regarding Gog and Magog it is written: “Why do nations rage and peoples meditate in vain?” (Psalms 2:1), and there it is written: “Lord, how numerous are my tormentors.” David acted similarly with Adoniya, as he did not chasten him with chastisement and he did not scold him; therefore, he set out on the path of depravity, as it is written: “His father never distressed him, [saying: Why did you do so? …and she bore him after Avshalom]” (I Kings 1:6). But wasn’t Avshalom the son of Maakha, and Adoniyahu the son of Ḥaggit? What is: “And she bore him after Avshalom”? Rather, because [Avshalom] set out on the path of depravity because his father did not chasten him, and in Adoniyahu’s regard, it is written: “His father never distressed him,” he, too, set out on the path to depravity. Therefore, it is written: “And she bore him after Avshalom.” “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” (Proverbs 13:24); this is the Holy One blessed be He. It is because he loves Israel, as it is written: “I have loved you, said the Lord” (Malachi 1:2) that he promotes them through suffering. You find three excellent gifts that the Holy One blessed be He gave to Israel, and he gave them all to them by means of suffering: The Torah, the Land of Israel, and life in the World to Come. The Torah, as it is written: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, whom You teach from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). The Land of Israel, as it is written: “For you know in your heart [that as a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you]” (Deuteronomy 8:5); what is written after it: “For the Lord your God will bring you [to a good land]” (Deuteronomy 8:7). The World to Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, [and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life]” (This indicates that the way to merit everlasting life is through reproof, which involves suffering. ) (Proverbs 6:23). Anyone who chastises his son, the son adds love for his father and he honors him, as it is stated: “Admonish your son, and he will give you rest [and provide delights to your soul]” (Proverbs 29:17), and it is stated: “Admonish your son, as there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18). And he adds love for him, as it is stated: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition” – because he sought for him admonition, therefore he loves him. You find that Abraham chastised his son Isaac, taught him Torah, and guided him in his path, as it is written in Abraham’s regard: “Because Abraham heeded My voice, [and kept My commission, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws]” (Genesis 26:5), and it is written: “And this is the legacy of Isaac, Abraham’s son: [Abraham begot Isaac]” (Genesis 25:19), to teach you that he was similar to his father in every sense; in beauty, wisdom, wealth, and good deeds. Know [that Isaac internalized Abraham’s lessons and accepted his authority], for he was thirty-seven years old when his father bound him, and it is written: “And Abraham was old, advanced in years” (Genesis 24:1), and he bound him and tied him, and [Isaac] did not prevent [him from doing so]. Therefore, “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5); that is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.” Similarly, Isaac would seek admonition for Jacob, as he taught him Torah and chastised him in his study hall, as it is stated: “Jacob was a simple man, [a dweller in tents]” (Genesis 25:27). He learned what his father taught him and then he took his leave from his father and secluded himself in the house of Ever to study Torah. Therefore, he merited blessing and inherited the land, as it is stated: “Jacob settled in the land of his father's residence, in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 37:1). Jacob our patriarch, too, chastised his sons, chastened them, and taught them his ways, until ultimately, there were none among them who was defective, as it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt [with Jacob]” (Exodus 1:1); the verse likened them all to Jacob, as they were all righteous like he was. That is: “And he who loves him seeks for him admonition.”
One may marry a relative, e.g., the sister or the mother, of the woman he raped and of the woman he seduced. However, one who rapes and one who seduces a relative of the woman who is married to him is liable to receive capital punishment or karet for engaging in prohibited sexual intercourse, depending on the particular family relationship. A man may marry a woman raped by his father, or a woman seduced by his father, or a woman raped by his son, or a woman seduced by his son. Rabbi Yehuda prohibits marriage in the case of a woman raped by his father or a woman seduced by his father.
ואחות לוטן תמנע, “Lotan’s sister was called Timna.” Seeing that Lotan was the senior of the brothers, Timna’s name appears next to his. [Normally, we would have expected the sequence: ותמנע אחות לוטן, “Timna was the sister of Lotan.” Ed.] We find a similar example of this construction in Genesis 28,9, as well as in Exodus 15,20 and in Exodus 6,23.
Man darf die nahen Verwandten. על hier = neben, zu, wie על נשיו Gen. 28, 9.
ולבני הפילגשים אשר לאברהם, “and to the sons of the concubines who were Abraham’s, etc.” According to Bereshit Rabbah 61,4, the word פלגשם is spelled without the letter י which indicates a plural ending, suggesting that Avraham had only one concubine ever, Hagar, and that he had remarried her after Yitzchak was married. Keturah was none other than Hagar whom we know from both Lech Lecha and Vayera. The reason she is here called פלגש, “concubine,” is only because she was descended from slaves. In 16,3 she was called אשה, “wife,” because Avraham had given her a כתובה, a financial settlement, something not given to concubines. Sanhedrin 21 explains the verse in a similar fashion. [Our versions of the Torah have פילגשים with an extra letter י, not without any letter י. Ed.] The reason why the Torah did not tell us whose daughter Keturah was may have been that she was a Canaanite and therefore the Torah did not want to bother with her genealogy, (Nachmanides). Had she been Egyptian, or from any nation other than the Canaanites, the Torah would have given us more details about her background. We have proof of this when the Torah detailed the genealogy of the women whom Esau and Ishmael married (compare 28,9). Seeing that Keturah was a member of an accursed nation, the Torah preferred not to go into details (for the sake of Avraham?)
ואת בשמת בת ישמעאל אחות נביות, “and Bosmat daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nevayot.” The Torah makes clear on this occasion that the basic name of Ishmael’s daughter was Bosmat, even though she was referred to as Machalat in Genesis 28,9. This lends support to the words of our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 67,13 that Esau intended to convert Machalat, and that G’d forgave him all his sins. (this מחילה, pardon, was alluded to in the name מחלת). Three kinds of people qualify for total forgiveness for their past sins: A convert to Judaism; a person who is promoted to high public office; a person who marries a woman. The source for this statement is the verse describing Esau as marrying Machalat.
את צדון בכורו, I have not been able to find a good reason for the Torah describing צדון as a firstborn, seeing that no other firstborn son of these people is described as such. Normally, the first named son is presumed to be the firstborn, so that there is no need for adding that attribute, unless we are to assume that the Torah, in naming someone as the first in a list of sons, does so because he possessed superior qualities to those of his brothers. One such example would be the mention of Shem ahead of his brothers, although he was not the oldest (5,32), according to those commentators who believe that Yaphet was Noach’s oldest son. It is possible that Tzidon did possess superior qualities when compared to his brothers, so that by describing him as the firstborn the Torah wanted to draw attention to both of these distinctions. We find something parallel in Genesis 25,13 where Nevayot is described as the firstborn son of Ishmael. We have reason to believe that he possessed outstanding qualities because his sister Machalat is not described only as the daughter of her father Ishmael, and her grandfather Avraham, but also as the sister of Nevayot, her brother. (Genesis 28,9)
BASMATH ISHMAEL’s DAUGHTER. But elsewhere Scripture calls her Mahalath! (Ibid., 28:9.) I have found in the Agadic Midrash on the Book of Samuel: (Chapter 17.) There are three persons all of whose sins are pardoned: a proselyte on conversion, one who is exalted to a high position, and a man on his marriage. It derives the proof for the latter case from here. The reason she was called Mahalath, [from the word mechilah (pardon)], is that Esau’s sins were pardoned when he married her. All this, [including the comment on Verse 2 above], is the language of Rashi.But Rashi has not explained the reason why the father of Oholibamah, who, according to Rashi, is identical with Judith, is there (Above, 26:34.) called Be’eri and here called Anah. And Basmath Ishmael’s daughter is here a proper name while there, (Above, 26:34.) according to Rashi, is an adjectival noun on account of her burning the incense! And in Bereshith Rabbah, the Sages have said: (67:10.) “Esau set his mind to repent. Mahalath means that the Holy One, blessed be He, did pardon him for his sins. Basmath means that he was content [with his well-born wives and his decision to repent].” Thus according to the Midrash, both names (Mahalath and Basmath) are descriptive, and their proper names are unknown. For this reason Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has said that she had two names, Adah and Basmath. Also in the case of Abijah, [king of Judah, we find that his mother had two names, Micaiah — II Chronicles 13:2 - and Maacah - ibid., 11:20].It is possible to say that those two women [mentioned above, 26:34, i.e., Judith and Basmath], died childless perhaps as a punishment because they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah. (Above, 26:35.) Esau then married his wife’s sister Adah, the daughter of Elon, and another woman by the name of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. But as regards Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth, [who was originally called Mahalath] , (Ibid., 28:9.) because of the repugnance of her name, [which suggests choli, (sickness)] in the Sacred Language, Esau called her by the honorable name of his first wife Basmath, derived from the word besamim (spices). This was because she was beloved by him since she was of his family and was not evil in the eyes of Isaac his father. (Ibid., 28:8.)
אחות אהרן, seeing that he was her older brother the Torah describes her as Aaron’s sister rather than as Moses’ sister. I have explained this in connection with Genesis 28,9 about אחות נביות as well as in connection with אחות לוטן in Genesis 36,22.
In the version in Chronicles, when listing the descendants of the בני שעיר, Timna is again listed in verse 39 as a sister of Lotan. This is parallel to Machalat, the daughter of Yishmael whom Esau married as a concession to his parents’ disgust with his other wives (Genesis 28,9) being described asאחות נביות “a sister to Nevayot, son of Yishmael.” The description of a woman as a sister of her brother rather than as a daughter of her father or mother also occurs in Exodus 15,20 where Miriam is described as Aaron’s sister. What happened here is that the first time Timna is mentioned, she is described in terms of he relationship to Avraham’s family, i.e. as the concubine of a great grandson of Avraham, Eliphaz, son of Esau, whereas the second time Timna is described as a sister of Lotan (verse 22) not genetically related to Avraham at all, but part of the genealogy of the בני שעיר. Such digressions in the sequence of a narrative are not unknown in the Bible. We find the following in Joshua 13,7-8 after G’d had instructed him at the beginning of the chapter to proceed with distributing the land of Israel to the various tribes, ועתה חלק את הארץ הזאת בנחלה לתשעת השבטים וחצי שבט המנשה. עמו הראובני והגדי לקחו נחלתם אשר נתן להם משה בעבר הירדן מזרחה נתן להם משה עבד ה' “Therefore, divide this territory into hereditary portions for the nine tribes and the half tribe of Menashe. Now, the Reubenites and the Gadites, along with the other half tribe of Menashe had already received their shares which Moses assigned to them on the east side of the Jordan- as assigned to them by Moses the servant of the Lord.” There can be no question that something is missing here as part of the second verse. You would have to say that this verse answered the question implied by the first verse, i.e. “what about the other half of the tribe of Menashe?” The reason for this peculiar division in describing the tribal allocation for the tribe of Menashe is that one half of the tribe, i.e. the half mentioned last, received their allocation by the authority of Moses himself, whereas the second half of the tribe received its allocation by the authority of Joshua. I, Samuel, (our author) have found a third verse [in addition to the two mentioned in the Midrash quoted. Ed.] about the genealogy in Chronicles I 8,35-36 where we deal with the family of Yonathan son of King Sha-ul the following: ובני מיכה פיתון ומלך ןתארע ואחז. ואחז הוליד את יהועדה, ויהועדה הוליד את עלמת וגו'.. “The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Taarea, and Achaz. Achaz begot Yehoadah; and Yehoadah begot Alemeth, etc.” This same paragraph is repeated once more in chapter 9,41-43. In that sequence mention of Achaz is missing in the first of the two verses so that he appears out of nowhere in the second verse. Not only that but he is introduced with the connective letter ו, i.e. “and Achaz, etc. We must therefore conclude that the word ואחז הוליד, “and Achaz begot,” answers the verse which had in effect been interrupted in 8,35 with the word אחז. The author takes up the thread interrupted in chapter 8 and fills the reader in about the offspring of Achaz.
Yishmael is also put in a situation where he can choose to feel victimized. If Avraham’s preference for Yitzchak were not bad enough, the manner in which Yishmael is sent out of his home could easily have created a desire for Yishmael to permanently estrange himself from his family. From this perspective, Yishmael’s greatest challenge goes beyond acknowledging his position of relative inferiority. His greatest challenge becomes suppressing the natural inclination to forever seek redress for the injustice he certainly must have felt. Yet only after suppressing this inclination could he objectively compare his own merits to those of Yitzchak. The spiritual greatness of Yishmael lay in his success in doing just this. Not only does Yishmael outwardly meet the challenge of allowing his younger brother to take the lead in burying his father, he also displays his inner peace with the situation by allowing his own daughter Machalat to marry Avraham’s grandson, Esav (Bereshit 28:9) thereby forever reinforcing his own connection to Yitzchak’s family.
Both as one. As it was learnt in the Mishnah, “Someone who marries a woman and her daughter, or a woman and her sister [together] at one time, neither are married [to him] as it is written, ’You shall not take a woman and her sister,’ [meaning], you shall have no ’taking’ [marriage] even to one of them.” The meaning of אל אחותה [lit. to her sister] is like על and means עם אחותה, “with her sister.” This is similar to על נשיו (Bereishis 28:9), which means “with his wives.”
Genesis 26:34-28:9
Of all the stories of Genesis, this is perhaps the most brilliantly staged. Nowhere is the narrative so vivid as here, and nowhere, even including Chap. 22, is the tension so masterfully drawn out. Despite the fact that the story line is a simple one, involving deception and the “taking” of the blessing, the text is imbued with great subtlety. Most striking is the sensuality it invokes: seven times we hear of “game,” six of the “delicacy” (or “tasty-dish”), and three times Yitzhak “feels” Yaakov (who “comes close” four times). In fact the story makes use of all five of the senses. One sense—that of sight—is defective, and on that deficiency will turn the action of the story. Yet another level of meaning is apparent: “to see” in ancient Israel, as in many cultures, was a term connected to prophetic powers, as we observed regarding Avraham. So here, ironically, Yitzhak’s blindness leads to both deception and to the proper transferral of the blessing. Structurally the story is framed by two references to Esav and his wives: 26:34–35 prepares the way for his loss of the blessing, by showing that he has alienated himself from his parents (and broken Avraham’s charge regarding Yitzhak in 24:3), and 28:6–9 finds Esav obeying his father and making a rather pathetic attempt to reassure himself of his love. Some of the story’s motifs will return later. The threefold “as he loves” looks to the crucial role that the theme of “love” will play later on in Genesis (as well as being a key to the story itself). The general theme of nonrecognition will return with an interesting twist in the Yosef novella (especially in Chaps. 42–44).
Rabba bar Mari explains each of the sources. It is written in the Torah, as it is written: “And so Esau went to Ishmael” (Genesis 28:9). It is repeated in the Prophets, as it is written: “And there were gathered vain fellows to Yiftah, and they went out with him” (Judges 11:3). And it is triplicated in the Writings, as it is written: All fowl will live with its kind, and men with those like him (Book of Ben Sira 13:17). We learned it in a mishna (Kelim 12:2): All that is attached to that which is ritually impure is ritually impure; all that is attached to that which is ritually pure is ritually pure. And we learned it in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: Not for naught did the starling go to the raven but because it is its kind, as it too is a non-kosher bird.
They wanted to ordain Rebbi Zeïra but he did not want to take it upon himself. When he heard a Tanna stating: “For an ordained person, a bridegroom, a patriarch, the dignity deletes [his sins],” he accepted being ordained. An ordained person: (Lev. 19:32): “Before a white head you shall rise, give respect to an Elder, and fear your God, I am the Eternal.” What is written after that (v. 33): “If a proselyte lives in your land, you shall not trick him.” Just as all his sins are forgiven to the proselyte, so all sins are forgiven to one being ordained. The bridegroom: (Gen. 28:9) “Esaw went to Ismael and married Maḥalat (“The one being forgiven.”) bat Ismael.” But was her name Maḥalat, was it not Basemat (“The perfumed.” The verse would prove only that prior sins of the bride are forgiven.) ? But all his sins were forgiven him. The president: (1S. 13:1) “Saul was one year old when he became king.” Was he one year old when he became king? But all his sins were forgiven him as to a baby of one year.
Eisov [then] went to Yishmael, and took Mochalas, the daughter of Yishmael, the son of Avraham and sister of Nevayos, in addition to his other wives, for a wife.
and Esau went unto Ishmael, and took to wife Mahalath, who is Besemath the daughter of Ishmael bar Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth from his mother, besides his other wives.